Draft 02/18/04

WOVOdat:

A project to make the data of worldwide volcanic unrest more accessible and useful

C.G. Newhall and D.Y. Venezky

The World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) will develop a web-accessible database of seismic, geodetic, gas, hydrologic, and other unrest from volcanoes around the world. Users will be able to compare unrest much more easily than at present, and to recognize and analyze patterns of unrest in the same way that epidemiologists study the spatial and temporal patterns and associations among

diseases.

Origins of WOVOdat

Systematic monitoring of volcanoes began in Italy in 1841 and in Japan by the end of the 19th century. In 1912, Thomas Jaggar of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) established the first U.S. volcano observatory in Hawaii. Throughout the rest of the 20th century, volcano observatories were established in virtually all regions with active volcanoes. Throughout much of this period, new knowledge of unrest and eruption precursors could be shared through exchange of papers at international scientific congresses. In 1981, the World Organization of Volcano Observatories (WOVO) was formed to promote communication between observatories. About 70 WOVO observatories now have email connections and most have their own websites (see and

Historically, several institutions and individuals have collected, archived, and disseminated volcano data. Most observatories have archived their own monitoring data. The Smithsonian Institution has compiled descriptions of worldwide current volcanism since 1968. A compilation of current and historic activity was published first in book form (Simkin et al., 1981 and Simkin and Siebert, 1994) and is now available online ( A simple but pioneering database of the characteristics of volcanic earthquake swarms was developed by Benoit and McNutt (1996).

In recent decades, advances in monitoring instrumentation increased the volume of monitoring data many-fold, and development of the Web and inexpensive but powerful computers now makes it possible to share those data with collaborators, students, and other interested users. To take advantage of these increasing amounts of data and new ways to use them, we are creating a central database called WOVOdat to contain, in common and easily accessible formats, a subset of time-series and geo-referenced data from each WOVO observatory. WOVOdat will be Web accessible and will include links to Smithsonian data about historical eruptions.

Uses of WOVOdat

WOVOdat will have multiple uses. First, it will be a digital library of worldwide volcanic unrest that can be searched for analogs of new or puzzling unrest. WOVOdat is being designedfor rapid retrieval and comparisons between data that are currently stored in such a myriad of formats that comparisons are difficult or impossible. WOVOdat will contain a subsetof the total data volume now stored in volcano observatories, emphasizing processed data that are useful to compare from one volcano or episode to the next. The observatories will remain the primary archives of raw and detailed data on individual episodes of unrest.

What advantages does a digital library hold over our existing collections of journals, monographs, and individual observatory data files? We are great fans of the classical library, but we also recognize that (a) many volcanologists have only modest libraries at their observatories and no libraries at remote volcanoes; (b) a typical query in even the best “bricks and mortar” library will requires months of research, whereas the same query can be run in a digital library, potentially, in seconds, (c) digital data sets can contain both published and unpublished data, and (d) digital data can be easily updated and used as input for further analysis.

For example, a conventional library search for analogues of unrest in Long Valley, California, led to a two-volume compilation of caldera unrest (Newhall and Dzurisin, 1988). Among the conclusions reached in these volumes: most large caldera magma and hydrothermal systems are restless (metastable) most of the time and are easily disturbed by regional tectonic strain, even distant earthquakes, and increments of magma supply from depth. Yet, at the same time, these large systems can buffer most disturbances without eruption. The compilation provided a useful context for discussion of Long Valley unrest, but is now almost two decades out of date, is available only in hard copy, and allows only qualitative comparisons between the included unrest.

In its second use, WOVOdat will be an organized, relational database designed for complex searches and analyses. Just as epidemiological databases help medical researchers to identify factors in the spatial and temporal distribution of diseases, WOVOdat will help volcanologists to find patterns that will aid diagnosis, prognosis, and the study of causes of unrest. WOVOdat queries may also lead to discoveries of systematic relations or patterns between unrest, tectonics, and the physics, chemistry, and eruptive style of magmatic systems.

A natural early search of WOVOdat will be for relationships between volcanic unrest and regional (tectonic) earthquakes, over various timescales. Some associations are already clear, e.g., immediate triggering of volcanic seismicity upon passage of teleseismic surface waves as seen during the 1992 Landers and 2002 Denali earthquakes. Other associations are more speculative (Hill et al., 2002) and should be tested. WOVOdat is being designed such that the data of unrest can be correlated with regional earthquake catalogs.

A third use for WOVOdat will be to promote a standard for collecting and storing volcano data in consistent formats. Current volcano monitoring is both enriched and hampered by many different types of instruments, observations, and ways to manage data. WOVO has neither the desire nor the mandate to demand or enforce standardization, but it will make available a set of data management tools that, over time, can lead to greater efficiency and consistency in routine observatory data gathering and storage. In the past, observatories have developed their own, often-incompatible data management solutions. WOVOdat will bridge and eventually narrow differences between these independent solutions.

(insert sidebar near here)

Planning WOVOdat

Two international planning workshops have affirmed WOVO and other interest and developed a set of requirements for WOVOdat. The first workshop, held in Bali in conjunction with the 2000 General Assembly of IAVCEI, was attended by 40 representatives from 18 countries. The second workshop, held in Menlo Park following the Fall 2002 AGU meeting, was attended by 37 representatives from 7 countries. For the second workshop we made a special effort to involve participants who have developed advanced systems to display and manage volcano-monitoring data but were unable to attend the first workshop.

Agendas and summaries of the Bali and Menlo Park workshops are at Participants in Bali described the full range of volcano data management; those in Menlo Park were shown demonstrations of several advanced data management initiatives, including GEOWARN and MULTIMO from multinational European groups, systems of the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia’s Osservatorio Vesuviano and the Institut Physique du Globe de Paris’ Observatoires Volcanologiques et Sismologiques, and U.S. Geological Survey projects of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (VALVE) and the Long Valley Observatory (in collaboration with Stanford University and UC Berkeley), among others.

Principal conclusions from the Bali and Menlo workshops

Need and willingness to participate in WOVOdat:

  • Although WOVO observatories function today without ready access to data from other volcanoes, participants concur that WOVOdat will be a very useful, new reference tool for research and crisis response. Nearly all observatories willparticipate, if the WOVOdat project canminimizetime demands on their staff.

General strategy:

  • The WOVOdat design will be as simple and standard as possible, using open-source database software. We hope to partner with developers of several impressive data visualization softwarepackages that were demonstrated at the Menlo workshop. These end-user programs would be available on the WOVOdat website. We will alsoencourage users to contribute additional software tools.
  • Several observatories have volunteered to test the database design and data import utilities. Pending funding and the above-mentioned negotiations, a pilot of the database design could be available for testing by mid-2004.
  • After testing and necessary revisionof the database design, the main phase of entering data will begin. WOVOdat will be populated both forward and backward in time.
  • For the past, episodes of unrest will be described together with a brief interval of quiescence to provide baselines. In contrast most future data will be continuous, to avoid artificial distinctions between unrest and quiescence and to avoid an additional sorting task for the observatories.
  • Long-term hosting and maintenance are still under discussion. Several potential sites and sources of funding were discussed in our planning workshops and proposals are being prepared.

Parameters and Data Quality:

  • Most of the data entered into WOVOdat will be minimally processed, i.e., processed enough to be publishable but no further. Examples include earthquake hypocenters, GPS coordinates, and gas concentrations or fluxes. Derivative parameters such as rates can be pre-calculated or calculated as neededfrom the basic data.
  • Limited samples of raw data will be included for illustrative purposes. For example, representative seismic waveforms might be included to illustrate each type of earthquake at a given volcano, as recorded at 0-3, 3-10, and >10 km distances.
  • A few datatypes will be highly processed, e.g., radar interferograms, and/or presented only in image form, e.g., most thermal remote sensing images. Metadata will include sources of raw data.
  • The details of networks, sites (stations), and instruments will be documented in separate lookup tables.
  • A draft list of parameters may be found at This list is still under development.

Database Schema:

  • Database schemas from several current volcano data management systems and a draft schema for WOVOdat were examined. None of the available table and attribute designs could answer anticipated queries. We are therefore creating a new schema for the pilot project.
  • X-Y-Z-time monitoring data will be without reference to a specific period of unrest or eruption. The start and stop dates of any eruptions, from the Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Program, will be stored separately.
  • A flexible design will allow the addition of new types of data and allow data to be served to several widely used time series and spatial data visualization programs.
  • The data uploadprocess will require only minimal additional data entry, mostly into the lookup tables, and we will work with each observatory to create the data loading scripts.

Access:

  • The philosophy and utility of WOVOdat is to make (observatory-processed) data freely available to all users. WOVOdat will encourage a culture of open data sharing. Standard rules of collegiality and credit will apply, supplemented by any specific requests from contributing observatories.
  • Most data will be accessible as soon as they are entered into WOVOdat. To eliminate special demands of streaming telemetry, WOVOdat will not be real-time; rather, it will be an historical database with data as current as contributions allow.
  • For efficiency, some observatories will update their contributions to WOVOdat at the same time they archive data internally. Other observatories might wait delay data contributions for up to two years, to give their scientists time to analyze and publish their own data. Short delays in data contributions will satisfy the need of some observatories to limit confusion during crises.
  • Raw, unprocessed data will be retained by observatories and/or archived into specialized repositories such as IRIS for seismic waveforms and UNAVCO for GPS data. Access to these raw datawill be under collegial arrangements with observatories, as at present, or via the procedures of the specialized repositories.

Next steps

Two workshops have refined and reaffirmed the concept of WOVOdat as a digital library for reference during crises and research. WOVOdat is now moving into a pilot design phase, with the philosophy to adopt existing standards where available and advantageous. WOVO is also seeking added resources to complete design and testing, to develop user interfaces, and to support a small staff that would work with member observatories to populate WOVOdat and, at the same time, minimize impacts on their existing staff. We envision that graduate students and observatory scientists on temporary duty may supplement this small staff. Those who would be interested in this opportunity to combine computer skills, volcano study, and travel can contact us at We also invite comments from, and are keen to explore partnerships with, those in other science communities tackling similar problems.

References cited

Benoit J and McNutt S, 1996, The Global Volcanic Earthquake Swarm Database

1979-1989. USGS Open-File Report 96-69 and

Hill DP, Pollitz F, Newhall C (2002) Earthquake-volcano interactions. Phys Today 55:41-47

Newhall CG, Dzurisin D (1988) Historical unrest at large calderas of the world. US Geol Surv Bull 1855, 1108 p

Simkin T, Siebert L (1994) Volcanoes of the World (2nd ed) Geoscience Press, Tucson 349 p.

Sidebar: Examples of questions that could be addressed using WOVOdat

Some likely questions from volcanologists:

  • Given developing patterns of seismicity, ground deformation, gas emission and other parameters, where else has such volcano unrest been observed? What was the outcome? Using statistical correlations of unrest and outcomes, what are the probabilities of various scenarios (including false alarms)?
  • What are the most diagnostic precursors to eruptions of a particular volcano, type of volcano, or type of eruption? This is a deceptively complicated query, as it requires examination of temporal, spatial and spectral patterns of multiple parameters and examination of unrest rates and changes in those rates.
  • How do the various datatypes (parameters) correlate with one another? For example, how do long-period earthquakes correlate with SO2 emission rates?
  • Is magmatic intrusion causing current unrest? If yes, how likely is it to reach the surface, and how soon?
  • What is the significance of a particular change in one or more parameters, e.g. sudden seismic quiescence? From a number of possible causes, which are best supported by data?
  • What does the character of volcanic unrest imply about the coupling and interaction between magmas, hydrothermal systems and regional tectonics?
  • What interesting patterns exist in the volcano monitoring data, especially, patterns that have escaped prior notice?

Some likely questions from students, the general public, and public officials:

  • What are the most common precursors of volcanic eruptions? Which of theseare the most reliable? Is there a combinationof precursory phenomena that is an especially reliable predictor of eruptions?
  • How does current activity of my hometown volcano compare with its baseline activity (quiescent state)? Is the current activity common or unusual?
  • Given current unrest, how soon might an eruption occur? At the earliest? Most likely? At the latest?

Pre-designed SQL queries would be developed for common questions; users will develop their own queries for less commonly asked questions.