Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Reports

Browse more than 82,000 reports authored by our scientists over the past 100+ year history of the USGS and refine search by topic, location, year, and advanced search.

Filter Total Items: 84791

Seismic techniques and suggested instrumentation to monitor volcanoes Seismic techniques and suggested instrumentation to monitor volcanoes

Introduction Changes in the pressure or location of magma can stress or break surrounding rocks and trigger flow of nearby waters and gases, causing seismic signals, such as discrete earthquakes and tremor. These phenomena are types of seismic unrest that commonly precede eruption and can be used to forecast volcanic activity. Mass movements at the surface, including avalanches, debris...
Authors
Weston A. Thelen, John J. Lyons, Aaron G. Wech, Seth C. Moran, Matthew M. Haney, Ashton F. Flinders

Special topic—Rapid-response instrumentation Special topic—Rapid-response instrumentation

Introduction Based on the reports of Ewert and others (2005, 2018) and Moran and others (2008), most U.S. volcanoes are currently under-monitored and are likely to remain so until the goals of the National Volcano Early Warning System are fulfilled. In addition, volcanoes determined to have low to moderate threat levels (Ewert and others 2005, 2018) could awaken suddenly and, as a result...
Authors
Ashton F. Flinders

Special topic—Unoccupied aircraft systems Special topic—Unoccupied aircraft systems

Introduction Unoccupied aircraft systems (UAS) increasingly support volcano monitoring and eruption response activities in the United States and abroad (James and others, 2020). Advances in UAS platforms and miniaturization of sensors over the past decade have expanded the use of this technology for a wide range of applications within volcanology (Jordan, 2019; James and others, 2020)...
Authors
Angela K. Diefenbach

Special topic—Boreholes Special topic—Boreholes

Introduction Installation of instrument packages in deep (several hundred to several thousand meters) boreholes near volcanoes is relatively expensive (a few million to tens of millions of U.S. dollars), but can provide a low-noise, high-quality source of geophysical (seismic, strain, tilt, and pore pressure), physical (temperature and water level), and geochemical data. Observations...
Authors
Shaul Hurwitz, Jacob B. Lowenstern

Special topic—Eruption plumes and clouds Special topic—Eruption plumes and clouds

Introduction Explosive eruptions create plumes of volcanic ash and gas that can rise more than 30,000 feet (9.1 kilometers [km]) above sea level within minutes of eruption onset. The resulting clouds disperse under prevailing winds and may cause hazardous conditions hundreds to thousands of kilometers from the volcano, including in international airspace. Rapid detection and...
Authors
David J. Schneider, Alexa R. Van Eaton

Monitoring marine eruptions Monitoring marine eruptions

Introduction Submarine volcanoes produce much of the same seismicity and eruptive activity as subaerial volcanoes and can pose hazards to society. Although they can be monitored with similar techniques and methods as described in other chapters of this volume, their submerged location brings unique challenges. This chapter addresses these challenges and provides recommendations for...
Authors
Gabrielle Tepp
Was this page helpful?