Abstract
Crater morphology at active volcanoes can change rapidly. Quantifying
changes during the course of a volcanic unrest episode may help assess
the level of volcanic activity. However, limitations such as crater
accessibility, cloud cover or intra-crater eruptive activity may hamper
regular optical or on-site crater monitoring. Here we use multi-sensor
satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery to produce dense time
series of quantitative indicators of crater morphological changes. High
temporal resolution is achieved by combining images from a variety of
sensors and acquisition modes, though the diversity of acquisition
geometries (incidence angle, viewing direction, resolution…)
prevents direct comparison between the different images. Using basic
trigonometry assumptions, we develop PickCraterSAR, an open-access tool
written in Python to measure crater radius and depth from SAR amplitude
images in radar geometry. We apply our methodology to study the crater
collapse associated with the May 2021 and January 2002 eruptions of
Nyiragongo volcano. After the 2021 collapse, we estimate the maximum
depth of the crater to be 850 m below the rim and the total volume to be
84$\pm$10 Mm$^3$ (270 m deeper but only 15-20
\% more voluminous than the post-2002 eruption crater).
We also show that the 2021 crater collapse occurred progressively while
a dike intrusion was migrating toward the south.