Mount Bosavi

The ERS-1 SAR scene represents about 100 by 100 km and was acquired by Alice Springs (Australia) on orbit 4255 on 9 May 1992 at 00:42 hours UTC and processed by ESA/ESRIN. The image centre is located at 6-00 south and 143-10 east.
The scene consists mainly of tropical rain forest of central Papua. The prominent concentric feature near the upper right corner suggests a heavily eroded volcanic cone, with a caldera, open towards the south. It is Mount Bosavi, rising more than 2000m above the surrounding plain.
The ERS-1 SAR uncovers huge lava flows running eastsoutheastwards. It seems that at least three different effusive activities can be distinguished, with lava flows one running on top of the previous one. On the surface of the most recent lava flow small ring craters, holes and long cracks, some of several hundred meters, and one of 2 km of diameter are visible; they may have been the result of explosions of trapped gas. Flow patters quite similar to those found on glaciers can be observed.
There is a further volcanic feature near the lower right corner, with lava flows that are short and concentric. The mountain ranges to the north are made of limestone. The drainage runs parallel to the lava, the Hegidio River in the north, Guari and Kanuwe in the south.
With the exception of some small settlements visible as bright spots especially along the rivers , no human activities (plantations, logging, etc.) is visible.

(ERS Data Utilization Section, ESA/ESRIN)

Keywords: ESA European Space Agency - Agence spatiale europeenne, observation de la terre, earth observation, satellite remote sensing, teledetection, geophysique, altimetrie, radar, chimique atmospherique, geophysics, altimetry, radar, atmospheric chemistry