Compiled with the help of artificial intelligence, based on Spanish-language information. Source below the article.
The eruption of the Tajogaite volcano in 2021 left a trail of destruction and devastation in its wake, but also a scientific legacy that has strengthened Spain’s capacity for volcanic surveillance, research and geophysical hazard management. On the eve of the fifth anniversary of the start of the eruptive process, the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN) has highlighted the new observation networks, artificial intelligence tools, modelling systems and fresh lines of work in geochemistry and scientific communication that it has incorporated since then.
A reformed institution
The IGN notes that the experience of the eruption had a major impact within the Ministry of Transport, which chose to reform the institute so that geophysical hazards, including volcanic activity, would be better coordinated. To that end, a specific structure was created with an independent deputy directorate general to address these hazards, alongside a significant improvement in staff working conditions to adapt them to emergency work, committing to a clear professionalisation of personnel specialising in geophysical hazards.
Alerta CO2: a world first
The IGN also recalls that, together with the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (Involcan), it has developed ALERTA CO2, a pioneering project in the world of volcanic gas monitoring, with more than 1,500 sensors that make it the densest volcanic CO2 surveillance network on the planet.
The Tajogaite eruption highlighted the need for denser, automated observation networks capable of providing information in near real time, the IGN stresses.
Denser monitoring networks
The island’s seismic network had already been densified in 2021 and its data remain open to the public so that any institution can study it. For the control of volcanic deformation, GNSS stations and inclinometers were increased, and InSAR images from the PAZ satellite were acquired until 2024 to generate time series and velocity maps. A relative gravimeter was also installed in 2021 and remained in place for more than a year.
In geochemistry, more than 30 CO2 sensors developed by the IGN were deployed to determine the post-volcanic phenomenon of gas emissions before the development of the ALERTA CO2 project. In geology, the use of the laboratory at the Centro Geofísico de Canarias has allowed rocks to be cut and classified for the first time during an eruption in the islands.
Field campaigns have been redoubled since the eruption: in geochemistry, sampling of fumaroles in craters began, continuing with CO2 in wells and springs, and diffuse flux campaigns have been incorporated, while RTK deformation control campaigns continue at their quarterly cadence.
Artificial intelligence transforms seismic analysis
Seismic analysis has undergone one of the most significant changes since then. Automatic detectors using machine learning techniques have been established to detect and analyse seismic activity more quickly and uniformly. Applying this to the eruption data generated a far more complete seismic catalogue, allowing the migration of seismicity and the evolution of the magmatic system to be studied in greater detail. Automation also makes it possible to cope with episodes of high activity where manual analysis is particularly demanding, the IGN assesses.
Numerical simulation tools for lava flows have also been developed for scenario analysis and drills, and work has been carried out on automating aviation warnings for ash emissions.
Eighteen scientific publications
The information obtained has generated 18 publications in international journals with the participation of IGN researchers alongside Spanish and international institutions. These works have advanced knowledge of the deep structure of La Palma’s magmatic system, the evolution of seismicity and deformation, eruptive dynamics and the relationship between geophysical and geochemical observables. The most recent research integrates petrological, geochemical and geophysical data to reconstruct the pre-eruptive and syn-eruptive processes of the 2021 eruption at Cumbre Vieja.
A better-prepared institution
The IGN emphasises that the alert service has been notably improved through automation, and that the eruption also spurred new forms of outreach and knowledge transfer, with a greater presence of volcanology in educational and public communication activities.
Thus, it concludes that, five years on, the scientific legacy of the eruption translates into an increase in monitoring networks, the introduction of AI and machine learning into automatic processing systems, improved simulation models and, above all, an institutional and scientific structure better prepared to face the challenges of geophysical hazard surveillance. Ultimately, the goal is for the experience gained in La Palma to translate into increasingly precise, automated and integrated monitoring, in the service of prevention and the protection of society.
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