Volcanology - Structural Geology - Geophysics
Head of the volcano-tectonics and -hazards workgroup,
Head of the ERC groups Volcapse and RottnRock
Principal investigator of national and international projects
Professor (apl.) at University Potsdam
Senior staff scientist at GFZ Potsdam
Geophysics Department,
Section 2.1: Physics of Earthquakes and Volcanoes
GFZ German Research Centre for Geosciences
Link to institutional website
2019 apl Professor at University Potsdam
2012 Privatdozent University Potsdam
2011 Habilitation University Potsdam
2002 PhD University Kiel
1999 MSc University Freiburg im Brsg. and Institute for Technical Optics Stuttgart
ERC Synergy Project PI (ROTTnROCK)
ERC Consolidator Group Leader (Volcapse group)
Speaker Geosphere of the Helmholtz Alliance on Remote Sensing (EDA)
Emmy Noether Group Leader (Volcano-Tectonics group )
Speaker of the Germany Geophyical Union (DGG) AK Volcanology and
Initator and co-lead of the Physics of Volcanoes (POV) workshops
Lead scientist of volcano monitoring in the IPOC network
A complete list of publications you may find at :
the GFZ library pages
or at Google scholar
or at Research Gate
or at Loop
These sites are updated automatically, and I assume they are more or less complete.
2015 and 2023 PI of ERC projects
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2015, 2016 Science photography awards.
2007 HGF Initiative and Networking Fund for early-stage researchers, Germany
2007 Most cited author award Elsevier
2006 Hans – Cloos – Price of the German Geological Union
2005 Emmy-Noether Award, German Science Foundation
2002 Dissertation with „summa cum laude“ University Kiel
One of my specialities is the structural analysis at volcanoes. Volcano-fault interactions and triggering are my specialities.
Monitoring volcano- and seismo-tectonic activities and process studies include satellite and UAV sensing and geophysical technologies.
Change detection and data mining is essential. Photogrammetry and computer vision are increasingly being used by us.
Simulation of observed deformations and activity changes allows obtaining a glimpse into the deep earth.
One of my specialities is the structural analysis at volcanoes, hazards and interactions. For instance on Iceland. See my Emmy Noether group.
Using computer vision and radar techniques we study volcano summits in unprecedented resolution. See my ERC group.
Displacements measured by in-situ and remote sensing techniques allow studying the physics and application of new modelling tools.
If you have strong interests in volcanoes and computing, and seek new challenges, please contact me and we find a project for you!
There are a number of tv-documentaries. Check this out for instance: Java in Jeopardy - Exploring the Volcano. 52' (GER, ENG, FRE). See also science award nominee short video.
Children textbooks, mostly in german language.
This is one of my favorite (2017). See here if you want to buy. Note that the second textbook (2019) was just printed and can be ordered here.
Whenever volcano hazards strike, print and multi media are welcome for distributing our scientific knowledge and information. Learn more...
Main Research Themes are related to
volcano crater and caldera evolution, lava dome extrusion, magma plumbing, flank instability, and interactions with earthquakes.
Spreading and rift zones
Volcano instability, gravitational spreading and rift zones are often going hand in hand. This relationship, from forceful dike intrusion to lateral volcano widening, stress redistribution within the edifice, and activation of basal decollement faults, are investigated in the field, in analog experiments and using numerical models (mainly boundary element modelling). .
Volcano crater and caldera evolution
Craters develop at different dimensions, are associated with large eruptions (forming explosion craters or even collapse calderas) and sometimes occur without any visible eruption. I study the link between craters and their surrounding, and how craters shape and govern paths of fluids after formation.
Lava dome extrusion
the formation of lava domes is associated with significant landscape change and the source of some of the major volcanic hazards. I study how domes develop, monitored by remote sensing and photogrammetry techniques, in the field or aboard of satellites and unmanned aerial vehicles.
Magma plumbing
includes the plugs, sills and dikes and their connection to the surface. One of the most fundamental principles in physical volcanology is only barely understood, namely how magma chambers develop and how dikes intrude and interact. These i approach by geodetic data analysis (InSAR, GPS) as well as by extensive modelling.
Volcano-Earthquake interactions
eruptions are going hand in hand with earthquakes. But occasionally also earthquakes trigger remote volcanoes, or volcanic activity causes tectonic failure and increases earthquake hazards. This is what i studied in the field at places around the Pacific Rim of Fire, but also on Ocean Islands.
Earthquakes
are studied using InSAR, GPS and photogrammetric methods, either under lab conditions or for selected events. Special interest is complexity in fault trends and interactions with volcanoes.
If you have strong interests in volcanoes and computing, and seek new challenges, please contact me and we find a project for you!
I am adjoint faculty member with habilitation at the University Potsdam and eligible to supervise your master's or doctoral thesis in geology, geophysics or remote sensing.
Department 2: Geophysics
GFZ Potsdam, Telegrafenberg
14473 Potsdam, Germany
ph: +49 (0)331 288 1253
twalter{AT}gfz-potsdam.de