# The Machine That Hears a Mountain Think > Three Alaska volcanoes are on elevated alert at once, and an AI built in Fairbanks is what stands watch over them. Published 2026-07-10 by Alaska AI. 9 slides. Canonical: https://alaskaaihq.com/archive/2026-07-10/ ## What we verified - As of the July 3, 2026 AVO weekly update, Great Sitkin volcano was at Volcano Alert Level WATCH and Aviation Color Code ORANGE, with a slow lava eruption continuing in the summit crater. [volcanoes.usgs.gov](https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-03T18:33:40+00:00), primary document, 2026-07-03. - VOISS-Net achieves 87% classification accuracy on the test set. [jvolcanica.org](https://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/349), primary document, 2025-06-12. - Alaska contains over 130 volcanoes and volcanic fields that have been active within the last two million years. [usgs.gov](https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/avo), primary document. - About 90 Alaska volcanoes have been active in the last 10,000 years, and more than 50 have been active in historical time (since about 1760). [usgs.gov](https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/avo), primary document. - Alaska's volcanoes sit under Pacific great-circle aircraft routes traversed by more than 50,000 people per day, and can erupt ash into that airspace. [usgs.gov](https://www.usgs.gov/observatories/avo), primary document. - As of July 3, 2026, Mount Kupreanof was at Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY and Aviation Color Code YELLOW, with seismic activity and volcanic gas emissions observed. [volcanoes.usgs.gov](https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-03T18:33:40+00:00), primary document, 2026-07-03. - USGS defines Volcano Alert Level WATCH as heightened/escalating unrest with increased eruption potential, or an eruption underway that poses limited hazards. [usgs.gov](https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-alert-levels-characterize-conditions-us-volcanoes), primary document. - USGS defines Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY as elevated unrest above known background level, closely monitored. [usgs.gov](https://www.usgs.gov/programs/VHP/volcanic-alert-levels-characterize-conditions-us-volcanoes), primary document. - Great Sitkin volcano summit elevation is 5,708 feet (1,740 m). [avo.alaska.edu](https://avo.alaska.edu/volcano/great-sitkin), primary document. - Mount Kupreanof summit elevation is 6,217 feet (1,895 m). [avo.alaska.edu](https://avo.alaska.edu/volcano/kupreanof), primary document. - Mount Edgecumbe summit elevation is 3,202 feet (976 m). [avo.alaska.edu](https://avo.alaska.edu/volcano/edgecumbe), primary document. - As of July 3, 2026, Shishaldin volcano was at Volcano Alert Level ADVISORY and Aviation Color Code YELLOW, with continuing unrest. [volcanoes.usgs.gov](https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-03T18:33:40+00:00), primary document, 2026-07-03. - Mount Kupreanof has no real-time geophysical monitoring network and is watched primarily via satellite and regional networks. [volcanoes.usgs.gov](https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-03T18:33:40+00:00), primary document, 2026-07-03. - The July 3, 2026 AVO weekly update reported three Alaska volcanoes in elevated status simultaneously, Great Sitkin (Watch/Orange), Kupreanof (Advisory/Yellow), and Shishaldin (Advisory/Yellow). [volcanoes.usgs.gov](https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-03T18:33:40+00:00), primary document, 2026-07-03. - AVO monitors these volcanoes with a multi-sensor network including local seismic, geodetic and infrasound sensors, satellite data, web cameras, and regional infrasound and lightning networks. [volcanoes.usgs.gov](https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/hans-public/notice/DOI-USGS-AVO-2026-07-03T18:33:40+00:00), primary document, 2026-07-03. - VOISS-Net is a generalized deep-learning (spectrogram-based CNN) model built to detect and classify volcano seismicity such as tremor, explosions, earthquakes and long-period events. [jvolcanica.org](https://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/349), primary document, 2025-06-12. - VOISS-Net was trained on more than 270,000 spectrograms. [jvolcanica.org](https://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/349), primary document, 2025-06-12. - VOISS-Net was developed using data from seven volcanoes across three regions, five Alaskan volcanoes, Mt. Etna in Italy, and Kilauea in Hawaii. [jvolcanica.org](https://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/349), primary document, 2025-06-12. - VOISS-Net was developed collaboratively by scientists at the Alaska Volcano Observatory / University of Alaska Fairbanks and the U.S. Geological Survey. [jvolcanica.org](https://www.jvolcanica.org/ojs/index.php/volcanica/article/view/349), report, 2025-06-12. - VolcSARvatory uses interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to detect ground movement as small as 1 centimeter. [gi.alaska.edu](https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/alaska-developed-volcano-monitoring-system-will-expand-across-us), report, 2025-02-20. - The Alaska Volcano Observatory at UAF has used a prototype of VolcSARvatory since early 2022. [gi.alaska.edu](https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/alaska-developed-volcano-monitoring-system-will-expand-across-us), report, 2025-02-20. - VolcSARvatory's usefulness became apparent during an earthquake swarm at long-quiet Mount Edgecumbe volcano near Sitka on April 11, 2022. [gi.alaska.edu](https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/alaska-developed-volcano-monitoring-system-will-expand-across-us), report, 2025-02-20. - VolcSARvatory is being expanded to all USGS volcano observatories; the USGS Volcano Science Center operates AVO plus four other U.S. volcano observatories (five total). [gi.alaska.edu](https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/alaska-developed-volcano-monitoring-system-will-expand-across-us), report, 2025-02-20. - The UAF VolcSARvatory expansion is one of seven NASA Disasters Program proposals that share $6.3 million over two years. [gi.alaska.edu](https://www.gi.alaska.edu/news/alaska-developed-volcano-monitoring-system-will-expand-across-us), report, 2025-02-20. - Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tom Begich argued Alaska must not fall behind on AI policy. [adn.com](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/03/opinion-what-alaskas-governor-candidates-say-about-ai-and-why-it-matters/), report, 2026-07-03. - Gubernatorial candidate Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins warned that the AI industry has understated public risk. [adn.com](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/03/opinion-what-alaskas-governor-candidates-say-about-ai-and-why-it-matters/), report, 2026-07-03. - Kreiss-Tomkins emphasized Alaskan data sovereignty, saying Alaskans' data belongs to Alaskans alone. [adn.com](https://www.adn.com/opinions/2026/07/03/opinion-what-alaskas-governor-candidates-say-about-ai-and-why-it-matters/), report, 2026-07-03. Slides and the deck PDF are linked from the canonical page.