Inside the technology keeping watch over Washington’s active volcanoes
Keeping tabs on seismic activity in Cascades
Washingtonians can rest easy knowing some high-level technology is keeping tabs on any volcano rumblings.
VANCOUVER, Wash. - Living in the Ring of Fire, Washington state residents are no strangers to the possibility of volcanic activity. With five active volcanoes, including Mount St. Helens, the threat of a repeat eruption looms large in many minds. Scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory want to ease fears by sharing the process of seismic monitoring, and by explaining how the advanced technology works.
At the Observatory’s Vancouver warehouse, scientists spend months thoroughly testing their seismometers before deploying them out in the mountains.
"We don’t want to put something on the landscape and then two weeks later find out it’s not working," remarked Jon Major, Scientist-In-Charge at the Cascades Volcano Observatory. "Especially at some place like Glacier Peak then you have to go hike out two and a half days to replace it."
Rumbles from WA's Mount Adams pulls scientists from ‘high-threat’ volcano
The installation of critical seismic sensors at Glacier Peak, one of Washington state's "very high threat" volcanoes, has been delayed for another two years.
During this testing phase, the sensitive instruments are placed in what is essentially a sandbox for weeks on end. Major and his team want to ensure, the sensors detect even minor vibrations such as the movement of people walking by.
"We are measuring local earthquakes, very small movements, anything that causes any vibration in the ground," he explained.
The seismometers at the Observatory are attuned to detect even the slightest ground movements. Major showed how a simple stomp on the ground was enough to generate a detectable signal.
"When I stomp on the ground, the vibration is causing a signal that causes the seismometer to jiggle, and those jiggles are what we’re seeing on the seismograms," he said.
But these sensors have limitations. While they can detect tremors underground, they can't always pick up activity above the surface, like the ash clouds that erupted from Mount St. Helens in 1980. To monitor such events, the Observatory relies on a complementary technology: infrasound sensors.
Infrasound sensors can pick up soundwaves that are undetectable to the human ear. These waves, like those created by landslides, can provide crucial data about volcanic activity.
All of this high-tech equipment requires a reliable power source and a base. The Observatory’s remote monitoring stations are equipped with solar panels, cameras, and antennas that transmit data back to the main facility. These stations, which are powered by 200-watt solar panels and packed with batteries, ensure that any signs of unusual activity are quickly reported to researchers.
"To get it to be able to read, we have to convert it into a digital signal," Major explained. "Then there’s a radio transmitter that transmits that data back to us here at the observatory."
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