Instrumental lahar monitoring at Merapi Volcano, Central Java, Indonesia

More than 50 volcanic debris flows or lahars were generated around Mt Merap i during the first rainy season following the nuees ardentes of 22 November 1991. The rainfalls that triggered the lahars were analyzed, using such in struments as weather radar and telemetered rain gauges. Lahar dynamics were also monitored, using new non-contact detection instrumentation installed on the slopes, of the volcano. These devices include real-time seismic ampl itude measurement (RSAM), seismic spectral amplitude measurement (SSAM) and acoustic flow monitoring (AFM) systems. Calibration of the various systems was accomplished by field measurements of flow velocities and discharge, c ontemporaneously with instrumental monitoring. The 1994-1995 lahars were relatively short events, their duration in the Bo yong river commonly ranging between 30 min and 1 h 30 min. The great majori ty (90%) of the lahars was recognized at Kaliurang village between 13:00 an d 17:30 h, due to the predominance of afternoon rainfalls. The observed mea n velocity of lahar fronts ranged between 1.1 and 3.4 mis, whereas the peak velocity of the Flows varied from 11 to 15 m/s, under the Gardu Pandang Vi ewpoint location at Kaliurang, to 8-10 m/s at a section 500 m downstream fr om this site. River slopes vary from 28 to 22 m/km at the two sites. Peak d ischarges recorded in various events ranged from 33 to 360 m(3)/s, with the maximum value of peal; discharge 360 m(3)/s, on 20 May 1995. To improve th e lahar warning system along Boyong river, some instrumental thresholds wer e proposed: large and potentially hazardous lahars may be detected by RSAM units exceeding 400, SSAM units exceeding 80 on the highest frequency band, or AFM values greater than 1500 mV on the low-gain, broad-band setting. (C ) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.