Machine learning algorithm proves to be highly accurate in predicting Mount St. Helens eruptions
A team of physicists, geologists and signal theorists from the University of Granada, Spain, has developed a machine-learning-based algorithm designed to predict when Mount St. Helens will erupt.
[...]
The work involved collecting as much data as possible for the volcano recorded over many years, including prior to and during the massive eruption of 1980—one of the mightiest volcanic eruptions to have occurred in modern times in North America. It was also one of the deadliest and most economically destructive.
The researchers used the data to train a machine-learning algorithm, hoping it would find patterns that human researchers have missed. They also added math formulas designed to seek meaning from earthquake signals, such as the amount of pressure building up, or energy stored.
The researchers then trained the algorithm with data from several eruptions and prompted it to predict whether an eruption was imminent prior to those earlier eruptions. The team found their algorithm to be 95% accurate in predicting past eruptions at least three days in advance.
[...]