Installation of New GNSS Network Around Kusatsu-Shirane Volcano, Japan: Its Perspective and the First Result

Abstract

Crustal deformation is essential information for monitoring volcanic activity. In the summit area of the Kusatsu-Shirane Volcano (KSV), a dense Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) network has been operating near the recent volcanic center, Yugama crater. This network is sensitive to shallow depth activity, such as phreatic eruptions at the summit area, but is not applicable to deep magmatic activity, suggested to have been occurring for thousands of years by recent geological studies. Aiming to detect magmatic activity at a certain depth, we installed a new GNSS network near KSV. The observation sites were selected based on the crustal deformation pattern calculated for several intrusive events of the deep-seated magma. First, the GNSS sites for campaign observation were installed at eight locations in 2017. Then, four continuous sites commenced operation after a phreatic eruption at Mt. Motoshirane in January 2018. Here, we show the results of the first and second observation campaigns, operating in October 2017 and February 2018. Coordinate values are computed by precise point positioning with ambiguity resolution (PPP-AR) analysis and are used to calculate the displacement and the baseline length change during this period. The uncertainties of the calculated coordinate values are sufficiently small (less than 4.5 mm) except at some sites for which the data possibly include multipath errors due to trees and snow. Although any deformation associated with the 2018 eruption of Mt. Motoshirane is not detected, subsequent observations would contribute to monitoring long-term activity near KSV.