Acoustic flow monitor arrays on Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand

UCSB
GIS
research
A capstone project using ArcGIS Pro
Author

Jessi Rumkin

Published

May 25, 2025

Capstone research project for the UCSB Geography 176A-C course series on geographic information systems and science (GIS).

This group project culminated in a symposium to present our posters and digital artifacts to other students, professors, geography department admin, and professionals.

Poster

Fig. 1 - GIS Research Poster

Open Poster in a new tab: View the PDF

Research group in front of research poster with an award certificate

We won best visual element!

Digital Artifact: Esri Story Map

See our full report in the Esri Story Map: https://arcg.is/1Tf0vS

Brief Description

Lahar Background Lahars are an important and destructive subset of mudflows that can occur with composite volcano activity. Ash, water, and debris travel at rates of up to 30 m/s, reaching as far as 100km from the source (Thouret et al., 2020). These events are extremely dangerous and put surrounding populations at high risk of property damage, injury, and even death.

Three arrays of AFMs currently exist on Mt. Ruapehu, ranging across the Eastern side of the volcano (fig. 2). Limited information is available on the suitability criteria for existing installation, but existing literature suggests that factors influencing site locations are slope angel, distance from lahar danger zones, surrounding land use, and accessibility (Johnson et al., 2023; Sanderson et al., 2021).

Fig. 3 - Current AFM sites and predicted lahar risk zones

Fig. 3 - Current AFM sites and predicted lahar risk zones

Research Question

What are the optimal locations for new arrays of acoustic flow monitors around Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand? Our research synthesizes existing knowledge and GIS techniques to determine up to optimal locations for a new array of sensors around Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand.

Results

Key Findings

  • The southwestern side of the mountain had the highest suitability, with 5 ideal locations for new arrays (fig. 3)

  • Suitability is highest near roads, buildings, and high lahar risk zones, but away from the existing set of acoustic flow monitors (fig. 3)

Fig. 3 - Suggested regions for new AFM arrays

Fig. 3 - Suggested regions for new AFM arrays

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Dr. Peter Kedron and the UCSB Geography Department fro making this project possible,

And a special thank you to the others in my research team: Angela Halim, Max Larrabee, and Roo Swain for working so hard on this project.