Volcanic hazards and remote sensing in Pacific Latin America

Abstract

PASI Workshop on Open Vent Volcanoes; San José, Costa Rica, 10–24 January 2011; Open‐vent volcanoes are a class of volcano that contain a relatively open path from the subsurface to the atmosphere without a major vent obstruction. Their persistent, low‐level activity, which poses little danger to communities, may be punctuated by violent activity without warning. These complex systems challenge and provide opportunity for observatories and national and international investigators. Long‐lived eruptions are also laboratories for students and scientists and a locus for developing collaborations and field testing new instrumentation and methods. Pacific Latin America hosts a high density of active volcanoes, and many are under‐monitored and under‐researched despite the efforts of local volcano observatories and their accessibility to U.S. and European scientists.