Measuring deformation at Indonesian volcanoes from space
This project aims to take advantage of the newly-launched NISAR satellite mission to measure ongoing deformation at volcanoes in Indonesia. These measurements will be used to better understand volcanic plumbing systems and associated hazard.
With 142 volcanoes, Indonesia has the greatest number of people living at risk from volcanic hazard in the world. Radar Interferometry (InSAR) is a remote sensing technology that has revolutionised our ability to monitor deformation at volcanoes, providing measurements of surface displacement from space, with centimetre-to-millimetre accuracy. Deformation measurements are key to understanding the flow of magma beneath and hence constraining the properties of magmatic plumbing systems and the processes leading to eruption.
The Sentinel-1 constellation in particular, with its regular global acquisition strategy, allows for global monitoring of subaerial volcanoes. However, while the results in arid regions can be spectacular, the signal decorrelates in heavily vegetated regions, such as those covering most Indonesian volcanoes.
In July 2025, NASA and the Indian Space Agency launched a new satellite called NISAR. Like Sentinel-1, NISAR has a global acquisition plan that will cover all subaerial volcanoes, but the radio wavelength used by NISAR is longer than that of Sentinel-1, allowing it to better penetrate vegetation. This will allow for regular deformation measurement where it was previously obscured and will represent a key advance in our ability to measure deformation at Indonesian volcanoes.
The student will use these measurements to develop models of the underlying magma plumbing systems at key Indonesian volcanoes. Research over the last two decades has led to the idea that trans-crustal magmatic systems underly most volcanoes, with regions of melt and partially crystalline material distributed throughout. Deformation models are still catching up, but accounting for poro- and viscoelasticity is key. Example questions that may be addressed include: will any current activity lead to eruption and were past eruptions driven by processes within the existing system or the intrusion of new melt from depth. By analysing a number of key volcanoes it is hoped that it will be possible to draw broader conclusions about how the Indonesian arcs compares to other arc systems.
Objectives:
1) Building on existing COMET processing software, develop an algorithm to estimate displacement time series at volcanoes from NISAR data;
2) Apply the approach to selected Indonesian volcanos, based on the volcanic risk and the ability to measure displacement.;
3) Develop models for the selected volcanoes to answer fundamental questions about the nature of the plumbing systems.
The student will be a member of the UK Centre of Excellence, COMET, jointly led from the University of Leeds, which has an ongoing effort to monitor volcanic deformation globally, and to provide alerts when deformation rates change, or new deformation appears.
Further Reading:
Ebmeier, S.K., et al., 2018. Synthesis of global satellite observations of magmatic and volcanic deformation: implications for volcano monitoring & the lateral extent of magmatic domains. Journal of Applied Volcanology, 7(1), p.2.
Cashman, K.V., Sparks, R.S.J. and Blundy, J.D., 2017. Vertically extensive and unstable magmatic systems: a unified view of igneous processes. Science, 355(6331)
Keywords:
Volcano, Deformation, InSAR, Geophysics, Modelling, Indonesia, NISAR, COMET, Radar Interferometry