Hawaii Volcano Observatory
2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the Hawaii Volcano Observatory. From the edge of the crater at Kilauea, geologists have been monitoring every move that the volcano (along with Mauna Loa and Loihi) have made over the past century. Today, everyone can watch the volcano in action, thanks to the multitude of webcams and other real-time monitoring instruments that stream data worldwide as the eruption happens. HVO is one of 5 volcano observatories in the United States and many countries worldwide run observatories to watch over the volcanoes that could affect their people or lands. Check out this collection of the USGS volcano observatories plus some other observatories that keep watch on the world's volcanoes.
Image: Kilauea erupting in September 2011. HVO/USGS
Cascade Volcano Observatory
The USGS Cascade Volcano Observatory, based out of Vancouver, Washington, watches over the volcanoes that stretch from northern California to the Canadian border in Washington. This includes restless Mount St. Helens, the most active volcano in the Cascades, Mt. Rainier that looms over Tacoma and Seattle and Mt. Shasta, one of the largest composite volcanoes on the planet. You can watch St. Helens on an HD webcam and other real-time monitoring but the Cascades have been quiet since the end of the most recent St. Helens eruption in 2008.
Image: A view of Mt. Adams in Washington. CVO/USGS
Alaska Volcano Observatory
No other US volcano observatory has so many volcanoes under their watch - but the Alaska Volcano Observatory (run by the USGS and University of Alaska Fairbanks) covers the entire Aleutian chain along with other volcanoes in Alaska. They also keep a long-distance eye on volcanoes in Kamchatka with help from KVERT because the northern Pacific is a well-traveled aircraft route from North America and Europe to Asia. There are a plethora of webcams and webicorders that watch some of the more active Alaskan volcanoes, such as Veniaminof, Augustine, Redoubt and Iliamna - they even have an interactive map to help you find the real-time data for any of the wired volcanoes of the great north.
Image: The summit region of Iliamna, with steaming fumaroles, seen in September 2010. AVO/USGS by Tina Neal
Yellowstone Volcano Observatory
The Yellowstone Volcano Observatory, run by the USGS and University of Utah, is the only observatory tasked with watching a single volcano - the Yellowstone caldera. There is always hydrothermal activity going on in the caldera, which hasn't seen an eruption of new magma in over 3,000 years, so there is a lot of watch on the webcams in the National Park. There are also abundant webicorders and deformation meters - along with temperature gauges in the Norris Geyser Basin - logging every movement of the restless caldera in the middle of North America.
Image: Steamboat Geyser seen in 2000. YVO/USGS
Long Valley Observatory
It is easy to forget that North America hosts two major caldera volcanoes - the Yellowstone and Long Valley in California. The Long Valley area, in fact, has seen more recent volcanism that Yellowstone, with the eruptions from the Mono-Inyo chain of rhyolite domes coming as recently as 600 years ago. However, the reason for the close watch on Long Valley comes from activity at Mammoth Mountain, where carbon dioxide seeps out of the ground enough to kill trees, and the colossal caldera itself that produced the Bishop Tuff over 740,000 years ago. The Long Valley Observatory watches over the caldera and the younger domes and is operated out of the USGS offices at Menlo Park, CA and you can access monitoring data for the caldera as well.
Image: The Bishop Tuff seen near Bishop, California. LVO/USGS
Osservatorio Etneo - INGV Catania
There are many other volcano observatories all over the world - including one that watches every blip from Sicily's Etna, the Osservatorio Etneo. The observatory offers two flavors of webcams - both normal and IR cameras that allow people to see the action at Etna even when seeing conditions aren't optimal. The observatory also has webcams pointed at Stromboli and Vulcano, two other active volcanoes in the Aeolian Islands.
Image: The January 5, 2012 eruption from Etna. Courtesy of Boris Behncke/INGV.
Some volcano observatories are there to watch an active volcano that isn't a large threat to the local people (see Kilauea). Some, however, are there because of the significant threat posed by the nearby volcano - and that is the case for the Volcano Observatory in Pasto, Colombia run by INGEOMINAS that watches over Galeras (along with Azufral, Cumbal and Dona Juana). Galeras lies less than 10 km from downtown Pasto, so keeping a close watch on the rumblings at the volcano is importance as to evacuation people when signs of a new eruption appear. Galeras has been very active over the past decade, so if you watch the webcam you might catch the volcano in action.
Image: Galeras looming over Pasto in Colombia. Madea_material/Flickr.
The Observatorio Volcanológico de los Andes del Sur (ODVAS), operated by the SERNAGEOMIN, watches over the volcanoes in southern Chile. This includes active volcanoes such as Villarrica and Llaima (above), Osorno and Lonquimay - all of which (and more) have webcams (see bottom of the page) pointed at them to catch all the action.
Image: Llaima erupting in 2009. Pato Novoa/Flickr.
Observatorio Vulcanológico de la Universidad de Colima
One of the most active volcanoes of Mexico in Colima, located on the western side of the country. It is watched by the Observatorio Vulcanológico de la Universidad de Colima, run by the University of Colima. This observatory helps coordinate with CENAPRED and Sistema Estatal de Protección Civil for any potential hazards related to the activity at Colima (also known as Volcan de Fuego de Colima). Webcams watch the volcano as well, so you can see what is happening as well.
Image: A view of Colima in Mexico in 2008 - lava flows from the summit vent are clearly seen on the sunlit slopes. Ani Carington/Flickr.