Vent and Re-Vent
Mote and Re-Mote:
Smart Dust at Volcàn Reventador, Ecuador

Jonathan Lees & Mario Ruiz, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Matt Welsh, Geoff Werner-Allen, & Konrad Lorincz, Harvard University

Jeff Johnson & Omar Marcillo, University of New Hampshire

Instituto Geofisico, EPN, Ecuador

A team of collaborators from University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, University of New Hampshire, and Harvard University deployed a set of Broadband and short period sensors on Reventador Volcano in July-August 2005. The 3-Broadband instruments were PASSCAL style stations with an infrasound microphone in addition to the standard three-component seismometer. The short period instruments were new sensor technology developed by the Harvard group as a sensor network of interacting smart field nodes. The three broadband stations were spread out over 5-6 km in linear array with the short period sensors spanning the gap between the highest station and the middle station.

Panorama of Field Site at Reventador. Location is on older Pyroclastic flows.

Matt Welsh setting up base station for Mote deployment.

Camp site and preparation for Mote deployment.

Deployment map and topography (exaggerated). Triangles are Broadband, diamonds are Motes.

Sample vertical component data from upper level broadband instrument.

Reventador was significantly active and we recorded numerous explosions, tremor, rock falls and very long period signals as the volcano evolved through and eruption cycle.