Monitoring the morphological evolution of the Sciara del Fuoco during the 2002-2003 stromboli eruption using multi-temporal photogrammetry

Abstract After a period of anomalous activity affecting the Volcano of Stromboli (Aeolian volcanic arc, Italy), the “Sciara del Fuoco” slope, situated on the north–east flank of the island, was affected by major landslides on December 30, 2002. Recent lava accumulations starting from the beginning of the eruption (December 28, 2002) and a portion of the subaerial and submarine deposits were detached. As a result, tsunami waves several meters high affected the coasts of the island. After the event, monitoring activities, coordinated by the Italian Civil Protection Department, included systematic photogrammetric surveys. The digital photogrammetric technique was adopted to extract high-resolution digital elevation models and large-scale orthophotos. The comparison between the data collected before the eruption and that acquired on January 5, 2003, together with bathymetric data, allowed to define the geometry and to estimate the volume of the surfaces involved in the landslides. The following 13 photogrammetric surveys (from January to September 2003) enabled the monitoring of the continuous and relevant morphological changes induced by both the lava flow and the evolution of the instability phenomena. The method adopted for the data analysis and the results obtained are described in the paper.