Measuring earthquake and volcano activity from space
Shimon Wdowinski
, University of Miami, Florida
Author Profile
This activity has benefited from input from faculty educators beyond the author through a review and suggestion process.
HideThis activity has benefited from input from faculty educators beyond the author through a review and suggestion process.
This review took place as a part of a faculty professional development workshop where groups of faculty reviewed each others' activities and offered feedback and ideas for improvements. To learn more about the process On the Cutting Edge uses for activity review, see http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/review.html.
This page first made public: Nov 22, 2011
Summary
This tutorial is based on real InSAR observations acquired over the Andes from 1992 to 2005. It will get the student acquainted with InSAR observations and basic concepts of space geodesy.
Context
Audience
The activity is aimed for undergraduate level. It is based on basic physics knowledge and common sense. It will be easier for science major students, but can also be used for teaching non-science major students, who will need more guidance.
Skills and concepts that students must have mastered
- Be familiar with physical/mathematical description of wave, wavelength, and phase.
- Have basic knowledge of drawing profile from a map.
How the activity is situated in the course
This activity is untested as of when this description was written. It is a modified, simplified version of an activity I gave student in a special PhD course.
Goals
Content/concepts goals for this activity
Understanding and interpreting Interferograms of earthquake and volcano activity.
Higher order thinking skills goals for this activity
Converting map information into a profile, unwrapping phase observations, converting phase measurements to length.
Other skills goals for this activity
Description of the activity/assignment
The student will be introduced to InSAR observations in the beginning of the class via a PPT presentation that explains basic concepts. The activity will expose the student to simple examples of earthquake and volcano activity and better understanding of the colorful phase presentation of interferograms.
Determining whether students have met the goals
Students asked to plot specific diagrams and answer questions.
More information about assessment tools and techniques.Download teaching materials and tips
- Activity Description/Assignment:
- Measuring earthquake and volcano activity from space (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Nov22 11) (PDF)
- Measuring earthquake and volcano activity from space (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 1MB Nov22 11) (Word)
- Measuring earthquake and volcano activity from space (Acrobat (PDF) 1.2MB Nov22 11) (PDF)
- Instructors Notes:
- Solution Set:
Other Materials
- Measuring earthquake and volcano activity from space (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 6.1MB Mar8 10)
