RADAR REMOTE SENSING

In the Radar Remote Sensing Group we address scientific studies of the Earth and planets using active microwave instrumentation. Some of our ongoing areas of research are:

Crustal Deformation from Earthquakes
Our emphasis here is on i) detecting inter-seismic and potentially pre-seismic transient strains, which remain elusive and raise a major challenge to our understanding of the earth, and ii) modeling faulting and crustal rheology from vector co- and post-seismic displacement maps, which complement conventional seismological and geodetic measurements.

Volcanological Studies
Deformation is also important in understanding volcanic processes. Our work here includes i) modeling magma migration from the spatial and temporal extent of deformation, ii) quantifying pressure changes at depth resulting from magma intrusion beneath volcanic edifices, and iii) analyzing the spatial extent of new material deposited during eruptions.

Earth's polar regions and the world's climate
Ice sheets and glaciers in the Earth's polar regions both control and reflect changes in the world climate. InSAR allows us to investigate the mass balance, or the accumulation and loss of ice, in these remote areas.

Other studies of ground subsidence
Our group is pioneering other new applications for InSAR. including landslides, floods, oil extraction, and coastal erosion.

Mapping the surfaces of planets and moons in our Solar System
We also use the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico, the NASA Deep Space Facility, and the Very Large Array in New Mexico as powerful radar systems to map the surfaces of solar system objects. We have studied Mercury, Mars, and the Galilean satellites of Jupiter using these instruments.

People  |  Research  |  Graduate Program  |  Undergraduate Program
Career Info  |  News and Events  |  Forms & Publications  |  Internal Geophysics Resources
Geophysics Home  |  Map & Directions  |  Contact Us