Masaya volcano in Nicaragua to be connected to the internet

Technology is slowly and steadily bringing every nook of the world in the digital connectivity domain. Scientists are now planning to use this means to gather data to better predict when a volcano will erupt.

General Electric (GE) in partnership with explorer and filmmaker Sam Cossman and the Nicaraguan government is working to install about 80 wireless sensors inside one of the country’s active volcanoes. The volcano, named Masaya and situated just outside the capital Managua, has a rare lava lake in its crater.

Under the project, Cossman would be descending 1,200 feet inside the volcano to test the WiFi. He will then install the sensors over the course of the next two to three weeks. The sensors will gather real-time data about Masaya’s temperature, atmospheric pressure, gravity, and the variety of different gasses like carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide.

The data will be transmitted through the internet to an open-source database called Predix, which GE owns. From here, anyone — volcanologists and Managua residents alike — can access the data to better understand how Masaya is behaving. Also a user-friendly website will simplify the data for common public who don’t understand anything about volcanoes.

"The goal is essentially to install all these sensors," says Cossman, "and create the most effective early warning system in the world that would ultimately serve as a proof of concept for implementing something similar to communities around the world who are exposed to similar risks."

To accomplish what he calls the "herculean task" of installing wireless sensors in a volcano, Cossman will wear a special, aluminized suit to withstand the 1,000F temperature of the nearby lava lake. "I look like a baked potato in a fire," he jokes.

The challenge is to make sure that all the equipment — sensors and internet connection — can work under such extreme conditions. If they do and the volcano is brought online, there’ll be no further excuses for getting a spotty internet connection in the Vox Media elevators.