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A picture can tell us a lot about a volcano. So much so that, in recent years, an ever increasing number of cameras have been pointed at eruptions—such as that of Fagradalsfjall, Iceland, in 2021—and beamed around the world for all to see. At any given time over the 6 months of the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption, channels live-streaming footage from Fagradalsfjall 24 hours a day had thousands of viewers. The public, monitoring agencies, and researchers alike were tuned in to watch fresh lava fountaining, oozing, and exploding out of the ground.

[December 19, 2024 at 11:04:54 AKST] Aerial view of Okmok volcano, Alaska, from the OKCF site

Besides the awe-inspiring visual experience provided by eruptions, the presence of ash, gas plumes, incandescence, and visual sighting of lava flows can all provide a wealth of information into the state of an ongoing eruption, which may not be apparent from other streams of data, such as seismicity and deformation. Monitoring agencies use this information during the course of their typical eruption—pre-, during, and post-—assessments to try better understand the potential hazards to the public. In addition, once in place, these devices enable safe, remote monitoring of activity, which is critical for the ongoing safety of the public and those tasked with monitoring, alike. Think ‘spider legs’ from Dante’s Peak, if a little more static (and somewhat more reliable!). Along with this wealth of imagery data has come a raft of research seeking to better understand eruption processes. For example, 2 cameras can be used in stereo to re-construct 3-D estimates of plume volumes, which can in turn provide improved forecasting of the potential for heightened concentrations of potentially harmful volcanic gases. Other research has sought to derive knowledge of the dynamics and properties of lava flows from time-lapse and video data, which can fed forward into future lava flow models that are used to forecast threats to the local population and infrastructure. In time, with more imagery data readily available, this field of research will play a pivotal role in eruption monitoring and even potentially forecasting.