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Optical DSLR camera- and UAV footage of the remote Mount Michael Volcano, Saunders Island (South Sandwich Islands), acquired in May 2019

The eleven islands of the South Sandwich volcanic arc are amongst the least explored places on Earth. The mostly glacier covered volcanoes are home to the largest penguin colonies worldwide, and nine of them have reported (historic) eruptive activity. Any attempt of systematically mapping volcanic activity, or landscape- and glacier dynamics at the South Sandwich Islands is challenging due to their remoteness and inaccessibility.The data presented here were acquired in the framework of the volcano-related project “SSIVOLC” during cruise PS119 on board the German icebreaker research vessel RV Polarstern that headed to the South Sandwich Islands on 15 April 2019 from Punta Arenas and retuned on 31 May 2019 to the Falkland Islands. A major aim of SSIVOLC was to collect photogrammetric data of the glacier-covered Mount Michael Volcano on Saunders Island, which is highly active and holds an active lava lake within its summit crater, which seems to be persistent since the 1990s (Grey et al. 2019).Here, we are providing full access to optical DSLR camera footage and to a selection of still images acquired by unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that we were able to collect on May 17 and May 22, 2019. Because of the remoteness, inaccessibility, and difficult climatic conditions, footage like this is extremely rare, but of great value to various scientific communities, including volcanologists, biologists, and glaciologists. The data were acquired using handheld DSLR cameras and two different UAV models. The former were taken by scientists aboard RV Polarstern using consumer cameras of type Panasonic DMC-G6, Canon EOS 7D Mark II, or SONY DSC-RX10M3 that carried the DMC-G6 (integrated), EF28-300mm (f/3.5-5.6L IS USM), and DSC-RX10M3 (integrated) lenses, respectively (cf. Table 1). The UAV images were acquired in 2-second time-lapse mode using the DJI Mavic 2 Pro, and the DJI Phantom 4 Pro quadcopters. The performance of the UAVs under very cold (-15°C to 0°C) and windy (8 to 25 knots) conditions, and during low light or dark hours exceeded our expectations.Our UAVs were operated under special permission that was designed by the Govenor under Article 6 of the Air Navigation (Overseas Territories) Order 2013, and issued by the Government of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI) and the Air Safety Support International Ltd. This special permission allowed for the operation of the small unmanned aircraft Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) and up to an altitude of 5,000 ft, in the United Kingdom Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. We were launching the UAVs from the RV Polarstern (located just offshore the island), and reached a maximum UAV altitude of 1,370 m above sea level, which allowed for the collection of the unprecedented UAV based photo archive of Saunders Island.The associated data descriptinon summarizes the basic parameters of the UAV flights, the weather conditions, and the major issues that we were facing while operating the drones under the given circumstances. We are summarizing important metadata of our footage in Table 1, and the footprints and viewing geometries are given in Figure 1. The data are provided in .JPG format. Each drone acquisition carries the GPS coordinates (GCS Lat/Long WGS84) of the UAV position in their properties. Panorama pictures (named PA-xx-xx-xx) are not provided in full resolution (for storage reasons), but can be shared in full resolution upon request (please contact the corresponding author, N. Richter). We also discuss some details and give interpretations for selected acquisitions below, referring to an additional labelled version (provided in .PDF format). Please note that the scales on labelled pictures are rough estimates only as in fact scales vary significantly throughout the depth of each picture.

High resolution Digital Elevation Model of Merapi summit in 2015 generated by UAVs and TLS and TanDEM-X

This data is an high resolution Digital Elevation Model (DEM) generated for the Merapi summit by combining terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) photogrammetry data and TanDEM-X data acquired in the years between 2012 and 2017. The structures of the data are further analysed in Darmawan et al. 2017a (http://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2017.11.006), and a previous DEM was available in Darmawan et al. 2017b (https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.2.1.2017.003). The 3D point clouds of the different data were merged and interpolated to a raster format (Geotiff format).

Data collection on fractures, sinkholes and morphology of Mount Thorbjörn during the 2023-2024 volcanic unrest, Iceland

This dataset documents surface deformation and fracture evolution on Mount Thorbjörn during the 2023 - 2024 volcano-tectonic unrest in the Svartsengi volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula (SW Iceland). The data consist of four cm-resolution orthophotos and digital elevation models (DEMs) derived from four drone photogrammetric surveys conducted on 23 July 2022, 18 November 2023, 25 April 2024 and 20 August 2024. The drone images were processed using Agisoft Metashape software to generate products for structural mapping and temporal comparison. The drone data evidences fracture reactivation processes and associated new surface fractures and sinkholes. The dataset includes maps of these structures, carried out using QGIS, and describes their temporal evolution. A full description of the data can be found in the file description.

High-resolution debris cover mapping using UAV-derived thermal imagery

High resolution debris thickness mapping using land surface temperature maps (LST) and surface energy balance modelling (SEBM). LST data was produced by a radiometric thermal infrared measurements from an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV). The SEBM considers the rate of change of heat storage as an energy balance component derived from diurnal temperature variablity.

Drone based photogrammetry data at the Geysir geothermal field, Iceland

Geysers are localized hydrothermal vents that periodically erupt with gas bubbles at the surface. Understanding their distribution, dynamics, and conduit geometry is critical to understand the fluid and heat transfer through the crust. To explore this at the Geysir geothermal field in Iceland, we analyzed the spatial distribution of thermal features using high-resolution UAV-based optical and infrared cameras. Based on this, Walter et al. (2020) identified 364 distinct thermal spots. Here we release the high-resolution drone orthomosaic dataset at the Geysir geothermal field, Iceland.

Morphology of Stromboli’s crater terrace between May 2019 and January 2020 mapped by UA

Active volcanoes frequently show substantial topographic changes and variable eruption intensity, style and/or directionality. Here we provide high-resolution photogrammetric data sets of Stromboli’s crater terrace collected during 5 field campaigns between May 2019 and January 2020 supporting the publication Schmid, M, Kueppers U, Ricci T, Taddeucci J, Civico R and Dingwell DB (2021) “Characterizing Vent and Crater Shape Changes at Stromboli: Implications for Risk Areas”. The aerial imagery for the photogrammetric reconstruction of the crater terrace geometry was acquired by UAVs (DJI Phantom 4Pro+ & Mavic 2 Pro) and processed with the commercial software Metashape by Agisoft. The created digital elevation models (DEMs), orthomosaics and 3D models were used to characterize vent and crater shape and their changes through time. The activity during the observational period was characterized by elevated Strombolian activity and two paroxysms on 3 July and 28 August 2019. Our study revealed significant changes to crater terrace morphology and vent geometry on various time scales and the strong control of vent geometry on the directionality of explosions.