Alaska - Mt Redoubt Volcano could erupt within days

The keyword is: formally staffed 24/7.

What they mean is that when the aviation color code becomes Yellow they don't post updates every two hours anymore, but there is still some maniac volcanologist following seismic development all day out of scientific and personal curiosity like we do.

[edit on 2009/3/14 by Shirakawa]

reply to post by Shirakawa


somehow i found your last reply funny as hell, man i wish i worked for those guys id never leave the office

Update from AVO:

Seismic activity at Redoubt has been low over the past 24 hours but remains above background levels.

Clear satellite views showed nothing unusual. A steam plume rising just above the summit of the volcano has been visible by web camera since sun rise this morning.

An AVO observation and gas measurement flight is in progress this afternoon.

It is still possible for unrest at the volcano to change rapidly, and seismic activity or other signs of unrest could escalate over time periods as short as 24 hours or less. AVO continues to monitor Redoubt closely, but the AVO operations center in Anchorage is no longer formally staffed 24 hours per day.

"...It is still possible for unrest at the volcano to change rapidly.." That is a true statement alright!.. The RSO monitor at the hut started showing continuous tremors 30 minutes ago. Wish that webcam updated every minute or so instead of 4 hours ..

Yes, I was about to post that!
They're not as strong those occurred in past weeks, though!
By the way, the Platform webcam is updated about every 3 minutes and the Hut webcam every hour, unless there is some interesting onging activity.

EDIT: by spectrum and audio analysis, more than volcanic tremor I think it's a strong debris/mud flow event that is slowly decreasing in intensity over time. It will probably stop soon. Just my 2 cents, though.

[edit on 2009/3/15 by Shirakawa]

Your right! I was reading the text at the bottom of the picture...

"Camera is located at AVO's Redoubt Hut, approximately 7.5 mi (12 km) from Redoubt's summit crater. This camera provides a view of the north flank of Redoubt. This camera is in a remote location and operates on battery power. Therefore this camera will be on every 4 hours for 5 minutes. If seismicity or field operations warrant, we will set this camera to take more frequent pictures."

But the camera is updating more rapidly than that like you said. Thanks!

This is a short video I made out of still images from the Hut webcam.
New activity started when "strange smoke" came out of the summit of the volcano, as seen in the video:



[edit on 2009/3/15 by Shirakawa]

Redoubt Aviaton Color code changed to ORANGE again!

From AVO

Seismic activity at Redoubt has increased since about 13:00 AKDT and is continuing. An AVO observation flight reported that a steam and ash plume rose as high as 15,000 ft above sea level and produced minor ash fall on the upper south flank of Redoubt. Last reports are that the plume is now mainly steam.

Based on thsi change in activity AVO is increasing the level of concern and alert level to ORANGE/WATCH.

It does not appear at this time that a significant eruption is likely in the short term, but conditions may evolve rapidly.

AVO is monitoring the situation closely and the AVO operations center in Anchorage is now resuming 24 hour per day staffing.

[edit on 2009/3/15 by Shirakawa]

Looks like more than steam on the 14:58 pictures to me though I'm no expert. Both webcams show long trail (looks like it contains ash) being blown away from the mountain. Thoughts?

Just saw your comment on mudflow which certainly would make sense given the ash presence. Can't see it on the webcam but there is a lot of mountain we cant see

Great job on the audio and video work you have been doing btw!!!!

reply to post by rentingspace


The latest status report by AVO states that both steam and some amount of ash came out of the volcano. The long trail may be composed of such ash.

Actually I did made another webcam video (from the Cook Inlet platform cam) but couldn't manage to embed it, so I'm posting it again as a link:

media.abovetopsecret.com...

Last updates from CI cam show quite a long trail.

I did say that new activity seemed like a new debris flow.
The reason for this is that the seismic spectrum looks much different than the volcanic tremor activity of a few weeks ago, and is more similar to something chaotically flowing from volcano vents, like mud/rock debris. AVO didn't make direct references to this, but it's probably the spectrum trace of the small ash eruption we're seeing (volcanic ash is pulverized rock after all).

[edit on 2009/3/15 by Shirakawa]

reply to post by Shirakawa


Thanks Shirakawa. Just got back from a walk and see it is calming down quite a bit. Your sig says it all!

I made a better video with sound of the event that made the AVO staff raise the alert level color code from yellow to orange:

She's really spouting off on the Hut cam at sundown. Absolutely gorgeous.

Edit: I suppose it's dark already. Is that a still image from earlier? Moonlight?

[edit on 15-3-2009 by pantangele]

Wow, such a beautiful shot to come home to after work...
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6a2ac9384f2a.jpg[/atsimg]

Originally posted by SpadeofAces
Wow, such a beautiful shot to come home to after work...
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/6a2ac9384f2a.jpg[/atsimg]

See those red flame-looking areas? That's 100% exactly the same as I saw both tonight and 26 February. The AVO person emailed me and agreed it was "camera anomoly". The next day they started talking about the "flow".

Now, this exact same so-called "camera anomoly" is back! I don't get it. How is this a camera anomoly? Looks like fire to me. I have the 26th picture saved and compared it with todays; and they are almost perfectly identical.

I thought it had quietened down, but now I see it's back to orange

Wish we could see the webcam image for what it's doing now.
What time is daybreak in alaska?

Originally posted by violet
I thought it had quietened down, but now I see it's back to orange

Wish we could see the webcam image for what it's doing now.
What time is daybreak in alaska?

damn , i almost missed this , did you ever hear of the calm before the storm? that is what is happening at here. as i believe lowing the status was a big mistake.

man i wish i worked for these people .
and did anybody notice their typo?

Originally posted by Trexter Ziam
[...]
Now, this exact same so-called "camera anomoly" is back! I don't get it. How is this a camera anomoly? Looks like fire to me. I have the 26th picture saved and compared it with todays; and they are almost perfectly identical.

Those "red flames" are buoy lights. They're there every night.
I find it very strange that people from AVO wouldn't know this.

[edit on 2009/3/16 by Shirakawa]

Sounds like thing are "heating up" at Redoubt. Just saw the latest report:

2009-03-16 04:05:24
Low level volcanic tremor has occurred continuously over the past six hours. Web camera images are dark.

Redoubt has not erupted, but has returned to the level of unrest observed during parts of late January and February.

The AVO operations center has resumed 24/7 monitoring of the volcano.

reply to post by Shirakawa



Thank you Shirakawa. That does make sense!

On another note - when we first started watching Redoubt; I thought the name meant to doubt again (re doubt) and was confused because the volcano is considered 'reliable'. Now though, I don't know if it's as 'reliable' as they once considered it to be.

Anyway, a redoubt is an architectural term relating to a butress wall around fortresses (bulwark) or to a fortress itself. I think THIS is intended meaning of the vocano's name.

I can't find any history on its name though.