Rapid Response to Volcanic Eruptions with an Autonomous Sensor Web: The Nyamulagira Eruption of 2006

Rapid response to alerts of impending or active volcanism is vital in the assessment of volcanic risk and hazard. The JPL model-driven volcano sensor Web (MSW) demonstrated such an autonomous response during a volcanic crisis at Nyamulagira volcano, D. R. Congo, in December 2006, quickly providing vital information to volcanologists in the field. The MSW was developed to enable fast science-driven asset command and control. Alerts of volcanic activity from around the world are used to trigger high resolution observations (both spectral and spatial) by the EO-1 spacecraft. Data are processed onboard EO-1 by advanced software (the autonomous sciencecraft experiment [ASE]). If volcanic thermal emission is detected, ASE retasks EO-1 to obtain more data. A summary of the observation is returned within two hours of data acquisition.