Many of the spectacles of volcanic systems are not limited to the narrow portion of the light spectrum to which our eyes are sensitive. Indeed, oftentimes there is a vast amount of otherwise latent information encoded into the infrared (IR) portion of the light spectrum. Though our eyes are insensitive to IR radiation, we can detect it in the form of heat. Tracking the evolution of temperature—whether of fluids, gases, lava, or simply the ground—in volcanic systems is often an incredibly powerful tool for identifying and diagnosing changes in the subsurface portion of the system.
The last couple of decades has seen a proliferation of low-power infrared cameras with a small enough form factor to be carried and deployed in the field. Provided some calibration has been performed on the cameras, there is a proportional relationship between the brightness of a pixel and the radiative temperature. By capturing a timelapse view of the temperature in the volcanic environment, we can tie this to satellite, and other geophysical, observations to better understand the relationship between heat flux and the eruption cycle at different volcanoes.