David M. Pyle (corresponding author), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK; and John Elliott, Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. Pages 253-268.

Linking quantitative measurements of lava flow surface morphology with historical observations of eruptions is an important, but underexploited, route to understanding eruptions of silicic magma. In this paper, Pyle and Elliott present a new, high-resolution digital elevation model for the intracaldera Kameni Islands, Santorini, Greece, which reveals the potential of high-resolution imaging of lava-flow fields by airborne light detection and ranging laser radar. The new model has an order-of-magnitude better resolution than earlier models, and reveals a wealth of surface morphological information on the dacite lava flows of the Kameni Islands. When combined with a reanalysis of contemporary eruption accounts, these data yield important insights into the behavior of dacite magma during slow effusive eruptions on Santorini and elsewhere and allow the development of forecasts for the style and duration of future eruptions. The author's dome-height model combined with the apparent time-predictable nature of volcanic eruptions of the Kameni Islands allows them to suggest that should an eruption occur during 2006, it will last for more than 2.7 yr and produce a dome ~115–125 m high.