Researchers at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. Geological Survey have developed a radar-based volcano monitoring system. The purpose is to provide situational awareness of volcano behavior and identify volcanoes that are becoming restless before other more obvious indications like earthquake activity occur.
The system is called VolcSARvatory and makes use of interferometric synthetic aperture radar to detect ground movement changes as small as one centimeter. It utilizes two or more radar images from satellites taken at different times. The images are used to create a time series of data from a single location.
The system has been in operation since early 2022 and proved to be valuable in studying the unexpected activity at the long-quiet Mount Edgecumbe volcano near Sitka, Alaska where conventional monitoring was not taking place.
According to the researchers, the technology has evolved to the point where it can be operational at a national level. The goal is to provide a consistent approach to monitoring active volcanoes.
Volcanoes are not a rare and unlikely source of potential danger in this country. The volcanoes of Hawaii are the best-known active volcanoes in the United States, but Alaska has about 140 volcanoes that are technically classified as active, with more than 50 that have been active within the past 300 years. In total, 169 U.S. volcanoes are classified as active including ones in Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
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Alaska-developed volcano monitoring system will expand across U.S.
Photo, posted March 18, 2013, courtesy of Jeffrey Wickett / USFS via Flickr.
Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio
