Development and field-testing of the BENTO box: A new satellite-linked data collection system for volcano monitoring

Currently it is impossible to monitor all of Earth's hazardous volcanoes for precursory eruption signals, and it is particularly difficult to monitor volcanoes in remote regions. The primary constraint is the high cost of deploying monitoring instrumentation (e.g., seismometers, gas sensors), which includes the cost of reliable, high-resolution sensors, the cost of maintenance (including periodic travel to remote areas), and the cost/difficulty of developing remote data telemetry. We are developing an integrated monitoring system, the BENTO (Behar's ENvironmental Telemetry and Observation) box that will allow identification of restless volcanoes through widespread deployment of robust, lightweight, low-cost, easily deployable monitoring/telemetry systems. Ultimately, we expect that this strategy will lead to more efficient allocation of instrumentation and associated costs. BENTO boxes are portable, autonomous, self-contained data collection systems are designed for long-term operation (up to ~12 months) in remote environments. They use low-cost two-way communication through the commercial Iridium satellite network, and, depending on data types, can pre-process raw data onboard to obtain useful summary statistics for transmission through Iridium. BENTO boxes also have the ability to receive commands through Iridium, allowing, for example, remote adjustment of sampling rates, or requests for segments of raw data in cases where only summary statistics are routinely transmitted. Currently, BENTO boxes can measure weather parameters (e.g., windspeed, wind direction, rainfall, humidity, atmospheric pressure), volcanic gas (CO2, SO2, and halogens) concentrations, and seismicity. In the future, we plan to interface BENTO boxes with additional sensors such as atmospheric pressure/infrasound, tilt, GPS and temperature. We are currently field-testing 'BENTO 1' boxes equipped with gas and meteorological sensors ('BENTO 1') at Telica Volcano, Nicaragua; Kilauea Volcano, Hawai'i; Etna Volcano, Italy, and Hengill Volcano, Iceland. Together, the data from these BENTO boxes and previously established volcano monitoring instruments are allowing us to test and refine the system design and deployment strategy. 'BENTO 2' boxes, equipped with broadband seismic sensors, are currently undergoing bench testing, and will be deployed on active volcanoes for field-testing beginning in early 2014.