Sensor Web Enables Rapid Response to Volcanic Activity

Rapid response to the onset of volcanic activity allows for the early assessment ofhazard and risk [Tilling, 1989]. Data from remote volcanoes and volcanoes in countries with poor communication infrastructure can only be obtained via remote sensing [Harris et al., 2000]. By linking notifications of activity from ground-based and spacebased systems, these volcanoes can be monitored when they erupt. Over the last 18 months, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) has implemented a Volcano Sensor Web (VSW) in which data from ground-based and space-based sensors that detect current volcanic activity are used to automatically trigger the NASA Earth Observing 1 (EO-1) spacecraft to make high-spatial-resolution observations of these volcanoes.The fully-automated process allows for rapid acquisition and transmission—typically within 48 hours, though theoretically possible within 2–3 hours—of data products containing the most useful data content, namely the numbers, locations, and spectra of hot pixels. This information allows scientists to evaluate the instantaneous eruption extent and intensity. Prior to VSW, this process took weeks. In the future, the sensorweb could become an integrated network of ground, airborne, and orbiting sensors that will enable seamless, rapid, autonomous reactions to the detection of volcanic activity.