Insights on the 2010 Lava Flows of Piton de la Fournaise Using Cosmo-SkyMed and TanDEM-X Data: Lava Displacement Rates, Thicknesses, and Volume Estimates

Characterization of lava flow after its emplacement provides volume and constraints for lava flow emplacement simulations that help assess pending volcanic hazards. Additionally, it gives us better insights in understanding the dynamics of the underlying magmatic plumbing system and the possible mechanism of the eruption. In this work, we developed a technique using monostatic Cosmo-SkyMed and bistatic TanDEM-X data to calculate the volume, measure the thickness, and the horizontal and vertical displacements immediately after the emplacement of the October 2010 lava flow at Piton de la Fournaise. Results show that the thickest part of the October 2010 lava flow is about 13 to 16 m and the DRE volume is estimated to fall within the range of 1.71 to 3.00 x 10⁶ m³ (±1σ), depending on which InSAR database was used. We also observe that the October 2010 lava flow is subsiding at a maximum rate of 14 cm yr^-1. Apart from the vertical displacement, joint sliding and centripetal displacement were also identified with a maximum rate of 4.0 cm yr^-1.

We cross-validated our InSAR results with the mixed-pixel technique of Harris [1997] in terms of the estimated volumes. Our analysis shows that the volume derived using a few TanDEM-X interferograms fitted well within the range of volume given by the mixed-pixel technique as compared to the huge monostatic Cosmo-SkyMed database.

In addition to the October 2010 lava flow, we also characterized the thin lava flow deposit of the December 2010 eruption, however using only bistatic TanDEM-X data. In this case of thin lava deposits, we expect that TanDEM-X are best to use in deriving the thickness and estimating the volume as these type of data are more sensitive to topographic change.

Reference: Harris AJL, Blake S, Rothery DA, Stevens NF., 1997. A chronology of the 1991 to 1993 Mount Etna eruption using advanced very high resolution radiometer data: implications for real-time thermal volcano monitoring. Geophys. Res. Lett. 102:7985–8003.