Volcano Monitoring

Approximately 1, 511 volcanoes around the world are considered to be active, and about 50-60 volcanoes erupt each year. Known for their tremendous heat, fire plumes, and blizzards of ash, volcanoes can cause significant devastation. The deadliest eruption occurred in 1815 on the Tambora volcano in Indonesia when 92,000 people died, mostly from the ensuing tsunami, flying volcanic debris, and starvation. As recently as 1985, the Ruiz volcano in Colombia caused 25,000 deaths, mostly because of mudflows. While volcanoes of this violent nature are far less common than the ones emitting a bit of steam and ash, their destruction is too great to ignore. Sparking tsunamis, widespread disease, and architectural collapse, volcanoes have long caused geologists and other scientists to search for ways to improve our understanding of their warning signs.

CSTARS is advancing the understanding of active volcanoes and is well located to watch over the 200 potentially active volcanoes situated in the south eastern part of North America and in the north of South America - 40 of which have been active since 1960. For these volcanoes, CSTARS can receive direct-broadcast imagery acquired during a satellite’s flight over the volcanoes. Using a special technique to take earth measurements called Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR), scientists can take multiple images acquired at different times and combine them to measure changes in distance between the ground and the satellite that occurred during the time periods between the image acquisitions. Scientists can then detect ground displacements of even less than a centimeter.

To supplement the InSAR information, GPS techniques are also employed to provide more frequent readings, especially when monitoring an active volcano becomes more critical. Rosenstiel School has placed GPS receivers in Ecuador, Peru, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Mexico to provide real-time volcano hazard assessments.

Ultimately, the information these scientists glean from GPS and InSAR will further explain how to measure volcanic deformations better so that we can turn this information into more helpful hazard estimates.