Geoscientists Without Borders helping Guatemalans monitor Pacaya volcano
Geoscientists Without Borders helping Guatemalans monitor Pacaya volcano
Jun 25, 2014 by Dennis Walikainen
Guatemala's Pacaya volcano needs monitoring to prevent death and destruction from eruptions and landslides, and Michigan Technological University researchers are helping local residents and government agencies do just that.
As part of a two-year, $100,000 project, Thomas Oommen, Gregory Waite, and Rüdiger Escobar-Wolf have joined their Guatemalan counterparts scouting the countryside around the volcano to come up with the best sites for monitoring equipment. It's the first step in compiling information to set up equipment for volcanic monitoring, part of a Society of Exploration Geophysicists-Geoscientists Without Borders (SEG-GWB) project.
"The infrastructure is not there," said Oommen, assistant professor of geological and mining engineering and sciences. "They lack proper instrumentation, and we will overcome this challenge with seismic stations, GPS, high-resolution cameras and other devices to capture the data."
They'll also produce permanent displays explaining volcanic hazards and monitoring to inform local people and visiting tourists.
More:
http://phys.org/news/2014-06-geoscientists-borders-guatemalans-pacaya-volcano.html#jCp
