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Evolution of Volcano Hazards Monitoring of the Cascades Chain in Washington and Oregon: Cascades Volcano Observatory

Description: 

The U.S. Geological Survey Cascades Volcano Observatory (USGS CVO) began expanding its geophysical network for monitoring hazards associated with the Cascades Volcanoes throughout Washington and Oregon in 2001. Nine of the Washington and Oregon volcanoes have been classified as High- or Very-High-Threat by the USGS due to their eruptive history, types of hazards, and potential impact to populations and infrastructure. CVO’s hazard-monitoring goals are to detect and interpret real-time geophysical and geochemical signals to provide early and accurate warnings of volcanic unrest and eruptions. Throughout this timeframe CVO has worked in collaboration with the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network (PNSN) with support from the EarthScope GAGE facility in growing the network to cover 6 of the 9 High- and Very-High-Threat volcanoes. At present the CVO network has a total of 86 real-time stations including a broad spectrum of stand-alone and co-located monitoring instrumentation (seismic, infrasound, deformation, gas, and cameras) with metadata and continuous waveform data shared publicly in near-real-time and daily GNSS data and metadata available from EarthScope SAGE & GAGE, respectively. Volcano networks have unique challenges regarding power requirements and telemetry paths due to their remoteness and harsh winter environments. The CVO network has seen significant changes in technology, federal regulations, and funding over the last several decades that have both hindered and aided the growth of the network. Changes in federal regulations forced agencies to switch from analog to digital telemetry which proved to be a challenge early on but advances in cellular and satellite telemetry technology along with increases in funding have made the switch more viable. Even with substantial growth and enhancements, significant monitoring gaps still exist at most Washington and Oregon High- and Very-High-Threat volcanoes. Because of this, CVO’s network will continue to improve real-time monitoring capabilities to aid scientists in better assessing volcanic processes in near-real time throughout Washington and Oregon.

Session: Network Seismology: Recent Developments, Challenges and Lessons Learned [Poster Session]

Type: Poster

Date: 5/1/2024

Presentation Time: 08:00 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Amberlee

Student Presenter: No

Invited Presentation: 

Authors