This U.S.- Argentina/Chile award will provide support to Dr. William I. Rose and Ms. Lizzette A. Rodriguez, Michigan Technological University. Support is provided by the Office of International Science and Engineering (OISE) and the Petrology and Geochemistry Program. The PIs will collaborate with their counterparts, Dr. Jose G. Viramonte, Universidad Nacional de Salta, Dr. Eduardo E. Medina, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Antofagasta, Chile, and Dr. Gabriel Platzeck, Comision Nacional de Actividades Espaciales, Buenos Aires, Argentina in Cordoba, Argentina.
The project will support travel of U.S. volcanologists from Michigan Tech, the University of Hawaii, University of Oregon and the University of Pittsburgh to participate in collaborative field and remote sensing studies and to attend a volcanological remote sensing workshop. The primary goal is to develop the use of the Central Andes as a site for research involving volcanism and remote sensing. The U.S. researchers will bring their expertise in new technological methods in volcanology to share with their Argentine colleagues, who have extensive experience in the field. A Volcanology Field Course will involve a field trip to a geo-transect across the Andes from Salta, Argentina to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, that will allow the participants to gain familiarity with remote sensing targets, providing training on the latest ground based remote sensing techniques currently being used in monitoring networks around the world. These mutually beneficial activities will catalyze new collaborations between volcanologists and students of global change and life in extreme environments.