Using high resolution SAR imagery for volcano monitoring

Volcanic risks are dynamic - they vary during the course of an eruption and during episodes of unrest, which is when changes in a volcano's magmatic system can produce measurable signals, such as earthquakes, heat, degassing and deformation. Monitoring such signals is therefore critical for forecasting when eruptions may happen, how they will develop, and what their impacts will be.
Deformation measurements can be particularly useful for monitoring some volcanoes, as they (1) can be made globally from space, (2) commonly occur in pre-eruptive (as well as co-eruptive) periods and (3) can be a good statistical predictor for eruption within a given time period. Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) measurements of volcano deformation are particularly important in remote settings or where ground-based instruments are sparse. Not every eruption is preceded by deformation, nor does every episode of deformation inevitably herald an eruption. It is therefore very important for baseline displacements pattern during unrest to be detected and understood.
The recent availability of free, global C-band radar data sets has increased the potential of InSAR for volcano monitoring, providing potential for routine data processing, automatic detection of volcanic signals and novel methods for reduction of atmospheric noise. However, there are major advantages for volcano monitoring to combining different radar wavelengths. This PhD will draw on both global C-band datasets and on local X-band [or L-band] data to investigate volcanic processes in SE Asia. These datasets will be provided by the Committee of Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Volcano Demonstrator, with which this studentship will be affiliated.
Research topics that this studentship could develop to address include: (1) addressing the discrepancy between erupted volumes that those estimated from volcanic deformation, (2) investigating long-term trends in deformation at volcanoes with long-lived (multi-year, decade) eruptions or (3) cycles of lava dome displacement during extrusive eruption.