Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles (playful music) - [Narrator] Volcanic corruptions like this may look mesmerizing and sometimes attract flux of tourists, but they're also dangerous events that impact human activities, displace people, and cost lives. - The prediction is that we did lose some 50% of our GDP as a result of the volcanic eruption. - [Narrator] Take this volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. No deaths were reported, but many people had to evacuate and ash blanketed entire neighborhoods. Or this Icelandic volcano that erupted in 2010, paralyzing air traffic and costing nearly $5 billion to global GDP. So far, tools like seismicity monitors have allowed volcanologists to forecast unrest days or weeks in advance, but now NASA scientists say they can help forecast eruptions months or even years ahead of time using satellite imagery and monitoring changes in ground temperature. - We wanted to understand to what extent the heat released by volcanoes can be used to detect when volcanoes start to reactivate. There are many impacts of volcanic eruptions and our goal is to minimize those impacts as much as possible. - [Narrator] So here's how it works and how scientists say we could benefit from this new research. An early sign of a volcanic eruption is heat, as the magma underground rises, bringing warm gases to the surface. - We see that these heat emissions, they start to appear for several months to years before eruption and we observe these signals prior to the changes that we observe with other types of signals. - [Narrator] The problem is that these heat emissions can be hard to monitor on the ground, So Girona and his team turned to the sky. NASA satellites have already been recording years of information on thermal activity. - In fact, none of these satellites have been designed specifically to explore volcanoes, but we can still use that information for monitoring volcanic eruptions. - [Narrator] After looking at two decades of radiant heat data for several volcanoes, the researchers found a pattern. In the years leading up to interruption, temperatures increased over much of each volcano before dropping again after the eruption. - [Tarsilo] We are detecting the early reactivation of the volcano, which is crucial to improve the monitoring efforts. - [Narrator] But before this technology can be fully deployed in the real world, scientists will have to process much more data. - Hopefully in a few years, we can have a better understanding of the signals, better understanding of volcanoes, and we can provide accurate forecasts. - [Narrator] With about 1,500 active volcanoes on Earth and troves of satellite data for each one of them, the NASA team is seeking help from algorithms and other researchers around the world. - This is another tool in our toolbox. - [Narrator] That's Mike Poland. He's a geophysicist for the U.S. Geological Survey. He says that these satellite images will have to be used in tandem with other traditional methods. - If you're building a house, you don't just show up with a screwdriver. You've got a screwdriver, a hammer, a saw, and we need a diverse toolkit so that we can recognize all the different types of signs that volcanoes might be giving us. - [Narrator] Seismometers gas, sensors, and radar sensors are some of the tools that volcanologists will continue to use. Giving communities more time to prepare could make the difference between saving livelihoods or not. In St. Vincent, the local observatory noticed signs of unrest weeks in advance and officials were ready to evacuate 20,000 residents before the volcano erupted, helping to avoid casualties and greater damage. But with even more warning, officials say they may have been able to avoid damage such as water contamination, for example. - When the massive eruption there took place, it compromised our entire water supply. All of our reservoirs were contaminated with ash. We were without water for a couple of days and perhaps going forward, we can look at maybe putting in tents where persons can store water properly. We have to look at greater mitigation where natural disasters are concerned. - [Narrator] And in the case of that Icelandic volcano, scientists say that more warning would have given the aviation industry more time to adapt and find alternative routes. - It's important to forecast eruptions because we can reduce the impact at a local scale, but also at a global scale if you're talking about much larger eruptions. (tranquil futuristic music)
B1 US WSJ narrator volcanic volcano eruption nasa How NASA Satellites Can Help Predict Volcanic Eruptions and Limit Damage | WSJ 12 1 joey joey posted on 2021/05/30 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary