General Purpose Real-time Data Analysis and Visualization Software for Volcano Observatories
Abstract
In 2002, the USGS developed the Valve software for management, visualization, and analysis of volcano monitoring data. In 2004, the USGS developed similar software, called Swarm, for the same purpose but specifically tailored for seismic waveform data. Since then, both of these programs have become ubiquitous at US volcano observatories, and in the case of Swarm, common at volcano observatories across the globe. Though innovative from the perspective of software design, neither program is methodologically novel. Indeed, the software can perform little more than elementary 2D graphing, along with basic geophysical analysis. So, why is the software successful? The answer is that both of these programs take data from the realm of discipline specialists and make them universally available to all observatory scientists. In short, the software creates additional value from existing data by leveraging the observatory's entire intellectual capacity. It enables rapid access to different data streams, and allows anyone to compare these data on a common time scale or map base. It frees discipline specialists from routine tasks like preparing graphics or compiling data tables, thereby making more time for interpretive efforts. It helps observatory scientists browse through data, and streamlines routine checks for unusual activity. It encourages a multi-parametric approach to volcano monitoring. And, by means of its own usefulness, it creates incentive to organize and capture data streams not yet available. Valve and Swarm are both written in Java, open-source, and freely available. Swarm is a stand-alone Java application. Valve is a system consisting of three parts: a web-based user interface, a graphing and analysis engine, and a data server. Both can be used non-interactively (e.g., via scripts) to generate graphs or to dump raw data. Swarm has a simple, built-in alarm capability. Several alarm algorithms have been built around Valve. Both programs remain under active development by the USGS and external collaborators. In this presentation, we will explain and diagram how the Valve and Swarm software work, show several real-life use cases, and address operational questions about how the software functions in an observatory environment.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.V41H..08C
- Keywords:
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- 8494 VOLCANOLOGY / Instruments and techniques;
- 8499 VOLCANOLOGY / General or miscellaneous;
- 4315 NATURAL HAZARDS / Monitoring;
- forecasting;
- prediction;
- 4324 NATURAL HAZARDS / Spatial decision support systems