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Thermal survey of Mount Etna Volcano from

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ARTICLE in GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS APRIL 1992
Impact Factor: 4.2 DOI: 10.1029/92GL00580

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GEOPHYSICAL
RESEARCH
LETTERS,
VOL.19,NO.7,PAGES
725-728,
APRIL3, !992

THERMAL
SURVEY
OFMOUNT
ETNAVOLCANO
FROMSPACE
A. Bonnevilleand P. Gouze

C.N.R.S.
- Centre
G6ologique
etGophysique,
Universit6
Montpellier
II, France
Abstract.Surveys of ground thermal anomaliesand the

ground
thermalanomalies
mustbe studied
in t th'-eriiaai

monitoring
of theirevolutionareof greatimportance
in the

infraredwindow (8-14 grn) [Bonnevilleef al., 1985;

BonnevilleandKerr, !987].

study
of volcanoes.Thermalmonitoring
techniques
could
beusedin conjunction
with classicalmonitoringtools(i.e.
seismological
and deformationnetworks),to give better

There have beenfew studiesof low-terpeulre

phenomena
because
theonlythermalIR sensors
av'ailable
to
thecivil sector
havea low spatialresolution
(e.g.1-!0 km

predictions
of the onsetof a volcanicevent.In orderto
detectand emphasize small anomalies in the surface

forweather
satellites).
Sincethelaunching
of Landsat
5, we

temperature
of the ground,we have developeda new
methodbasedon the joint useof two satelliteradiometers:
theNOAA-AdvancedVery High ResolutionRadiometer
(AVHRR)for the qualityof its thermalbandcalibrationand

theLandsat
ThematicMapper(TM) for its high spatial
resolution.
This method is applied to the Mount Ema
volcano,
Sicily, and revealsseveralthermalanomalies.One
anomalyis already known, and is associatedwith the
permanently
activecratersof the summitzone.The second
is a largerarea where an eruptionoccurredone week after

thedataacquisition(10/23/86). The generaltrend of the

thermalanomalies leads to recognition of a large,
semi-circular
intrusivezonecorresponding
to the bordersof

havehad at our disposalhighresolutionthermalinfrared

data(imagesizeof 185x185km with a pixel si of

120x120
m) whichis bettersuited
for studying
volcanoes.
However,the small amplitudeof the observedthermal
anomalies requires highly accurate radiometric

temperatures,
whichmustbe determined
fromnight:time

datain orderto minimize

thedirectsolai'heating.
To
achievethis g9al, well-calibrated
insmmientafion
and
atmospheric
corrections
fiaustbe made.Theselattereffects
couldbe of the sameorderof magnitude.
asthe expec.t

anomai.'es
dueto thelargealtitticle
variations
general
y

presented
by volcoes.in view of thesediffibulties,
we

havedev61oped
a method
thatsimultarieo/as!,
employs
two
satelliteradiometers:
the NOAA-Advanced
Very High

the we!l-known Valle del Bore.

Resolution
Radiometer
(AVHRR),
which
aksadi.antage

Introduction

of highprecision
thermalsensors,
andtheLdsat Thematic

Temperatureis one of the most logical physical

parameters
to monitor on an active volcano becauseof the

relationship
betweenthe volumeof hot intrusivemagma
andthe groundsurfacetemperature
[e.g. Francis,1979].

However,
the large thermalgradientsthat prevailat the
soil-airboundary
preventa largethermalsignature
from
appearing
at thegroundsurface,
exceptin thecaseof strong
groundwater
convectionbetweenthe magmaticintrusion
andsurface,
or,of course,
duringaneruption.
Wherestrong
groundwater
convectionoccurs,thermal anomaliescan be

Mapper(TM) .witha highspatial

resolutiofi..We
present
the

results
fromtheprocessing
of datagathe.red
overMount
Etna (Figure 2) on October,23 1986, one month after a
summiteruptionandoneweekbeforea flankeruption.
Activityof Mount Etna

MountEtnavolcano
hasbeencharacterized
in recent
historicaltimesby persistent,
activityr0m the summit
,

craters, mosfiy consistingof mild strombolianand

hydromagmafic
outgassing,
and by flank eruptions,

detected
atthesurface
andareoftenexpressed
byfumarolic
emissions
(Figure1). Thetimeevolutionof theseanomalies
could
bea goodindicationof magninmovement
towardthe

frequenfiy occurring on its upper-to-middleslopes.

FollowingArmientiet al. [1989], the eruptiveactivity
observedbetween1971 and 1987 can be describedusing

groundsurface.

the classification
of Ritmmnn[1965]. Amongdie flank
eruptions,
threetypesoferuptiveeventscanbefound:

Thermalmappingcanbe achieved
by remotesensing
fromanaircraftor froma satellite.
Thewavelength
of the
maximum
energyrecordedat the radiometer
on-boardthe
remote
sensing
platformdependson the temperature
of the

(1) Subterminal effusions, Which consist O[ shallow

(1) Subterminal effusions, which consist of shallow

magmatic
injections
originating
fromiheuppermost
partof

emitting
surface.
Thisimpliesthatwe haveto usedifferent themainfeeding
conduit.
Thelavais hotamifluidand
spectral
windowsfor studyingphenomenaoccurringat
flows
quiefiy
from
shallow
fissures
.that.
ex.teld
d0mslope.
different
temperatures.
For example,high temperature (2) Lateraleruptions,which originatefroi radial dike
phenomena
like lava lakes or lava flows can be studiedin
injections
thatpropagate
upwardto thesurface
andproduce

shortwavelenght
infraredwindows(1.2-2.5gin) [e.g.

both lava effusionand outgassingactivity. Transitionfrom

Francis
andRothery,
1987;
Rothery
eta!.,1988;Pierietal.,
1990]
whereas
lowtemperature
phenomena
suchassmall

Copyright
1992
bytheAmerican
Geophysical
Union.

subterminal
to lateralstages
oftenoccursdurinthe same
eruption.
(3) Eccentriceruptions,Whichare of deeporigin and not
relatedto themainfeedingconduit.

Fortheperiodof timein whithwe areinterested,

Mount

Paper
number
92GL00580

Ema had experienceda lateral type empfi0n dinSrig

Septemberof 1986, and a transitionalevent between

00t)4-8534/92/92GL-005
80503.00
725

726

BonnevilleandGouze:ThermalSurveyof Mt Etna

,,,

onlyonethermalband(TM6), prevents
usfromusingsuch
processing.However, this is possible with NOAA
meteorological
satellites
whichhavea radiometer,
AVHRR,
.:icratr

I"v.flow',',

furnerolic

(. field

with two thermalbands(4 and 5). AVHRR data,taken90

minutesbeforethe TM image, at 20:30 local time, showno

cloudsanda smallvapourplumefrom the volcano.First,

VOLCANO
' // 1,/';/-intrulion
'0 J
Fig. 1. Sketchof thermalexchanges
on a volcano.0 is the
temperature,
A0 is the differencebetweenair temperature
and surfacegroundtemperature.
To a fn'stapproximation
andin normalconditions
A0--0;butwith a largeheatsupply
(magmaticextrusionor naturalconvectionin a porousor
fracturedmedium), A0 becomesstronglypositive.This
temperatureanomalycan be detectedby a satelliteinfrared
radiometer.

these data are correctedfor geometricaldistortionsand

re-sampled,usingthe nearestneighbortechnique,in order
to coincidewith the LandsatTM imagepixels.We thenuse
a linearcombinationof band4 (10.3 - 11.3 I.tm) andband5

(11.5 -12.5 I.tm) according

to the Split WindowAlgorithm
to correctfor atmosphericabsorptions[Deschamps
and
Phulpin,1980;Price,1984].Usingthisprocess,
we obtaina
realtemperature
mapat the AVHRR spatialresolution.

Knowingtherealgroundsurface
temperature,
0goa,
in
eachpixel of the imageandthe brightness
temperature,
04,
in AVHRR channel4 (10.3 - 11.3gm), we maycompute
an
atmospheric
effectiveabsorptioncoefficientK, validfor
the corresponding
LandsatTM spectralwindow (band6=
10.42 - 11.66 I.tm):

04

subterminal
andlateraltypesstartingOctober,30 1986.The
September1986 eruptionstartedon the 14thandended10
dayslater,comingfromtheNortheast
Craterandproducing
a small amount of lava, estimated to be 1 m3 in volume.
The October 1986 event started on the 30th and ended 4
months later. The eastern and nor,h-eastern flanks of the
volcano were involved between the altitudes of 2900 and

2200 m. Duringthateruptionmorethan60x10 m3 of lava

were produced.

Methodology

Kat
m=Ogrotmd
(2) The mostimportantatmospheric
effectis dueto
adiabaticcooling with altitude which is indicatedto first
orderby surfacegroundtemperature.This stronggradient
masksthe undergroundthermal contribution.For the TM6
image,thiseffectmay be estimatedby a stat/sticalapproach
which consistsof determiningthe correlationbetweenthe
absolutepixel temperatureand its altitude, zx.. We then
determinea regionaladiabaticcoolinggradient:

Our fn'st step in reducing the data was to remove

atmosphericeffects.

(1) One atmospheric

effectis dueto the absorption
of
energyat somediscretewavelengths
by activecomponents
suchas H20 andCO2.Sincethisabsorption
depends
on
wavelength,we can use multispectralalgorithmsfor
modelingthe atmospheric
effectsand thus compute
real-at-ground
temperature.
The TM radiometer,
having

grad=

d0ground

dz

whichis verycloseto thetheoretical

one(0.006'C.m4).A
225 km2 digitalterrainmodel,accurateto 10 metersin
elevationhas beencompiled.Thus, for eachTM6 pixel at
temperature06, the resultingcorrectedsurfacetemperam
may be expressedas:

d0ground
0cr
= Katm'06 + 'lz ' ZPmm
This temperaturecould be consideredas the best
estimate
of AO(Figure1), thequantitywe haveto dealwith
in our survey.
Results

The efficiencyof thismethodis shownby therelative

O,
,,,'10
km'
-&e:

enhancementof thermal anomalies from the uncalibrated

TM image(Figure3) to the final image(Figure4). The

mostsignificant
resultis the evidencefor five anomalous
thermalfieldslabeledA1 throughA5:

IA

AI: In the summitzone,threehigh-amplitude-small-

spatial-extentanomaliescorrespondto the north-east,

central, and south-eastactive cratersof Mount Etna, very

Fig. 2. Simplifiedtopographic
mapof MountEtnawith the
locationof the TM imageindicatedby the box.

accurately
lated. The lava flowsextending
fromthe
Northeast
Crater
in a north-west
direction
[September
1986

Bonneville
andGouze:
Thermal
Survey
ofMt Etna

727

clouds

Fig.3. Thematic
Mapperband6 (TM6) imageof Mount
Etnavolcano
gathered
onOctober23, 22:00localtime.The
dataarenot calibratedand are represented
by color levels
fromdark blue (cold) to pink (warm). Note the noise
between
linesand the two saturatedpixelsin the centerof

theimagethatcorrespond
to activesummitcraters.The
pixelsizeis 120x120m.

Fig. 4. Final TM6 image corrected for atmospheric

absorptionand adiabaticair cooling with altitude. All the
temperatures
havebeenreducedto sealevel usinga Digital
Terrain Model. Each color level conespondto I'C from
dark blue (14.50'C) to pink (27'C). Five positive
anomalous zones are evidenced A1, A2, A3, A4 and A5

(see text for explanations).The jagged line representthe

edgesof Valle del Bove; heavy lines are roads and fine
lines are the altitude contours. TR= Torre del Filosofo;

eruption;
ScanBulletin, 1986a]as well as thosefrom the
Southeast
Crater are identified.The conesare particularly

NEC=Northeast Crater; SEC= SoutheastCrater, BN=Bocca

Nova Crater;PR=PiccoloRifugio;RS=RifugioSapienza.

evident as hot areas around all the craters.

Themeantemperatureanomalyreachesabout3'C with
respect
to the surroundingarea. The total anomalousheat
flow on the summit zone between altitude levels 3000 and

3300m (1 km2) canbe estimated

at 200 MW usingan
empiricalmethod[Sekioka and Yuhara, 1974]. This heat
budget
maybe a goodindicatorof the MountEtna activity
in its all.

A2: This anomalyis relatedto a lava field extending

through
thehigherpartof ValledelBove.Previous
workby
Piefietal. [1990],usingTM bands5 and7 data,hasclearly
shownthe thermalsignature
of a 1984 lava flow in this
zone.

A3: This anomalouszone on the northernedge of Valle

clelBovehas a shortmaximumspatialextension(100200m)to the east,closeto the 2000 m altitudelevel, This

zoneexperienced
a large fissureactivity [ScanBulletin,
1986b]on October30, 1986, one week after the data
acquisition.
Thesefissurezonesareknownasbeingareasof
eruptive
eventscomparable
to the Hawaiianrift zones
[Kieffer,
1975].
A4:Thisanomaly
in thesouthern
edgeof ValledelBove

isnotassociated
withanyrecent
volcanic
activity,
butit is
elatedto knownfissurezoneslike anomaliesA2 and A3.

AS:Thislargeanomaly
around
RifugioSapienza
maybe

thereis a real thermaleffect, or whetherwe are observing

slopeeffects,or differentialthermalinertialeffects.If the
zones are indeed not thermal anomalies, then we must

explain severalfeatures:Why are the zonesso closely

linked with volcano-structural
features?Why are there no
anomaliesobservable
on the westernand northernslopesof
the volcano?What has causedthe disappearanceof the
anomalouszone in the north detected during 1981
[Bonnevilleet al., 1985] which was strongly linked to

eruptiveactivityin themonthsbeforetheobservations
took
place?For thesereasons,we assumethat the anomalies
really do represent
hot-spots,
eventhougha minor part of
themcouldalwaysbe attributed
to surfaceeffects.
Theseanomalies,exceptthe summitanomaliesA1, are

onlydetectable
afterthealtitudecorrection
described
above
andpresenta minimumamplitudeof 2'C with respectto
the environment,which is significantowing to the applied

processing.
They correspond,
to a fin'stapproximation,
to
heatflow anomalies
of about130Wm'2. The anomalyA3
with its short extension maximum could be considered as a
thermal forerunner of the October 30, 1986 event, even

thoughonlya repetitivesurveywouldhavepermittedthe

of thissituation.Note that the lack of vegetation

linked
torecent
lavafields(eruptions
of 1983),bigcinder assessment

cones
likeMountSilvestri,andnumerous
fracturezones.

Forthese
lasttwoanomalous
zones,
wemayaskwhether

within these zones (altitude above 2000 m) allows an

interpretation
witha greatdegreeof confidence.

728

BonnevilleandGouze:ThermalSurveyof Mt Ema
Conclusion

Francis,
P. W., Infra-red
techniques
forvolcano
monitoring
andprediction-a review,J.Geol. $oc. Lond., 136, 355-

We presentevidencethat some thermal anomaliesare

linked to volcanic activity. However, only a continuous
surveyover a long time (3 to 4 years)would prove the
efficacy of the method for forecastingvolcaniceventsas
well as give bettercluesfor the thermalorigin of the large

and apparentlypermanentanomalies.Our application

suggests
that significant
progress
in the methodology
will
be achievedwhen voleanologists
have at their disposal
frequentnight-timepassesover volcanoeswith a wide
rangeof spectralwindows.This couldbe a realityin the
near future due to the US Earth ObservationSatellite(EOS)

program[Mouginis-Market al., 1991], and perhapsat a

later date, when the EuropeanPolar Platform becomes
operational.

359, 1979.

Francis,P. W., andD. A. Rothery,Using LandsatThematic

Mapper to detect and monitor active volcanoes:an

example
fromLascarvolcano,northern
Chile,Geology,
15, 614-617, 1987.

Kieffer,G., Surl'existence
d'unerift-zonet l'Ema,Sicfie,
CR. Acad. $ci. Paris, D, 280, 263-266, 1975.

Mouginis-Mark,P., S. Rowland, P. W. Francis,T.

Friedman,I. Gradie,S. Self, L. Wilson,J. Crisp,L.

Glaze, K. Jones, A. Kahle, D. Pieri, H. Zebker, A.
Kreuger,L. Waiter, C. Wood,W. Rose,J. AdamsandR.
Wolff, Analysis of active volcanoesfrom the Earth
Observing System, Remote $ens. Environ. 36, 1-!2
1991.

Pieri, D.C.,

Acknowledgements.
This work has been supported
by the
C.N.R.S. and the C.N.E.S. (A.T.P. TldOectionSpatiale
1985). The authorswish to thank Y. Kerr, G. Macedonio
and J. VandeMelbroukfor their help in obtainingthe data;
P. Filmer, P. Francis,D. Pieri andone anonymous
reviewer
for their careful comments.

L. S. Glaze and M. J. Abrams, Thermal

radianceobservations
of an activelava flow duringthe
June 1984 eruptionof Mount Ema, Geology,18, 10181022, 1990.

Price,J. C., Land surfacetemperaturemeasurements

from
the split window channelsof the NOAA7 Advanced
Very High ResolutionRadiometer,J. Geophys.
Res.,89,
7231-7237, 1984.

References

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1117-1123, 1965.

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illari, Petrologyand Sr-Nd isotopegeochemistryof
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Bonneville, A., G. Vasseur and Y. Kerr, Satellite thermal

infrared observations of mount Etna after the 17th March

1981 eruption,J. Volcanol. Geoth.Res., 36, 209-232,

Rothery,D. A., P. W. Francisand C. A. Wood, Volcano

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geothermalareasbasedon theheatbalanceof theground

surface,J. Geophys.Res., 79, 2053-2058, 1974.

1985.

Bonneville, A., and Y. Kerr, A thermal forerunnerof the

28th March 1983 Mount Etna eruptionfrom satellite

thermalinfrareddata,J. of Geodynamics,
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Deschamps,
P. Y., and T. Phulpin,Atmospheric
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Alain
BOnneville
and
Philippe
Gouze,
C.N.R.S.
- Centre
Gologiqueet Gertphysique,
UniversitMontpellierii,
PlaceE.Bataillon,34095MontpellierCdex05, France.
(ReceivedDecember 9, 1991;

acceptedFebruary12, 1992.)