A new multi-sensor approach to measurement of topographic changes resulting from active volcanism

Remote sensing of surface deformation from volcanic activity is essential to modern volcanology. This paper provides an example of how observations from multiple sensors can be combined to measure topographic changes resulting from active volcanism. High resolution DEMs were derived from optical triplets acquired by the ALOS-PRISM sensor, and processed with microwave data from ALOS-PALSAR to produce centimeter scale deformation maps and decorrelation maps of March-April, 2009 lahars in the Drift River Valley, Alaska. We demonstrate that multi-sensor data fusion of readily available, inexpensive satellite images and data is an immediately available method of increasing accuracy and precision in measuring volcanic deposition and deformation.