USGS Volcano Observatories

The USGS Volcano Hazards Program, in collaboration with its partners, operates five volcano observatories. The USGS works with other Federal, State, and local government agencies, universities, and the private sector to reduce the risk from volcanic activity.

Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO)

A New Volcano Observatory Monitoring the Largest Volcanic System in North America

In 2001, To strengthen the long-term monitoring of volcanic and earthquake unrest in the Yellowstone National Park region, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Yellowstone National Park, and University of Utah have entered into an agreement to establish the Yellowstone Volcano Observatory (YVO). The new partnership provides for improved collaborative study and monitoring of active geologic processes and hazards of the Yellowstone Plateau volcanic field, site of the largest and most diverse collection of natural thermal features in the world and the first National Park.

Pictured above: Castle Geyser erupts water and steam in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming.

Pictured above: USGS scientists conducting a survey in Yellowstone National Park. They are trying to detect any uplift or subsidence of the ground, a clue that magma underneath may be moving. In the past decades, the ground across the youngest Yellowstone caldera has risen as much as three feet and fallen by a foot.

Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO)

AVO is a cooperative effort of the USGS Volcano Hazards Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute (UAFGI), and State of Alaska Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (ADGGS).

AVO monitors and assesses volcano hazards in or near the following National Park Service units:

• Aniakchak National Monument
• Katmai National Park
• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
• Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve

Pictured above: Katmai National Park: Pyroclastic flows erupted from Katmai volcano filled the adjacent valley to produce the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes. The valley is about 12 miles (20 km) long and about 2-6 miles (3-9 km) wide. Streams have cut through the deposits. Photo by Jay Robinson, National Park Service.

Hawaiian Volcano Observatory (HVO):

HVO is co-located with the National Park Service at Hawai'i Volcanoes NP. The observatory monitors and assesses volcano hazards in or near the following National Park Service units:

• Hawai`i Volcanoes National Park
• Pu-uhonau o Honaunau National Historic Park
• Haleakala National Park
• Kalaupapa National Historic Park

Pictured above: The U.S. Geological Survey's Hawaiian Volcano Observatory perches on the caldera's northwest rim at Kilauea. In this photograph from 1973, steaming Halema'uma'u Crater, the site of the 1924 explosive eruption, lies within the larger volcanic depression (caldera) at Kilauea's summit.

Pictured above: Lava flow, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

Cascades Volcano Observatory (CVO)

The Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington is the headquarters for monitoring volcanoes of the Cascade Range in Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Seismic monitoring is shared with the USGS center in Menlo Park, California (for northern California) and the Geophysics Program of the University of Washington in Seattle (for Washington and Oregon). CVO also is home to the Volcano Disaster Assistance Program.

Pictured above: Mount Rainier.

The observatory monitors and assesses volcano hazards in or near the following National Park Service units in the Cascades Range:

• Mount Rainier National Park
• Crater Lake National Park
• Lassen Volcanic National Park
• Lava Beds National Monument

The magnificent cone of Mount Rainier has repeatedly undergone sudden, dramatic change. Eruptions of lava and ash have built the cone thousands of feet above the surrounding terrain while other geologic forces glaciers, landslides, and debris flows have acted to tear it down. Landslides and debris flows are particularly hazardous because although they happen relatively infrequently, when they happen in the future, they could have a destructive effect on people in nearby communities. -- J.S. Walder and C.L. Driedger, 1995, Living With A Volcano In Your Backyard - Volcanic Hazards at Mount Rainier: USGS Open-File Report 95-421.

Pictured above: Crater Lake at Crater Lake National Park.

Today, the calm beauty of Crater Lake belies the violent earth forces that formed the lake. Crater Lake lies inside the top of an ancient volcano known as Mount Mazama. For half a million years, this mighty volcano produced massive eruptions interrupting long periods of quiet. Ash, cinders, and pumice exploded upward, building the mountain to a height of about 12,000 feet. About 7,700 years ago, the climatic eruptions of Mount Mazama occurred. Ash from these eruptions lies scattered over eight states and three Canadian provinces. Some 5,000 square miles were covered with 6 inches of Mazama's ash. The Mazama magma chamber was emptied and the volcano collapsed, leaving a huge bowl-shaped caldera. Snow and rain fell into the 3,000-foot deep hole, filling the collapsed structure. Eventually, the lake reached a relatively constant level. Today, the lake level only varies about three feet each year. Crater Lake, at 1,958 feet (597 meters) deep, is the seventh deepest lake in the world and the deepest in the United States.

Long Valley Observatory (LVO)

The USGS regional center in Menlo Park, California, serves as headquarters for the Long Valley Observatory. The Long Valley Caldera is a 15- by 30-km oval-shaped depression located 20 km south of Mono Lake along the east side of the Sierra Nevada in east-central California. This area of eastern California has produced numerous volcanic eruptions over the past 3 million years, including the massive caldera-forming eruption 760,000 years ago. The most recent eruption occurred just 250 years ago in Mono Lake at the north end of Mono-Inyo Craters volcanic chain. Data from monitoring instruments located in and around the Long Valley Caldera in the Sierra Nevada mountains of California are sent by radio and satellite telemetry to computers in Menlo Park where they are automatically processed in real time for immediate analysis by scientists.

The LVO monitors and assesses hazards that might affect the following National Park Service units located relatively in the Sierra Nevada:

• Yosemite National Park
• Devil's Postpile National Monument
• Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks