This volcano in Nicaragua is going to be connected to the internet

[Judi Lynn]

This volcano in Nicaragua is going to be connected to the internet

The goal is to predict when the volcano will erupt
By Alessandra Potenza
on August 3, 2016 05:58 pm

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You can get Wi-Fi almost anywhere nowadays — even on the NYC subway platform. So how about connecting an entire volcano to the internet? General Electric is working on that. The goal is not to allow tourists to more easily post Instagram photos, but to gather data to better predict when a volcano will erupt.

GE is partnering with explorer and filmmaker Sam Cossman and the Nicaraguan government to install about 80 wireless sensors inside one of the country’s active volcanoes. The volcano, named Masaya and situated just outside the capital Managua, has a rare lava lake in its crater. See for yourself:

. . .

Cossman will descend 1,200 feet inside the volcano — roughly the height of the Empire State Building — to test the Wi-Fi. He will then install the sensors over the course of the next two to three weeks. The sensors will gather real-time data about Masaya’s temperature, atmospheric pressure, gravity, and the variety of different gasses like carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.

The data will be transmitted through the internet to an open-source database called Predix, which GE owns. From here, anyone — volcanologists and Managua residents alike — can access the data to better understand how Masaya is behaving. (A user-friendly website will simplify the data for us non-volcanologists who don’t understand anything about volcanoes.)

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More:
http://www.theverge.com/2016/8/3/12371088/masaya-volcano-wifi-internet-general-electric-sam-cossman

Environment & Energy:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1127103945

[SwankyXomb]

1. Lava over IP is the next big thing