Glacier ice-volume modeling and glacier volumes on Redoubt Volcano, Alaska

Assessment of ice volumes and hydrologic hazards on Redoubt Volcano began four months before the 1989-90 eruptions removed 0.29 cubic kilometer of perennial snow and ice from Drift glacier. A volume model was developed for evaluating glacier volumes on Redoubt Volcano. The volume model is based on third-order polynomial simulations of valley cross sections. The third-order polynomial is an interpolation from the valley walls exposed above glacier surfaces and takes advantage of ice-thickness measurements. The fortuitous 1989-90 eruptions removed the ice from a 4.5-kilometer length of Drift glacier, providing a unique opportunity for verification of the volume model. A 2.5-kilometer length was chosen in the denuded glacier valley and the ice volume was measured by digitally comparing two new maps: one derived from the most recent pre-eruption 1979 aerial photographs and the other from post-eruption 1990 aerial photographs. The measured volume in the reference reach was 99 x 106 cubic meters, about 1 percent less than was estimated by the volume model. The volume estimate produced by this volume model was much closer to the measured volume than was the volume estimated by other techniques. The verified volume model was used to evaluate the total volume of perennial snow and glacier ice on Redoubt Volcano, which was estimated to be 4.1?0.8 cubic kilometers. Substantial snow and ice covers on volcanoes exacerbate the hydrologic hazards associated with eruptions. The volume on Redoubt Volcano is about 23 times the volume that was present on Mount St. Helens before its 1980 eruption, which generated lahars and floods.