The Volcanic Hazards area on the Geohazards Exploitation Platform (GEP) is rich of many community-led insights. You can search for all the Volcano-related topics on the GEP Blog. Below is a roundup of some key contributions and the GEP user teams behind them:
Volcano Trial Case (2017)
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A collaborative project led by eGEOS under ESA’s GSP program, aimed at disaster risk reduction using Earth Observation data. The work unfolded across twenty volcanoes in South-East Asia, Latin America, and Europe.
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DLR delivered High-Resolution InSAR Browse products—amplitude and coherence maps from Sentinel-1, showing detailed surface changes.
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NOVELTIS created two innovative services: VEGAN Hot Spots Detection (using Sentinel-2 to spot thermal anomalies) and Vegetation Vigor Map (tracking vegetation health post-eruption).
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INGV produced the Surface Temperature Map based on Landsat-8 and Sentinel-3 data, highlighting thermal changes around volcanoes.
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Illustrations provided for Mount Etna in Italy (Europe) and Cordon Caulle in Chile (affecting regions in both Chile and Argentina).
Spectral Bands Combination service (2020)
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Using the COMBI service, the contributors generated striking false-color RGB composites of Sentinel-2 data for the Emi Koussi Volcano (Chad).
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Band combinations (Red=Band 11, Green=Band 8, Blue=Band 2), showcased the volcano’s features vividly.
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This highlights how flexible data visualization empowers volcano monitoring.
São Jorge Island Crisis (2022)
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A study to document the seismic crisis on São Jorge Island (Azores) in March 2022. The island of Sao Jorge, in the Azores, has registered more than 20,000 small earthquakes, with magnitudes up to 3.8, since 19 March 2022.
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A 10 cm of ground uplift was detected via Sentinel-1 processed with P-SBAS and DIAPASON services.
Hunga Tonga Eruption (2022)
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A visual analysis over the Hunga Tonga eruption of January 15, 2022, describing the evolution of the Mango island seen by the Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 acquisitions.
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Sentinel-1 imagery captured same-day changes, with radar amplitude drops possibly due to ash or water.
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Sentinel-2 revealed ash-covered terrain across Mango Island.
Canary Islands Monitoring Enhancements (2022)
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A work from Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), Spain, for enhanced volcanic monitoring systems (primarily for the Canary Islands), with an outlook at deformation monitoring and emergency response.
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Using P-SBAS on GEP, the team tracked ground deformation across Tenerife and Lanzarote, and during the La Palma 2021 eruption,
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The combined use of InSAR, GNSS, and tilt data supported emergency response.
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The topic concludes on the development of InSAR training events related to Copernicus activities and the Copernicus Relay and National Land Reference Centre, for broader dissemination.
Santorini Unrest Monitoring (2025)
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A collaboration with the EO.Lab of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, along with ISMOSAV, AUTh, and HSGME, monitored renewed unrest at Santorini volcano (2025).
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Utilizing the SNAPPING service on GEP, they processed Sentinel-1 InSAR data to map surface uplift (up to 14 cm).
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This work continues a multi-year monitoring effort of long-term inflation signals, similar to the 2011-2012 unrest episode.
Closing Thoughts
Many GEP Blog posts illustrate the power of collaboration, innovation, and of Earth Observation technology in volcanic hazard detection and response. From trial cases to crisis analysis, contributors continue advancing our capabilities, making GEP an essential resource for volcanic hazard awareness.
Would you like to highlight any of these for further elaboration, or dive deeper into our in-platform tools?