USING GOOGLE MAPS TO INTRODUCE GEOLOGIC CONCEPTS ON THE USGS VOLCANO HAZARDS PROGRAM WEBSITES

Over the past several years we have integrated Google Maps with our web content on the USGS Volcano Hazards Program (VHP) Website (http://volcanoes.usgs.gov). In 2008, we launched a revised version of the VHP site that included a Google Map with real-time information about volcano updates on the Home Page. The project required a unified set of alert codes, a unified volcano update system for each volcano observatory, new servers, and a complete revision of the former website. Icons were created to show Volcano Alert Level and Aviation Color Code pairs. Each icon is dynamically linked to the update on the initiating volcano observatory’s website (Alaska, Cascades, Long Valley, Hawaiian, and Yellowstone Volcano Observatories). Another Google Map was created for the Activity section to show U.S. volcanoes and provide additional information for each volcano.

In our latest project, we are developing a Google Map virtual tour of the Long Valley Caldera area that will help introduce and reinforce geologic concepts. The virtual tour will be available on the Long Valley Observatory (LVO) web site and also through Google Maps searches.

Each location and image for the Long Valley virtual tour was chosen to illustrate specific volcanologic concepts including eruption type, geologic features, and volcanic gases. A subset of the virtual tour is included in a field guide we are launching this fall for the public that further explores geologic concepts from the area. This field guide is a summary of more technical field guides and integrates new information from recent papers. The virtual tour gives users access to information based on the location and geologic features. Our field guide presents information based on geologic features, and a geologic timeline ties the features and locations together.