VOGRIPA
About VOGRIPA
Approximately 500 million people live close enough to active volcanoes to be affected and threatened when they erupt. The consequences can be loss of life, social disruption and economic losses. Very large volcanic eruptions, although rare, have the potential to cause national, regional and, in extreme cases, global catastrophe.
The objectives of VOGRIPA are to create a global database of volcanic activity, hazards and vulnerability information that can be analysed to locate the areas at high risk from volcanism and highlight any gaps in our knowledge. It aims to allow scientists and disaster managers in these high-risk areas to analyse risk within a global context of systematic information. The VOGRIPA project will also develop new approaches to volcanic risk assessment, volcanic crisis management and applying science to increase community resilience.
VOGRIPA originated as part of the Global Risk Identification Programme (GRIP) that is being co-ordinated from the Earth Institute of Columbia University under the auspices of the United Nations and World Bank. GRIP is a five-year programme aiming at improving global knowledge about risk from natural hazards and is part of the international response to the Asian tsunami. VOGRIPA started in 2005 with modest resources. Munich Re generously provided support in this early stage. A research grant from the European Research Council to Bristol University now provides resources from January 2009 for 5 years.
VOGRIPA is officially endorsed as a project of the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth’s Interior (IAVCEI) and by the Commission for Explosive Volcanism of IAVCEI. It is an international partnership of several institutions and is being led and co-ordinated by Professor Stephen Sparks FRS in the Department of Earth Sciences at University of Bristol.
VOGRIPA is now working in close collaboration with the Global Volcanism Program at the Smithsonian Institution and also with the University of Canterbury (New Zealand), the Geological Survey of Japan, and the newly formed Earth Observatory of Singapore.
Aims
VOGRIPA has been divided into four tasks:
- Developing a global database on large magnitude explosive volcanic activity for the Quaternary and identify global hazard hot spots, especially from extreme events.
- Generating a global database for each major volcanic hazard and analysing the data to assess global risk from specific hazards. Hazards include pyroclastic flows, tephra fall, lahars (volcanic mudflows), lavas and emission hazards (dusts and gases).
- Developing simple measurements of vulnerability around volcanoes and creating a global database of vulnerability indices. The hazards and vulnerability databases can then be integrated to assess levels of risk.
- Developing new methodologies for volcanic risk assessment and volcanic crisis management. Investigating hazard and risk in case study areas (Latin America, Indonesia and the Caribbean from analysis of database).
Tasks 1 and 2 are partly funded principally through the European Research Council funds.
People
People involved in the VOGRIPA project include:
University of Bristol:- Professor Steve Sparks (Director)
- Dr Sian Crosweller
- Miss Sam Engwell
- Lee Siebert
- Anselm Smolka
Earth Observatory of Singapore:
- Chris Newhall
Geological Survey of Japan:
- Shinji Takarada
State University of New York at Buffalo:
- Greg Valentine
- Eliza Calder
University of Canterbury, New Zealand:
- Anja Dufresne