Operationalizing Global Volcano Monitoring Using High Resolution Orbital Remote Sensing

High resolution (i.e., sub-100 m) visible/near infrared (VNIR) and thermal infrared (TIR) orbital data are vital for the scientific study of numerous volcanic processes including eruption detection, thermal baseline monitoring, measuring degassing rates, and compositional change assessment. However, these data are rarely captured at a temporal cadence required to model trends in dynamic systems nor create quantitative forecasts about future activity. Sensor-webs created to improve the repeat time of these high resolution sensors rely on early detection by lower resolution instruments and/or data from ground-based systems each with much better temporal resolution. The ASTER Urgent Request Protocol (URP) is one such sensor-web created to increase data collection of the world's most active volcanoes. It has operated since 2004 acquiring an additional 6,200 scenes of more than 100 different volcanoes. The URP is a combined effort of university and government (NASA, USGS) partners, and the data are used operationally for monitoring, crisis response, and to inform future mission development.