Classifying Major Explosions and Paroxysms at Stromboli Volcano (Italy) from Space
Stromboli volcano has a persistent activity that is almost exclusively explosive. Predominated by low intensity events, this activity is occasionally interspersed with more powerful episodes, known as major explosions and paroxysms, which represent the main hazards for the inhabitants of the island. Here, we propose a machine learning approach to distinguish between paroxysms and major explosions by using satellite-derived measurements. We investigated the high energy explosive events occurring in the period January 2018–April 2021. Three distinguishing features are taken into account, namely (i) the temporal variations of surface temperature over the summit area, (ii) the magnitude of the …
Mapping lava flows at Etna Volcano using Google Earth Engine, open-access satellite data, and machine learning
Estimating eruptive parameters is fundamental to assess the volcanic hazards posed to the community living at the edge of active volcanoes. Here, we analyzed satellite remote sensing data by using machine learning unsupervised and supervised techniques and analytical approaches, i.e., mathematical-physics and statistics formulations, to map lava flows emitted during the long sequences of short-lived, violent eruptions occurred at Etna volcano between December 2020 and March 2021. Satellite observations allowed to follow the evolution of eruptions thanks to their capability to survey large areas with frequent revisit time and accurate spatial resolution. We quantified the areal coverage of l…