Application of satellite thermal infrared remote sensing in monitoring magmatic activity of Changbaishan Tianchi volcano

Abstract

In this paper, with the application of satellite thermal infrared remote sensing technique, nine land surface temperature distribution maps of Changbaishan Tianchi volcano area are retrieved from nine thermal infrared images which are taken from 1999 to 2008. In terms of NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), we classify the surface cover of the study area into three types, i.e. vegetation (forest), mixture of soil and vegetation (short grasses), and bare rock. The average temperature of each type of surface covers is calculated first, and then the average daily temperature record from Tianchi meteorological station is subtracted in order to reduce the effect of weather variation. Finally, thermal anomalies of three types of surface cover in Changbaishan Tianchi volcano area in the period of 1999 to 2008 are obtained, which is believed to reflect the magmatic activity in the magma chamber under Tianchi volcano caldera. Our results indicate that temperature of the study area increased with an intermittent tendency during 1999 to 2005, but dropped after 2005, and then maintained a relatively stable state from 2006 to 2008. Such a tendency of annual temperature variation possibly caused by magmatic activity is correlated with the results observed by means of seismic monitoring, ground deformation from GPS measurement, and volcanic gas geochemistry monitoring in the same area. It is implied that the upward intrusion of magma may cause temperature increase, and such temperature variation is great enough so that could be detected by using satellite thermal infrared remote sensing technology.