20th October 2021 Update: Rod Stewart and Racquel Syers arrive in St Vincent, Dr Thomas Christopher returns to Montserrat
Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) seismologist Mr Roderick Stewart and MVO technician Mr Raquel Syers arrived in St Vincent on 11th October where they will be training the local staff based at the La Soufrière Volcano Observatory.
Alongside this, Mr Stewart will be taking the role of lead scientist, while Mr Syers will be collecting ground deformation data.
This is the second time Mr Stewart has been deployed in St Vincent, having previously been stationed there between February and May, Mr. Stewart has extensive experience as a volcano seismologist. In St Vincent he has been instrumental in setting up the seismic data acquisition and processing systems at the Belmont Observatory, as well as processing and interpreting the incoming seismic signals.
Mr Syers has been with the MVO since 1998. He is responsible for technical support of the ground deformation monitoring programme which includes taking measurements using EDM and GPS techniques.
They replace Dr Thomas Christopher who returned to Montserrat on the 13th October having arrived in September.
Dr Christopher was previously in St Vincent between February and May. He used his expertise in the area of geochemistry (volcanic gases) and petrology to assist with the characterisation of the eruption.
Based on the impact of the explosive activity, field work such as sampling the hot springs and soil CO2 measurements were not possible during his most recent stay. There was also no sampling of the erupted products since this was done in April and May.
His main aim on this second trip was to set up the software on the laptops, calibrate and test the new spectrometers, this was successful and the two spectrometers are now operational.
Additionally, Dr Christopher used the multigas to get plume chemistry from the volcano which will compliment the flux data.
Following volcanic activity at La Soufrière in St. Vincent & the Grenadines, staff at the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) continue to work closely with their colleagues at the Seismic Research Centre (SRC). To date, seven MVO staff members have been deployed to St Vincent.
MVO support has included personnel who have travelled to St. Vincent to lend assistance on the ground. Their roles have included assisting with extending the monitoring capability, taking specialist measurements, training of staff and volunteers in data acquisition and processing and the use of specialist equipment. At various stages members of MVO staff have acted as team leader, which includes advising the authorities and taking part in outreach.
Dr. Victoria Miller returned on August 30th, having arrived on August 2nd Dr. Miller surveyed damage to buildings, critical infrastructure and agriculture due to different hazards produced by La Soufrière volcano in order to assess impacts to these at-risk elements. This work will feed into future risk assessments and mitigation activities. In addition, she provided support to the Government of SVG for the ongoing lahar hazard affecting localities around the volcano. She undertook hazard assessments, including the use of lahar modelling to help identify future impact zones.
Dr. Karen Pascal returned from St Vincent on July 23rd having arrived on June 21st. Dr. Pascal was working on La Soufrière deformation monitoring with Dr. Michal Camejo with a view to giving basic training in GPS processing and data analysis to the Belmont Observatory’s local staff. She also assisted Ms. Leanka Henry from NEMO Soufrière Monitoring Unit, with collecting S02 flux measurements.
MVO’s Senior Instrumentation Engineer, Carlisle Williams, returned in July, having arrived on May 21st, where he was assisting with the installation and maintenance of the La Soufrière monitoring system.
Dr. Stinton returned to St Vincent on June 21st to do aerial photogrammetry work over the summit crater to map the topographic and morphological changes caused by the explosive phase of the eruption. He arrived back in Montserrat on June 24th. Previously, Dr Stinton had been in St Vincent from January 13th until January 20th and May 7th – June 4th. During these visits, he carried out thermal and visual observations of the lava dome, collected samples of the lava dome with Prof. Richie Robertson from SRC, worked on the pyroclastic flow and lahar deposits in valleys on the western coast and also carried out aerial photogrammetry surveys from which the first high quality estimates of the dome volume and growth rate were determined.
Alongside the MVO team stationed in St Vincent, Staff at MVO in Montserrat have also been providing expertise and support to their colleagues in St. Vincent. MVO based staff have been assisting with data processing, risk assessment and data interpretation. MVO Director. Dr. Graham Ryan, and the technical teams including Mr. Marlon Fergus, have all played key roles. The MVO administrative team, Ms. Veda Dubery and Mrs. Gunjan Jeswani have also provided extensive support. All of the team who have been, or are based in St. Vincent, have also worked remotely from Montserrat on data processing and other tasks.
