About VOGRIPA

VOGRIPA is officially endorsed by the International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of the Earth's Interior (IAVCEI). VOGRIPA is an international partnership of several institutions and is currently being led and co-ordinated by Professor Steve Sparks along with Dr Sian Crosweller and Sarah Brown in the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Bristol, UK.

VOGRIPA started in 2005 with modest resources; Munich Re generously provided support in this early stage, with a number of undergraduate and postgraduate students at the University of Bristol being responsible for collecting data on Large Magnitude Explosive Volcanic Eruptions (LaMEVE), which constitutes the first part of VOGRIPA. A major research grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to Prof Steve Sparks provides resources until December 2013. VOGRIPA is also funded by the British Geological Survey who provide scientific input and database design expertise, host the website and lead on technical management. Further funding is provided from NERC through the Global Volcano Model (GVM), which began in November 2011, enabling VOGRIPA to increase its activity and ambitions.

The Smithsonian Institution is a partner in VOGRIPA and the Global Volcanism Program�s database provided the essential starting point for the LaMEVE database. Design and development continues to be consistent with, and complementary to, the Smithsonian database. The Geological Survey of Japan is a partner and provides expertise as well as data (databases on the Quaternary and Active Volcanoes of Japan ) to VOGRIPA. The Earth Observatory of Singapore, leading the WOVOdat initiative, is a partner in VOGRIPA.

Collaboration with the University of South Florida began recently focusing on statistical methods in probabilistic analysis and a database compiled at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand on debris avalanches has also been donated to VOGRIPA. Collaboration is ongoing with the State University of New York at Buffalo on a lava domes hazards database.

Ash fall damage, Montserrat.
Ashfall at American University of the Caribbean (Montserrat), Amersham showing corrosion damage to cars. (Date: 01/11/1996)
The Easter lobe (the
Montserrat. The Easter lobe (the "blob") extruded after the first major collapses down White River valley. (Date: 07/04/1997)