The lava flow invasion hazard map at Mount Etna and methods for its dynamic update

Abstract

This special issue of Annals of Geophysics contains seventeen peer-reviewed papers that cover a wide variety of topics related to the V3-LAVA Project funded by the Italian Dipartimento della Protezione Civile in the framework of the 2007– 2009 Agreement with the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). The frequent eruptions of Mount Etna can produce lava flows that can cover distances long enough to invade vulnerable areas on the flanks of the volcano. These require improvements to our forecasting tools for the effective assessment of lava-flow hazards, to help the local authorities to make the necessary decisions during a volcanic eruption. The LAVA Project aims to develop, validate and unify methods for mapping the areas around Etna that are threatened by lava invasion within the next 50 years, and also within the immediate days after an eruption has begun. Both timescales of lava-hazard mapping call for estimations of the probabilities of vent openings – using geological evidence over the long-term, and monitoring data over the short-term.