Long-term monitoring of Datun volcanoes using multiple SAR data

Abstract

Although there was no eruption occurring for three hundred thousand years, the existing ground monitoring reveals that Datun volcanoes may be still active. As Datun volcano group is very close to Taipei City, serious damages would occur if the volcanoes erupted. Therefore it is critical to understand the behaviors of the volcanoes. To this end, we used space-borne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data and interferometric processing techniques to detect sub-centimeter level ground deformation. Moreover, in order to achieve a long term monitoring, multiple radar data, including ERS-2, ASAR and PALSAR covering from 1995 to 2010, were employed. Through the Persistent Scatterers Interferometric SAR (PS-InSAR) processing, the ground displacement rate occurring over Datun volcanoes was derived. The results were verified with ground leveling data and GPS observations and were proved reliable.