Image of Jacob Richardson

Bio

I am a volcanologist who researches how volcanic terrains and magmatic processes evolve over geologic time. My study areas include volcanic regions on Earth and its neighboring bodies, Mars, Venus, and the Moon. Much of my research involves mapping, numerical modeling of lava flows, and statistical modeling.

Education

Ph.D., 2016, School of Geosciences, University of South Florida

B.Sc., 2010, Department of Geography and Geology, Eastern Michigan University

Professional Appointments

2018-present, Postdoctoral Researcher, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/University of Maryland

2016-2018, NASA Postdoctoral Fellow, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/Universities Space Research Association

2013-6, Research Assistant, University of South Florida

Curriculum Vitae

Curriculum Vitae (pdf)

Peer-reviewed Publications

A new approach to probabilistic lava flow hazard assessments, applied to the Idaho National Laboratory, eastern Snake River Plain, Idaho, USA

Geology 2018 doi:10.1130/G45123.1

Gallant, E., Richardson, J.A., Connor, C., Wetmore, P., Connor, L.

Modeling the October 2005 lahars at Panabaj (Guatemala)

Bulletin of Volcanology 2018 doi:10.1007/s00445-017-1169-x

Charbonnier, S., Connor, C., Connor, L., Sheridan, M., Oliva Hernández, J., Richardson, J.A.

Benchmarking computational fluid dynamics models of lava flow simulation for hazard assessment, forecasting, and risk management

Journal of Applied Volcanology 2017 doi:10.1186/s13617-017-0061-x

Dietterich, H., Lev, E., Chen, J., Richardson, J.A., Cashman, K.V.

Recurrence rate and magma effusion rate for the latest volcanism on Arsia Mons, Mars

Earth and Planetary Science Letters 2017 doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2016.10.040

Richardson, J.A., Wilson, J.A., Connor, C.B., Bleacher, J.E., and Kiyosugi, K.

Lava flow mapping and volume calculations for the 2012–2013 Tolbachik, Kamchatka, fissure eruption using bistatic TanDEM-X InSAR

Bulletin of Volcanology 2015 doi:10.1007/s00445-015-0989-9

Kubanek, J., Richardson, J.A., Charbonnier, S. J., and Connor, L. J.

Role of sills in the development of volcanic fields: Insights from lidar mapping surveys of the San Rafael Swell, Utah

Geology 2015 doi:10.1130/G37094.1

Richardson, J.A., Connor, C.B., Wetmore, P.H., Connor, L.J., and Gallant, E.A.

The Syrtis Major volcano, Mars: A multidisciplinary approach to interpreting its magmatic evolution and structural development

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets 2015 doi:10.1002/2014JE004774

Lillis, R.J., Dufek, J., Kiefer, W.S., Black, B.A., Richardson, J.A., and Bleacher, J.E.

Subsurface structure of a maar-diatreme and associated tuff ring from a high-resolution geophysical survey, Rattlesnake Crater, Arizona

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 2015 doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2015.09.006

Marshall, A., Connor, C., Kruse, S., Malservisi, R., Richardson, J.A., Courtland, L., Wilson, J., and Karegar, M.A.

Multiscale postseismic behavior on a megathrust: The 2012 Nicoya earthquake, Costa Rica

Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems 2015 doi:10.1002/2015GC005794

Malservisi, R., Schwartz, S.Y., Voss, N., Protti, M., Gonzalez, V., Dixon, T.H., Jiang, Y., Newman, A.V., Richardson, J.A., Walter, J.I., and Voytenko, D.

The volcanic history of Syria Planum, Mars

Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 2013 doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2012.11.007

Richardson, J.A., Bleacher, J.E., and Glaze, L.S.

Data Maps & Links

Earth

Mars

Aerial LiDAR Survey of the San Rafael, UT Exposed Subsurface Volcanic Features

National Center for Airborne Laser Mapping 2013 doi:10.5069/G908638S

PI: Richardson, J.A.

Catalog of small volcanic vents in the Tharsis province

Planetary Data System IMG Annex 2016 astrogeology.usgs.gov

PI Bleacher, J.E.; Richardson, J.A.; and others.

Computer Codes

I maintain an active GitHub account that hosts my up-to-date codes at github.com/jarichardson. I mostly code in Python, but I develop models in C and I have experience in Perl, IDL, and R.

– MOLASSES: a Cellular Automata lava flow simulator for probabilistically forecasting lava inundation. GitHub link (C, Unix, Command Line)

– VEAM: Volcanic Event Age Model. Runs a Monte Carlo to simulate emplacement time for volcanoes in a volcanic field and model recurrence rate. GitHub link(Python, All OS's, GUI)

– dtm2obj: A simple algorithm to convert an elevation model to a 3D printable ASCII model. GitHub link(Python, All OS's, Command Line)

– kdtools: Python Functions to perform Kernel Density Estimation on a set of points. This requires R. GitHub link(Python, Unix, Command Line)

– A Python Code to evaluate spherical harmonic coefficients. GitHub link(Python/BASH, Unix, Command Line)