UH Hilo data scientist explores AI as support tool for natural hazard intelligence and public communication
With NSF funding over the next year, Associate Professor Sukhwa Hong plans to build and test an AI-agent system using live Hawaiʻi Island volcano feeds, environmental data, and example volcanic and wildfire scenarios.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
A data scientist at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo has launched a year-long project to explore how artificial intelligence can help scientists, students, emergency managers, and the public better understand natural hazards such as volcanic activity, wildfires, tsunamis, and other disasters. The main idea of the project, named VULCAN-AI, is to use AI as a support tool for hazard intelligence and public communication.
“During a disaster, there is often a huge amount of information coming in at once: live camera feeds, satellite images, sensor readings, weather data, maps, and scientific reports,” says head of the project Sukhwa Hong, an associate professor of data science and business administration who specializes in AI for business analytics. “VULCAN-AI is designed to help organize that information and turn it into clear, plain-language summaries that people can understand.”
- Learn more about Associate Professor Hong’s teaching and research (April 23, 2025, UH Hilo Stories)
With funding from the National Science Foundation’s National Artificial Intelligence Research Resource Pilot (NAIRR) over the next year, Hong plans to build and test the AI-agent system using live Hawaiʻi Island volcano feeds, environmental data, and example volcanic and wildfire scenarios.
“The goal of the project is not to replace scientists or official emergency alerts. Instead, the goal is to show how AI can responsibly support human experts.”
He emphasizes that the goal of the project is not to replace scientists or official emergency alerts. Instead, the goal is to show how AI can responsibly support human experts by helping detect changes, organize information, and explain what is happening more clearly to the public.
“What excites me most is that this project shows a positive use of AI,” says Hong. “AI is often discussed as a threat, but when used carefully and responsibly, it can help communities, support science, improve emergency communication, respect local knowledge, and give students hands-on experience with technology that serves the public good.”
Another exciting part of the project is the plan to use live U.S. Geological Survey YouTube feeds of Hawaiʻi volcanoes as real-time visual data.
Click above for live feed of Halemaʻumaʻu from the northwest rim of the caldera. (USGS)
“AI agents will monitor these feeds in a way similar to how trained humans visually watch for changes, such as lava movement, increased flow, plume activity, weather obstruction, or other unusual patterns,” Hong explains. “This is the kind of hands-on, real-world AI work that I think undergraduate students will find very exciting.”
He plans to hire a couple of undergraduate students through the National Science Foundation Change Hawaiʻi undergraduate research program to work with him on AI testing, live-feed monitoring, data preparation, visualization, and public communication.
“AI should not replace cultural knowledge, local experience, scientific expertise, or human judgment. Instead, it should support them.”
For Hawaiʻi Island, this work is especially meaningful. Hong points out volcanoes can be frightening during eruptions and other periods of activity, but they are also sacred places connected to Hawaiian culture, history, ʻāina, and deep respect for the land.
“This project is not only about using advanced technology,” he says. “It is also about teaching students that technology must be used with humility, responsibility, and respect for culture, place, and community.”
With this in mind, the plan for VULCAN-AI is to include place-based and Indigenous knowledge in appropriate and respectful ways, with guidance from community and cultural knowledge holders.
“AI should not replace cultural knowledge, local experience, scientific expertise, or human judgment. Instead, it should support them,” he says.
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Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
