Pathfinder
Editor, Senior Moderator
YELLOWSTONE VOLCANO OBSERVATORY
Ice and Snow at Yellowstone Cause Telemetry Problems
Ice and Snow at Yellowstone Cause Telemetry Problems
- Recent telemetry problems, from ice and snow buildup on data transmission antennas, have caused intermittent malfunctions of the University of Utah's automated earthquake location system. The malfunctions result in false earthquake reports, which upon review, are then manually deleted from the earthquake catalog. The snow and ice buildup interferes with the continuous streaming of seismic data causing occasional signal dropouts. The dropouts cause spikes to appear in the data streams, which the automated system misinterprets as the abrupt appearance of a high amplitude seismic wave from an earthquake. Windy conditions, common this time of year, exacerbate the problem by contributing additional noise and thereby reducing the overall signal quality of the seismic data streams. In most cases, seismologists at the University of Utah can overcome these problems and still identify and locate earthquakes correctly. Seismic activity at Yellowstone remains at background levels.
By checking the webicorder displays one can easily discern whether an actual earthquake has occurred. Please see this tutorial for how to interpret the webicorders.
More information about errors in the real-time earthquake system that lead to erroneous reports can be found here: Earthquake Hazards Program Errata for Real-time Earthquakes page.
Information about Recent Media Coverage of Yellowstone Volcano
- An article published by National Geographic on January 19, 2011 highlights the current research results of scientists from YVO partner University of Utah (UU) and the National Central University of Taiwan. The National Geographic piece has led to several subsequent articles about Yellowstone, some of which misrepresent the research, current geological activity, and the potential for future eruptions. Geological activity over the past five years includes widespread ground uplift and two notable earthquake swarms. Though scientifically interesting, such events are common in large caldera systems like Yellowstone, and are not indicative of an imminent eruption. Moreover, the research described ground uplift that stopped about a year ago. For more information, please see our webpage describing the University of Utah research, or the original papers published in Geophysical Research Letters. Our monthly update can be seen above.
[...] - http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/yvo/
- An article published by National Geographic on January 19, 2011 highlights the current research results of scientists from YVO partner University of Utah (UU) and the National Central University of Taiwan. The National Geographic piece has led to several subsequent articles about Yellowstone, some of which misrepresent the research, current geological activity, and the potential for future eruptions. Geological activity over the past five years includes widespread ground uplift and two notable earthquake swarms. Though scientifically interesting, such events are common in large caldera systems like Yellowstone, and are not indicative of an imminent eruption. Moreover, the research described ground uplift that stopped about a year ago. For more information, please see our webpage describing the University of Utah research, or the original papers published in Geophysical Research Letters. Our monthly update can be seen above.