Construction and Provision of Digital Photographic Archives by Using the Japan Volcanological Data Network System: Application to the 1990–1995 Mount Unzen Eruption Disaster

Abstract

Sharing volcano-related photographic data is necessary for deepening understanding of volcanic phenomena. Therefore, a new function for archiving, displaying, and providing digital photographic data has been added to the Japan Volcanological Data Network (JVDN) system to enable users to share photographs of volcanoes and their related metadata. The new function was developed in order to facilitate widespread use in research involving data owned by individuals or organizations, and it solved a number of issues: the issue of preventing the loss of photographs or their associated metadata, issues related to copyright ownership of photographs, information-management issues related to photographic data, and the issue of the extent of disclosure of photographic data. We have uploaded photographic data related to the eruption disaster of Mount Unzen (1990–1995) onto the JVDN system and have started to provide these data to interested parties. These photographic data are related to various aspects including volcanic-eruption phenomena, volcanic disasters, and disaster countermeasures. We expect that such data will be effectively utilized in various fields in the future. We believe that sharing of photographic data by means of the new functions will contribute toward the development of volcanology and the mitigation of volcanic disasters.