A comprehensive assessment of volcanic hazard and mitigation strategies at remote volcanoes: Manam, Papua New Guinea

Manam is one of Papua New Guinea's most frequently active volcanoes. Manam is capable of a full spectrum of volcanic hazards including pyroclastic flows, lava flows and tephra deposition. As such this volcano poses significant risk to communities living close by and further afield as well as to air traffic. The installation of monitoring equipment has been impeded by social-economic factors and by the altitude and topography of the summit vents which make proximal measurements extremely challenging. This project proposes a systematic assessment of volcanic hazard at Manam with the aim to produce comprehensive hazard maps and protocols for different eruptive scenarios. Crucially, a component of this project will include novel methods for volcanic hazard communication and planning with consultation with the local communities and accessible outputs for these communities and policy makers in Papua New Guinea. Field research will include assessments of vulnerability and local volcanic hazard perceptions. Volcanic gas measurements, seismology and satellite observations methods will be used in order to establish baseline activity, identify any eruptive precursor signals and the cascading hazards. Drone-based strategies will utilised to take aerial measurements of gases and hazards contributing to technological advancement of research at remote volcanoes.