ASH-ANALYZING AI. The shape of a particle of volcanic ash can help volcanologists determine the type of eruption that produced it, which can help response teams know how to react in the aftermath of an eruption. For example, it might let them know how large of an area to evacuate. But in the past, categorizing ash was time-consuming, subjective, and reliant on the availability of highly trained experts.
Now, scientists from the Earth-Life Science Institute at the Tokyo Institute of Technology have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) program that analyzes volcanic ash particles to determine their shape. The scientists detail their research in a paper published in May in the journal Scientific Reports.