Scanning Volcanoes by Synthetic Aperture Radar

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel SAR imaging method that analyzes micro-motions caused by underground heat to perform tomographic imaging of volcanoes, revealing magma chambers and conduits beneath the surface.

Contribution

It presents a new technique for penetrating volcanic structures using SAR micro-motion analysis, enabling internal imaging of the Earth's subsurface.

Findings

Successfully imaged magma chambers and conduits

Achieved about 3 km depth penetration

Processed COSMO-SkyMed satellite data

Abstract

A problem with synthetic aperture radar (SAR) is that due to the poor penetrating action of electromagnetic waves within solid bodies, the ability to observe through distributed targets is precluded. In this context, indeed, imaging is only possible on targets distribute on the scene surface. This work describes an imaging method based on the analysis of micro-motions present on volcanoes and generated by the underground Earth's heat. Processing the coherent vibrational information embedded on the single SAR image, in the single-look-complex configuration, the sound information is exploited, penetrating tomographic imaging over a depth of about 3 km from the Earth's surface. Measurement results are calculated by processing a SLC image from the COSMO-SkyMed Second Generation satellite constellation of the Vesuvius. Tomographic maps reveal the presence of the magma chamber, together with the main and the secondary volcanic conduits. This technique certainly paves the way for completely new exploitation of SAR images to scan inside the Earth's surface.