An Analysis of Surface Changes due to Volcanic Eruptions Using Coherence Change Detection – A Case Study of the May 2024 Volcanic Eruption in Iceland

Sundhnkur volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, erupted on May 29, 2024, spewing a large amount of lava, forming a volcanic plateau and causing surface changes. In this study, the Coherence Change Detection (CCD) technique was applied to Sentinel-1 satellite images to observe surface changes caused by the initial volcanic eruption. The Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm was applied to Landsat-9 satellite images to derive the threshold for the CCD technique, and based on this, a damage proxy map and change area data were generated to evaluate the area changed by the volcanic eruption. The combined analysis using the CCD technique and the SVM algorithm showed that 7,536,000 m 2 of volcanic plateau was formed during the initial period of the volcanic eruption, which showed an error of approximately 18% from the actual measurement result. In addition, it was found that the volcanic eruption caused surface changes in an area of 9,698,500 m 2 . In this study, it was confirmed that the CCD technique can effectively detect surface changes that are difficult to detect with optical satellite images. This approach will contribute to identifying the characteristics of surface changes in the early stages of volcanic eruptions, and it is expected that it can be used as basic data for surface change detection and monitoring when the KOMPSAT-6 satellite is operated in the future.