Topographic Maps of Mount Etna’s Summit Craters, updated to December 2015

Abstract

New maps of the summit of Mount Etna volcano (1:5000–1:4000), derived from helicopter photogrammetry, thermal images and terrestrial laser scanner survey, are here presented. These maps indicate the main morpho-structural changes occurring during the powerful explosive and effusive eruptions involving the summit craters of Etna over the first two weeks of December 2015. The survey enabled identifying the proximal erupted volume (7.2 ± 0.14 × 106 m3) and the size and location of the vent causing the powerful explosive activity inside the Central Crater. Our survey also outlines the growth of a recent (2011–2015) summit cone on top of a former pit crater, named New SE-Crater. This new cone is by now comparable in size to the former SE-Crater. The shape and size of two small cinder cones that formed on the upper eastern flank of the summit zone in May–July 2014 are also shown. This approach can be used in fast and frequent monitoring of very active volcanoes.