Volcano Monitoring Using Google Earth
John E Bailey 1,2,
Jonathan Dehn 2, Peter Webley 1,2, Ray
Skoog 2
1Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, 909 Koyukuk
Drive, University of Alaska, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
2Alaska Volcano Observatory, Geophysical institute, 903 Koyukuk
Drive, Fairbanks, AK 99775, United States
At the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO), Google Earth is being used as a visualization tool for operational satellite monitoring of the region's volcanoes. Through the abilities of the Keyhole Markup Language (KML) utilized by Google Earth, different datasets have been integrated into this virtual globe browser. Examples include the ability to browse thermal satellite image overlays with dynamic control, to look for signs of volcanic activity. Webcams can also be viewed interactively through the Google Earth interface to confirm current activity. Other applications include monitoring the location and status of instrumentation; near real-time plotting of earthquake hypocenters; mapping of new volcanic deposits; and animated models of ash plumes within Google Earth, created by a combination of ash dispersion modeling and 3D visualization packages. The globe also provides an ideal interface for displaying near real-time information on detected thermal anomalies or ``hotspot''; pixels in satellite images with elevated brightness temperatures relative to the background temperature. The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska collects AVHRR (Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) through its own receiving station. The automated processing that follows includes application of algorithms that search for hotspots close to volcano location, flagging those that meet certain criteria. Further automated routines generate folders of KML placemarkers, which are linked to Google Earth through the network link function. Downloadable KML files have been created to provide links to various data products for different volcanoes and past eruptions, and to demonstrate examples of the monitoring tools developed. These KML files will be made accessible through a new website that will become publicly available in December 2006.