GPS Spotlight
 
Science Spotlight

Station AV03


Researcher: Max Enders
UNAVCO


This photo shows the AV03 monument after it was destroyed by the January 2006 eruption.


Name: AV03AUGST AK2004
State: AK
Country: United States
Elevation: 360.1 m
Lat/Long:  59.3813 / -153.4378

Augustine Volcano

Augustine Volcano is a stratovolcano located near the mouth of Cook Inlet, approximately 280 km southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. When it was selected as a scientific target of the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory, it had erupted four times since 1900, most recently in 1986, and had ongoing seismic and fumarole activity. Augustine Volcano itself is unpopulated, but its location near Anchorage makes it a potential hazard to the most heavily populated area of Alaska, particularly to commercial aviation in the region. The GPS network was installed in 2004. Data from this network provided important information about the growing unrest inside the caldera. The volcano erupted in January 2006.

For more photos, see the USGS Alaska Volcano Observatory website

Figure 1. AV03 is one of six GPS units installed at Augustine Volcano by the EarthScope Plate Boundary Observatory.


Figure 3. This plot shows the motion of the GPS sites (in blue) before the eruption. These are consistent with inflation of the magma chamber. White outlines are the modeled values, modified from Cervelli et al, GRL, 2006.

 

Figure 2. The Augustine eruption of January 2006 caused significant volcanic plumes.


Figure 4. This is an up close view of the data for AV04. Here you can easily see that AV04 (which is closer to the crater than AV03) mostly moved to the west beginning in November 2005 (i.e. the east component moves negative). Data from this site stopped abruptly after the January 12 eruption. (For help interpreting the graphs, see the GPS Data page.)

Spotlight Questions

  • Why do airports worry about volcanic eruptions?

Back to map

Last modified: 2019-12-26  16:24:58  America/Denver  

 

Please send comments and corrections to educationunavco.org.

Copyright © 2012 - 2024 UNAVCO and the GPS Reflections Research Group.
All Rights Reserved.

Funding and Acknowledgements.