High-Resolution and Accurate Topography Reconstruction of Mount Etna from Pleiades Satellite Data

The areas characterized by dynamic and rapid morphological changes need accurate
topography information with frequent updates, especially if these are populated and involve
infrastructures. This is particularly true in active volcanic areas such as Mount (Mt.) Etna, located
in the northeastern portion of Sicily, Italy. The Mt. Etna volcano is periodically characterized by
explosive and e usive eruptions and represents a potential hazard for several thousands of local
people and hundreds of tourists present on the volcano itself. In this work, a high-resolution, high
vertical accuracy digital surface model (DSM) of Mt. Etna was derived from Pleiades satellite data
using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Ames Stereo Pipeline (ASP) tool
set. We believe that this is the first time that the ASP using Pleiades imagery has been applied to
Mt. Etna with sub-meter vertical root mean square error (RMSE) results. The model covers an
area of about 400 km
2
with a spatial resolution of 2 m and centers on the summit portion of the
volcano. The model was validated by using a set of reference ground control points (GCP) obtaining
a vertical RMSE of 0.78 m. The described procedure provides an avenue to obtain DSMs at high
spatial resolution and elevation accuracy in a relatively short amount of processing time, making
the procedure itself suitable to reproduce topographies often indispensable during the emergency
management case of volcanic eruptions.