Prediction of volcanic activity, and volcanic eruption forecasting, is an interdisciplinary monitoring and research effort to predict the time and severity of a volcano's eruption. Of particular importance is the prediction of hazardous eruptions that could lead to catastrophic loss of life, property, and disruption of human activities.
Risk and uncertainty are central to forecasting and prediction, which are not necessarily the same thing in the context of volcanoes, where opinions have often played a role, and the prediction in time (forecasting) for an individual volcano is different from predicting eruption characteristics for apparently similar volcanoes. Both forecasting and prediction have processes based on past and present data.
