The VEI 2 Christmas 2018 Etna Eruption: A small but intense eruptive event or the starting phase of a larger one?

Author(s):  
Sonia Calvari ◽  
Giuseppe Bilotta ◽  
Alessandro Bonaccorso ◽  
Tommaso Caltabiano ◽  
Annalisa Cappello ◽  
...  

<p>The Etna flank eruption started on 24 December 2018 lasted a few days and involved the opening of an eruptive fissure, accompanied by a seismic swarm and shallow earthquakes, and by large and widespread ground deformation especially on the eastern flank of the volcano. Lava fountains and ash plume from the uppermost eruptive fissure have accompanied the opening stage causing disruption of Catania international airport, and have been followed by a quiet lava effusion within the barren Valle del Bove depression until 27 December. This is the first flank eruption occurring at Etna in the last decade, during which eruptive activity was confined to the summit craters and resulted in lava fountains and lava flow output from the crater rims. In this paper we use ground and satellite remote sensing techniques to describe the sequence of events, quantify the erupted volumes of lava, gas and tephra, and assess volcanic hazard.</p>

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 905 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Calvari ◽  
Giuseppe Bilotta ◽  
Alessandro Bonaccorso ◽  
Tommaso Caltabiano ◽  
Annalisa Cappello ◽  
...  

The Etna flank eruption that started on 24 December 2018 lasted a few days and involved the opening of an eruptive fissure, accompanied by a seismic swarm and shallow earthquakes, significant SO2 flux release, and by large and widespread ground deformation, especially on the eastern flank of the volcano. Lava fountains and ash plumes from the uppermost eruptive fissure accompanied the opening stage, causing disruption to Catania International Airport, and were followed by a quiet lava effusion within the barren Valle del Bove depression until 27 December. This was the first flank eruption to occur at Etna in the last decade, during which eruptive activity was confined to the summit craters and resulted in lava fountains and lava flow output from the crater rims. In this paper, we used ground and satellite remote sensing techniques to describe the sequence of events, quantify the erupted volumes of lava, gas, and tephra, and assess volcanic hazards.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (15) ◽  
pp. 3052
Author(s):  
Sonia Calvari ◽  
Alessandro Bonaccorso ◽  
Gaetana Ganci

On 13 December 2020, Etna volcano entered a new eruptive phase, giving rise to a number of paroxysmal episodes involving increased Strombolian activity from the summit craters, lava fountains feeding several-km high eruptive columns and ash plumes, as well as lava flows. As of 2 August 2021, 57 such episodes have occurred in 2021, all of them from the New Southeast Crater (NSEC). Each paroxysmal episode lasted a few hours and was sometimes preceded (but more often followed) by lava flow output from the crater rim lasting a few hours. In this paper, we use remote sensing data from the ground and satellite, integrated with ground deformation data recorded by a high precision borehole strainmeter to characterize the 12 March 2021 eruptive episode, which was one of the most powerful (and best recorded) among that occurred since 13 December 2020. We describe the formation and growth of the lava fountains, and the way they feed the eruptive column and the ash plume, using data gathered from the INGV visible and thermal camera monitoring network, compared with satellite images. We show the growth of the lava flow field associated with the explosive phase obtained from a fixed thermal monitoring camera. We estimate the erupted volume of pyroclasts from the heights of the lava fountains measured by the cameras, and the erupted lava flow volume from the satellite-derived radiant heat flux. We compare all erupted volumes (pyroclasts plus lava flows) with the total erupted volume inferred from the volcano deflation recorded by the borehole strainmeter, obtaining a total erupted volume of ~3 × 106 m3 of magma constrained by the strainmeter. This volume comprises ~1.6 × 106 m3 of pyroclasts erupted during the lava fountain and 2.4 × 106 m3 of lava flow, with ~30% of the erupted pyroclasts being remobilized as rootless lava to feed the lava flows. The episode lasted 130 min and resulted in an eruption rate of ~385 m3 s−1 and caused the formation of an ash plume rising from the margins of the lava fountain that rose up to 12.6 km a.s.l. in ~1 h. The maximum elevation of the ash plume was well constrained by an empirical formula that can be used for prompt hazard assessment.


Author(s):  
Nicola Casagli ◽  
Veronica Tofani ◽  
Andrea Ciampalini ◽  
Federico Raspini ◽  
Ping Lu ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vincenzo De Novellis ◽  
Francesco Casu ◽  
Claudio De Luca ◽  
Mariarosaria Manzo ◽  
Fernando Monterroso ◽  
...  

<p>Piton de la Fournaise volcano forms the southeastern part of La Réunion, an oceanic basaltic island in the southernmost part of Mascarene Basin (Indian Ocean). Five eruptions occurred at Piton in 2019, accompanied by seismic activity, lava flow, and lava fountaining. Here below, we focus on the fourth eruption occurred between August 11 and 15 on the southern-southeastern flank of the volcano, inside the Enclos Fouqué caldera. This eruption was characterized by the opening of two eruptive fissures. We retrieve the surface deformations induced by the eruptive activity through space-borne Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (DInSAR) measurements. First, we generated the coseismic deformation maps by applying the DInSAR technique to SAR data collected along ascending and descending orbits by the Sentinel-1 constellation of the European Copernicus Programme. The DInSAR technique allows us to analyze the deformation patterns caused by the 11 August 2019 eruption. We also retrieved the pre-eruptive deformation through the Small BAseline Subset (SBAS) DInSAR approach. Then, we modelled the DInSAR displacements to constrain the geometry and characteristics of the eruptive source. The modelling results suggest that the observed deformation can be attributed to the interaction between a shallow magma reservoir located at ~1.5-2 km depth below the summit, and the intrusion of a dike feeding the eruptive fissure inside the Enclos Fouqué caldera.</p><p><em>This work is supported by: the 2019-2021 IREA-CNR and Italian Civil Protection Department agreement; the EPOS-SP project (GA 871121); and the I-AMICA (PONa3_00363) project.</em></p>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabrizio D'Amico ◽  
Valerio Gagliardi ◽  
Chiara Clementini ◽  
Daniele Latini ◽  
Fabio Del Frate ◽  
...  

<p>Bridges and viaducts are exposed to a variety of threats that can affect their operations and structural integrity [1]. Recent unexpected collapses and failures of bridges underline the need for effective structural monitoring, particularly for reinforced concrete structures. In fact, once distress mechanisms are triggered, these can deteriorate faster than the time required for rehabilitation, strengthening, or replacement.</p><p>To this extent, it is evident that the monitoring of the actual health conditions of the existing bridges is a priority for asset operators in order to guarantee the structural integrity, the safety of the operations and preventing irreversible damages or even structural collapses.</p><p>Within this context, Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) methods such as Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) amongst many others have been used for the assessing and monitoring such structures in the past few years[2]. However, topic-related studies [3-4] have demonstrated that stand-alone use of ground-based techniques may not represent a definitive solution to particular major structural issues, such as scour and differential settlements, as these require continuous monitoring and data collection on long-term bases . To that extent, the use of satellite-based remote sensing techniques, such as Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR), have proven to be effective in detecting displacements with a millimetre accuracy along with transport infrastructures [3-5] and natural terrain considering long periods of observation.</p><p>Accordingly, this research aims to present a novel integrated monitoring approach including the use of ground-based technologies (GPR, TLS) and the InSAR techniques over a Maillart arch type bridge: the Viadotto Olivieri in Salerno, (in the South of Italy).</p><p>Main objectives of the research  are: (1) to prove the viability of low-frequency and high-frequency GPR systems in providing structural detailing of the bridge-deck at different depths and resolutions; (2) to measure seasonal structural displacements with a millimetre accuracy to detect potential critical issues of the bridge.</p><p>The outcomes of this study, under the National Project “EXTRA TN”, PRIN 2017- Prot. 20179BP4SM, demonstrate how multi-temporal InSAR remote sensing techniques can be synergistically applied to complement the traditional ground-based surveys.</p><p> </p><p>References</p><p>[1] Hosseini Nourzad, S. H. and Pradhan, A. Vulnerability of Infrastructure Systems: Macroscopic Analysis of Critical Disruptions on Road Networks. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, 22(1), 04015014. 2016</p><p>[2] D’Aranno, P., Di Benedetto, A., Fiani, M., and Marsella, M.: Remote Sensing Technologies For Linear Infrastructure Monitoring, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLII-2/W11, 461–468, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-2-W11-461-2019, 2019.</p><p>[3] Bianchini Ciampoli, L., Gagliardi, V., Clementini, et al., Transport Infrastructure Monitoring by InSAR and GPR Data Fusion. Surv Geophys 41, 371–394 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10712-019-09563-7</p><p>[4] Gagliardi V., Benedetto A., Bianchini Ciampoli L., D’Amico F., Alani A., Tosti F., 2020. Health monitoring approach for transport infrastructure and bridges by satellite remote sensing Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI). Proc.SPIE 11534. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2572395</p><p>[5] Bianchini Ciampoli L., Gagliardi V., Calvi A., D’Amico F., Tosti F., Automatic network-level bridge monitoring by integration of InSAR and GIS catalogues. Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering, 11059, (2019). DOI: 10.1117/12.2527299</p>


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