Video surveillance has many applications, and keeping a watchful eye on an active volcano ranks as an important one. IDIS’ video technology has been meeting the task as the video technology provider for the Volcan de Fuego project in Guatemala.

In June 2018 nearly 200 people were killed on Volcan de Fuego during a series of explosions and pyroclastic flows which left little evacuation time. This was the volcano’s most powerful eruption since 1974 and its deadliest since 1929 but was far from an isolated incident. More than 60 major eruptions have been recorded over the last five centuries — and with 54,000 people living on the fertile farmlands within six miles of the crater, the risk remains high.

Consequently, ultra-high definition, continual video monitoring – alongside data from sensors including seismology and gas detectors - now aims to protect vulnerable communities living around the volcano by giving early warning.

This volcano is now watched day and night in order to give early warning of impending eruptions. Continual live footage of the ‘Volcan de Fuego’ can be viewed online by emergency agencies, scientists and residents, as it is all being captured by IDIS’ 8MP 31x IR PTZ camera.

Even from over nine miles away, the 8-megapixel model delivers high-definition, full day, and night surveillance of the active caldera, showing sudden gas and ash eruptions as often as every 15 to 20 minutes.

To view the camera in action, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-DXFWYtis4.