MONITORING GEOTHERMAL SYSTEMS IN YELLOWSTONE THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY

The Yellowstone National Park Geology Program, as part of its geothermal monitoring plan, is developing protocols for photo documentation of hydrothermal features. Goals of the Yellowstone photographic project include (1) documentation of current (2009) status of select hydrothermal features, (2) change detection of dynamic hydrothermal features, (3) reoccupation of photographic sites by future researchers, and (4) comparison with historic photographs. The photo documentation protocols being developed will easily allow replication of images by Park personnel, researchers, and the general public a century or more in the future, when both geologic and cultural changes may make it difficult to reoccupy sites. In addition to site location issues, there are issues of data format, storage and retrieval that need to be resolved for successful archival programs. It is anticipated that photo documentation will be accomplished by both amateur- and pro-level photographers, and that discrete but compatible protocols will be needed for each. Amateur-level photographers will need simple, easy-to-follow and non-time consuming procedures. It is unlikely that amateur photographers using point-and-shoot or cell phone cameras will create archival-quality images, but the near-ubiquitous distribution of these cameras suggests that rare events may be more likely to be photographically recorded. Even low-quality images may be extremely valuable for monitoring programs and future researchers. Professional and near-professional photographers will be able to handle much more sophisticated and likely more time consuming protocols for image recording and processing, metadata creation, file management and preparation of archival quality images. New technologies, such as the fusion of still photography with video, will need to be integrated into monitoring and imagery archival programs as they mature.