INFRARED: Making Maps of Volcanic Hazards.

NDT Update, February, 2002

University at Buffalo (UB) volcanologists are pioneering the automation of the time-consuming and expensive process of developing volcanic hazard maps.

Together with their collaborators at UNAM, the National University of Mexico, they presented their newest hazard map, developed for the volcano Pico de Orizaba, Mexico's highest mountain, on January 10 in Mexico City. This is the third such hazard map of a Mexican volcano developed by Michael F. Sheridan, UB professor of geology and principal investigator, and colleagues using computer simulations of volcanic phenomena.

It was developed by applying advanced remote sensing techniques that allow scientists to identify weak zones in the volcano's surface. Hazard maps are the primary tools of government agencies...