GEOFIM: a WebGIS application for integrated geophysical modelling in active volcanic regions

Abstract

We present GEOFIM (GEOphysical Forward/Inverse Modeling), a WebGIS application for integrated interpretation of multiparametric geophysical observations. It has been developed to jointly interpret scalar and vector magnetic data, gravity data, as well as geodetic data, from GPS, tiltmeter, strainmeter and InSAR observations, recorded in active volcanic areas. GEOFIM gathers a library of analytical solutions, which provides an estimate of the geophysical signals due to perturbations in the thermal and stress state of the volcano. The integrated geophysical modeling can be performed by a simple trial and errors forward modeling or by an inversion procedure based on NSGA-II algorithm. The software capability was tested on the multiparametric data set recorded during the 2008-2009 Etna flank eruption onset. The results encourage to exploit this approach to develop a near-real-time warning system for a quantitative model-based assessment of geophysical observations in areas where different parameters are routinely monitored.