The National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System is a
U.S.
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
federal program within the
U.S. Geological Survey
The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...
for monitoring
volcano
A volcano is a rupture in the crust of a planetary-mass object, such as Earth, that allows hot lava, volcanic ash, and gases to escape from a magma chamber below the surface.
On Earth, volcanoes are most often found where tectonic plates are ...
activity and providing early warning to threatened areas. It was authorized by the
on March 12, 2019.
Background
![Augustine Volcano Jan 12 2006 edited-1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Augustine_Volcano_Jan_12_2006_edited-1.jpg)
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
Glacier Peak or Dakobed (known in the Sauk-Suiattle dialect of the Lushootseed language as "Tda-ko-buh-ba" or "Takobia") is the most isolated of the five major stratovolcanoes (composite volcanoes) of the Cascade Volcanic Arc in the U.S state of ...
, 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. 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
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
,
Washington
Washington commonly refers to:
* Washington (state), United States
* Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States
** A metonym for the federal government of the United States
** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...
,
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, and
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...
, with the most dangerous being
Kilauea. Some volcano monitoring has been performed by the
Volcano Hazards Program The Volcano Hazards Program is a program directed by the USGS that monitors the activity of volcanoes and the public awareness of eruptions. Under the mandate of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act (Stafford Act), the ...
, directed by the USGS, but the program lacks sufficient funding to properly close the monitoring gap.
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
Mount St. Helens (known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat) is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United St ...
, and
Long Valley Caldera
Long Valley Caldera is a depression in eastern California that is adjacent to Mammoth Mountain. The valley is one of the Earth's largest calderas, measuring about long (east-west), wide (north-south), and up to deep.
Long Valley was formed 7 ...
.
Purpose
The National Volcano Early Warning and Monitoring System has two purposes:
*To "organize, modernize, standardize, and stabilize the monitoring systems of the volcano observatories in the United States, which includes the
Alaska Volcano Observatory
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 ...
,
California Volcano Observatory
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 ...
,
Cascades Volcano Observatory
The David A. Johnston Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO) is a volcano observatory in the US that monitors volcanoes in the northern Cascade Range. It was established in the summer of 1980, after the eruption of Mount St. Helens.[Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is an agency of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and one of five volcano observatories operating under the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. Based in Hilo, Hawaii, the observatory monitors six Hawaiian volcanoe ...]
, and
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
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 Col ...
".
*To "unify the monitoring systems of volcano observatories in the United States into a single interoperative system".
Details
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 were not immediately
appropriated.
Final appropriations for fiscal year 2021 provided $30 million to the Volcano Hazards Program, which includes the warning and moitoring system.
In April, 2022, the USGS released its Volcano Hazards Program Strategic Science Plan for the five-year period from 2022 to 2026.
As of June, 2022, the USGS had spent approximately $13.5 million on foundational activities for the volcano monitoring system, including a next-generation
lahar
A lahar (, from jv, ꦮ꧀ꦭꦲꦂ) is a violent type of mudflow or debris flow composed of a slurry of pyroclastic material, rocky debris and water. The material flows down from a volcano, typically along a river valley.
Lahars are extreme ...
detection system on Mt. Rainier, upgrading telemetry in Alaska for 27 volcano stations, improving monitoring networks in Oregon, Washington, and Hawaii. In the fiscal year 2023 budget, Congress increased the funding of the system to over $18 million and also included $29 million from a separate account to replace the
Hawaiian Volcano Observatory
The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO) is an agency of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and one of five volcano observatories operating under the USGS Volcano Hazards Program. Based in Hilo, Hawaii, the observatory monitors six Hawaiian volcanoe ...
.
See also
*
References
{{reflist
Further reading
Observing the Volcano World: Volcano Crisis CommunicationAn assessment of volcanic threat and monitoring capabilities in the United States: framework for a National Volcano Early Warning SystemInstrumentation Recommendations for Volcano Monitoring at U.S. Volcanoes Under the National Volcano Early Warning System
External links
Volcanology
United States Geological Survey
Volcano monitoring