This is one of the first times anyone has monitored a geothermal resource from space, and it demonstrates what can be achieved. Since the satellite data is freely available, it represents an inexpensive and risk-free way of assessing geothermal potential.
In recent years, the UK’s Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) has been funding RiftVolc, a consortium of British and Ethiopian universities and geological surveys, to address some of these issues. This has focused on understanding the hazards and developing methods for exploring and monitoring the volcanoes so that they can be exploited safely and sustainably.
Teams of scientists have been out in the field for the past three years deploying monitoring equipment and making observations. Yet some of the most important breakthroughs have come through an entirely different route – through researchers analysing satellite images at their desks.
Satellite observations of fumarole activity at Aluto volcano, Ethiopia: Implications for geothermal monitoring and volcanic hazard, Mathilde Braddock, et al. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2017.05.006 Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research, Volume 341, 15 July 2017, Pages 70-83.