3.5 Management
3.5.1 Volcano Surveillance in New Zealand
Volcano surveillance in New Zealand is carried out by the Institute of Geological and Nuclear Sciences (GNS) (Scott et al. 1995). Monitoring enables the background state of the volcano to be determined. Departures from this state may indicate the onset of an eruptive episode. Each volcano is assigned a Scientific Alert Level by GNS denoting the current status of the volcano. The scientific alert system is based on a 6-stage classification where the lowest level is 0 (dormancy) and the highest level is 5 (large scale hazardous eruption in progress). The New Zealand system has two parallel tables, one for frequently active cone volcanoes (e.g. Ruapehu, Ngaururhoe/Tongario) and the other for reawakening volcanoes (e.g. Taupo, Okataina, Egmont). GNS will adjust the alert level based on observations from the surveillance programmes at each volcano and notify Ministry of Civil Defence, councils, key organisations and the media (as per the National Civil Defence Plan - see appendix 1).
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