Measuring earthquake and volcano activity from space

Shimon Wdowinski

University of Miami, Florida

This activity has been reviewed by 2 review processes (view details)

This 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.

Initial Publication Date: November 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.

Geodesy, Earthquakes, Volcanism | College Lower (13-14)

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Context

Audience

The activity is aimed for undergraduate level. It is based on basic physics knowledge and common sense. It is intended for use with students majoring in science.

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.