Use of a portable topographic mapping millimetre wave radar at an active lava flow

Abstract

A ground‐based millimetre wave radar, AVTIS (All‐weather Volcano Topography Imaging Sensor), has been developed for topographic monitoring. The instrument is portable and capable of measurements over ranges up to ∼7 km through cloud and at night. In April and May 2005, AVTIS was deployed at Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica, in order to determine topographic changes associated with the advance of a lava flow. This is the first reported application of mm‐wave radar technology to the measurement of lava flux rates. Three topographic data sets of the flow were acquired from observation distances of ∼3 km over an eight day period, during which the flow front was detected to have advanced ∼200 m. Topographic differences between the data sets indicated a flow thickness of ∼10 m, and a dense rock equivalent lava flux of ∼0.20 ± 0.08 m3s−1.