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Ichihara Lab
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The lab uses experiments and observations to unravel volcanic eruptions and the sounds that volcanoes produce.
AboutAbout the lab
Research on volcanic eruption dynamics and airwaves
The Ichihara Lab studies the dynamics of volcanic eruptions and airwaves (acoustic waves emitted from volcanoes).
Using methods such as theoretical calculations, analog experiments, and observations of airwaves, the lab aims to clarify how volcanoes erupt.
The lab places great importance on fieldwork, and students can get hands-on experience with volcanoes all over Japan.
The lab belongs to the Volcano Research Center of the Earthquake Research Institute.
Key terms
- Airwaves
- Acoustic waves generated by events such as volcanic eruptions that travel through the atmosphere. They are observed as the sound of a volcano
- Magma chamber
- A place underground where magma accumulates. In real volcanoes, it cannot be seen from the outside
- DAS
- An observation technique that uses an optical fiber cable as a long, continuous line of seismometers
NewsLab news
A student's paper was published in Geophysical Research Letters
A student won the Student Outstanding Poster Presentation Award from the Volcanological Society of Japan
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies how volcanoes erupt and the wave phenomena that accompany eruptions. Alongside observing volcanic sounds in the field, it also conducts model experiments, in order to understand what volcanic sounds mean.
*Illustrative imageSimulated Eruption Experiments
The lab reproduces eruptions by mixing starch syrup containing citric acid with starch syrup containing baking soda inside a plastic bottle, so that the mixture foams. By measuring pressure changes in the magma chamber and acoustic waves at the ground surface, it investigates many different types of eruptions.
*Illustrative imageCapturing Eruptions from Satellites
The lab analyzes observation data from satellites such as the Himawari weather satellite, and has clarified how eruptions progressed at volcanoes that had no nearby observation stations. Together with overseas institutions, it also works on monitoring the activity of volcanoes in the sea.
*Illustrative imageObserving Undersea Volcanoes with Optical Fiber
Using DAS (distributed acoustic sensing), a technique that uses optical fiber as a seismometer, the lab observes a submarine volcano through a telecommunications submarine cable in Tonga. It is also developing analysis methods to detect the weak earthquakes that occur at volcanoes.
*Illustrative imageThe Mystery of Lightning in Volcanic Plumes
During the eruption of the submarine volcano in Tonga, lightning was observed spreading in a ring-shaped pattern inside the eruption plume. The lab is researching why this pattern forms, in collaboration with experts in physics, meteorology, and other fields.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Ichihara Lab consist of faculty, doctoral students, researchers, internship students, visiting researchers, and collaborators from outside the institute.As of 2026
- ProfessorMie IchiharaPublications ↗
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Stromboli Eruption” Wolfgang Beyer / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
- Simulated Eruption Experiments: “Volcano complete” Silviaelzi / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Capturing Eruptions from Satellites: “Sakurajima oli 2013327 lrg” Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon / Public domain (cropped)
- Observing Undersea Volcanoes with Optical Fiber: “RibbonCutout1” Infestor / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- The Mystery of Lightning in Volcanic Plumes: “Galunggung” R. Hadian, U.S. Geological Survey / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Takei Lab): “Olivine in polarizing light” Islam90 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Suzuki Lab): “Etna eruption seen from the International Space Station” NASA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Baba Lab (Ocean Hemisphere Research Center)): “Ocean Bathymetry (NESDIS Bathymetry)” NOAA / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Space Geodesy Lab (SGAT)): “Interferogram Iran” Roberto Monti / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
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