Geology topics

Thomas Parker

Publications and source records attributed to Thomas Parker.

5 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2024

From field station to forecast: Managing data at the Alaska Volcano Observatory

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) uses multidisciplinary data to monitor and study dozens of active and potentially active volcanoes. Here, we provide an overview of internally and externally generated data types, tools and resources used in their management, and challenges faced. Data sources include the following: (1) a multiparameter (seismic, infrasound, GNSS, web cameras) ground-based monitoring network that spans 3000 km and transmits data in real time; (2) a variety of satellite-borne sensors that provide information about surface change and volcanic emissions; (3) geologic and gas field campaigns; and (4) other external data products that provide situation awareness. Each data type requires distinct acquisition, processing, storage, visualization, and archiving approaches. AVO uses a variety of externally and internally developed tools to handle individual data types as well as multidisciplinary volcanological data. A primary tool is the Geologic Database of Information on Volcanoes in Alaska (GeoDIVA), which stores detailed, searchable information on more than 140 volcanoes and over 1000 eruptions and unrest events, including images, eruption descriptions, and geologic station and sample data, metadata, and analyses. It interacts with other internal tools that store monitoring reports and other operational records. Additional data management resources used by AVO assist with alarms and alerts, state-of-health monitoring, and multiparameter visualization. Requirements for 24/7 accessibility, the ever-expanding portfolio of data, and transitioning new tools from development to operations are all challenges faced by AVO and other volcano observatories. AVO strives to meet FAIR data practices and ensure that data are available to national and international community efforts using external repositories as well as those hosted by AVO and its parent institutions.

Alaska↗

USGS2020

Goals and development of the Alaska Volcano Observatory Seismic Network and application to forecasting and detecting volcanic eruptions

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) seismic network has been in operation since 1988 and during this time has grown from 29 to 217 seismic stations providing real-time monitoring of 32 active volcanoes in Alaska, as well as useful data for regional earthquake monitoring. Since 1988, AVO has detected 59 volcanic eruptions at Aleutian arc volcanoes, and 31 of these have been captured by local seismic instrumentation. As part of this monitoring effort, AVO has cataloged more than 120,000 earthquake hypocenters and magnitudes associated with volcanic processes throughout the arc. This high rate of volcanic activity provides an excellent opportunity to study seismicity associated with magmatic and eruptive processes and develop and refine analytical techniques to track volcanic seismicity and warn of hazardous eruptions. The network is currently undergoing an extensive upgrade, replacing aging short-period analog seismometers with digital broadband instruments. These are expected to improve AVO’s seismic capability and further facilitate other geophysical instrumentation such as continuous Global Positioning System receivers, infrasound sensors, and web cams.

Seismological Research Letters↗

USGS2019

Catalog of earthquake parameters and description of seismograph and infrasound stations at Alaskan volcanoes—January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2017

Between January 1, 2013, and December 31, 2017, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) located a total of 28,172 earthquakes at volcanoes in Alaska. The annual totals are 3,840, 5,819, 5,297, 6,151, and 7,065 earthquakes for the years 2013 through 2017, respectively. This represents an average of 5,634 earthquakes per year, which is comparable to the yearly number of earthquakes AVO located in the previous decade when AVO monitored a similar number of volcanoes. During the reporting period, there was significant seismic activity at 20 of the 34 volcanoes monitored by a seismograph network (Akutan Peak, Aniakchak Crater, Augustine, Mount Cerberus, Mount Cleveland, Fourpeaked Mountain, Mount Gareloi, Great Sitkin, Ilimana, Kanaga, Korovin, Makushin, Mount Martin, Okmok Caldera, Pavlof, Shishaldin, Mount Spurr, Tanaga, Ugashik-Peulik, and Mount Veniaminof) and two volcanoes without a monitoring network (Mount Recheshnoi and Bogoslof Island). Instrumentation highlights for this period include the establishment of a new subnetwork on Mount Cleveland, an accelerated transition from analog to digital telemetry at most subnetworks, and an increased number of broadband and infrasound sensors throughout the AVO network. The operational highlight was the return of seismic monitoring at Korovin and Ugashik-Peulik Volcanoes following network repairs. This catalog includes hypocenters, magnitudes, and statistics of the earthquakes located in 2013–17, along with the associated station parameters, and velocity models.

Alaska↗

USGS2019

A unified catalog of earthquake hypocenters and magnitudes at volcanoes in Alaska—1989 to 2018

The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) has maintained an earthquake catalog since 1989 that now contains over 120,000 hypocenters and magnitudes that occurred near Alaskan volcanoes. Since 1989 the seismic instrumentation and data acquisition and processing techniques have undergone numerous changes as computer systems and seismic processing software have advanced and evolved. In this report we recalculate earthquake hypocenters and magnitudes in a consistent manner between October 1989 and January 2018. The new hypocenters and magnitudes are archived at the AVO within an AQMS database and in the compressed UNIX tar file that accompanies this publication.

Alaska↗

USGS2010

Remote telemetered and time-lapse cameras at Augustine Volcano: Chapter 12 in The 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, Alaska

Before and during the 2006 eruption of Augustine Volcano, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) installed a network of telemetered and nontelemetered cameras in Homer, Alaska, and on Augustine Island. On December 1, 2005, a network camera was installed at the Homer Field Station, a University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute (UAF/GI) facility on a bluff near Homer, where telemetered Augustine data are received. The camera placed there provides observations of the volcano from a distance of 126 km (78 miles) in daylight hours during clear sky conditions. On January 9, 2006, a radio-telemetered network camera was installed on the lower eastern flank of the volcano at 'Mound,' 4.4 km (2.7 miles) from the summit. The proximity of this camera provided for near-field images of the volcano. A nontelemetered camera with onsite recording was installed 3.8 km (2.4 miles) north of the volcano's summit near Burr Point on December 17, 2005. This camera recorded high-resolution images at a rate of 4 images per hour through much of the eruptive sequence. A low-light camera was installed on February 8, 2006, at the Homer facility to augment the extreme low-light camera installed by the UAF/GI (Sentman and others, this volume). On September 10, 2006, a second radio-telemetered network camera was installed at Lagoon camp on the west side of Augustine Island, 5.4 km (3.3 miles) west-northwest of the summit. The installation of these camera systems proved valuable for assessing volcanic activity, determining ground hazards and on-island weather for visiting field teams, and deciphering depositional history after the eruption.

Alaska↗