New Device to Record Volcanic Activity

The Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle Synthetic Aperture Radar (UAVSAR) based on a technique called interferometry to detect and measure very subtle deformations in Earth's surface has been installed in a pod under the plane's fuselage.

With the help of the UAVSAR the NASA scientists will monitor the subtle changes in the volcanic activity which will be carried by a modified NASA C-20 A(G-III) aircraft. This was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

This study works on the UAVSAR research of U.S West Coast and Hawaiian volcanoes acquired from 2009 through 2011 and additional observations of Central and South American volcanoes gathered in 2010 and 2011.

It was on Oct 2 that the deployment of the C-20 A (G-III) began. The aircraft departed NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., imaging volcanoes in the Western United States en route to Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Wash. The aircraft will then head to Join Base Elmendorf- Richardson near Anchorage, Alaska.

Before arriving at Yokota Air Force Base near Tokyo, Japan; the sensors will image the volcanoes in Alaska that will include the Aleutian Islands. On its return, the aircraft is expected to repeat the route, gathering data from the opposite viewing direction, before arriving back at its base in Palmdale Oct. 11.

Developed by engineers at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center the aircraft features a high precision autopilot. And this will guide the aircraft using a kinematic differential Global Positioning System developed by JPL. It also helps the synthetic aperture radar to acquire repeat-pass data that can measure land-surface changes within millimeters. 

According to the report, "UAVSAR provides a measurement system that complements satellite-based observations by providing rapid revisits and imaging of active volcanoes to better understand their deformation prior to, during or after an eruption."

In order to define cross-calibration sites, including flight lines over disaster and forested areas, between the UAVSAR and the PISAR-L2 airborne radars, the UAVSAR team is working with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency scientists.