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The densely inhabited area of Naples (Italy), between the Campi Flegrei and Vesuvio volcanoes, is one of the most hazardous regions in the world. After two decades of sustained subsidence, Campi Flegrei has been experiencing an accelerating uplift since 2005. The uplift is currently associated with unusual seismicity and increased degassing. To try to identify the cause of the shift from subsidence to uplift and explore any connection between Campi Flegrei and Vesuvio, we analysed the ground displacement time series of the two volcanoes from 1993 to 2010, obtained from ERS/ENVISAT Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery. To distinguish between the various sources of deformation, we used simple scatter plots and a blind source separation technique called variational Bayesian independent component analysis (vbICA). We obtained consistent results using both approaches. Specifically, with vbICA, we identified two significant independent components (ICs). IC1 describes the subsidence that occurred at Campi Flegrei prior to 2000, including the mini-uplifts of 2000 and 2005, and part of the post-2005 uplift. The expansion and contraction of two volumes beneath Campi Flegrei satisfy IC1: a sill-shaped volume at a depth of approximately 3 km and a small volume at a depth of 1–2 km, respectively. The two sources of deformation reproduce the large-scale deformation in the Campi Flegrei area and the local deformation in the Solfatara area, respectively. In the Campi Flegrei area, IC2 exhibits primarily uplift, which is concentrated in the eastern part of the caldera. The deformation pattern is complex and difficult to interpret. If we model it using simple spheroidal deformation sources, the pattern suggests that two volumes at depths of approximately 9 and 8 km are experiencing opposite activity, namely contraction (beneath the southwestern part of the caldera) and expansion (beneath the central part of the caldera). In the Vesuvio area, IC2 is consistent with the deformation induced by the contraction of a volume at a depth of around 9 km. The contraction beneath Vesuvio is smaller in magnitude than the expansion/contraction beneath Campi Flegrei. The correlation observed after 2002 between uplift at Campi Flegrei and subsidence at Vesuvio suggests the transfer of magma and/or magmatic fluids between the two plumbing systems at 8–9 km depth. This implies that part of the ongoing unrest at Campi Flegrei may have been promoted by mass transfer from below Vesuvio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Campi Flegrei and Vesuvio volcanoes are only about 25 km apart, located on opposite sides of the densely inhabited area of Naples (Italy). Since neighbouring volcanoes may influence each other's activity, it is of great interest to identify signs of any mutual interaction between Campi Flegrei and Vesuvio, or at least note coincidences in their recent deformation dynamics. After a large uplift, Campi Flegrei was generally subsiding from 1985 to 2001, while it has been uplifting—probably driven by deep magma inflation—at an accelerating rate since then. Here, we analysed the ground displacement in the whole Vesuvian area and its surroundings around the early 2000s using 1993–2010 ERS/ENVISAT ascending- and descending-orbit line-of-sight displacements obtained through the Small BAseline Subset Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry technique. Although ground deformation is slow—a few millimetres per year—Empirical Orthogonal Function analysis shows a sudden trend change around 2001. Pre-2001 velocity maps confirm previously published results: subsidence mainly occurred inside the caldera rim—probably because of the sliding and compaction of young incoherent materials—and in a few spots around 10 km from the summital crater; eastward displacement occurred in a lobe east of Vesuvio, and westward displacement occurred in a lobe west of Vesuvio, as in the case of the spreading of the volcanic edifice and/or extensional tectonics. We attribute the subsidence spots to the previous high local number of new buildings per year. Post-2002 velocity maps provide evidence of a very different scenario: general subsidence in the whole Vesuvian area, westward displacement in a lobe east of Vesuvio, and eastward displacement in a lobe west of Vesuvio. This last arrangement of the ground displacement field is made even clearer by subtracting the post-2002 velocity from the pre-2001 value. The results of our analyses are consistent with the deflation of a deep pressurised source. Additionally, Vesuvio's deep seismicity decreased at the beginning of 2002. The coincidence between the transition from deflation to inflation at Campi Flegrei and the onset of deflation below Vesuvio may suggest the possible transfer of magma and/or magmatic fluids between the two plumbing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the summer of 2017, multiple huge fires occurred on Mount Vesuvius (Italy), dispersing a large quantity of ash in the surrounding area ensuing the burning of tens of hectares of Mediterranean scrub. The fires affected a very large area of the Vesuvius National Park and the smoke was driven by winds towards the city of Naples, causing daily peak values of particulate matter (PM) concentrations at ground level higher than the limit of the EU air quality directive. The smoke plume spreading over the area of Naples in this period was characterized by active (lidar) and passive (sun photometer) remote sensing as well as near-surface (optical particle counter) observational techniques. The measurements allowed us to follow both the PM variation at ground level and the vertical profile of fresh biomass burning aerosol as well as to analyze the optical and microphysical properties. The results evidenced the presence of a layer of fine mode aerosol with large mean values of optical depth (AOD > 0.25) and Ångstrom exponent (γ > 1.5) above the observational site. Moreover, the lidar ratio and aerosol linear depolarization obtained from the lidar observations were about 40 sr and 4%, respectively, consistent with the presence of biomass burning aerosol in the atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]