New Supersites for the GSNL

The Geohazard Supersites and Natural Laboratories (GSNL) are an initiative of the geohazard scientific community. The Supersites provide access to spaceborne and in-situ geophysical data of selected sites prone to earthquakes, volcanoes or other geohazards. The initiative began with the "Frascati declaration" at the conclusion of the 3rd International Geohazards workshop of the Group of Earth Observation (GEO) held in November 2007 in Frascati, Italy. The Supersites have data for the study of natural hazards in geologically active regions, including information from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), GPS crustal deformation measurements, and earthquakes. The data are provided in the spirit of GEO, ESA, NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF), that easy access to Earth science data will promote their use and advance scientific research, ultimately leading to reduced loss of life from natural hazards.”

The GSNL differentiate four types of Supersites:

  • Permanent Supersites
    • Highest priority
    • Threat to humans and/or critical facilities
    • Scientific investigations aim at understanding processes
  • Candidate Supersites
    • ...are Permanent Supersites under development.
  • Event Supersites
    • Recently affected by major geological event
    • important and rare opportunity for scientific investigation
    • Substantial scientific interest internationally
  • Natural Laboratories
    • Potentially larger areas
    • Potentially less densely monitored 

To date, supersites exist in Hawaii, Iceland, Italy and the Marmara Sea.  Further supersites are under evaluation and may be approved in late October 2014. 

http://www.earthobservations.org/gsnl.php