Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) study of coastal wetlands over southeastern Louisiana
No abstract available.
Geology topics
Publications and source records attributed to Zhong Lu.
No abstract available.
Starting soon after the 1997 eruption at Okmok volcano and continuing until the start of the 2008 eruption, magma accumulated in a storage zone centered ~3.5 km beneath the caldera floor at a rate that varied with time. A Mogi-type point pressure source or finite sphere with a radius of 1 km provides an adequate fit to the deformation field portrayed in time-sequential interferometric synthetic aperture radar images. From the end of the 1997 eruption through summer 2004, magma storage increased by 3.2–4.5 × 10 7 m 3 , which corresponds to 75–85% of the magma volume erupted in 1997. Thereafter, the average magma supply rate decreased such that by 10 July 2008, 2 days before the start of the 2008 eruption, magma storage had increased by 3.7–5.2 × 10 7 m 3 or 85–100% of the 1997 eruption volume. We propose that the supply rate decreased in response to the diminishing pressure gradient between the shallow storage zone and a deeper magma source region. Eventually the effects of continuing magma supply and vesiculation of stored magma caused a critical pressure threshold to be exceeded, triggering the 2008 eruption. A similar pattern of initially rapid inflation followed by oscillatory but generally slowing inflation was observed prior to the 1997 eruption. In both cases, withdrawal of magma during the eruptions depressurized the shallow storage zone, causing significant volcano-wide subsidence and initiating a new intereruption deformation cycle.
A hydrovolcanic eruption near Cone D on the floor of Okmok caldera, Alaska, began on 12 July 2008 and continued until late August 2008. The eruption was preceded by inflation of a magma reservoir located beneath the center of the caldera and ∼3 km below sea level (bsl), which began immediately after Okmok's previous eruption in 1997. In this paper we use data from several radar satellites and advanced interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) techniques to produce a suite of 2008 coeruption deformation maps. Most of the surface deformation that occurred during the eruption is explained by deflation of a Mogi-type source located beneath the center of the caldera and 2–3 km bsl, i.e., essentially the same source that inflated prior to the eruption. During the eruption the reservoir deflated at a rate that decreased exponentially with time with a 1/ e time constant of ∼13 days. We envision a sponge-like network of interconnected fractures and melt bodies that in aggregate constitute a complex magma storage zone beneath Okmok caldera. The rate at which the reservoir deflates during an eruption may be controlled by the diminishing pressure difference between the reservoir and surface. A similar mechanism might explain the tendency for reservoir inflation to slow as an eruption approaches until the pressure difference between a deep magma production zone and the reservoir is great enough to drive an intrusion or eruption along the caldera ring-fracture system.
Volcano deformation is usually measured using satellite geodetic techniques including interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), campaign GPS, and continuous GPS. Differences in the spatial and temporal sampling of each system mean that most appropriate inversion scheme to determine the source parameters from each data set is different. Most studies either compare results from independent inversions or subsample the data sets to the lowest common factor. It is unclear whether differences in the solution reflect differences in source behavior, differences in measurement bias, or differences in inversion technique. Here we develop a single inversion procedure that captures the benefits of each system, especially the daily sampling of continuous GPS and the high spatial resolution of InSAR. Okmok Volcano, Alaska, is an ideal target for such a test because a long series (<15 years) of InSAR and continuous GPS measurement exists and the source is almost continuously active and in a stable location.
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) provides an all-weather imaging capability for measuring ground-surface deformation and inferring changes in land surface characteristics. InSAR enables scientists to monitor and characterize hazards posed by volcanic, seismic, and hydrogeologic processes, by landslides and wildfires, and by human activities such as mining and fluid extraction or injection. Measuring how a volcano's surface deforms before, during, and after eruptions provides essential information about magma dynamics and a basis for mitigating volcanic hazards. Measuring spatial and temporal patterns of surface deformation in seismically active regions is extraordinarily useful for understanding rupture dynamics and estimating seismic risks. Measuring how landslides develop and activate is a prerequisite to minimizing associated hazards. Mapping surface subsidence or uplift related to extraction or injection of fluids during exploitation of groundwater aquifers or petroleum reservoirs provides fundamental data on aquifer or reservoir properties and improves our ability to mitigate undesired consequences. Monitoring dynamic water-level changes in wetlands improves hydrological modeling predictions and the assessment of future flood impacts. In addition, InSAR imagery can provide near-real-time estimates of fire scar extents and fire severity for wildfire management and control. All-weather satellite radar imagery is critical for studying various natural processes and is playing an increasingly important role in understanding and forecasting natural hazards.
We used ALOS InSAR images to study land surface deformation over the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah, which collapsed on 6 August 2007 and killed six miners. The collapse was registered as a ML 3.9 seismic event. An InSAR image spanning the time of the collapse shows 25–30 cm surface subsidence over the mine. We used distributed dislocation sources to model the deformation field, and found that a collapse source model alone does not adequately fit the deformation field. Normal faulting is also required, such that the event is best characterized as a ‘trapdoor’ collapse. The calculated moment of the normal fault is about the same as the moment of the collapse source, with each larger than the seismically computed moment. Our InSAR results, including the location of the event, the extent of the collapsed area, and constraints on the shearing component of the deformation source, all confirm and extend recent seismic studies of the 6 August 2007 event.
No abstract available.
Fusion of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images through interferometric, polarimetric and tomographic processing provides an all - weather imaging capability to characterise and monitor various natural hazards. This article outlines interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) processing and products and their utility for natural hazards characterisation, provides an overview of the techniques and applications related to fusion of SAR/InSAR images with optical and other images and highlights the emerging SAR fusion technologies. In addition to providing precise land - surface digital elevation maps, SAR - derived imaging products can map millimetre - scale elevation changes driven by volcanic, seismic and hydrogeologic processes, by landslides and wildfires and other natural hazards. With products derived from the fusion of SAR and other images, scientists can monitor the progress of flooding, estimate water storage changes in wetlands for improved hydrological modelling predictions and assessments of future flood impacts and map vegetation structure on a global scale and monitor its changes due to such processes as fire, volcanic eruption and deforestation. With the availability of SAR images in near real - time from multiple satellites in the near future, the fusion of SAR images with other images and data is playing an increasingly important role in understanding and forecasting natural hazards.
Augustine Volcano is an active stratovolcano located in southwestern Cook Inlet, about 280 kilometers southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. The volcano produced six significant explosive eruptions between 1812 and 1986. Augustine eruptions typically have an explosive onset followed by dome building. The most recent eruption began on January 11, 2006. We applied the small baseline subset (SBAS) interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) technique to measure ground surface deformation during 1992-2005 with the use of European Remote Sensing Satellites 1 and 2 (ERS-1 and ERS-2) radar imagery. Through a multiple-interferogram approach, atmospheric delay artifacts, which hinder conventional InSAR measurements, are significantly reduced by spatial and temporal filtering. This allows us to retrieve time-series deformation over coherent points at millimeter-scale accuracy. The deformation results from two independent satellite tracks agree with each other, suggesting 2 to 8 cm wholesale uplift of Augustine Volcano from 1992 to 2005. Global Positioning System (GPS) data acquired in September 2004 and October 2005 confirm the SBAS InSAR results. A preliminary model consisting of a contracting source at 2 to 4 km depth and an inflating source at 7 to 12 km depth fits the observed deformation reasonably well. We interpret the deeper source as a long-term magma storage zone and the shallower source as a subsidiary reservoir that was tapped during the 2006 eruption. The shallow source corresponds approximately to the location of the volcano-tectonic earthquakes that preceded and followed the 1976 and 2006 eruptions, respectively.
The Helmand River wetland represents the only fresh-water resource in southern Afghanistan and one of the least mapped water basins in the world. The relatively narrow wetland consists of mostly marshes surrounded by dry lands. In this study, we demonstrate the use of the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (PALSAR) Interferometric SAR (InSAR) to detect the changes of the Helmand River wetland water level. InSAR images are combined with the geocentric water level measurements from the retracked high-rate (18-Hz) Environmental Satellite (Envisat) radar altimetry to construct absolute water level changes over the marshes. It is demonstrated that the integration of the altimeter and InSAR can provide spatio-temporal measurements of water level variation over the Helmand River marshes where in situ measurements are absent. ?? Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
The synergistic application of optical and radar satellite imagery improves emergency response and advance coastal monitoring from the realm of “opportunistic” to that of “strategic.” As illustrated by the Hurricane Ike example, synthetic aperture radar imaging capabilities are clearly applicable for emergency response operations, but they are also relevant to emergency environmental management. Integrated with optical monitoring, the nearly real-time availability of synthetic aperture radar provides superior consistency in status and trends monitoring and enhanced information concerning causal forces of change that are critical to coastal resource sustainability, including flooding extent, depth, and frequency.
The Augustine Volcano is a conical-shaped, active stratovolcano located on an island of the same name in Cook Inlet, about 290 km southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. Augustine has experienced seven significant explosive eruptions - in 1812, 1883, 1908, 1935, 1963, 1976, 1986, and in January 2006. To measure the ground surface deformation of the Augustine Volcano before the 2006 eruption, we applied satellite radar interferometry using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images from three descending and three ascending satellite tracks acquired by European Remote Sensing Satellite (ERS) 1 and 2 and the Environment Satellite (ENVISAT). Multiple interferograms were stacked to reduce artifacts caused by atmospheric conditions, and we used a singular value decomposition method to retrieve the temporal deformation history from several points on the island. Interferograms during 1992 and 2005 show a subsidence of about 1-3 cm/year, caused by the contraction of pyroclastic flow deposits from the 1986 eruption. Subsidence has decreased exponentially with time. Multiple interferograms between 1992 and 2005 show no significant inflation around the volcano before the 2006 eruption. The lack of a pre-eruption deformation signal suggests that the deformation signal from 1992 to August 2005 must have been very small and may have been obscured by atmospheric delay artifacts.
We analyzed hundreds of interferograms of Mount St. Helens produced from radar images acquired by the ERS-1/2, ENVISAT, and RADARSAT satellites during the 1992-2004 preeruptive and 2004-2005 coeruptive periods for signs of deformation associated with magmatic activity at depth. Individual interferograms were often contaminated by atmospheric delay anomalies; therefore, we employed stacking to amplify any deformation patterns that might exist while minimizing random noise. Preeruptive interferograms show no signs of volcanowide deformation between 1992 and the onset of eruptive activity in 2004. Several patches of subsidence in the 1980 debris-avalanche deposit were identified, however, and are thought to be caused by viscoelastic relaxation of loosely consolidated substrate, consolidation of water-saturated sediment, or melting of buried ice. Coeruptive interferometric stacks are dominated by atmospheric noise, probably because individual interferograms span only short time intervals in 2004 and 2005. Nevertheless, we are confident that at least one of the seven coeruptive stacks we constructed is reliable at about the 1-cm level. This stack suggests deflation of Mount St. Helens driven by contraction of a source beneath the volcano.
Studies of interseismic strain accumulation are crucial to our understanding of continental deformation, the earthquake cycle and seismic hazard. By mapping small amounts of ground deformation over large spatial areas, InSAR has the potential to produce continental-scale maps of strain accumulation on active faults. However, most InSAR studies to date have focused on areas where the coherence is relatively good (e.g. California, Tibet and Turkey) and most analysis techniques (stacking, small baseline subset algorithm, permanent scatterers, etc.) only include information from pixels which are coherent throughout the time-span of the study. In some areas, such as Alaska, where the deformation rate is small and coherence very variable, it is necessary to include information from pixels which are coherent in some but not all interferograms. We use a three-stage iterative algorithm based on distributed scatterer interferometry. We validate our method using synthetic data created using realistic parameters from a test site on the Denali Fault, Alaska, and present a preliminary result of 10.5 ?? 5.0 mm yr-1 for the slip rate on the Denali Fault based on a single track of radar data from ERS1/2. ?? 2007 The Authors Journal compilation ?? 2007 RAS.
Interferometric synthetic aperture radar (INSAR) is capable of measuring ground-surface deformation with centimeter-tosubcentimeter precision and spatial resolution of tens-of meters over a relatively large region. With its global coverage and all-weather imaging capability, INSAR is an important technique for measuring ground-surface deformation of volcanoes over cloud-prone and rainy regions such as the Aleutian Islands, where only less than 5 percent of optical imagery is usable due to inclement weather conditions. The spatial distribution of surface deformation data, derived from INSAR images, enables the construction of detailed mechanical models to enhance the study of magmatic processes. This paper reviews the basics of INSAR for volcanic deformation mapping and the INSAR studies of ten Aleutian volcanoes associated with both eruptive and noneruptive activity. These studies demonstrate that all-weather INSAR imaging can improve our understanding of how the Aleutian volcanoes work and enhance our capability to predict future eruptions and associated hazards.
A multiple-database approach that combined remotely sensed data from Radarsat-1 and Landsat Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) imagery was used to map Hurricane Katrinainduced flooding and to identify offshore oil slicks. Maps depicting the areal extent of flooding, oil slicks, and floating debris provide vital information to emergency managers for directing floodrelief efforts and the clean-up of polluted waters.
Very simply, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) involves the use of two or more synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images of the same area to extract landscape topography and its deformation patterns. A SAR system transmits electromagnetic waves at a wavelength that can range from a few millimeters to tens of centimeters and therefore can operate during day and night under all-weather conditions. Using SAR processing technique (Curlander and McDonough, 1991), both the intensity and phase of the reflected (or backscattered) radar signal of each ground resolution element (a few meters to tens of meters) can be calculated in the form of a complex-valued SAR image that represents the reflectivity of the ground surface. The amplitude or intensity of the SAR image is determined primarily by terrain slope, surface roughness, and dielectric constants, whereas the phase of the SAR image is determined primarily by the distance between the satellite antenna and the ground targets. InSAR imaging utilizes the interaction of electromagnetic waves, referred to as interference, to measure precise distances between the satellite antenna and ground resolution elements to derive landscape topography and its subtle change in elevation.
This book describes the techniques used by volcanologists to successfully predict several recent volcanic eruptions by combining information from various scientific disciplines, including geodetic techniques. Many recent developments in the use of state-of-the-art and emerging techniques, including Global Positioning System and Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry, mean that most books on volcanology are out of date, and this book includes chapters devoted entirely to these two techniques.