Joanna Wendel's 2016 Article On Tracking Volcanic Eruptions

JoAnna Wendel’s 2016 article on tracking volcanic eruptions through the use of sound waves challenges the idea that one would be able to receive insight on volcanic activity through ground-coupled air waves. Ground-coupled airways, GCAs, can be used to analyze volcanic activity through “teasing acoustic information from seismometers” that scientists use in order to gather seismic information. Both acoustic sensors and seismometers are used in the experiment, but there is not always enough information from acoustic sensors used; therefore, seismic data becomes the focus. Tracking seismic data will allow for more information when tracking eruptions, which can provide fruitful in the event of a large earthquake producing large amounts of ash that may cause damage.

The rate at which acoustic waves travel depend on eruption size. As acoustic waves hit the ground, they become ground waves “that shake a seismometer much like earthquake waves do.” Though scientists have observed and disregarded the transition of acoustic waves into ground waves, David Fee, a seismologist at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, decided to study acoustic waves using seismic data from the Veniaminof and Pavlof volcanoes. The article stated how Fee and his team adjusted their data knowing acoustic waves traveled ten times slower than seismic waves. They extracted acoustic waves from seismic data. Not only did the team extract acoustic waves, but by measuring “the time it took for each wave to arrive at several seismic stations around the volcano” they were able to locate the volcano