Monitoring Santorini volcano (Greece) breathing from space

Abstract

Since its last eruption in 1950, Santorini volcano (Greece) remained in a dormant state. This is also evidenced for the period 1992–2010 by the gradual deflation signal over Nea Kameni as measured by satellite Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) with lowrates of about 5–6mmyr–1 as well as by the absence of seismic activity within the caldera. However, at the beginning of 2011 the volcano showed signs of unrest with increased microseismic activity and significant ground uplift, reaching 14 cm within a year (2011 March–2012 March), according to InSAR time-series. ALOS PALSAR data indicate the onset of the phenomenon in early 2010 where an aseismic pre-unrest phase of increased subsidence (1–3 cm) preceded the uplift. Joint inversions of SAR and GPS velocities using spherical and spheroidal magmatic source types indicate their location offshore at about 1 km north of Nea Kameni and between 3.5 and 3.8 km depth. The estimated volume variation rate is 6 × 106 m3 yr-1 to 9 × 106 m3 yr-1. A gradual slowing in the rate of inflation within the first quarter of 2012 is apparent by ENVISAT data, while subsequent observations from RADARSAT-2 confirm the observed trend.