UH Geophysicist Jiaxuan Li Leads an International Team in Developing Real-Time Volcanic Monitoring Using Fiber-Optic Cables, Offering New Insights into Eruption Forecasting
A groundbreaking study led by Dr. Jiaxuan Li, assistant professor of geophysics, seismology at the University of Houston’s College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, has been published in Science, one of the world’s premier peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Li’s research introduces a novel technique called fiber-optic geodesy, offering an unprecedented minute-by-minute view of magma movement beneath the Earth’s surface. The study, titled Minute-Scale Dynamics of Recurrent Dike Intrusions in Iceland with Fiber-Optic Geodesy, captures the evolution of volcanic dike intrusions near Grindavík, Iceland, over the course of a year, using a buried telecommunication fiber-optic cable repurposed into a dense array of deformation sensors.
“This was the first time anyone has used low-frequency distributed acoustic sensing (LFDAS) in this way to monitor volcanic activity with such temporal detail,” Li said. “We were able to detect dike intrusions in near real time—even before some eruptions occurred.”
The monitoring system, known as LFDAS, tracked nine intrusive events between November 2023 and November 2024, six of which culminated in eruptions. Unlike traditional geodetic tools such as GNSS and InSAR, which often require hours or days to detect changes in the ground, LFDAS identified strain signals within minutes, allowing researchers to issue early warnings to Icelandic civil authorities.
Li’s team—including collaborators from Caltech, University of Iceland, Reykjavik University, Google, and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory converted more than 100 kilometers of Icelandic coastline fiber-optic cable into approximately 10,000 highly sensitive sensors spaced just 10 meters apart.
“Fiber-optic geodesy bridges two traditionally separate communities—geophysics and optical fiber communication,” Li said. “By leveraging existing infrastructure, we’ve created a cost-effective, highly scalable monitoring system.”
Notably, the technology proved its value during the May 29, 2024, eruption, when lava destroyed part of the cable. Even so, LFDAS provided critical early warning hours in advance. In subsequent events, automated systems detected warning signs and sent alerts to Iceland’s Meteorological Office more than 20 minutes before eruptions began.
Li emphasizes that this breakthrough could transform volcanic monitoring worldwide—especially in offshore regions, where traditional monitoring is difficult and expensive. Undersea fiber-optic cables already traverse seismically and volcanically active zones, and the ability to convert them into sensor arrays offers immense promise.
“Offshore eruptions, like the 2022 Tonga event, can damage infrastructure, disrupt internet cables and create tsunamis,” Li said. “This technology can play a key role in hazard mitigation for those events.”
The findings also open new scientific questions about how and why some magma intrusions reach the surface while others do not. Future research will explore the internal dynamics of magma chambers, dike pressure evolution, and the geochemical variations between eruptive and non-eruptive events.
“I see this as just the beginning,” Li said. “We’re not only improving our ability to predict eruptions—we’re also learning how Earth’s deep systems behave in real time.”
Li joined the University of Houston in 2025 after completing his postdoctoral work at Caltech. His research spans seismology, geodesy and fiber-optic sensing, and his recent publication reflects UH NSM’s commitment to research excellence and innovation.
The paper, titled Minute-Scale Dynamics of Recurrent Dike Intrusions in Iceland with Fiber-Optic Geodesy, was published online by the journal Science on Thursday, April 24, 2025.
- Kristoffer Smith, College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics