T42 Using Real- and near–Real-Time Data in the Classroom (Posters)

Sunday, 31 October 2010
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Hall D

THE VOLCANOES EXPLORATION PROJECT: PU‘U ‘Ō‘Ō—A WEB SITE AND WORKSHOP FOR UTILIZING NEAR-REAL-TIME VOLCANO MONITORING DATA IN GEOSCIENCE EDUCATION

Paper number: T42-8
Program: Technical Sessions
Time: 8:00 AM – 6:00 PM

Authors

Abstract

The Volcanoes Exploration Project: Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (VEPP), is a Web site based out of the US Geological Survey’s (USGS) Hawaiian Volcano Observatory and is a collaborative effort between the USGS, NASA, and the University of Hawai‘i, Mānoa. The VEPP site provides access, in near-real time, to geodetic and seismic data from the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruptive vent at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i, via a time series query tool. Furthermore, results from episodic kinematic GPS campaigns and lava flow field maps are posted as data are collected. In addition, Webcam images from Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō crater are archived and available for viewing as a means of examining visual changes in volcanic activity over time. A variety of background information on volcano surveillance and the history of the 1983–present Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō-Kupaianaha eruption puts the available monitoring data in context. The primary goal of the VEPP Web site is to provide a geoscience education resource that demonstrates the dynamic nature of volcanoes, promotes excitement about the process of scientific discovery through hands-on learning, and inspires the next generation of Earth scientists.

To support use of the VEPP Web site, a week-long workshop was held at Kīlauea Volcano in July, 2010, which included 25 participants from the United States and Canada. The participants represented a diverse cross-section of higher learning from community colleges to research universities and from large introductory non-major classes to upper division and graduate seminar-style classes. Overall workshop goals were to have participants learn to interpret each of the VEPP data types, be proficient in the use of the VEPP Web site, create teaching modules that make use of the site, provide feedback on site content, and integrate the site into college and university geoscience curriculum. By the end of the workshop, over 20 new teaching modules were developed, and the Web site was modified based on participant feedback. Teaching activities are available via the VEPP Workshop section of the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) Web site (http://www.nagt.org/nagt/vepp/index.html).