Spider Sensors Helping Predict Volcanic Activity

The collaborative effort by Washington State University researchers, US Geological Survey, and NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab might hold the key to predicting volcanic eruptions.

Assistant Professor WenZhan Song, leading a team of graduate students at WSU Vancouver, has been designing a smart sensor network for the past 3 years.

Spider Sensors, designed by US Geological Survey, are multi leg robots that are air dropped into test sites. The network applied to the Spider Sensors is able to provide real time information of Mt. St. Helens volcanic status. This technology will potentially help predict future eruptions in effort to help save lives.
This is the first time satellite and institute sensors have been paired to work together to enable better monitoring systems.

Currently there are 16 spider sensors networked together on Mt. St. Helens monitoring its volcanic activity.

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