Alert system to mitigate tephra fallout hazards at Mt. Etna Volcano,Italy |
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| Authors: | Salvatore Alparone Daniele Andronico Tiziana Sgroi Ferruccio Ferrari Luigi Lodato Danilo Reitano |
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| Institution: | (1) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Catania, Catania, Italy;(2) Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Sezione di Roma 2, Catania, Italy |
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| Abstract: | Volcanic eruptions may create a wide range of risks in inhabited areas and, as a consequence, major economic damage to the
surrounding territory. An example of volcanic hazard was given between 1998 and 2001 by Mt. Etna volcano, in Italy, with its
frequent paroxysmal explosive activity that caused more than a hundred fire-fountain episodes. In the period January–June
2000, in particular, 64 lava fountains took place at the Southeast Crater. During the most intense explosive phase of each
episode, a sustained column often formed, reaching up to 6 km above the eruptive vent. Then, the column started to expand
laterally causing more or less copious tephra fallout on the slopes of Etna; ash and lapilli, therefore, constituted a serious
danger for vehicular and air traffic. A software and hardware warning system was developed to mitigate the volcanic hazard
indicating the areas affected by potential ash and lapilli fallout. The alert system was mainly based on the good correspondence
between the pattern of volcanic tremor amplitude and the evolution of explosive activity. When a fixed tremor threshold was
exceeded, a semiautomatic process started to send faxes to Civil Defence and Municipalities directly affected by tephra fallout,
together with information on wind directions from the Meteorological Office. The application of this methodology, during the
last 14 eruptive episodes in 2000 and the 14 events occurred in 2001, demonstrated the good correspondence between the forecasts
on the areas affected by tephra fallout and the effective tephra distribution on land. Despite the integrity of the performance
provided by the alert system, small discrepancies occurred in the technical procedure of alerting, for which possible solutions
have been discussed. The improvement of this type of system, could become basic for the Etnean region and be proposed for
similar volcanic areas throughout the world. |
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| Keywords: | Alert system Volcanic surveillance Volcanic tremor Lava fountain Tephra fallout |
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