The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is an agency of the U.S. Geological Survey, with temporary offices located in Hilo on the Island of Hawaii. The former volcano observatory clifftop facility and HVO offices, closed due to structural damage in 2018, is located at Uwekahuna Bluff on the rim of Kīlauea Caldera. The observatory staff and equipment monitors four active Hawaiian volcanoes: Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, and Haleakalā. Because Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are significantly more active than Hualālai and Haleakalā, much of the observatory's research is concentrated on the former two mountains. HVO has a worldwide reputation as a leader in the study of active volcanism.
Introduction
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | Introduction
Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, and Haleakalā. Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, and Haleakalā. Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, and Haleakalā. Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, and Haleakalā.
when was the last time mauna loa volcano erupted
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March 24 to April 15, 1984.
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what is the main entity?
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It is one of five volcanoes that form the Island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaiʻi in the Pacific Ocean.
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what is its weather like?
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It has a tropical climate with warm temperatures at lower elevations and cool to cold temperatures higher up year-round.
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who monitors this volcano?
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The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, a branch of the United States Geological Survey.
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who founded it ?
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Thomas A. Jaggar.
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where is it located?
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A temporary offices located in Hilo on the Island of Hawaii.
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mention few volcanoes it monitors?
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Modern electronic equipment now monitors earthquakes from several sites, with over 100 remote stations transmitting data 24 hours a day. This information is provided immediately over the Internet, as is live coverage of ongoing eruptions from several webcams accessible from the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory website (see External links). Another important function of HVO is to monitor the sulphur emissions that produce the volcanic pollution condition known as vog. The observatory advises the park service when to close areas due to this and other volcanic hazards. While the main Observatory building itself was not open to the public, the adjacent Thomas A.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | Present day operations
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is an agency of the U.S. Geological Survey, with temporary offices located in Hilo on the Island of Hawaii. The former volcano observatory clifftop facility and HVO offices, closed due to structural damage in 2018, is located at Uwekahuna Bluff on the rim of Kīlauea Caldera. The observatory staff and equipment monitors four active Hawaiian volcanoes: Kīlauea, Mauna Loa, Hualālai, and Haleakalā. Because Kīlauea and Mauna Loa are significantly more active than Hualālai and Haleakalā, much of the observatory's research is concentrated on the former two mountains. HVO has a worldwide reputation as a leader in the study of active volcanism.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | Introduction
Due to the relatively non-explosive nature of Kīlauea's volcanic eruptions for many years, scientists could study ongoing eruptions in proximity without being in extreme danger. Also located at the shuttered main site was the public Thomas A. Jaggar Museum. In May 2018 the Kilauea caldera facility buildings were closed and the property permanently evacuated due to structural damage resulting from collapse explosions at Halemaʻumaʻu and earthquakes related to the 2018 lower Puna eruption, which also led to the months-long closure of the Kīlauea unit of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | Introduction
Jaggar Museum included interpretive exhibits on the work performed at the observatory. The exhibits ranged from general information on volcanoes and lava to the scientific equipment and clothing used by volcanologists. Some of the museum's windows provided a sheltered view of Halemaʻumaʻu and the Kīlauea Caldera. A public observation deck at the museum, overlooking Kīlauea and formerly open 24 hours a day, provided views of the area. On May 10, 2018, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park was closed to the public in the Kīlauea volcano summit area, including the visitor center and park headquarters, due to explosions, earthquakes and toxic ash clouds from Halemaʻumaʻu.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | Present day operations
The flanks of the volcano do not pose a lower threat to the population than the area near the rift zones because the distance is short and the slopes are steep; lava poses as much of a threat as it does near its source. Since 1991, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) has maintained a seismic recording station east of Hualālai's summit to monitor the volcano. During this time, not a single earthquake swarm or harmonic tremor, indicative of activity at the volcano, has occurred. Although Hualālai does experience several magnitude-4 earthquakes per year, these are attributed to a deep source off the coast of the north-western rift zone and are not related to the movement of magma.
Hualālai | Future monitoring
A volcano observatory is an institution that conducts research and monitoring of a volcano. Among the best known are the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the Vesuvius Observatory. Mobile volcano observatories exist with the USGS VDAP (Volcano Disaster Assistance Program), to be deployed on demand.
Observatory | Volcano observatories
Established on Kīlauea in 1912, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO), presently a branch of the United States Geological Survey, is the primary organization associated with the monitoring, observance, and study of Hawaiian volcanoes. Thomas A. Jaggar, the observatory's founder, attempted a summit expedition to Mauna Loa to observe its 1914 eruption, but was rebuffed by the arduous trek required (see Ascents). After soliciting help from Lorrin A. Thurston, in 1915 he was able to persuade the US Army to construct a "simple route to the summit" for public and scientific use, a project completed in December of that year; the Observatory has maintained a presence on the volcano ever since.
Mauna Loa | Monitoring
In 1911 and 1912, small cabins were built on the floor of the caldera next to the main active vent of Halemaʻumaʻu, but these were hard to maintain. MIT added $25,000 in support in 1912 from the estate of Edward and Caroline Whitney to build a more permanent facility. The first instruments were housed in a cellar next to the Volcano House called the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology. Inmates from a nearby prison camp had excavated through of volcanic ash. Massive reinforced concrete walls supported a small building built on top of the structure. Professor Fusakichi Omori of Japan, now best known for his study of aftershocks, designed the original seismometers.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | History
A volcano observatory is an institution that conducts research and monitoring of a volcano. Each observatory provides continuous and periodic monitoring of the seismicity, other geophysical changes, ground movements, volcanic gas chemistry, and hydrologic conditions and activity between and during eruptions. They also provide a detailed record of eruptions in progress.
Volcano observatory | Introduction
After a lecture on his Martinique expedition in Honolulu, Jaggar was approached by Lorrin A. Thurston a prominent Honolulu lawyer and businessman. Thurston, like Jaggar, believed that Kilauea was a prime site for a permanent volcano observatory and inquired of Jaggar, "Is it then a question of money?". Within a year of this conversation, Thurston and other businessmen raised financial backing for the Hawaii Volcano Research Association. A small observing station was set up on the rim of Halemaumau crater (a pit crater within Kilauea's summit caldera). In 1912, support was forthcoming from an MIT alumnus and construction of the new Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) began.
Thomas Jaggar | Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
This seismograph vault (building number 29 on a site inventory) is state historic site 10-52-5506, and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 24, 1974 as site 74000292. From 1912 until 1919, the observatory was run by Jaggar personally. Many important events were recorded, although as pioneers, the team often ran into major problems. For example, in 1913 an earthquake opened a crack in a wall and water seeped in. The windows meant to admit natural light caused the vault to heat up in the intense tropical sun. The opening of the national park in 1916 (at the urging of Thurston) brought more visitors to bother the scientists, but also park rangers who would take over public lectures.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | History
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was established on the rim of the Kīlauea Caldera in 1912. Eruptions from the Kīlauea Caldera have taken place in 1982, 1975, 1974, 1971, 1921, 1919, 1918 and possibly in 1820 and 1790.
Kīlauea Caldera | Introduction
The Hawaii Center for Volcanology was a cooperative effort between the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the United States Geological Survey, and the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes at the University of Hawaii at Hilo. The loosely organized cooperative was created in 1992 to "bring together experts from around the state of Hawaii so that we might better understand these magical mountains of fire", and consists of approximately 80 scientists. Its site is maintained by members of the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology staff, even though it is no longer in operation.
Hawaii Center for Volcanology | Introduction
Besides the oral history of Ancient Hawaiians, several early explorers left records of observations. Rev. William Ellis kept a journal of his 1823 missionary tour, and Titus Coan documented eruptions through 1881. Scientists often debated the accuracy of these descriptions. When geologist Thomas Jaggar of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology gave a lecture in Honolulu in 1909, he was approached by businessman Lorrin A. Thurston (grandson of Asa Thurston who was on the 1823 missionary tour) about building a full-time scientific observatory at Kīlauea. The Hawaiian Volcano Research Association was formed by local businessmen for its support. George Lycurgus, who owned the Volcano House at the edge of the main caldera, proposed a site adjacent to his hotel and restaurant.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | History
Following the end of the "Galileo" mission, astronomers have continued monitoring Io's active volcanoes with adaptive optics imaging from the Keck telescope in Hawaii and the European Southern Observatory in Chile, as well as imaging from the Hubble telescope. These technologies are used to observe the thermal emissions and measure the composition of gases over volcanoes such as Pele and Tvashtar. Imaging from the Keck telescope in February 2001 revealed the most powerful volcanic eruption observed in modern times, either on Io or on Earth, at the volcano Surt. Earth-based telescopes coming online over the next decade, such as the Thirty Meter Telescope at the Mauna Kea Observatory, will provide more-detailed observations of Io's volcanoes, approaching the resolution achieved by "Galileo"'s near-IR spectrometer.
Exploration of Io | Post-"Galileo": 2003–2021
Today, the Alaska Volcano Observatory monitors activity at Mount Cleveland using satellite imagery. Cloud cover often obscures the volcano, which makes many events difficult to follow. In addition, the low resolution of the satellite imagery allows minor events, which do not make an impression on the satellite picture, to pass unnoticed. There are no seismic or geophysical instruments on the mountain (the nearest are in Nikolski), and some eruptions are first observed by pilots flying over the volcano. A field study was conducted in late 2001, and an automatic system based on thermal anomalies was implemented following eruptive events in 2005.
Mount Cleveland (Alaska) | Monitoring
The show was broadcast live from the active Kīlauea volcano on Hawaii over four days starting from 9 July. The Media Centre writer added that "Volcano Live" would allow viewers to connect with the active terrain that impacts the land and lives around it. The Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park and scientists of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory hosted the production. Pre-recorded footage featuring interviews with experts, expeditions of volcanologists and demonstrations was added into the real-time broadcast. Humble and Stewart operated out of a specialised motor home and used Kīlauea to help explain the science of volcanoes. Online features included a "geothermal map" of current worldwide volcanic events.
Volcano Live | Overview
The California Volcano Observatory (CalVO) is the volcano observatory that monitors the volcanic and geologic activity of California and Nevada. It is a part of the Volcano Hazards Program of the United States Geological Survey, a scientific agency of the United States government. Originally, the volcano observatory was known as the Long Valley Observatory which monitored volcanic activity east of the Sierra Nevada in Mono County, California which included Long Valley Caldera, Mammoth Mountain, and the Mono–Inyo Craters. In 2012, the Long Valley Observatory was integrated into the new California Volcano Observatory based in Menlo Park, California which covers the entire states of California and Nevada, this includes the southern Cascade Range volcanoes in the state of California which were previously under the jurisdiction of the Cascades Volcano Observatory.
California Volcano Observatory | Introduction
The prison that had supplied laborers was replaced by the Kīlauea Military Camp. In 1919, Jaggar convinced the National Weather Service to take over operations at the observatory. In 1924, the observatory was taken over by the United States Geological Survey and it has been run by the USGS ever since (except for a brief period during the Great Depression, when the observatory was run by the National Park Service). When the Volcano House hotel burned to the ground in 1940, the old building was torn down (although the instruments in the vault continued to be used until 1961).
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | History
While much of the park was reopened on September 22, 2018, the former Observatory building and Jaggar Museum remain closed, due to considerable structural damage done to the facility.
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory | Present day operations
The observatory itself is operated by the U.S. Geological Survey and is not open to the public. The Kilauea Military Camp provides accommodations for U.S. military personnel. Volunteer groups also sponsor events in the park.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park | Visitor center and museums
However, these volcanoes now fall under the jurisdiction of the California Volcano Observatory (CalVO), formed in February 2012 and based in Menlo Park, California, which monitors and researches volcanic activity throughout California and Nevada. The Cascades Volcano Observatory is part of the USGS, a scientific agency of the United States government. It is located in Vancouver, Washington in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area.
Cascades Volcano Observatory | Introduction
On February 25, 2014, A webcam from the Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) captured the moment a dark cloud exploded about 1,000 feet in the air from a massive crater of the Poás Volcano. In 1984, the OVSICORI-A initiates the operation of a seismographic network designed to monitor seismic and volcanic activity throughout the national territory. Currently the seismographic network has a registration system analog and one digital. The latter enables online analysis of seismic signals, allowing to expedite the analysis of signals and their study using modern computerized methods.
National University of Costa Rica | Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) is a joint program of the United States Geological Survey, the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and the State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (ADGGS). AVO was formed in 1988, and uses federal, state, and university resources to monitor and study Alaska's volcanology, hazardous volcanoes, to predict and record eruptive activity, and to mitigate volcanic hazards to life and property. The Observatory website allows users to monitor active volcanoes, with seismographs and webcameras that update regularly. AVO now monitors more than 20 volcanoes in Cook Inlet, which is close to Alaskan population centers, and the Aleutian Arc due to the hazard that plumes of ash pose to aviation.
Alaska Volcano Observatory | Introduction
Strainmeters, by contrast, are relatively rare. The Observatory also maintains two gas detectors at Mokuʻāweoweo, Mauna Loa's summit caldera, as well as a publicly accessible live webcam and occasional screenings by interferometric synthetic aperture radar imaging.
Mauna Loa | Monitoring
The MLO levels can be compared with other sites in the global monitoring network. MLO has activities at five locations on the Big Island. The primary observing site is located at the level on Mauna Loa's north slope () about north of the summit Mokuaweoweo. The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory shares this site. The administration and some data processing are done in the Hilo, Hawaii office. Kulani Mauka is a rain collection site. Cape Kumukahi is a flask sample site located on the easternmost point of Hawaii. At the Hilo airport, weekly balloon-borne instruments are prepared and launched to measure ozone from the surface to usually over 30 km.
Mauna Loa Observatory | The observatory
In 1909 Perret suggested to the geophysicists Thomas Jaggar from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Reginald A. Daly of Harvard University to establish a continuous monitoring station at Kilauea. Perret spent four months on Kilauea in 1911, where he began to make the first long-term observations of activity from the edge of the crater Halemaʻumaʻu. The station was the forerunner of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which was built by Thomas Jaggar the following year. When Mount Pelée on the French Caribbean island of Martinique became active again in 1929, some years after the devastating eruption of 1902 Perret was one of the first scientists on site.
Frank A. Perret | Introduction
The first instruments were in a cellar called the Whitney (for the donor) vault adjacent to the Volcano House Hotel. During his early years as Director, Jaggar struggled after private endowments with the hope of eventually securing sponsorship by the Federal Government. In 1919, Jaggar convinced the National Weather Service to fund HVO. The United States Geological Survey took over its operation in 1924, with the exception of a brief hiatus during the Great Depression when HVO was run by the National Park Service. In 1922, volcanologist Thomas Jaggar suggested using Kilauea’s heat for geothermal energy:
Thomas Jaggar | Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
The main visitor center, located just within the park entrance at , includes displays and information about the features of the park. The nearby Volcano Art Center, located in the original 1877 Volcano House hotel, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and houses historical displays and an art gallery. The Thomas A. Jaggar Museum, now closed due to damage from the 2018 eruptive events, is located a few miles west on Crater Rim Drive. The museum featured more exhibits and a close view of Kīlauea's active vent Halemaʻumaʻu. The museum is named after scientist Thomas Jaggar, the first director of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, which adjoins the museum.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park | Visitor center and museums
Eruptions on Mauna Loa are almost always preceded and accompanied by prolonged episodes of seismic activity, the monitoring of which was the primary and often only warning mechanism in the past and which remains viable today. Seismic stations have been maintained on Hawaiʻi since the Observatory's inception, but these were concentrated primarily on Kīlauea, with coverage on Mauna Loa improving only slowly through the 20th century. Following the invention of modern monitoring equipment, the backbone of the present-day monitoring system was installed on the volcano in the 1970s. Mauna Loa's July 1975 eruption was forewarned by more than a year of seismic unrest, with the HVO issuing warnings to the general public from late 1974; the 1984 eruption was similarly preceded by as much as three years of unusually high seismic activity, with volcanologists predicting an eruption within two years in 1983.
Mauna Loa | Monitoring
In 1894 a four-horse stagecoach reduced the travel time from Hilo from two days to six hours. George Lycurgus bought the hotel in 1895 and was associated with it for the next 65 years. The Hawaii Consolidated Railway line to Glenwood opened in 1901, bringing more visitors. Author Jack London stayed in 1907. In 1912, geologist Thomas Jaggar built a scientific observatory adjacent to the porch, used until 1961 by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. The instruments were housed in an underground vault with massive concrete walls, excavated by laborers from the nearby prison.
Volcano House | The 1877 structure
These are the volcanoes monitored by the California Volcano Observatory, in order of highest to lowest risk assessment. According to USGS risk assessment of the volcanoes in CalVO's region, the following volcanoes were ranked "very high threat potential". These were ranked "high threat potential": These were ranked "moderate threat potential": One was ranked "Low to Very Low Threat Potential": Other volcanoes in the region have not been assessed at one of these risk levels that warrant monitoring. Volcanoes which have not erupted during the Holocene were not included. USGS noted that though less probable it is still possible for volcanoes to erupt on longer intervals than that.
California Volcano Observatory | Monitored volcanoes
The David A. Johnston Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) is a volcano observatory that monitors volcanoes in the northern Cascade Range. It was established in the summer of 1980, after the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The observatory is named for United States Geological Survey (USGS) volcanologist David A. Johnston, who was swept away in the Mount St. Helens eruption on the morning of May 18, 1980. The observatory's current territory covers Oregon, Washington, and Idaho. The Cascade Range's extent includes northern California, and Cascade volcanoes in that state, such as Mount Shasta and Lassen Peak, previously fell under the CVO's jurisdiction.
Cascades Volcano Observatory | Introduction
At the summit, seismicity and deformation are negligible. Sulfur dioxide emission rates at both the summit and the Lower East Rift Zone are drastically reduced; the combined rate is lower than at any time since late 2007. Earthquake and deformation data show no net accumulation, withdrawal, or significant movement of subsurface magma or pressurization as would be expected if the system was building toward a resumption of activity. , the lull in eruptive activity at Kīlauea continues and most of the park is open; however, some road segments and trails remain closed to visitors, while the Jaggar Museum of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory is closed indefinitely.
Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park | Recent events
The agency set up four Volcanic Observations and Information Centers within DMOs in Sapporo, Sendai, Tokyo and Fukuoka. They are monitoring volcanic events on 110 active volcanos in Japan and 47 of these volcanos selected by the Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruption are under the 24-hour observation with seismographs, accelerometers, GPS, air-shock recorders, fixed point observation cameras and other equipment. If it is predicted that a volcanic eruption will affect inhabited areas or are around a crater, Volcanic Warnings are issued and supplemented by Volcanic Alert Levels.
Japan Meteorological Agency | Volcanoes
That is 11 times larger than the five volcanoes on the Big Island of Hawaii.
Thermal Emission Spectrometer | Introduction
These observations serve to characterize eruptive behavior, identify the nature of precursory activity leading to eruption, define the processes by which different types of deposits are emplaced, and specify the hazards that could be unleashed by each kind of eruption. From direct observation of precursory signs, it is possible to anticipate eruptions. In times of volcanic unrest, observatories issue warnings and recommendations - they take on an advisory role for decision-making governmental civil defense agencies (the Federal Emergency Management Agency in the U.S.) and ideally continue producing observational data.
Volcano observatory | Monitor
HAO's telescopes are located at its Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, near the summit of that volcano on the big island of Hawaii. NCAR's solar observatory shares space on the campus of NOAA's larger Mauna Loa Observatory. HAO's researchers are based at NCAR headquarters, in Boulder, Colorado.
High Altitude Observatory | Mission and vision
Mount Merapi is the site of a very active volcano monitoring program. Seismic monitoring began in 1924, with some of the volcano monitoring stations lasting until the present. The Babadan (northwest location), Selo (in the saddle between Merbabu and Merapi), and Plawangan monitoring stations have been updated with equipment over the decades since establishment. During the 1950s and early 1960s some of the stations were starved of equipment and funds, but after the 1970s considerable improvement occurred with the supply of new equipment. Some of the pre-1930 observation posts were destroyed by the 1930 eruption, and newer posts were re-located.
Mount Merapi | Monitoring
This volcano is monitored by the Deep Earth Carbon Degassing Project. At most times the volcanic activity is limited to steaming fumaroles and boiling mud.
Whakaari / White Island | Volcanology
Underlying all observatory operations is an ongoing program of fundamental research in volcanic processes, supplemented by collaborative studies with universities, government agencies (in the U.S. for instance with other US Geological Survey centers, and NOAA), industry and non-governmental organizations. Such research typically includes direct interpretation of the monitoring and eruption data, and it leads to formulation of conceptual models that can be tested by theoretical or laboratory simulations of volcanic systems. Almost all observatories are members of the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO). The oldest volcano observatory is the Osservatorio Vesuviano (founded 1841) in Naples, now a member of the Italian government agency INGV.
Volcano observatory | Research
Following "Galileo" planned destruction in Jupiter's atmosphere in September 2003, new observations of Io's volcanism came from Earth-based telescopes. In particular, adaptive optics imaging from the Keck telescope in Hawaii and imaging from the Hubble telescope have allowed astronomers to monitor Io's active volcanoes. This imaging has allowed scientists to monitor volcanic activity on Io, even without a spacecraft in the Jovian system.
Io (moon) | Subsequent observations
In 1841, the first volcanological observatory, the Vesuvius Observatory, was founded in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. Seismic observations are made using seismographs deployed near volcanic areas, watching out for increased seismicity during volcanic events, in particular looking for long period harmonic tremors, which signal magma movement through volcanic conduits. Surface deformation monitoring includes the use of geodetic techniques such as leveling, tilt, strain, angle and distance measurements through tiltmeters, total stations and EDMs. This also includes GNSS observations and InSAR. Surface deformation indicates magma upwelling: increased magma supply produces bulges in the volcanic center's surface.
Volcanology | Modern volcanology
Weekly reports of volcanic activity are posted on the official website (http://www.mvo.ms/); MVO also maintains Facebook and Twitter pages. The MVO has another website (http://mvoms.org/) with profiles about MVO's staff and general work, but this website is no longer being updated.
Montserrat Volcano Observatory | Online sites
A Hawaii Volcano Observatory news release and images dated September 5, 2008 confirmed the first recorded images of a lava lake 130 feet below the lip of the Overlook Crater. The HVO had alluded to the presence of lava within the vent, including the sporadic ejecting of lava materials from the vent due to explosive episodes, but this gave officials the first opportunity to visually confirm that active lava was present. The report also noted that the lava could not be seen from observation points around the crater.
Halemaʻumaʻu | September 2008: Lava lake becomes visible
The lava flows from these prehistoric eruptions are exposed crater walls of the Central Cone. Whakaari / White Island's frequent activity and easy access attract scientists and volcanologists as well as many tourists. For example, this volcano provides a readily studied example of the type of volcanic magmatic–hydrothermal system involved in the generation of porphyry copper deposits. Volcanologists from the GeoNet Project continually monitor the volcano's activity via surveillance cameras. Survey pegs, magnetometers and seismography equipment for early earthquake warnings via radio were installed on the crater walls in 1976. The island is typically on an alert level rating of 1 or 2 on a scale of 0 to 5; as "Level 2 is the highest alert level before an eruption takes place and indicates 'moderate to heightened volcanic unrest' with the 'potential for eruption hazards.'" The alert level was moved from level 1 to level 2 on 18 November 2019.
Whakaari / White Island | Volcanology
Three telemetric units are installed on Mayon's slopes, which send information to the seven seismometers in different locations around the volcano. These instruments relay data to the Ligñon Hill observatory and the PHIVOLCS central headquarters on the University of the Philippines Diliman campus. PHIVOLCS also deploys electronic distance meters (EDMs), precise leveling benchmarks, and portable fly spectrometers to monitor the volcano's daily activity.
Mayon | Monitoring
The location of Mauna Loa has made it an important location for atmospheric monitoring by the Global Atmosphere Watch and other scientific observations. The Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO), located at on the northern slope of the mountain, has long been prominent in observations of the Sun. The NOAA Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) is located close by. From its location well above local human-generated influences, the MLO monitors the global atmosphere, including the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide. Measurements are adjusted to account for local outgassing of CO from the volcano. The Yuan-Tseh Lee Array for Microwave Background Anisotropy (AMiBA) sits at an elevation of .
Mauna Loa | Observatories
No recent eruptions of the volcano have caused fatalities, but eruptions in 1926 and 1950 destroyed villages, and the city of Hilo is partly built on lava flows from the late 19th century. Because of the potential hazards it poses to population centers, Mauna Loa is part of the Decade Volcanoes program, which encourages studies of the world's most dangerous volcanoes. Mauna Loa has been monitored intensively by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory since 1912. Observations of the atmosphere are undertaken at the Mauna Loa Observatory, and of the Sun at the Mauna Loa Solar Observatory, both located near the mountain's summit.
Mauna Loa | Introduction
The center is operated by the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Hawaii. The harsh conditions of the observatories require ongoing maintenance, with technicians and construction workers being common residents. Originally any astronomer wishing to use the observatory needed to stay at these facilities to physically be present during the nights they were assigned to use the telescopes. Although first-time users of the observatories are still encouraged to actually travel to the summit to familiarize themselves with the instruments, most observations can now be done over the Internet. Often the work is done in teams, with a staff of two at the summit, and others connected by teleconference at Hale Pōhaku, the University of Hawaii at Hilo, University of Hawaii at Manoa, or the researcher's office.
Onizuka Center for International Astronomy | History
The time and location of closest approach are carefully optimized to obtain the clearest observations of Io's induced magnetic field, libration amplitude, and gravity field. Erupting volcanoes will be observed in sunlight and in darkness to best constrain the lava compositions. The distribution of heat emanating from Io will be measured from polar perspectives that were not seen by the Galileo spacecraft and cannot be observed from Earth. IVO will also sample the complex mix of ionized and neutral molecules of plasma and gas around Io. The spacecraft is being designed to survive the primary mission with ample margin which could allow various types of extended missions.
Io Volcano Observer | Mission profile
In 1997, scientists from the University of Hawaiʻi installed an ocean bottom observatory on the summit of Lōʻihi Seamount. The submarine observatory was nicknamed HUGO, (Hawaiʻi Undersea Geological Observatory). HUGO was connected to the shore, away, by a fiber optic cable. It was designed to give scientists real-time seismic, chemical and visual data about the state of Lōʻihi, which had by then become an international laboratory for the study of undersea volcanism. The cable that provided HUGO with power and communications broke in April 1998, effectively shutting it down. The observatory was recovered from the seafloor in 2002.
Lōʻihi Seamount | HUGO (Hawaii Undersea Geological Observatory)
Volcano is located on the east side of the island of Hawaii, on the border of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and near the northeast rim of Kīlauea's summit caldera. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land. Hawaii Route 11 passes through the southern part of the community, leading northeast to Hilo and southwest to Nāālehu. Owing to its altitude, ranging from below in the southeast to over at its uninhabited northern end, Volcano features a subtropical highland climate (Köppen "Cfb"), with relatively uniform temperatures and abundant rainfall throughout the year, although rainfall is concentrated during the months of November through April.
Volcano, Hawaii | Geography and climate
The volcano is monitored by the Colima Volcano Observatory at the University of Colima, Mexico. A team analyzes, interprets and communicates every event that occurs at this volcano. In 2018, a webcam was installed close to the volcano, and volcanic activity can be seen in real-time.
Volcán de Colima | Volcanological center
In 1957–1958, the International Geophysical Year, Keeling obtained funding from the Weather Bureau to install infrared gas analyzers at remote locations, including the South Pole and on the volcano of Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii. Mauna Loa was chosen as a long-term monitoring site due to its remote location far from continents and its lack of vegetation. Keeling and his collaborators measured the incoming ocean breeze above the thermal inversion layer to minimize local contamination from volcanic vents. The data were normalized to remove any influence from local contamination. Due to funding cuts in the mid-1960s, Keeling was forced to abandon continuous monitoring efforts at the South Pole, but he scraped together enough money to maintain operations at the Mauna Loa Observatory, which have continued to the present day.
Keeling Curve | Mauna Loa measurements
Made up of various USGS offices such as the Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO), responsible for monitoring Mount St. Helens, the team has equipment to monitor any volcano, allowing the timely prediction of volcanic eruptions and the evacuation of nearby homes.
Calabozos | Threats and preparedness
The Volcanological and Seismological Observatory of Costa Rica (OVSICORI, "Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica") at the National University of Costa Rica has a dedicated team in charge of researching and monitoring the volcanoes, earthquakes, and other tectonic processes in the Central America Volcanic Arc. In 1984, the OVSICORI-A initiated the operation of a seismographic network designed to monitor seismic and volcanic activity throughout the national territory. Currently, the seismographic network has an analog and a digital registration system. The latter enables online analysis of seismic signals, allowing to expedite the analysis of signals and the study using modern computerized methods.
Ring of Fire | Costa Rica
The only active volcanism in the last 200 years has been on the southeastern island, Hawaii, and on the submerged but growing volcano to the extreme southeast, Loihi. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory of the USGS documents recent volcanic activity and provides images and interpretations of the volcanism. Kīlauea had been erupting nearly continuously since 1983 when it stopped August 2018. Almost all of the magma of the hotspot has the composition of basalt, and so the Hawaiian volcanoes are composed almost entirely of this igneous rock. There is very little coarser-grained gabbro and diabase. Nephelinite is exposed on the islands but is extremely rare.
Hawaiian Islands | Geology
The modern monitoring system on Mauna Loa is constituted not only by its locally seismic network but also of a large number of GPS stations, tiltmeters, and strainmeters that have been anchored on the volcano to monitor ground deformation due to swelling in Mauna Loa's subterranean magma chamber, which presents a more complete picture of the events proceeding eruptive activity. The GPS network is the most durable and wide-ranging of the three systems, while the tiltmeters provide the most sensitive predictive data, but are prone to erroneous results unrelated to actual ground deformation; nonetheless a survey line across the caldera measured a increase in its width over the year preceding the 1975 eruption, and a similar increase in 1984 eruption.
Mauna Loa | Monitoring
Halemaumau was quiet for 25 years after the 1982 eruption, with eruptive activity at Kīlauea being focused on the volcano's east rift zone beginning in 1983. However, Hawaiian Volcano Observatory scientists observed a gradual increase in activity beginning in late 2007, including an increase in sulfur dioxide emissions and an increase in seismic tremor. By March 2018, these parameters were several times higher than normal. Crater activity began to increase when between March 10 and March 14, 2008 gas began to vent from the east wall fumarole directly below the Crater Overlook. At 02:58 am HST on March 19, 2008, HVO personnel recorded seismic events, and sunrise revealed a 20–30 meter (65–100 foot) diameter hole blown in the side where the vent once was; the explosion scattered debris and spatter across and damaged the Crater Overlook.
Halemaʻumaʻu | Beginning of the eruption
The volcano is monitored by a team of scientists at the Goma Volcanic Observatory. It is monitored 24/7 365 days a year with seismic data produced every four minutes and temperature data produced every ten minutes.
Mount Nyiragongo | Monitoring
Early warnings are particularly critical for air traffic control, which needs to be made aware of ash-producing eruptions in time to reroute airplanes. The USGS assesses each volcano against a 24-factor hazard and exposure matrix, and assigns a threat level of "very low", "low", "moderate", "high", or "very high". In 2018, 18 volcanoes were rated as "very high" risk, and 39 volcanoes were rated as "high" risk. The "very high" risk volcanoes are in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, and Hawaii, with the most dangerous being Kilauea. Some volcano monitoring has been performed by the Volcano Hazards Program, directed by the USGS, but the program lacks sufficient funding to properly close the monitoring gap.
National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System | Background
Volcanic activity is constantly monitored by geophysical sensors (tiltmeters, extensometers, differential GPS receivers, etc.). The data from those various sensors is sent to the Piton de la Fournaise Volcano Observatory, located in Bourg-Murat, northwest of the volcano. The observatory, founded in 1978 following the Piton-Sainte-Rose flow, is operated by the "Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris" (Global Geophysics Institute of Paris), in association with CNRS and the University of Réunion. The OVPF often publishes reports on Piton de la Fournaise's current activity via their website in French. RIGIC (the Réunion Island Geological Information Center) takes this information and translates it into English for distribution to the English-speaking scientific community.
Piton de la Fournaise | Monitoring
As principal investigator of the Hawaii Scientific Drilling Project (HSDP), DePaolo and coworkers sampled the flank of Mauna Kea volcano to a depth of several kilometers. Major findings included a determination of the geochemical structure of the Hawaiian mantle plume [10]. DePaolo’s recent research provides a framework for understanding the partitioning of stable isotopes during mineral growth, with a focus on isotopes of calcium [11].
Donald J. DePaolo | Major contributions
Ancient Hawaiians were the first to recognize the increasing age and weathered state of the volcanoes to the north as they progressed on fishing expeditions along the islands. The volatile state of the Hawaiian volcanoes and their constant battle with the sea was a major element in Hawaiian mythology, embodied in Pele, the deity of volcanoes. After the arrival of Europeans on the island, in 1880–1881 James Dwight Dana directed the first formal geological study of the hotspot's volcanics, confirming the relationship long observed by the natives. The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was founded in 1912 by volcanologist Thomas Jaggar, initiating continuous scientific observation of the islands.
Hawaii hotspot | Introduction
Three of the earliest recorded observers of the volcanoes were the Scottish scientists Archibald Menzies in 1794, James Macrae in 1825, and David Douglas in 1834. Just reaching the summits proved daunting: Menzies took three attempts to ascend Mauna Loa, and Douglas died on the slopes of Mauna Kea. The United States Exploring Expedition spent several months studying the islands in 1840–1841. American geologist James Dwight Dana was on that expedition, as was Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, who spent most of the time leading a team of hundreds that hauled a pendulum to the summit of Mauna Loa to measure gravity.
Hawaii hotspot | Modern studies
The USGS must submit a five-year plan for monitoring all U.S. volcanoes at a level commensurate with the threat posed by each. The plan will include upgrades to existing networks on monitored volcanoes and installing networks on unmonitored volcanoes, as well as standardizing on modern tools across all of the volcano observatories. A national volcano data center will coordinate activities among the observatories. A watch office will be operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In addition, the USGS will set up a grants program to support research into techniques for monitoring and analyzing volcanic activity. The National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System was authorized $55,000,000 for fiscal years 2019 through 2023, however the funds still need to be appropriated.
National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System | Details
AVO is located in Anchorage on the campus of Alaska Pacific University.
Alaska Volcano Observatory | Introduction
From one of his earliest papers describing the eruption of Mount Azuma in 1893 to his death, Omori studied Japanese volcanos. He described several types of volcanic earthquakes from data obtained at regular eruptions of Mount Asama in central Japan, the 1910 Mount Usu eruption and the 12 January 1914 eruption of Sakurajima. At the latter two eruptions, his warnings to the population prevented greater loss of life. After meeting Thomas Jaggar of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who was planning a volcanic observatory on the Big Island of Hawaii, Omori designed the foundations and seismograph emplacement for the Whitney Laboratory of Seismology, building 29 near Volcano House, now part of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, state historic site 10-52-5506 and National Register of Historic Places site 74000292, added 24 July 1974.
Fusakichi Omori | Volcanic seismicity
She returned in 2000 to the Alaska Volcano Observatory as a staff geologist, mapping and studying active Alaskan volcanoes. In March 2015, she became the Scientist in Charge at the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. In 2019, Neal and the USGS Hawaiian Volcano Observatory Team was a Science and Environment finalist for the Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal.
Christina Neal | Career
The Plate Boundary Observatory, operated by UNAVCO has a network of 10 high-precision GPS instruments on the flanks of Augustine. Activity two years ago claimed two of these sites. The Alaska Volcano Observatory also operates a number of seismometers and tiltmeters all around the volcano, including four webcams.
Augustine Volcano | Sensor Networks
Haleakalā Observatory is an observation site located near the visitor center. It lies above the tropical inversion layer and so experiences excellent viewing conditions and very clear skies. For over 40 years, the University of Hawaii Institute for Astronomy has managed this site, conducting dedicated astrophysical experiments. One of its missions, the Maui Space Surveillance System (MSSS), tracks satellites and debris orbiting the Earth. The buildings are on a gated road just past the summit and are not within the park boundary.
Haleakalā National Park | Haleakalā Observatory
The two 10-meter aperture Keck telescopes are located on the dormant Mauna Kea volcano on the island of Hawaii. They are operated for the California Association for Research in Astronomy (CARA), the University of Hawaii (UH), and NASA by the William M. Keck Observatory (WMKO) in Waimea, HI. As a partner in the Keck telescopes, NASA receives 1/6th of the time available each year for astronomical observations. The proposal solicitation, selection, and scheduling is managed for NASA by NExScI, with calls for proposals issued twice each year (with due dates in September and March) for the two observing semesters on the telescopes.
NASA Exoplanet Science Institute | NASA Keck time administration
During "Galileo's" encounters with Io between October 1999 and October 2001, the spacecraft observed Pele on three occasions using its camera and infrared spectrometers while the volcano was on Io's night-side. The cameras revealed a curved line of bright spots along the margin of the Pele patera (a term used for volcanic depressions on Io, akin to calderas). Within the east-west dark band along the southeastern portion of the patera, a large amount of thermal emission was observed, with temperatures and distribution consistent with a large, basaltic lava lake. Thermal emission at Pele was also seen in December 2000 by the "Cassini" spacecraft, in December 2001 from the Keck Telescope in Hawaii, and by the "New Horizons" spacecraft in February 2007.
Pele (volcano) | "Galileo" and beyond
The Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO) is an atmospheric baseline station on Mauna Loa, on the island of Hawaii, located in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Mauna Loa Observatory | Introduction
A short-term monitoring (seismic and visuals) surveys were conducted by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology in 1993 and in 1997 on the mountain. No unusual activities were observed within the vicinity of the volcano.
Bud Dajo | PHIVOLCS monitoring activity
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO) is a volcano observatory that primarily monitors the Yellowstone Caldera in Yellowstone National Park in the United States. The observatory's jurisdiction also includes volcanic centers in the states of Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. As with other U.S. volcano observatories, it is funded through the United States Geological Survey Volcano Hazards Program. The observatory consists of 9 member agencies: The USGS, the University of Utah, the University of Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park, the Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, the Wyoming State Geological Survey, the Idaho Geological Survey, Montana State University and UNAVCO, Inc.
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory | Introduction
There are 169 young volcanoes in the United States, many of which are considered hazardous due to their proximity to populated areas. The USGS considers many of the more dangerous volcanoes to be under-monitored, lacking adequate scientific instruments on the ground to measure activity and potential threats. Many volcanoes lack any instruments, and the seismometers at other sites are inadequate for useful analysis. One of the most active volcanoes in Washington, Glacier Peak, only has a single seismometer. Improved monitoring capabilities can provide more timely warnings for evacuations and emergency response coordination, and mitigate the impacts of the travel disruptions.
National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System | Background
The Volcano Block Building is a historic structure in Hilo, Hawaii built in 1914.
Volcano Block Building | Introduction
According to Charles Mandeville, the program coordinator for the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, the USGS is "somewhere between 30-40 percent of the way to having an ideal monitoring network for those volcanoes”. As of 2018, only three "very high risk" volcanoes are categorized as "well monitored": Kilauea, Mount St. Helens, and Long Valley Caldera.
National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System | Background
Sakurajima is possibly one of the most monitored areas on earth. The Sakurajima Volcano lies near Kagoshima City, which has a population of over 500,000 people. Both the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) and Kyoto University's Sakurajima Volcanological Observatory (SVO) monitors the volcano's activity. Since 1995, Sakurajima has only erupted from its summit with no release of lava. Monitoring techniques at Sakurajima:
Prediction of volcanic activity | Sakurajima, Japan
The largest recorded swarms took place on Lōʻihi in 1971, 1972, 1975, 1991–92 and 1996. The nearest seismic station is around from Lōʻihi, on the south coast of Hawaii. Seismic events that have a magnitude under 2 are recorded often, but their location cannot be determined precisely as it can for larger events. In fact, HUGO (Hawaii Undersea Geological Observatory), positioned on Lōʻihi's flank, detected ten times as many earthquakes as were recorded by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) seismic network.
Lōʻihi Seamount | Activity
To track this threat, the volcano and its surroundings are closely monitored with sensors by the United States Geological Survey.
Newberry Volcano | Introduction
In October 2006, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) adopted a nationwide alert system for characterizing the level of unrest and eruptive activity at volcanoes. The system is now used by the Alaska Volcano Observatory, the California Volcano Observatory (California and Nevada), the Cascades Volcano Observatory (Washington, Oregon and Idaho), the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona). Under this system, the USGS ranks the level of activity at a U.S. volcano using the terms "normal", for typical volcanic activity in a non-eruptive phase; "advisory", for elevated unrest; "watch", for escalating unrest or an eruption underway that poses limited hazards; and, "warning", if a highly hazardous eruption is underway or imminent.
Volcano warning schemes of the United States | Introduction
Significantly predating the current observatories there is evidence of active astronomy on Mauna Kea in the 1901 Land Office Map of the Island of Hawaii showing the "Hawaii Astronomy Station" near the Mauna Kea summit. After studying photos for NASA's Apollo program that contained greater detail than any ground-based telescope, Gerard Kuiper began seeking an arid site for infrared studies. While he first began looking in Chile, he also made the decision to perform tests in the Hawaiian Islands. Tests on Maui's Haleakalā were promising, but the mountain was too low in the inversion layer and often covered by clouds.
Mauna Kea Observatories | Origin and background
In total, the hotspot has produced an estimated of lava, enough to cover California with a layer about thick. The distance between individual volcanoes has shrunk. Although volcanoes have been drifting north faster and spending less time active, the far greater modern eruptive volume of the hotspot has generated more closely spaced volcanoes, and many of them overlap, forming such superstructures as Hawaii island and the ancient Maui Nui. Meanwhile, many of the volcanoes in the Emperor seamounts are separated by or even as much as .
Hawaii hotspot | Eruptive frequency and scale
That volcano is Hawaii's Kilauea, the world's most active. Kate Humble and Prof Iain Stewart are the pair risking the red-hot lava as they broadcast from the edge of the crater, while comedian Ed Byrne randomly pops up to explain more about the science. Hey, if anyone can make molten rocks fun, he can." Writing for the "Radio Times" Paul Jones commented Humble was "just the job" for a show like "Volcano Live", while Stewart "had Professor Brian Cox's knack of making rocks seem exciting, as well as his habit of using everyday items as props". Jones added that the only problem he had with the programme was that the molten lava rolling down the hill "exposing that cinder toffee interior", made him wonder what was for dessert.
Volcano Live | Critical response
The Johnston Ridge Observatory is located east of Castle Rock, Washington, at the end of Washington State Route 504, four miles from the mountain. Exhibits focus on the geologic history of the volcano, eyewitness accounts of the explosion, and the science of monitoring volcanic activity. Two movies and ranger-led programs are available every hour. A half-mile paved trail provides views of the lava dome, crater, pumice plain, and landslide deposit, with access to hiking trails in the restricted area. The observatory is located near the site of volcanologist David A. Johnston's camp on the morning of May 18, 1980, and opened in 1993.
Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument | Johnston Ridge Observatory
Sakurajima's activity became more prominent in 1955, and the volcano has been erupting almost constantly ever since. Thousands of small explosions happen each year, throwing ash to heights of up to a few kilometers above the mountain. The Sakurajima Volcano Observatory was set up in 1960 to monitor these eruptions. Monitoring of the volcano and predictions of large eruptions are particularly important because it is in a densely populated area, with the city of Kagoshima's 680,000 residents just a few kilometers from the volcano. The city conducts regular evacuation drills, and a number of shelters have been built where people can take refuge from falling volcanic debris.
Sakurajima | Recent activity
Glicken was born in 1958 to Milton and Ida Glicken. He graduated from Stanford University in 1980. Later that year, while a graduate student at the University of California, Santa Barbara, he was temporarily hired by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to help monitor the volcano Mount St. Helens in Washington state. St. Helens, dormant since the 1840s and 1850s, resumed activity in March 1980. As seismic and volcanic activity increased, volcanologists working for the USGS in its Vancouver branch prepared to observe any impending eruption. Geologist Don Swanson and others placed reflectors on and around the growing lava domes, and, on May 1, 1980, established the Coldwater I and II observation posts to use laser ranging to measure how the distances to these reflectors changed over time as the domes deformed.
Harry Glicken | Early work
Currently the Mount Edziza volcanic complex does not have a seismograph closer than . With increasing distance and declining numbers of seismographs used to indicate seismic activity, the prediction capability is reduced because earthquake location accuracy and depth decreases, and the network becomes less accurate. At carefully monitored volcanoes both the located and noticed events are recorded and surveyed immediately to improve the understanding of a future eruption.
Mount Edziza volcanic complex | Monitoring
Using high imaging capability available on ground-based telescopes equipped with adaptive optics systems, F. Marchis and his team monitor and study the exotic volcanism of Io, Galilean satellite of Jupiter. In February 2001, they witnessed the most energetic eruption ever seen on the solar system. Surt volcano, located on the north hemisphere of Io, was then starting an extremely active eruption. The observed energy indicates the presence of a vigorous, high-temperature volcanic eruption. The kind of eruption to produce this thermal signature has incandescent fire fountains of molten lava which are kilometers high, propelled at great speed out of the ground by expanding gases, accompanied by extensive lava flows on the surface.
Franck Marchis | Volcanic activity of Io
In the spring of 2000, the Japanese government requested the use of an R-MAX to observe the eruption of Mount Usu, which had been dormant for 22 years, as close observation of the volcano was deemed too dangerous for manned helicopters. The R-MAX allowed scientific observers to spot and measure build-ups of volcanic ash which would have otherwise been missed, and improved the observers' ability to predict hazardous volcanic mudslides.
Yamaha R-MAX | Volcano observation
Mauna Loa Solar Observatory (MLSO) is a solar observatory located on the slopes of Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii in the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is operated by the High Altitude Observatory (HAO), a laboratory within the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). The MLSO sits on property managed by the Mauna Loa Observatory (MLO), which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). MLSO was built in 1965. The MLSO is tasked with monitoring the solar atmosphere and recording data on plasmic and energetic emissions from the chromosphere and corona.
Mauna Loa Solar Observatory | Introduction
A University of Tokyo volcano observatory is located on the mountain's east slope. Volcanic gas emissions from this volcano are measured by a Multi-Component Gas Analyzer System, which detects pre-eruptive degassing of rising magmas, improving prediction of volcanic activity.
Mount Asama | Geology
In August 1959, a swarm of deep earthquakes was detected by the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory. In October it was indicated by seismographs that Kilauea summit was filling with magma. This formed a new lava shield, named Puu Puai (gushing hill).
Kīlauea Iki | 1959 eruption
The island of Hawaii (commonly called the "Big Island") is the currently active volcanic center of the Hawaiian Islands formed over the Hawaii hotspot. The two active volcanoes on the Big Island are Kīlauea and Mauna Loa with a newer submarine volcano forming the Loihi Seamount to the southeast of the island. Continued growth of the southeastern part of the island is accompanied by major slumping and southeastward movement of the flanks of the two volcanoes. This flank displacement is linked to extension within the rift zones associated with both of the active volcanoes, the Mauna Loa and Kīlauea rifts.
1868 Hawaii earthquake | Background
The two plumes observed emanate from the northern and southern ends of this new flow. Fallout from the two volcanic plumes produced a two-lobed dark deposit around the new lava flow, similar to the deposit seen during the "Voyager" encounters. "New Horizons" images also highlighted the fact that the visibility of the older, 500-km long flow varies depending on the phase angle of the observation. Phase angle is the angle between the observer, Io, and the Sun. Io appears "full" at low phase angles near 0°, "half-full" at moderate phase angles near 90°, and crescent shaped at high phase angles approaching 180°.
Masubi (volcano) | Observations by "New Horizons"
"Galileo" arrived at the Jupiter system in 1995 and, from 1996 to 2001, regularly monitored volcanic activity on Io through observations of Io's thermal emission at near-infrared wavelengths, imaging Io while it was in the Jupiter's shadow in order to look for thermal hotspots at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, and imaging Io during most orbit in order to detect changes in the appearance of diffuse material and lava flows on the surface. Thermal emission from Pele was detected in nearly every occasion Io's trailing hemisphere was imaged while the moon was in the shadow of Jupiter. The volcanic plume at Pele was found to be intermittent or primarily composed of gas with occasional bursts of increased dust content.
Pele (volcano) | "Galileo" and beyond
The Hawai’i hotspot is a volcanic hotspot located near the namesake Hawaiian Islands, in the northern Pacific Ocean. One of the best known and intensively studied hotspots in the world, the Hawaii plume is responsible for the creation of the Hawaiian–Emperor seamount chain, a mostly undersea volcanic mountain range. Four of these volcanoes are active, two are dormant; more than 123 are extinct, most now preserved as atolls or seamounts. The chain extends from south of the island of Hawaii to the edge of the Aleutian Trench, near the eastern coast of Russia. While most volcanoes are created by geological activity at tectonic plate boundaries, the Hawaii hotspot is located far from plate boundaries.
Hawaii hotspot | Introduction