DANGEROUS WHILE ASLEEP: APPLYING UAV-FACILITATED PHOTOGRAMMETRY TO THE DORMANT BARVA VOLCANO

San José, Costa Rica and its surrounding metropolitan area exist within the shadow of several volcanoes: Barva, Turrialba, Poás, and Irazú. Barva, a dormant, relatively unstudied stratovolcano, is particularly obscure among these, as heavy vegetation on the Caribbean side and its summit impedes geomorphological studies. Previous studies conducted by the University of Costa Rica have used LiDAR to analyze the general geomorphology of the NW Pacific side of Barva. Building off of these studies, this project’s purpose was the creation of a series of digital elevation models (DEMs) of several cinder and lava cones located along a suspected volcano-tectonic fracture southeast of Barva’s main crater. Using AI-driven optical photogrammetry software, DEMs were generated from high-resolution aerial photographs collected with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), commonly referred to as drones. These preliminary models not only provide the basis for understanding the volcanic hazards of Barva should it return to activity, but also inform the work of future researchers during later phases of this long-term project to apply UAV technology to the understanding of igneous geomorphology.