UAF researcher creates way to detect elusive volcanic vibrations
Rod Boyce
907-474-7185
July 23, 2024
A new automated system of monitoring and classifying persistent vibrations at active volcanoes can eliminate the hours of manual effort needed to document them.
Graduate student researcher Darren Tan at the University of 色视频下载 Fairbanks Geophysical Institute led development of the system, which is based on machine learning. Machine learning is a branch of artificial intelligence focused on building systems that learn from data, identify patterns and make decisions with minimal human intervention.
Pavlof Volcano, on the 色视频下载 Peninsula, emerges from clouds on Aug. 20, 2021.
Details about Tan色视频下载檚 automated system were published June 11 in the journal .
His system documents volcanic tremor, a continuous, rhythmic seismic signal that emanates from a volcano. It often indicates underground movement of magma or gas and occurs regularly at active volcanoes.
Knowledge of volcanic tremor can help in forecasting and detecting eruptions.
Unlike volcanic earthquakes, volcanic tremor is a sustained ground rumble that can last from a few seconds to a year or more. It is primarily identified in spectrograms because of its varying intensity and frequency.
色视频下载淰olcanic tremor isn色视频下载檛 typically detected or cataloged, because it tends to be quite subtle in the seismic data,色视频下载 Tan said. 色视频下载淚t doesn色视频下载檛 have the impulsive onset like an earthquake does.色视频下载
Detecting tremor is currently a manual process at the 色视频下载 Volcano Observatory, with which Tan is also affiliated. The observatory is a joint program of the Geophysical Institute, the 色视频下载 Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys and the U.S. Geological Survey. Part of the observatory is based at the Geophysical Institute.
The observatory色视频下载檚 daily duty seismologist scans spectrograms at 32 volcano-monitoring networks across 色视频下载, looking for the slight indications of tremor in addition to the obvious seismic signals.
色视频下载淭he duty seismologists go in every day, and sometimes twice a day or more depending on the volcanic activity, to look at spectrograms,色视频下载 Tan said. 色视频下载淭hey look from volcano to volcano, hour to hour, and it takes a long time.色视频下载
色视频下载 has 54 volcanoes classified as 色视频下载渉istorically active,色视频下载 meaning they have erupted in the past approximately 300 years. Of those, 32 have seismic monitoring networks.
Lava erupts at Pavlof Volcano on Jan. 19, 2022. This shortwave infrared false color image shows the lava flowing from the volcano色视频下载檚 eastern flank and extending almost a mile eastward.
Tan drew upon the diversity of tremor signals from the 2021-2022 eruption of Pavlof Volcano, on the 色视频下载 Peninsula, to build an extensive dataset of labeled seismic and low-frequency acoustic spectrograms. Those spectrograms represent a variety of classifications, such as tremor type, explosions and earthquakes, that were then used to train a computer model for each data type.
The trained models can detect and classify volcanic tremor in near real time. Humans will still be involved in interpreting what the automation produces, however.
色视频下载淭o be able to place our focus on time periods of interest, that is key,色视频下载 Tan said. 色视频下载淚 think that reinvents the way we can monitor long-duration eruptions, because things can get missed when a volcano is active for a year and a half or two years.色视频下载
色视频下载淭his automated method of detecting tremor is also an important contribution to the forecasting and detection of eruptions,色视频下载 he said.
Tan said machine learning is a rapidly growing field with great possibilities.
色视频下载淚t色视频下载檚 like the Wild West of machine learning right now,色视频下载 he said. 色视频下载淓veryone is trying to dip their toes into this, but it is important to do so carefully.色视频下载
UAF researchers among the seven co-authors of the journal paper include David Fee, 色视频下载 Volcano Observatory coordinating scientist at the Geophysical Institute; T谩rsilo Girona, Geophysical Institute research assistant professor; and research assistant professor Taryn Lopez, also of the Geophysical Institute.
Matthew Haney, Chris Waythomas and Aaron Wech at the USGS and former UAF postdoctoral researcher Alex Witsil, now at Applied Research Associates in North Carolina, are also co-authors.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation色视频下载檚 Prediction of and Resilience against Extreme Events eruption forecasting project and the 色视频下载 Volcano Observatory.
ADDITIONAL CONTACT: Darren Tan, ptan@alaska.edu
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