Maintain volcanic rapid response capabilities

A rapid-response capability for volcanic eruptions is only useful if it stays ready between eruptions, and readiness would degrade over time without regular upkeep. Because relevant eruptions can be separated by several years, a capability that is built once and then left untouched is unlikely to function effectively when needed. This activity describes the ongoing work required to keep a previously built rapid-response system in a continuously deployable state, and to carry out the rapid observational response when a qualifying eruption occurs.

Two kinds of work are included. The first is routine maintenance of the observing capability. This involves launching instruments on a regular schedule, even with no eruption underway, to keep launch teams practiced, verify that instruments and data systems still work correctly under real field conditions, and contribute to the continuously updated record of normal atmospheric conditions against which a future volcanic signal can be compared. The second is the response itself: when a large eruption occurs, this activity supports the deployment of the suite of instruments – defined through the related activity to develop the rapid-response capability – into the volcanic cloud within one or two weeks of the eruption.

This activity is necessary to ensure that the progress made in developing the rapid response capability is not wasted, when the time comes to launch the response. It is especially important since there could be a long delay between building the capability and using it.

This activity has two ongoing components that run in parallel: sustaining the capability on a regular basis, and executing the response when an eruption occurs.

The precise nature of maintenance work needed to sustain capability will depend on the details of the response (i.e. which combination of instruments, at which sites). It will include conducting routine balloon launches and possibly also aircraft flights at established network sites on a regular schedule, sufficient to keep the instrument and data pipeline exercised under field conditions, along with replenishing instrument stock and servicing equipment to keep the inventory at target readiness levels. This phase also includes maintaining the coordinating structure itself, including aircraft and ground-based components in addition to the balloon launch sites. This involves keeping instrument-team personnel identified and available, training staff, and periodically reviewing and updating the activation protocol and governance arrangements (launch site agreements, permissions, and points of contact) established during initial buildout, so that the response plan does not become outdated over time.

The rapid response itself is triggered by satellite confirmation that a qualifying eruption has occurred, based on the activation criteria established during capability development, and follows a defined sequence from that point forward. Once activation is confirmed, this includes authorizing and coordinating rapid shipment of pre-positioned instruments to the launch sites nearest the plume, executing balloon launches and possibly aircraft flights at the earliest opportunity consistent with the plume's location and evolution, and expanding to additional sites as the plume disperses in latitude. It also includes operating the data pipeline in near-real time during the response window, so that measurements reach the broader scientific community while they are still actionable, and coordinating with the satellite, aircraft, and ground-based observation communities so that in-situ measurements are properly integrated with those other data streams rather than collected in isolation. Following each response, this activity includes conducting an after-action review that documents what worked, what caused delay, and what should be adjusted, feeding lessons learned back into the maintenance activities described above.