Computational & Physical Volcanology
I use computer vision and physics to create software that extracts quantitative measurements from volcanic imagery and micro-CT data, with interests in eruption dynamics, textural analysis, and igneous petrology.
Current Research
I am developing a computer-vision pipeline to segment Kīlauea lava-fountain video and support quantitative extraction of eruption parameters such as fountain height, projected areas, and eruption rates from field footage. The project combines U-Net machine-learning segmentation, manual labeling, dataset preparation, metadata organization, and field video collection under variable lighting, viewing geometry, and field conditions.
I conduct computational volcanology research on pyroclastic micro-CT volumes from the 1817 Kawah Ijen eruption. The work uses U-Net-based deep-learning segmentation, stereometric analysis, Dragonfly, OpenPNM, electron microprobe data, and scanning electron microscopy to investigate vesicularity, pore connectivity, permeability, anisotropy, mineral chemistry, fractionation trends, and pressure-temperature constraints.
I like stretching out physics and theory to their limits to better understand volcanic processes. I like fun particle and nuclear interactions especially, such as Micro-CT, EPMA, and Raman (although the last two are chemical, the physics behind it is so awesome).
I really enjoyed our petrology and crystallography courses, and would love to explore igneous petrology further! I've always wanted to see how far we could push automated crystal identification in XPL and PPL images using computer vision techniques. I'm also curious about petrology and crystallography in 3D sections as well, resolving structures in ways that thin section cannot.
I would love to explore the small-scale textures and structures within volcanic rocks, connecting them to the underlying physical processes. Bubbles are incredibly interesting features in how fundamental they are to eruption dynamics, and I would love to explore and pick them apart deeper.
I like to explore heavy computational methods for getting the most out of datasets. I like automating systems that have large manual bottlenecks in areas like segmentation, classification, and analysis.
About
I am a physicist-turned-volcanologist trying to use my computational skills to advance the scales of studies we can do, and strive to gain new insights into volcanic processes; from deep-earth processes to the surface.
About →Journal of Double Star Observations, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 182-189
Questions about computational volcanology, scientific image analysis, or research software are welcome.