Alaska - Kamchatka Connection in Volcano Monitoring, Research, and Education

The Aleutian-Kamchatka portion of the Pacific Rim of Fire spans ~4400 km. This segment contains more than 80 active volcanoes and averages 4-6 eruptions per year. Resulting ash clouds travel for hundreds to thousands of kilometers defying political borders. To mitigate volcano hazard to aviation and local communities, the Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) and the Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (IVS), in partnership with the Kamchatkan Branch of the Geophysical Survey of the Russian Academy of Sciences (KBGS), have established a collaborative program with three important components: (1) volcano monitoring with rapid information exchange, (2) cooperation in research projects at active volcanoes, and (3) a series of volcanological schools for students and young scientists. Cooperation in volcano monitoring includes dissemination of daily information on the state of volcanic activity in neighboring regions, satellite and visual data exchange, as well as sharing expertise and technologies between AVO and the Kamchatkan Volcanic Eruption Response Team (KVERT), formed in 1993 under the auspices of both IVS and KBGS. Collaboration in scientific research is best illustrated by involvement of AVO, IVS, and KBGS faculty and graduate students in mutual international studies. One of the most recent examples is the NSF-funded Partnerships for International Research and Education (PIRE)-Kamchatka project focusing on multi-disciplinary study of Bezymianny volcano in Kamchatka. This international project is one of many that have been initiated as a direct result of a bi-annual series of meetings known as Japan-Kamchatka-Alaska Subduction Processes (JKASP) workshops that we organize together with colleagues from Hokkaido University, Japan. The most recent JKASP meeting was held in June 2009 in Fairbanks, Alaska and brought together more than 150 scientists and students. The key educational component of our collaborative program is the continuous series of international volcanological schools organized in partnership with the Kamchatka State University. Each year more than 40 students and young scientists participate in our annual field trips to Katmai, Alaska and Mutnovsky, Kamchatka.