Goal: Our goal is to use global satellite measurements of the Earth's surface and volcanic gas emissions to advance our knowledge of the processes responsible for earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes and to develop better warning systems.

Partners and Customers: British Geological Survey (BGS)

We are combining EO data with surface observations to improve our understanding of the processes underlying earthquakes and volcanoes in order to assess and mitigate the related hazards. These actions are consequences of the movement of the Earth's tectonic plates driven by heat sources deep in the Earth's mantle. Quantifying such hazards and identifying the processes at work requires a global approach to which EO is ideally suited. EO can illustrate the slow build up of crustal strain that will eventually be released as an earthquake, or show past earthquake activity. This information enables us to build a regional picture of faulting and crustal deformation for seismic hazard assessment and mitigation. EO data can be used to develop and test models of volcanic processes, and using it to keep a global watch on volcanic activity is a realisable goal.

Our priorities are:

• To use specialist radar measurements with seismology to provide detailed descriptions of activity at depth on faults in earthquakes, and to construct regional models for seismic hazard assessment and mitigation
• To use EO measurements of surface deformation, lava, tephra thermal radiation and gas and particle emissions in order to monitor volcanic activity, to understand the mechanisms and to assess the hazards posed by individual volcanoes.
• To utilise the enormous potential of the global network of GPS (Global Positioning System) instruments to provide an alternative source of seismological information and to incorporate this into tsunami warning systems
• To enhance EO techniques by removing environmental effects and orbital uncertainties that currently restrict the range of surface deformation that can be determined using specialist radar products

The study of volcanism and volcanic gas emissions contribute to the research on Atmospheric Composition and also to Climate. We also need to make use of the water vapour modelling expertise of our colleagues working on Hazardous Weather.

Click here to view the science theme proposal document