Transforming volcanic monitoring: A dataset and benchmark for onboard volcano activity detection

TL;DR

This paper introduces a new annotated dataset for volcanic activity detection, benchmarks state-of-the-art models, and demonstrates the feasibility of onboard volcano monitoring using satellite-compatible hardware, advancing early warning capabilities.

Contribution

It provides the first extensive volcanic activity dataset with annotations, benchmarks detection models, and explores onboard deployment on satellite hardware.

Findings

The dataset covers diverse volcanoes worldwide with binary annotations.

State-of-the-art models establish baseline detection performance.

Onboard deployment on VPU demonstrates real-time volcanic activity detection feasibility.

Abstract

Natural disasters, such as volcanic eruptions, pose significant challenges to daily life and incur considerable global economic losses. The emergence of next-generation small-satellites, capable of constellation-based operations, offers unparalleled opportunities for near-real-time monitoring and onboard processing of such events. However, a major bottleneck remains the lack of extensive annotated datasets capturing volcanic activity, which hinders the development of robust detection systems. This paper introduces a novel dataset explicitly designed for volcanic activity and eruption detection, encompassing diverse volcanoes worldwide. The dataset provides binary annotations to identify volcanic anomalies or non-anomalies, covering phenomena such as temperature anomalies, eruptions, and volcanic ash emissions. These annotations offer a foundational resource for developing and evaluating detection models, addressing a critical gap in volcanic monitoring research. Additionally, we present comprehensive benchmarks using state-of-the-art models to establish baselines for future studies. Furthermore, we explore the potential for deploying these models onboard next-generation satellites. Using the Intel Movidius Myriad X VPU as a testbed, we demonstrate the feasibility of volcanic activity detection directly onboard. This capability significantly reduces latency and enhances response times, paving the way for advanced early warning systems. This paves the way for innovative solutions in volcanic disaster management, encouraging further exploration and refinement of onboard monitoring technologies.