Combining InSAR and GNSS to Track Magma Transport at Basaltic Volcanoes

Delphine Smittarello,Valérie Cayol,Aline Peltier,Virginie Pinel,Quentin Dumont,Jean-Luc Froger

doi:10.3390/rs11192236

Abstract

The added value of combining InSAR and GNSS data, characterized by good spatial coverage and high temporal resolution, respectively, is evaluated based on a specific event: the propagation of the magma intrusion leading to the 26 May 2016 eruption at Piton de la Fournaise volcano (Reunion Island, France). Surface displacement is a non linear function of the geometry and location of the pressurized source of unrest, so inversions use a random search, based on a neighborhood algorithm, combined with a boundary element modeling method. We first invert InSAR and GNSS data spanning the whole event (propagation phase and eruption) to determine the final geometry of the intrusion. Random search conducted in the inversion results in two best-fit model families with similar data fits. Adding the same time-period GNSS dataset to the inversions does not significantly modify the results. Even when weighting data to provide even contributions, the fit is systematically better for descending than ascending interferograms, which might indicate an eastward flank motion. Then, we invert the GNSS time series in order to derive information on the propagation dynamics, validating our approach using a SAR image acquired during the propagation phase. We show that the GNSS time series can only be used to correctly track the magma propagation when the final intrusion geometry derived from InSAR and GNSS measurements is used as an a priori. A new method to extract part of a mesh, based on the representation of meshes as graphs, better explains the data and better accounts for the opening of the eruptive fissure than a method based on the projection of a circular pressure sources. Finally, we demonstrate that the temporal inversion of GNSS data strongly favors one family of models over an other for the final intrusion, removing the ambiguity inherent in the inversion of InSAR data.

Highlights

The advent of Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) in the mid-1990s shed a new light on magma plumbing systems, which connect deep magma reservoirs to the surface at volcanoes [1,2,3]
We showed that four different LOS are sufficient to invert the static geometry of the emplaced magma intrusion
Inversion of InSAR data covering a time period shorter to the other InSAR data indicates a pre-eruptive phase of deformation which is not detectible in the longer time period

Summary

Introduction

The advent of Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) in the mid-1990s shed a new light on magma plumbing systems, which connect deep magma reservoirs to the surface at volcanoes [1,2,3]. We have a better characterization of the specific reservoir shapes (e.g., Reference [4]), the possibility to distinguish several active storage zones beneath active volcanoes (e.g., Reference [5]), as well as statistical studies on magma reservoir depth [2] and relative location compared to the volcanic edifice [6] This has led to better estimates of associated volume changes. Once the pressure inside this reservoir reaches a critical threshold, rupture is induced and magma starts to propagate towards the surface It flows inside planar intrusions formed by fracturing of crustal rocks, called either dikes or sills depending on their orientation with respect to pre-existing features. Co-eruptive interferograms, calculated by combining images acquired before the transport phase onset and after the eruption, contribute to our knowledge of magmatic intrusion geometries, revealing complex shapes which are probably influenced by the local stress field [11,12]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion