9 November 2012
Benchmarking Time: Santiaguito Volcano Observatory, Guatemala
Posted by Jessica Ball
This week’s benchmark is another USGS one – this time in one of my favorite places, the Santiaguito Volcano Observatory in Guatemala!
Another missing elevation!
Like the Fish Lake benchmark I posted recently, this one is also missing an elevation, but that’s not a problem because the OVSAN observers have been kind enough to record their elevation on the side of the observatory building.
900 metros sobre el nivel del mar (meters above sea level), or about 2953 feet for you English units folks.
A lot of scientists pass through the observatory, so it’s nice for them to have their own benchmark.
900 meters above sea level most often gets you this view of the lava domes and volcano - it's very cloudy here! (Good for the coffee plants, though.)
Jessica Ball is a volcanologist at the U.S. Geological Survey, researching volcanic hydrothermal systems and stability, and doing science communication for the California Volcano Observatory. She previously worked at the Geological Society of America's Washington DC Policy Office, learning about the intersection of Earth science and legislative affairs. Her Mendenhall postdoc and PhD focused on how water affects the stability of volcanoes, and involved both field investigations and numerical modeling applications. Her blogging covers a range of topics, from her experiences in academic geosciences to science outreach and communication to her field and lab work in volcanology.
Interesting that this benchmark is near a volcano.
I wonder if the elevation rises and falls over time?