Pretty Alaskan lupine is changing the look of the country, and feelings about it are strong.
Iceland s Famed Lunar Landscape Is Turning Purple
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The famous Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland, with lupines in the foreground. Handmade Pictures/Alamy
In This Story
, published in May 2021 by Penguin Books.
Two years before making history with one small step onto the Moon, Neil Armstrong went salmon fishing in northern Iceland. A picture of him, standing by a river, is exhibited in a regional museum, but the image is so small that at first you might assume it’s just a regular snapshot of recreational life in the 1960s. Smiling faintly as he holds a fishing rod, the 36-year-old Armstrong could pass for a local until you notice his baseball cap and fancy aviator shades. And, of course, his four layers of clothing.
University at Buffalo
Maps comparing actual (left) and previously predicted (right) lava thickness at Fagradalsfjall as of April 18, 2021.
Left map: Estimated lava thickness on April 18, produced using data from aerial surveys acquired by the University of Iceland, National Land Survey of Iceland, and Icelandic Institute of Natural History.
Right map: Lava thickness predictions previously generated for April 18 using data from April 12, inputted in a lava flow model developed by Mattia de’ Michieli Vitturi and run by Gro B. M. Pedersen. Scientists choose a setting that tends to overestimate lava flow, as the model is used for hazard evaluation, Pedersen says. Courtesy of Gro B. M. Pedersen
Mattia de’ Michieli Vitturi, assistant professor
Department of Geology
The eruption of Fagradalsfjall on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, with lava emerging from multiple fissures, has captivated people around the world since March.
As molten rock continues to pour out, lighting up the landscape with its fiery glow, a UB researcher is helping officials in Iceland predict where the lava may go next.
Mattia de’ Michieli Vitturi, assistant professor of volcanology in the Department of Geology, College of Arts and Sciences, is a mathematician who uses computational fluid dynamics to study natural phenomena ranging from tsunamis to volcanic events.
He is working with partners in the Icelandic Meteorological Office, the University of Iceland and the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in Italy to use a model he developed to map potential future patterns of lava flow. The model considers factors such as the region’s topography, the shape and location of fissur
Icelandâs Fagradalsfjall is erupting. This UB expert helps predict where lava may go
Mattia de’ Michieli Vitturi, a geology faculty member and a mathematician, uses computational modeling to help officials in Iceland understand where lava may flow
BUFFALO, N.Y. The eruption of Fagradalsfjall on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, with lava emerging from multiple fissures, has captivated people around the world since March.
As molten rock continues to pour out, lighting up the landscape with its fiery glow, a University at Buffalo researcher is helping officials in Iceland predict where the lava may go next.
Mattia de’ Michieli Vitturi, PhD, assistant professor of volcanology in the Department of Geology in the UB College of Arts and Sciences, is a mathematician who uses computational fluid dynamics to study natural phenomena ranging from tsunamis to volcanic events.