Spatio-Temporal analysis of the Volcanic Eruption Zone using SAR Interferometric Technique

Abstract. The phenomena of eruption induced land deformation are insightful for the understanding of the associated spatio-temporal processes. This study focusses on the same phenomena which was induces due to the Wolf Volcano’s effusive type eruption that took place on the year 2022. The work has been conducted using the Small Baseline Subset (SBAS), a time-series Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) technique. The SBAS, a coherence-based approach comes in very handy for the study of a natural and uninhabited regions like the Wolf Volcano of the Galapagos Archipelago. The processing of the radar images was implemented using a python library specifically designed for SAR processing in Google Collab. The study concludes the displacement pattern intensified through the south-eastern flank of the volcano, showing a consistent uplift of up to ~50 mm, spatially aligned with the lava flow paths as lava effused southwards and a highlighted substantial subsidence ~60 mm in the line of sight direction of the satellite within the central caldera, likely due to post-eruptive deflation as magma evacuated from the shallow reservoir. The results were validated solely through comparison with other remote sensing studies. This is primarily due to the remote and protected status of Wolf Volcano, which restricts fieldwork. This study is necessary for the understanding of such regions which are protected and uninhabited but also have a dynamic geomorphic system.