Abstract
Ground deformation is regarded in volcanology as a key precursor signal preceding volcanic eruptions. Satellite-based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) enables consistent, global-scale deformation tracking; however, deep learning methods remain largely unexplored in this domain, mainly due to the lack of a curated machine learning dataset. In this work, we build on the existing Hephaestus dataset, and introduce Hephaestus Minicubes, a global collection of 38 spatiotemporal datacubes offering high resolution, multi-source and multi-temporal information, covering 44 of the world’s most active volcanoes over a 7-year period. Each spatiotemporal datacube integrates InSAR products, topographic data, as well as atmospheric variables which are known to introduce signal delays that can mimic ground deformation in InSAR imagery. Furthermore, we provide expert annotations detailing the type, intensity and spatial extent of deformation events, along with rich text descriptions of the observed scenes. Finally, we present a comprehensive benchmark, demonstrating Hephaestus Minicubes’ ability to support volcanic unrest monitoring as a multi-modal, multi-temporal classification and semantic segmentation task, establishing strong baselines with state-of-the-art architectures. This work aims to advance machine learning research in volcanic monitoring, contributing to the growing integration of data-driven methods within Earth science applications.
Nikolas Papadopoulos
Phd Candidate
My research is focused on Deep Learning for Earth Observation, with an emphasis on extreme events.
Nikolaos-Ioannis Bountos
PhD Candidate
Maria Sdraka
PhD Candidate
Earth Observation, Deep Learning, Natural Hazard Monitoring, Computer Vision
Andreas Karavias
Phd Candidate
Ioannis Papoutsis
Head of Orion Lab
Assistant Professor of Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation @ NTUA
Adjunct Researcher @ NOA
Earth Observation, Machine Learning, Natural Hazard Monitoring