Monitoring the Lusi mud volcano, Java
 

Time series of the volcano’s evolution
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SPOT 5 image of 14/08/2005
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Spot Image has been tasking the FORMOSAT-2 satellite since January 2007 to acquire imagery and track the Lusi mud volcano eruption. Two SPOT 5 images are being used as the baseline for comparison: one from 2005 before the eruption and the other from 7 August 2006. The volcano started erupting on 29 May 2006.

The volcano is near a railway and highway in farmland near small-scale industrial facilities. There are many villages in the area and a large, recent housing estate to the north of the crater. 
 
 

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SPOT 5 image of 07/08/2006
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The crater can be identified with the smoke plume and mudflows all around.
The extent of the mud lake is 230 hectares (2.3 km²).
The average rate of expansion of the lake is 3.3 hectares a day since the start of the eruption.
The holding dams and basins built to contain the mudflow are most clearly visible to the north and south of the crater.
The road has been damaged but is not submerged. The railway is still untouched.

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 11/02/2007
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The crater is partially obscured by cloud.
The extent of the mud lake is 600 hectares (6 km²).
The average rate of expansion of the lake is 2.3 hectares a day since the start of the eruption.
The dams and retention basins have overflowed. New ones have been built further from the crater.

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The road and railway, as well as buildings around the crater, are submerged.
The lake is expanding mainly northward (after the gas pipeline explosion) and southward.
Rainy season precipitation is running off the mud toward agricultural irrigation channels (orange arrows). 
 
 

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 18/03/2007
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Nearly 1 year after the eruption started (29 May 2006), the dams around the volcano have contained the mud flow since January 2007. But the dams are showing signs of cracking in the satellite image.
The extent of the mud lake has increased from 600 hectares (6 km²) to 604 hectares after a dam collapsed (arrow 1).
The average rate of expansion of the lake has slowed to 1.6 hectares a day since the start of the eruption.
 

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 03/05/2007
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The crater has widened to nearly 70 metres (arrow 1).
The extent of the mud lake is unchanged: 600 hectares (6 km2).
The average rate of expansion of the lake has slowed to 1.7 hectares a day since the start of the eruption.
More buildings have been submerged (arrow 2).

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The dam around the crater has been breached on its south side to divert the mud flow (arrow 1).
A 1st channel formed by two parallel dams diverts the mud flow into a small retention basin (arrow 2).
A 2nd channel connects the mud lake to the Porong river (arrow 3).
The mud is changing the colour of the water in the Porong river (arrow 4).

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 23/05/2007
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Nearly 1 year after the eruption started (29 May 2006), the dams around the volcano have contained the mud flow since January 2007. But the dams are showing signs of cracking in the satellite image.

The extent of the mud lake has increased from 600 hectares (6 km²) to 604 hectares after a dam collapsed (arrow 1).

The average rate of expansion of the lake has slowed to 1.6 hectares a day since the start of the eruption.

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Shoring up of dams (arrows 1).

Dam submerged by mud (arrow 2).

Dam collapsed and repaired (arrow 3).
 

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 20/06/2007
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1 year after the start of the eruption (29 May 2006), the mud flow has reached buildings now submerged inside the maximum extent zone (green line).

The extent of the mud lake is unchanged at 604 hectares.

The average rate of expansion of the lake has slowed to 1.55 hectares a day since the start of the eruption.

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New dam (arrow 1).

Dam submerged by mud (arrow 2).

Mud is advancing toward buildings (dotted line + arrow 3).

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 24/07/2007
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Mud is advancing toward buildings (dotted line + arrow 1).

A large hangar has been submerged by the mud (arrow 2).

Runoff waters are being contained by dams at the foot of the volcano (arrow 3).

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 05/09/2007
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The mud has reached the north dams (arrow 1).

New dams and retention basins are being built (arrow 2).

Two large hangars have been submerged by mud (arrow 3).

The extent of the runoff waters has decreased (arrow 4).

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 30/09/2007
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The north basin is flooded and buildings are now completely submerged by mud and runoff waters (arrow 1).

A new dam and retention basin are being built to the west of the crater (arrow 2).

The south-west basin is being used to attempt to dry the mud (arrow 3).

New retention basin (arrow 4).

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 19/11/2007
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Water and mud are flowing over the dam (arrow 1).

One of the initial dams is now virtually submerged under the mud (arrow 2).

The west dams have been consolidated (arrow 3).

Experimental earthworks (arrow 4).

A new dam is being built to the east for a vast retention basin (arrow 5).

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FORMOSAT-2 image of 24/01/2008
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To the north of the mud volcano, run-off waters are now being diverted toward agricultural irrigation channels.

1 - Run-off waters are flowing over the North dam.
 
2 - A small retention basin to the north-west of the volcano is now submerged. 

3 - Run-off waters are spilling over into an agricultural irrigation channel (highlighted in blue). Another channel to the south of the volcano is diverting waters toward the Bali Sea via the Porong River. 

4 - The recently built retention basin north-east of the volcano backs onto another agricultural irrigation channel to control the discharge of run-off waters. 

5 - New earthworks.

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