Skip to content

The Raspberry Shake infrasound and seismic sensors offers new perspective for volcano research and monitoring

Hugo Reiller1,2, Philipson Bani 1,2, Aurelien Dupont3, Nicolas Wendling3, Jean Battaglia2, Denis Legrand,4, Esther Peter,5, Ricardo William,5

  • Affiliations: 1Centre IRD de la Nouvelle-Calédonie, 101, Promenade Roger Laroque, BP A5, 98848 Nouméa Cedex, Nouvelle-Calédonie 2Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans, Université Blaise Pascal-CNRS-IRD, OPGC, 63170 Aubière, France 3CEA, DAM, DIF, F-91297 Arpajon, France 4Universidad Nacional Aut´onoma de M´exico, Instituto de Geofísica, Av. Universidad 3000, Coyoac´an, C.P. 04510, Ciudad de M´exico, Mexico 5Vanuatu Meteorology and Geohazards Department, Port Vila, Vanuatu

  • Presentation type: Poster

  • Presentation time: Thursday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall

  • Poster Board Number: 127

  • Programme No: 2.1.37

  • Theme 2 > Session 1

Abstract

Raspberry Shake (RS) has developed affordable seismometers and acoustic sensors integrated with Raspberry Pi technology. These devices are smaller, lighter and approximately ten times cheaper than traditional instruments, reducing logistical challenges and making them ideal for deployment in remote and rugged environments such as active volcanoes. We tested RS sensors on Yasur Volcano, an ideal site for evaluating new instruments due to its high levels of Strombolian activity and easy access to the crater rim. This accessibility allowed us to install RS sensors at varying distances from the crater and confirm the volcanic origin of RS signals with thermal video recording from the crater rim. We identified four main active vents with distinct manifestations: two exhibiting Strombolian explosions, one with regular ash venting, and a fourth with nearly continuous gas puffing. The RS seismic sensors successfully detected the Strombolian explosions, with the optimal performance observed when the sensors were positioned at the base of the volcanic cone rather than at the crater rim. Continuous gas puffing was reliably recorded at distances up to at least 400 meters from the crater. However, at 2 kilometers, background noise obscured the detection of gas puffing. In contrast, the RS acoustic sensors successfully captured gas puffing signals up to 2 km from the crater rim. This work highlights the potential of low-cost RS sensors as effective tools for volcano monitoring and underscores their value for research when combined with complementary techniques such as thermal video recordings.