Collaborative Research: Imaging precursors of volcanic eruption and mass wasting

Volcanoes often give advance warnings before hazardous activity. Hazards include eruptions, landslides, and mudflows. However, ground-based monitoring data to observe these precursors are not available globally. Satellite data can fill in gaps in ground monitoring. At a few volcanoes, satellite data have shown surface changes before explosions or landslides. During the 2010 eruption of Merapi volcano, Indonesia, satellite data prompted an increase in the evacuation zone. 10,000-20,000 people were saved. To repeat this success, high resolution satellite data are needed. This project will use high resolution images at 22 active volcanoes. The goal is to understand the conditions under which warning signs appear before eruptions or landslides. This research will provide training for early-career scientists and a student intern. This grant helps protect lives and communities from natural disasters. Many volcanoes with frequent or continuous eruptions have not yet been studied with all high spatial resolution data. This project will study 22 active volcanoes that provide a broad spectrum of pre- and syn-eruptive morphological changes associated with different types of eruptive styles. This project will address the following hypothesis: that clear deformation precursors can be imaged from satellites at a majority of volcanoes prior to volcanic unrest and mass wasting events using restricted high spatial and temporal resolutions sensors. High resolution images will be used to: 1) measure erupted volumes and eruptive rate at volcanoes and 2) track surface changes (fractures, faults, deformation, and mass-wasting processes) via synthetic aperture radar (SAR) and optical data to test if these features form or change before and during eruptions and large mass-wasting events. Increased access to high spatial resolution satellite data comes from two initiatives: 1. The Global Volcano Early Warning and Eruption Response from Space (G-VEWERS) project of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites that seeks to monitor all ~1200 subaerial Holocene age volcanoes and 2) NASA’s Commercial Smallsat Data Acquisition program that provides access to an ever-expanding archive of otherwise restricted commercial satellite data for federally funded investigations. There are two types of Broader Impacts: 1) Community Impact through contributions to disaster risk reduction in partnership with local volcano observatories and 2) STEM Education with support and training for two graduate students and an undergraduate at each institution. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.