Virtual Volcanology - Exploring volcanoes in Google Earth

Google Tech Talks
December, 18 2007

Volcanoes are some of the most dynamic and visually spectacular natural features on the Earth's surface. In Alaska, volcanoes are an intrinsic part of the landscape and culture, with over 70 volcanoes and volcanic fields that have been active in historic time. Monitoring of these volcanoes is undertaken by the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) using a suite of methods and tools in the fields of remote sensing, seismology, geodesy and geology that produce large volumes of geospatial data. The evolution in the capabilities of Google Earth and KML has provided a user-friendly interface and information-rich context in which these data can be displayed simultaneously and dynamically, offering new possibilities for communications with other scientists, emergency managers and the general public. I will present an overview of AVO's operations, and demonstrate our, and the wider volcanological community's use of Google Earth.

Speaker: John E. Bailey
John E. Bailey, Alaska Volcano Observatory & Arctic Region Supercomputing Center, University of Alaska Fairbanks

John Bailey majored in Physics and Space Science at the University of Kent at Canterbury, England. After a year spent working and traveling around the world he attended the University of Hawaii, obtaining a MS and PhD in Geology and Geophysics, focusing on physical and remote sensing volcanology. He is currently a postdoc with the Arctic Region Supercomputing Center involved in operations and research at the Alaska Volcano Observatory in Fairbanks, Alaska. His current interests include the development of KML as a visualization tool for volcano and other scientific datasets.

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[JonThm]

The venting of geothermal steam does molecular nuclear fusion, and powers a volcanoes

[danschaoticmind]

@JonThm No, we really cannot. To give an idea as to the intensity to which these volcanoes erupt, Pinatubo erupted with about 500X the force of the Tsar bomb. The sheer amount of pressure contained in volcanic eruptions simply cannot be contained by todays methods. In fact, if you were to somehow stop a volcano from erupting, you'd likely see the same material being erupted elsewhere this is what happened with Katmai. If you want a good example, look up tuya.

[geobrowser]

@spongebobCP You need to record the tour as a video. To do this you can use any one of a number of free (or not) software applications that allow screen video capture.

The example in the above video was done using a complex system of image/video captures that were then edited together....because KML Tours didn't come along until 2 years later. Now I use Google Earth Pro which includes a built in movie-maker that integrates seamlessly with Tours.

[spongebobCP]

how do i post tours from google earth onto youtube?!

[JonThm]

We can stop eruptions easily

[CrisAndAirTwins]

how did u upload 55 minutes the limit is only 10 mins

[matthewm04]

if thisi the real google they should have been a frickin partner

[SteveSparx]

fascinating

[ScrapyardApe]

There are several in BC that have erupted within the past few hundred years.

[mrke8ting]

Is there any active volcanoes in canada?