Teaching LAHARZ at CSAV is quicker with VICTOR: using the cloud-based VICTOR platform for an international lahar modeling course
Sarah Ogburn 1, Sam Krasnoff2, Keith Blair3
Affiliations: 1USGS/USAID Volcano Disaster Assistance Program, Vancouver WA, USA; 2Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, NY, USA ; 3Bristol University, UK
Presentation type: Poster
Presentation time: Friday 16:30 - 18:00, Room Poster Hall
Poster Board Number: 65
Programme No: 7.5.14
Abstract
In 2024, as part of the Center for the Study of Active Volcanoes (CSAV) International Training Course, we used the VICTOR (Volcanology Infrastructure for Computational Tools and Resources) platform to teach the week-long LAHARZ lahar modeling component of the course for the first time. The CSAV lahar modeling module is usually taught using the 2014 USGS version of LAHARZ designed to run from the ArcGIS toolbox. While this version of LAHARZ has been updated to run in ArcGIS Pro and is still available, we wanted to test the use of a new open-source, Python version of LAHARZ, developed by Keith Blair, with the CSAV course. To streamline the course redesign, we enlisted the help of VICTOR, a cloud-based JupyterHub platform on which users can run models. With both LAHARZ and QGIS available through VICTOR, we were able to run the entire course from the platform. We also used VICTOR to easily share class files and presentations, to download digital elevation models (DEMs) needed for lahar modeling, and to streamline the course workflow. CSAV students, who are usually volcano observatory staff members from countries with limited computing resources, can now use the VICTOR platform for any future lahar, lava flow, pyroclastic flow, and tephra modeling. We also used the teaching experience and course feedback to implement new features in LAHARZ and VICTOR. This presentation describes challenges faced and our experience with the platform, presents our ideas for the future, and solicits conversation with other users or educators.