Generation of a Digital Elevation Model Using Capella High-Resolution SAR Data: First Results Over La Palma Island

Generation of Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) using Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data is a valid flexible alternative to other surveying techniques. In this work we adopt radargrammetry on two SAR images recorded by the Capella Space X-band spaceborne sensor on two consecutive days over La Palma Island (Canary Islands, Spain) during the Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption, with the aim of investigating the potential of these high-resolution (up to 0.7 by 0.5 m
²
) SAR images in generating precise DEMs. The adopted method employs a multilook-based spatial filter followed by an iterative region-growing algorithm to identify matching pixels between the two images. The resultant radargrammetric DEM is compared with a Lidar-based DEM, showing a good agreement in the areas less affected by lava flow.