Satellites might be constantly watching the planet, but we don't have a dedicated orbital volcano observatory that could save countless lives and dollars.
, but they run into two problems to be truly useful for detailed observations of volcanoes: they don't observe the volcano frequently enough and can't observe them in high enough detail .argues that our current aging fleet of Earth-observing satellites isn't up to the task of being orbital volcano observatories. Even worse, there hasn't been a lot of work into how we can improve infrared imaging from space to meet the needs of volcanologists.
Ramsey, based on discussions within the volcanology community, thinks the ideal orbital volcano observation would have a number of key characteristics. First, it would need to be in a polar orbit, similar to many of our weather and Earth-observing satellites already use. This allows for global coverage of all the major volcanic regions.The other two vital criteria are the realms of time and space.
Even the time of the day matters -- Ramsey suggests that any orbiter should be timed to make its passes over volcanic regions in the morning so that cloud-cover and solar heating are minimal, allowing for the best infrared imaging. None of the current or near-future Earth-observating missions use this timing.
What is boils down to is that although we have many satellites zipping around our planet snapping pictures of the Earth, none are ideally tuned for keeping an eye on volcanoes. Sure, we can capture images when the eruption has started if the right satellite is in the right place, but many times it is just luck. Theorbiter, with frequent coverage, high spatial resolution and the right infrared imaging technology, could been a boon for volcano monitoring across the planet.
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