May 18 - 23, 2013
Volcano Monitoring and Surveillance
The NEMOH field school on Volcano Monitoring and Surveillance was held at Stromboli Volcano, Italy, on May 18-24, 2013. The main goal of the school was to train a group of young researchers on the practice of data gathering at active volcanoes, and to learn how the different measured parameters can be used for constraining models of the volcano and evaluating the associated hazards. The first two days of the School were dedicated to introductory classes on Stromboli volcano and the Strombolian activity, the strategies for hazard assessment and risk mitigation, and a summary description of the geophysical and geochemical signals which are recorded on that volcano. A subsequent visit to the Advanced Operative Center (COA) from the Italian Department of Civil Protection served to show the practice of modern volcano surveillance, and how the data from remote monitoring instruments are used for rapid hazard assessment.
The following two days focused on the practice of volcano monitoring. For each of these two days, young researchers were divided into two groups: one climbing to the summit of the volcano, the other hiking at intermediate elevation. Participants from the former group practiced on the deployment and operation of mobile instrumentation. They installed a digital seismometer, deployed infrasound sensors, measured gas plume concentration using UV cameras, operated high-speed and thermal IR cameras. Activities of the second group were instead dedicated to visiting permanent instrumentations, such as a land-based SAR system, GPS and EDM stations, and to learn about the genesis and depositional processes of several relevant outcrops.
Days 5 and 6 into the school were dedicated to practical exercises, in which young researchers directly practiced the processing and analysis of the multidisciplinary data sets collected during the previous days. Together with lecturers, students were also involved into an expert elicitation exercise, in which they had to express themselves about the significance of the different monitoring parameters in terms of hazard evaluation.
School was scheduled to terminate by the evening of day 6 (May 23), when all participants were supposed to board on a nightly boat heading to Napoli. That night, however, navigation was inherited by a major storm, accompanied by spectacular 10-meter-high sea waves. All participants were thus constrained to an extra day of permanence on the island; that implied an impressive workload for our administrative heroine, who provided egregious assistance in modifying individual travel plans. The day after, most of the participants achieved leaving the island on a shaking boat trip, which brought them to Sicilian lands. Undoubtedly, that cruise is among the most unforgettable rememberings of the school.
The school represented a great opportunity for observing a volcano at work, in turn addressing the numerous and complicate issues associated with the measurement of open-conduit processes. Students formed a variegate group who responded lively and enthusiastically whenever a personal involvement was required, either for carrying batteries or expressing opinions in the elicitation exercise. The school thus also represented a formidable occasion for strengthening the cohesion of a community of young researchers, who will soon contribute at establishing the strategies of quantitative volcanological studies at an European level.
The school in numbers:
31 young researchers (15 NEMOH fellows, 16 affiliates)
10 different countries of provenance
19 different affiliations
16 teachers (8 from the NEMOH network and 8 external)
Gallery
*pics were taken by Daniele Andronico, Alessandro Fornaciai, Raffaela Pignolo, Piergiorgio Scarlato, Karen Strehlow (LMU)
