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Digital topography of volcanoes from radar interferometry: an example from Mt Vesuvius, Italy

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Abstract

A new airborne radar technique can generate digital topographic data for volcanoes at a scale of 10 m spatial and 1–5 m vertical, with a swath width of ∼6.4 km. Called TOPSAR, the intrument is an interferometric radar flown on the NASA DC-8 aircraft. TOPSAR data permit the quantification of volcano slopes, volumes, and heights, and as such will be valuable for the analysis of lava flows, domes, and lahar channels. This instrument will be flown over several volcanoes in the near future, providing volcanologists with valuable data sets for the analysis of high-resolution topography. We briefly illustrate the potential use of TOPSAR data through examples from Mt Somma and Vesuvius, Italy.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Planetary Geosciences, Department of Geology and Geophysics, SOEST, University of Hawaii, 96822, Honolulu, HI, USA

    Peter J. Mouginis-Mark & Harold Garbeil

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  1. Peter J. Mouginis-Mark
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  2. Harold Garbeil
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Mouginis-Mark, P.J., Garbeil, H. Digital topography of volcanoes from radar interferometry: an example from Mt Vesuvius, Italy. Bull Volcanol 55, 566–570 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00301809

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00301809

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