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The knowledge of the dynamic of the Campi Flegrei calderic system is a primary goal to mitigate the volcanic risk in one of the most densely populated volcanic areas in the world. From 1950 to 1990 Campi Flegrei suffered three bradyseismic crises with a total uplift of 4.3 m. After 20 years of subsidence, the uplift started again in 2005 accompanied by a low increment of the seismicity rate. In 2012 an increment in the seismic energy release and a variation in the gas composition of the fumaroles of Solfatara/Pisciarelli (in the central area of the caldera) were recorded. Since then, a slow and progressive increase in phenomena continued until today. We analyzed the Campi Flegrei seismic catalogue from 2000 and the main seismic swarms in order to look for any variation in the seismic parameters and compare them with other geophysical information. A remarkable correlation between earthquake cumulative number, CO/CO2 values and vertical ground deformation is evidenced. Moreover, the focal mechanisms show an agreement with the tensional stress induced by the caldera uplift. Most of the swarms and remaining seismicity delineate a highly fractured volume extending vertically below the Solfatara/Pisciarelli vents, where gases find preferential paths to the surface triggering earthquakes. The main swarms are located below this volume where the presence of a rigid caprock is still debated.The correlation between the seismological, geochemical and geodetic observables can be interpreted in terms of injection of magmatic fluids into the hydrothermal system or its pressurization. The comparison between the geophysical information and the seismicity leads us to interpreted the current unrest in term of a gradual increment in the activity of the wide hydrothermal system whose most evident manifestation is the enlargement of the fumarolic field of Pisciarelli.This contribution was funded by the MIUR project PRIN-2017 WZFT2p “Stochastic forecasting in complex systems” and by the INGV Project LOVE-CF.

The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano (Pacific Ocean) generated a cataclysmic explosion on 15 January 2022, triggering several atmospheric disturbances at a global scale, as a huge increase in the total electron content (TEC) in the ionosphere, and a pressure wave travelling in the troposphere. We collected and analysed data over the Mediterranean to study these disturbances, and in particular, (i) data from the barometric and infrasonic stations installed on Italian active volcanoes by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) for investigating the tropospheric pressure waves; (ii) barometric data from the INGV-TROPOMAG and SIAS (Sicilian Agro-meteorological Information System) networks, for investigating the interaction between the orography and pressure waves; (iii) ionograms from the Advanced Ionospheric Sounder-INGV ionosonde at Gibilmanna (Sicily, Italy); (iv) data from the RING (Rete Italiana Integrata GNSS) network, to retrieve the ionospheric TEC; (v) soil CO2 flux data from the INGV surveillance network of Vulcano Island. The analysis of the ground-level barometric data highlights that pressure waves were reflected and diffracted by the topographic surface, creating a complex space–time dynamic of the atmospheric disturbances travelling over Sicily, driven by the interference among the different wavefronts. The ionograms show that a medium-scale travelling ionospheric disturbance (MSTID), with a horizontal wavelength of about 220 km and a period of about 35 min, propagated through the ionospheric plasma in the correspondence of the first barometric variations. Moreover, comparing detrended TEC and barometric data, we further confirmed the presence of the aforementioned MSTID together with its close relation to the tropospheric disturbance.

The volcanic island of Ischia has shown to have an important seismogenic potential, being the location of several destructive earthquakes, e.g. 1881, 1883 and 2017. The damage caused by these earthquakes was more connected to the proximity of the source to the surface than to their magnitude (M w < 5.2). The need to monitor and model this seismicity required the installation of a dense and modern seismic network. The first modern seismic station on the island was installed in 1993, and the network was successively increased with time. A meaningful improvement to the network was made after the earthquake that occurred on the 21 of August 2017. The network currently has 11 sites with velocimeters and some of them with accelerometers installed too. We analysed the seismic network configuration in comparison with the seismicity that characterizes the area to mark a starting point for future seismological analysis. The network is currently able to locate shallow earthquakes with duration magnitude greater or equal to 0 in the whole island.

The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) is an Italian research institution with focus on earth sciences. Moreover, the INGV is the operational center for seismic surveillance and earthquake monitoring in Italy and is a part of the civil protection system as a center of expertise on seismic, volcanic, and tsunami risks.INGV operates the Italian National Seismic Network and other networks at national scale and is a primary node of the European Integrated Data Archive for archiving and distributing strong-motion and weak-motion seismic recordings. In the control room in Rome, INGV staff performs seismic surveillance and tsunami warning services; in Catania and Naples, the control rooms are devoted to volcanic surveillance. Volcano monitoring includes locating earthquakes in the regions around the Sicilian (Etna, Eolian Islands, and Pantelleria) and the Campanian (Vesuvius, Campi Fregrei, and Ischia) active volcanoes. The tsunami warning is based on earthquake location and magnitude (M) evaluation for moderate to large events in the Mediterranean region and also around the world. The technologists of the institute tuned the data acquisition system to accomplish, in near real time, automatic earthquake detection, hypocenter and magnitude determination, and evaluation of several seismological products (e.g., moment tensors and ShakeMaps). Database archiving of all parametric results is closely linked to the existing procedures of the INGV seismic surveillance environment and surveillance procedures. Earthquake information is routinely revised by the analysts of the Italian seismic bulletin. INGV provides earthquake information to the Department of Civil Protection (Dipartimento di Protezione Civile) to the scientific community and to the public through the web and social media. We aim at illustrating different aspects of earthquake monitoring at INGV: (1) network operations; (2) organizational structure and the hardware and software used; and (3) communication, including recent developments and planned improvements.

Two paroxysmal explosions occurred on Stromboli in the summer of 2019 (July 3 and August 28). The first of these explosions resulted in the death of one person. Furthermore, an effusive phase began on July 3 and lasted until August 30, 2019. This dangerous eruptive phase of Stromboli was not preceded by evident variations in the geophysical parameters routinely monitored, therefore the volcano was considered to be in a state of normal activity.To investigate the precursors of the 2019 eruptive crisis and explain the absence of variations in the parameters routinely monitored, we analyzed the seismo-acoustic signals with an unsupervised neural network capable of discovering hidden structures of the data. We clustered about 14,200 seismo-acoustic events recorded in 10 months (November 15, 2018 - September 15, 2019) using a Self-Organizing Map (SOM). Then we compared the clustering result with the images of visible and thermal monitoring cameras, that were installed and managed by the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Italy, and with the Ground-Based Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar displacement measurements of the summit area of the volcano recorded by BGInSAR devices, which were installed and managed by Università Degli Studi di Firenze, Italy.The SOM analysis of the seismo-acoustic features associated with the selected dataset of explosions allowed us to recognize three main clusters in the period November 15, 2018 - September 15, 2019. We named these three clusters Red, Blue, and Green. The analysis of a subset of the selected explosions (approximately 180 events) through the videos of the visible and thermal monitoring cameras allowed us to associate distinct explosive types to the three main seismo-acoustic clusters. In particular, the cluster Red was associated with explosions characterized by well collimated oriented jets of ~ 200 m height, which eject incandescent ballistics and produce a significant infrasonic transient. The cluster Blue was associated with gas explosions with a height of 10 - 20 m and with little or no ash and pyroclastic fragment ejection. These types of explosions may not be detected by the camera recordings and infrasonic sensors. On the contrary, they are well recorded in the VLP seismic signals (filtered in the 0.05 - 0.5 Hz frequency band). The cluster Green includes explosions characterized by the emission of incandescent spatter-like fragments, with a wide range of ejection angles and hemispherical shape. The explosions of the cluster Red are mainly generated in the NE vent region, whereas the explosions of clusters Blue and Green are generally located in the central and SW vent regions.Comparing these results with the temporal evolution of the displacement of the summit area measured by the GBInSAR device, we discovered that the variations of the eruptive style that were highlighted by the SOM clustering of the seismic-acoustic features are recognizable in the ground deformation temporal pattern. Our findings are relevant for the improvement of monitoring of volcanoes with persistent activity and volcano early warning.

Hydrothermal activity is a natural manifestation of volcanic degassing at calderas, testified by the presence of fumarolic fields, boiling pools, steaming ground and soil diffuse degassing, which are of interest for volcano monitoring and surveillance as they can be related to the magma dynamics within the caldera reservoirs. Campi Flegrei (Italy) is a half submerged resurgent caldera with a nested structure located at the western edge of the bay of Naples. Since its last eruption in 1538, several episodes of ground uplift accompanied by seismic swarms and intense degassing have been reported. The last uplift phase started in 2005 and is still ongoing. The Pisciarelli fumarolic field is a key area of the Campi Flegrei caldera where a continuous and vigorous degassing of hydrothermal fluids, of magmatic origin, takes place. Such fumarolic degassing is associated with a persistent harmonic tremor showing within the last decade an increasing amplitude trend that correlates well with the geochemical and geodetic unrest indicators of the caldera. In the framework of the DPC-INGV 2012-2021 Agreement and the LOVE-CF Project, we investigated the seismo-acoustic wavefield produced by fumarolic degassing with the aim of characterizing the source process that produces the harmonic tremor, and to propose a potential seismo-acoustic based tool to estimate the fumarolic gas fluxes in real time. At this aim, we performed a series of temporary geophysical experiments with the deployment of 4-element small aperture seismo-acoustic arrays equipped, at each array element, by a short-period three-component seismometer and a broadband infrasonic pressure sensor. We show that the harmonic tremor source is located within the fumarolic field at shallow depth (

In the context of recent developments in volcanic muography, we describe an experiment at Vesuvius, the volcano near Naples that destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum (Italy) in 79 CE. This volcano is about 1,200 m high with a typical summit caldera formed by Mount Somma. Vesuvius is among the highest-risk volcanoes in the world due to its highly explosive eruptive style and the high population density of the area where it is located. Volcanoes are generally fragile geological structures, prone to produce partial collapse and large landslides that can affect the style of eruptions. Moreover, the knowledge of the internal structure is fundamental for understanding past eruption activity and for constraining eruption models. For these reasons, studying the internal structure of the “Gran Cono” (great cone) of Vesuvius and the physical characteristics of its rock is important and led us to design a muography experiment at Vesuvius. This experiment, which is currently in progress, is based on three scintillator detectors with a surface of 1 m 2 each. These detector features have been implemented to overcome the problems related to the large thickness of rock that form the “Gran Cono” of Vesuvius and the effects that can be a source of error in data processing. These aspects represent an open challenge for the muography of large volcanoes, which today constitutes the frontier of research in the field of volcanic muography.

Studying seismicity in a volcanic environment provides important information on the state of activity of volcanoes. The seismicity of the Neapolitan volcanoes, Campi Flegrei, Vesuvius, and Ischia, shows distinctive characteristics for each volcano, covering a wide range of volcanic seismicity patterns and types. In this study we relocated some significant volcano-tectonic (VT) earthquake swarms that occurred in Campi Flegrei and Vesuvius. Moreover, we compared the earthquake occurrence evolution, the magnitude and the seismic energy release of the three volcanoes. Also, we considered the results of seismic analysis in the light of geochemical and ground deformation data that contribute to defining the state of activity of volcanoes. In Campi Flegrei, which is experiencing a long term unrest, we identified a seismogenic structure at shallow depth in Pisciarelli zone that has been activated repeatedly. The increasing seismicity accompanies an escalation of the hydrothermal activity and a ground uplift phase. Even at Vesuvius a very shallow seismicity is recorded, which in recent years has shown an increase in terms of the number of events per year. Earthquakes are usually located right beneath the crater axis. They are concentrated in a volume affected by the hydrothermal system of Vesuvius. Finally, Ischia generally shows a low level of seismicity, however, in Casamicciola area events with a moderate magnitude can occur which are potentially capable of causing severe damage to the town and population, due to their small hypocentral depth (typically

The knowledge of the dynamic of the Campi Flegrei calderic system is a primary goal to mitigate the volcanic risk in one of the most densely populated volcanic areas in the world. From 1950 to 1990 Campi Flegrei suffered three bradyseismic crises with a total uplift of 4.3 m. After 20 years of subsidence, the uplift started again in 2005 accompained by a low increment of the seismicity rate. In 2012 an increment in the seismic energy release and a variation in the gas composition of the fumaroles of Solfatara (in the central area of the caldera) were recorded. Since then, a slow and progressive increase in phenomena continued until today. We analyze the INGV - Osservatorio Vesuviano seismic catalogue of Campi Flegrei from 2000 to 2020 in order to look for any variation in the seismic parameters and compare them with geochemical monitored ones. A remarkable correlation between independent variables of earthquake cumulative number, CO/CO2 values and vertical ground deformation reveals a likely common origin. Moreover the correlation between all the variables here analysed enlightens that the same origin can cause the temporal behavior of all these variables. We interpret the seismological, geochemical and geodetic observable in terms of the injection of magmatic fluids into the hydrothermal system or its pressurization.

Two paroxysmal explosions occurred at Stromboli volcano in the Summer 2019, the first of which, on July 3, caused one fatality and some injuries. Within the 56 days between the two paroxysmal explosions, effusive activity from vents located in the summit area of the volcano occurred. No significant changes in routinely monitored parameters were detected before the paroxysmal explosions. However, we have calculated the polarization and the fractal dimension time series of the seismic signals from November 15, 2018 to September 15, 2019 and we have recognized variations that preceded the paroxysmal activity. In addition, we have defined a new parameter, based on RSAM estimation, related to the Very Long Period events, called VLP size, by means of which we have noticed significant variations through the whole month preceding the paroxysm of July 3. In the short term, we have analyzed the signals of a borehole strainmeter installed on the island, obtaining automatic triggers 10 minutes and 7.5 minutes before the July 3 and the August 28 paroxysms, respectively. The results of this study highlight mid-term seismic precursors of paroxysmal activity and provide valuable evidence for the development of an early warning system for paroxysmal explosions based on strainmeter measurements.

Rock strains detection is one of the principal ways to monitor geohazards. Classic strainmeters are cumbersome, hard to install and very expensive. Opto-electronics devices based on fiber Bragg grating technology allow to realize strainmeters with high sensitivity, low-cost, small volume and high performance.We present the long term result of continuous soil strain monitoring on the Etna mount by a three-axial fiber Bragg grating sensor. The sensor has been developed in the framework of European Project MED-SUV (MEDiterranean SUpersite Volcanos). The installation site is a 8.5 meters deep borehole at a distance of about 7 km South-West from the summit craters of the Etna mount, at an elevation of about 1740 meters. This kind of sensor has a resolution better than 100 nanostrains on a daily timescale. Despite it is only a prototype, the sensor has worked for four years with a duty-cycle higher than 90% detecting both fast event, as earthquakes, and slow event, as epochal rocks strain behavior.

In summer 2019, two paroxysmal explosions occurred in Stromboli. The first one occurred on July 3, when the Strombolian ordinary eruptive activity did not show a significant intensification. The explosion formed an eruptive column more than 3 km high. A pyroclastic flow ran down the “Sciara del Fuoco” slope causing a victim and some injuries. Moreover, the pyroclastic flow spread over the sea surface for about one kilometer. On August 28, a second paroxysmal explosion occurred, similar to the previous one. Also in this case the eruption formed an eruptive column of more than 3 km and a pyroclastic flow that expanded along the “Sciara del Fuoco” slope and traveled about 1 km on the sea surface. In the period between the two paroxysms, effusive activity occurred from the summit crater area. The eruptive phase of summer 2019, which began with the paroxysm of 3 July, was not preceded by significant changes in the routinely monitored parameters, such as the hourly frequency (daily average) of the VLP events (typical of Stromboli) and the amplitude of the seismic signal (RSAM). For this reason, we have analyzed the seismic and dilatometric data, which were recorded by the INGV geophysical network in the period November 2018 - September 2019, focusing our attention on other parameters that can give indications on the activity state of the volcano. In particular, we analyzed the data of the broadband seismic stations, equipped with the Guralp CMG40T sensors, and the data of one Sacks-Evertson borehole strainmeter. We defined the "VLP size", which takes into account the waveform of the VLP events, in terms of both amplitude and duration. We also applied time varying Fractal Dimension (FD) analysis to the seismograms of a seismic station close to the crater area and we analyzed the polarization of the same signal. We carried out the polarization analysis both without applying a filter and by filtering the seismic signal in the typical frequency bands of the Stromboli volcanic tremor (1-3 Hz) and of the VLPs (0.5-0.05 Hz). We found that the "VLP size", the FD and the polarization parameters showed significant changes about one month before the paroxysm of July 3. In the short term, we applied an appropriately tuned STA/LTA algorithm to the data of the borehole strainmeter, which is installed on the island at about 2km from the craters, and we obtained an automatic detection of the paroxysmal events 10 and 7.5 minutes before the explosion of July 3 and August 28, respectively.

In volcanic areas, accurate localization of earthquakes requires detailed velocity and, possibly, attenuation models, taking into account wide lithological variability and high geothermal gradients. Ischia island (Campania region, Italy) is a seismically-active volcano recently affected by a Mw 3.9 event (Casamicciola, August 21, 2017, 1 km depth). Due to the lack of a specific velocity model, the earthquakes occurred on the island were localized using the one developed for the nearby Campi Flegrei caldera. The aim of this work is the definition of a mean representative 1D shear-wave velocity (Vs) and attenuation (Q) model of the shallower crust (up to 2 km depth) of Ischia. Seismic noise array and spectral ratios techniques were applied to broad band seismic signals recorded by temporary and permanent networks updated after the August 2017 earthquake. The values of both shear-wave velocity (Vs) and quality factor (Q) are realistic, with Q values comparable with those obtained for Campi Flegrei and Stromboli volcanic areas. By taking into account stratigraphic information from deep wells and ultrasonic measurements of velocity on granite and trachytic lava samples, a geological interpretation of the resulting velocity model is provided. Such a model can have significant implications for understanding the dynamics of a volcano, mainly those leading to seismic activity.

This work benefited of the project “Sale operative integrate e reti di monitoraggio del futuro: l’INGV 2.0,” Fondo integrativo speciale per la ricerca (FISR) anni 2016 e 2017 (Delibera n. 78/2017). Furthermore, this work benefited of the agreement between Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and Italian Department of Civil Protection (DPC).

After a period of mild eruptive activity, Stromboli showed between 2017 and 2018 a reawakening phase, with an increase in the eruptive activity starting in May 2017. The alert level of the volcano was raised from “green” (base) to “yellow” (attention) on 7 December 2017, and a small lava overflowed the crater rim on 15 December 2017. Between July 2017 and August 2018 the monitoring networks recorded nine major explosions, which are a serious hazard for Stromboli because they affect the summit area, crowded by tourists. We studied the 2017–2018 eruptive phase through the analysis of multidisciplinary data comprising thermal video-camera images, seismic, geodetic and geochemical data. We focused on the major explosion mechanism analyzing the well-recorded 1 December 2017 major explosion as a case study. We found that the 2017–2018 eruptive phase is consistent with a greater gas-rich magma supply in the shallow system. Furthermore, through the analysis of the case study major explosion, we identified precursory phases in the strainmeter and seismic data occurring 77 and 38 s before the explosive jet reached the eruptive vent, respectively. On the basis of these short-term precursors, we propose an automatic timely alarm system for major explosions at Stromboli volcano.

Muography consists in observing the differential absorption of muons – elementary particles produced through cosmic-ray interactions in the Earth atmosphere – going through the volcano and can attain a spatial resolution of tens of meters. We present here the first experiment of nuclear emulsion muography at the Stromboli volcano. Muons have been recorded during a period of five months by a detector of 0.96 m2 area. The emulsion films were prepared at the Gran Sasso underground laboratory and were analyzed at Napoli, Salerno and Tokyo scanning laboratories. Our results highlight a significant low-density zone at the summit of the volcano with density contrast of 30–40% with respect to bedrock. The structural setting of this part of the volcanic edifice controls the eruptive dynamics and the stability of the “Sciara del Fuoco” slope, which is affected by recurrent tsunamigenic landslides. Periodical imaging of the summit of the Stromboli volcano such as that provided by muography can become a useful method for studying the evolution of the internal structure of the volcanic edifice.

We present the realization, installation, and first results of a three-axial Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) strain sensor prototype. This sensor has been developed in the framework of the Mediterranean supersite volcanoes (http://www.med-suv.eu, 2013) project and, in particular, with the aim at contributing to the study and monitoring of Etna volcano. The FBG sensor was installed in the facilities of the Serra La Nave Astrophysical Observatory (Catania, Italy) about 7 km south-west from the summit craters, at an elevation of about 1740 m. The three-axial device showed a dynamic range of some hundreds of microstrains with microstrain resolution (submicrostrain concerning the vertical component). That is a good trade-off among performances, cost, and power consumption. The sensor structure and its read-out system are innovative in their assembly and offers practical advantages in comparison with traditional strain meters. As a demonstration of the performances of our device, the data of about 28 months of operation are presented together with the records of some local, regional, and teleseismic events. The sensor along the vertical axis showed to be the best performing one, having a power spectral density of about −90 dB re. 1e2/Hz around one day period.We present the realization, installation, and first results of a three-axial Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) strain sensor prototype. This sensor has been developed in the framework of the Mediterranean supersite volcanoes (http://www.med-suv.eu, 2013) project and, in particular, with the aim at contributing to the study and monitoring of Etna volcano. The FBG sensor was installed in the facilities of the Serra La Nave Astrophysical Observatory (Catania, Italy) about 7 km south-west from the summit craters, at an elevation of about 1740 m. The three-axial device showed a dynamic range of some hundreds of microstrains with microstrain resolution (submicrostrain concerning the vertical component). That is a good trade-off among performances, cost, and power consumption. The sensor structure and its read-out system are innovative in their assembly and offers practical advantages in comparison with traditional strain meters. As a demonstration of the performances of our device, the data of about 28 months of operat...

Cosmic-ray muon radiography (muography), an imaging technique that can provide measurements of rock densities within the top few 100 m of a volcanic cone, has now achieved a spatial resolution of the order of 10 m in optimal detection conditions. Muography provides images of the top region of a volcano edifice with a resolution that is considerably better than that typically achieved with other conventional methods (i.e. gravimetric). We expect such precise measurements, to provide us with information on anomalies in the rock density distribution, which can be affected by dense lava conduits, low-density magma supply paths or the compression with the depth of the overlying soil. The MUon RAdiography of VESuvius (MURAVES) project is now in its final phase of construction and deployment. Up to four muon hodoscopes, each with a surface of roughly 1 m 2 , will be installed on the slope of Vesuvius and take data for at least 12 months. We will use the muographic profiles, combined with data from gravimetric and seismic measurement campaigns, to determine the stratigraphy of the lava plug at the bottom of the Vesuvius crater, in order to infer potential eruption pathways. While the MURAVES project unfolds, others are using emulsion detectors on Stromboli to study the lava conduits at the top of the volcano. These measurements are ongoing: they have completed two measurement campaigns and are now performing the first data analysis. This article is part of the Theo Murphy meeting issue ‘Cosmic-ray muography’.

Geophysical and geochemical networks are routinely deployed on active volcanoes to observe and monitor unrest periods. However, changes of the physical parameters with time are related to either magma/fluid movement or variations occurring in the hydrothermal systems hosted in the volcanic edifice. Here we use four years of ambient seismic noise recorded at the Stromboli volcano to reconstruct its shallow structure using the ambient noise cross-correlation method. At the same time, we detect temporal variations of the seismic velocities associated with the volcanic activity. We correlated the most reliable variations both in space and in time with other seismic and geochemical information in order to identify lapses of time of general unrest. We also implemented a method to enhance their spatial visualization for the interpretation. We found that the spatial mapping of the seismic velocity temporal variations obtained processing the data at high frequency (1.5–2.5 Hz) match with the location of the main hydrothermal reservoirs of the volcano. This suggests that there is a relationship between volcanic activity and hydrothermal areas that can be detected and monitored for a better understanding of the volcanic phenomena.

Muon radiography is a technique based on the measurement of absorption profiles of muons as they pass through matter. This measurement allows to obtain an image of the inner structure of large volume objects and is suitable to be applied in several fields, such as volcanology, archaeology and civil engeneering. One of the main applications concerns the study of volcanic structures; indeed it is possible to use this technique to measure the mass distribution inside the edifice of a volcano providing useful information to better understand the possible eruption mechanisms. The MURAVES (MUon RAdiography of VESuvius) project aims to the study of the summital cone of Mt. Vesuvius near Naples in Italy, one of the most dangerous active volcanoes in the world. The MURAVES apparatus is a modular, robust muon hodoscope system with a low power consumption, optimized to be used in inhospitable environments like the surroundings of volcanoes. The complete detection system is an array of identical tracking modules, each with an area of 1 m2, based on the use of plasic scintillators. The technologies, the status and the data analysis strategy of the experiment will be presented in this paper.

The MURAVES (MUon RAdiography of VESuvius) project is a joint activity participated by INGV, INFN and the Universities of Naples “Federico II” and Florence. The collaboration, following the experience gained within the previous INFN R&D project Mu-Ray, is currently completing the production of a robust four square meter low power consumption detector to be installed on the flank of Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano located on the western coast of Italy. The detector is supposed to collect data for at least one year, thus allowing performing a scan of the structure of the Vesuvius volcanic cone. In this work the status of the project and some parallel activities on muon radiography are presented.

The paper presents the design and implementation of an integrated wireless network that support to the multiparametric geophysical monitoring network of the Campi Flegrei volcanic area. The wireless network is equipped with a tool for real-time monitoring and fault detection. The enhancement of the transmission system with respect to the previously existing one has been realized in view of the increased need for seismic monitoring, which is a consequence of the drilling of an exploration well for scientific purposes. The goal is to increase the performance of the recently deployed transmission system in terms of availability and reliability, given the high seismic risk and hazard associated with the experiment. Thanks to the automated monitoring tool, a significant increase in the availability of the system as well as an improvement in the quality of the connection are achieved.

The muon radiography is a novel imaging technique to probe the volcanoes interior, using the capability of high energy cosmic ray muons to penetrate large thicknesses of rock. In this way it is possible to derive a 2D density map along the muon trajectory of volcanic edifices and deduce information on the variations in the rock density distribution, like those expected from dense lava conduits, or low density magma supply paths. This method is applicable also to study geological objects as glaciers, faults, oil underground reservoirs, engineering constructions, where a density contrast is present. Nuclear emulsions are well suited to be employed in this context for their excellent angular resolution; they are compact and robust detectors, able to work in harsh environments without need of power supply. On the other side, a long exposure time is required for a reasonable detector surface (~10 m2) in order to collect a sufficient statistics of muons, and a quasi-real time analysis of the emulsion data is rather difficult due to the scanning time needed by the optical microscopes. Such drawback is on the way to be overcome thanks to a recent R&D program on ultra-fast scanning systems. Muon radiography technique, even if limited to the summit part of the volcano edifice, represents an important tool of investigation, at higher spatial resolution, complementary to the conventional geophysics techniques. The first successful result in this field was obtained by a Japanese group that observed in 2007 the conduit structure of Mt. Asama. Since 2010, other interesting volcanoes have been probed with the same method: Stromboli in 2011, Mt. Teide in 2012 and La Palma in 2014. Here we discuss the muon imaging technique reporting the nuclear emulsion detector design exposed at Stromboli and results of the data analysis.

Fumaroles are known to generate seismic and infrasonic tremor, but this fumarolic tremor has so far received little attention. Seismic records taken near the Pisciarelli fumarole, a vigorously degassing vent of the restless Campi Flegrei volcano in Italy, reveal a fumarolesourced tremor whose amplitude has recently intensified. We use independent geochemical evidence to interpret this fumarolic tremor for the first time quantitatively. We find that the temporal increase in fumarolic tremor RSAM (real-time seismic-amplitude measurement) quantitatively correlates with increases in independent proxies of fumarole activity, including the CO2concentrations in the fumarole's atmospheric plume, the fumarole composition (CO/CO2and H2/H2O ratios), and temperature (T) and pressure (P) conditions of the source hydrothermal system. This association between RSAM and geochemical data suggests that the current escalation in fumarolic tremor is driven by increased gas transport and venting from a hydrothermal system that evolves toward higher T-P conditions. More widely, our results suggest that monitoring the tremor generated by fumaroles can pave the way to real-time tracking and interpreting the evolution of an ongoing hydrothermal-magmatic unrest, thus complementing information from periodic gas surveys. Our novel method of fumarole monitoring, based on well-established seismic techniques, is potentially suitable for capturing signals of unrest at any active volcano, including those in remote regions.

The MURAVES project aims to study the inner structure of the upper part of the Mt. Vesuvius volcano by muon radiography (muography) technique. Very high energy muons, produced by cosmic rays in the at- mosphere, can penetrate large thickness of rocks. By measuring the at- tenuation of the muons flux trough the volcano cone is possible to obtain a 2D image of the density structure. Internal discontinuities, with a spa- tial resolution of about 10 m, can be, in principle, resolved. An absolute average density measurement can be provided too. The project, funded by the Italian Ministry of University, Research and Education (MIUR), is led by INGV and INFN. In this article the mechanical structure of the de- tectors and background suppression techniques are reported.

The definition of the network resolution power is an important parameter to be considered when evaluating most of the seismic analysis, being connected to the location quality and earthquakes detectability. We estimated the resolving power of the seismic network of Campi Flegrei. The results show that the actual moment magnitude threshold is 0.5 in the Solfatara area, center of the caldera, but increases sharply going away from the center. We also estimated the theoretical resolution power of the actual seismic network of Campi Flegrei plus 5 hypothetical borehole stations, moving the borehole stations into 3 different wells. As expected, big improvements in the location parameters come from the use of borehole stations. The results show that a 3000 m deep borehole located close to the actual hypocentral area would allow to detect and locate the very low magnitude earthquakes, probably connected to the hydrothermal system characterizing the Campi Flegrei caldera. Finally, we performed an optimization analysis of the permanent seismic network of Campi Flegrei finding the best 3 station positions that would increase the resolution power of the network to locate earthquakes in the South and offshore part of the caldera. We evidenced that the actual network has an improvable resolution in the South and West part of the caldera.

The purpose of the MU-RAY project is to develop an innovative approach to the study of volcanoes and their monitoring based on a particle physics approach.The test site is Vesuvio: one of the higher risk volcanoes in the world. In this context, muon radiography is an innovative method of enormous impact. This is an imaging technique which relies on the measurement, by means of a cosmic ray telescope, of the absorption in the volcano of muons with near-horizontal trajectories, produced by the interactions of cosmic rays with the atmosphere. Since 2003 this technique has been successfully used on volcanoes in Japan, providing pictures of their vertices with resolutions much better than those obtained with the traditional techniques based on gravimeters. Researchers from Naples and Florence are currently involved in the construction and testing of a prototype telescope based on the use of bars of plastic scintillator with a triangular section whose scintillation light is collected by special fibres (wavelength shifters) and transported to SiPM (Silicon photomultipliers). A complete prototype telescope, consisting of three xy scintillation planes and 1 m2 active area has been assembled and is now under test. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Optimizing a seismic network for locating earthquakes is a crucial issue in seismology. Precise earthquake location is the key factor for most sophisticated seismological analyses and for the monitoring of tectonic and volcanic areas. Network testing and optimization should therefore be a basic procedure to plan, install, and improve a monitoring seismic network. Here, we evaluate the most appropriate methods for network testing, using two approaches based on linearized and Bayesian methods. We then propose a new procedure for seismic network optimization, based on the direct comparison of all the possible networks resulting from the permutation of M stations in N sites (with N > M ). The performance of a network can be defined using different criteria. In addition to the covariance matrix as conventionally applied, we have introduced the condition number of the coefficient matrix. Our new procedure is very efficient for network optimization with respect to multiple criteria and overcomes several problems of current procedures. Applied to the Campi Flegrei volcanic area, the method has identified a key configuration for optimizing and improving the seismic‐monitoring network.

Mt. Vesuvius (southern Italy) is one of the volcanoes that poses the greatest risk in the world because of its highly explosive eruptive style and its proximity to densely populated areas. The urbanization around Mt. Vesuvius began in ancient times, and the impact of eruptions on human activities has been severe. This is testified to by the ruins of Pompeii, which are covered by the products of the plinian eruption that took place in A.D. 79 (Sigurdsson et al. 1985), and more recently by the published reports of the eruptions that occurred from 1631 to 1944. For these reasons, Mt. Vesuvius was also one of the first volcanoes to be equipped with monitoring instruments. Pioneering instrumental observations began just before the second half of the 1800s, when the Vesuvius Observatory was founded in 1841 (Imbo 1949). At that time, Vesuvius was very active (Ricciardi 2009), and its effusive and explosive eruptions often caused damage to the surrounding areas. At the same time, it was a famous tourist attraction that drew travelers from all over the world (Gasparini and Musella 1991). Since the middle of the 1800s, at least 12 eruptions have occurred that have been superimposed on persistent intra-crater activity that has been characterized by Strombolian explosions and by the formation of small lava lakes. The last eruption occurred on 18 March 1944 and marked a change in the status of Mt. Vesuvius, as it entered a closed-conduit phase that persists today. Following this last eruption, a change occurred in the 1960s, as documented by an increase in the occurrence rate of earthquakes. Since 1972, the monitoring of Mt. Vesuvius has improved over time and become more systematic, so that there is a remarkable dataset relating to the current phase of quiescence. Over more than a century and a half …

We propose a method for analyzing the polarization of three-component digital recordings using the discrete wavelet transform (DWT). This method allows for the automatic detection and separation of seismic phases that have a coherent linear or elliptical polarization. It can be correctly used in the analysis of seismic signals relating to volcanic activity because they arise from a complex wave field that consists of near-field and far-field components that have frequency-dependent polarization. First, the analytic extension of the signal is decomposed using DWT, then each single component is used to determine a local complex polarization vector in the timescale domain. This analysis reveals the presence of seismic phases with coherent polarization over a range of DWT scales and finite temporal intervals. Using the orthogonality property of the DWT, it is possible to isolate a single coherent component, reconstructing it in the time domain and computing the full polarization tensor. This procedure can be fully automated, introducing a quantitative definition of wavelet polarization coherence on the DWT dyadic grid. A recursive algorithm (called POLWAV) starts from the wavelet coefficient with the highest modulus, and then selects all of the neighbors that show coherence with it above a given threshold. We show how the POLWAV algorithm can be used for separating wave-field components and for detecting coherent seismic phases on continuous recordings. Example applications to actual seismic recordings at Stromboli Volcano (Tyrrhenian Sea) are presented.

Stromboli is a volcanic island that is part of the Aeolian arch in the Mediterranean Sea (Italy). It is one of the most active volcanoes in Europe. Its moderate, but persistent, explosive activity makes it an ideal site for studies into the seismogenic processes in volcanic areas (Auger et al. 2006; Chouet et al. 2003; Chouet et al. 2008; D'Auria and Martini 2008; Del Pezzo et al. 1992; Esposito et al. 2008; Jaupart and Vergniolle 1989; Martini et al. 2007); it also attracts a lot of tourists. In the past, this combination of tourism and volcanic activity was not considered to be dangerous, but over the past few decades, Stromboli has produced stronger explosions that have in some cases injured people visiting the summit area. Moreover, in the recent history of Stromboli, two effusive eruptions have occurred that were accompanied by dangerous phenomena such as tsunami and vulcanian explosions. The first of these effusive eruptions (on 28 December 2002) produced a lava flow on the Sciara del Fuoco side, which is the northwest flank of the island. Two days later, a landslide occurred on this flank, which resulted in the propagation of a 10-m tsunami wave around the coasts of the island. These events demonstrate that Stromboli can be dangerous, even if its activity is not very energetic. Indeed, the Sciara del Fuoco structure is a weakness zone of the volcanic edifice that fractures when the explosive activity increases, giving rise to this effusive activity (Martini et al. 2007). Moreover, during the past two effusive eruptions, vulcanian explosions were associated with the end stages of the effusive phases. These damaged the village of Ginostra and caused fires in the vegetation. For these reasons, in January 2003, the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV; …

Aim of this paper is to identify variations in Very-Long-Period (VLP) source associated with eruptive style changes at Stromboli volcano (Italy) and to retrieve information about the shallow plumbing system that sustains the eruptive activity. We have considered a dataset of 74493 VLP events recorded during the period from January through August 2007, when an effusive eruption occurred (February 27–April 2). We performed a polarization analysis of the entire dataset and divided the considered period into four sub-periods on the basis of polarization characteristics. We then located the events and selected a subset of these events by applying a location quality threshold. The high quality locations demonstrate that during the effusive eruption the VLP sources first moved downward and then moved southwestward. To retrieve information about the geometry of the structures where the source processes take place, we further consider a subset of events and estimate their source mechanisms by using a moment tensor source function (MTSF) inversion technique. Inversion of the waveforms of the VLP events that occurred on February 27 allows us to obtain information about the dynamics of different source centroids distributed along different portions of the shallow magmatic conduits. The structure defined by the locations and source mechanisms shows a greater complexity compared with previous studies and their time variations give an insight into the kinematics of the eruption.

The resolution power of a seismic network is a crucial point both for scientific and legal reasons. Firstly it allow to understand whether an area is not affected by seismicity or we are just not able to detect it; consequently it is an important parameter when the possible seismicity is eventually associated with human activities. When subsoil exploitation is planned a certain minimum level of sensitivity to earthquake location is indeed usually required for the monitoring network to be installed. The sensitivity of a seismic network is its ability to detect or locate earthquakes. Here we present free downloadable and friendly software to define the sensitivity of a seismic network. Input to the program are the station positions, the seismic noise level of the area and the mean elastic properties of the area and the output is a grid with the minimum magnitude of earthquakes which are localizable or detectable at a certain depth.

We have analyzed the recent seismicity of Mt. Vesuvius, with particular emphasis on the period 1999-2012. Since 1972 continuous observations with electromagnetic seismometers allowed the compilation of a detailed earthquake catalogue for the station OVO. Furthermore since 1999 another, more complete, catalogue for the station BKE, closer to the crater, is available. The Gutenberg-Richter distribution of magnitudes shows a temporal decrease of the b-value since 1985, with current values close to 1.0. The temporal pattern of the strain release shows a non-stationary behavior with periods of increased release rates (as in 1989-1990, 1995-1996 and 1999-2000). The spatial distribution of the seismicity consists in two main seismogenic volumes, one with hypocenters clustered below the Mt. Vesuvius crater at depths mostly between 1-6 km, and another with hypocenters clustered within the Gran Cono volcanic edifice, with depths above the sea level. We compare the statistical properties of the seismicity occurring within these two volumes and their spatial and temporal patterns. Moreover we analyze the statistical distribution of focal mechanisms for each volume. Our results point to gravity-induced stresses as the source of the shallow seismicity and of a combined effect of crustal heterogeneities, regional stress and hydrothermal dynamics for the deeper seismicity. Finally we discuss possible future developments of the seismic monitoring system in the light of the past and current seismicity.

We present an overview of the volcanic seismicity recorded at Stromboli from January to September 2003. The data set starts a few weeks after the onset of the eruption and covers most of the effusive phase and the subsequent recovery of the explosive activity. The most important variations occurred between May and July coinciding with the waning of the lava flow and the reappearance of Strombolian activity at the summit craters. All the parameters indicate that the shallow magmatic system has not undergone permanent changes during this period. The only significant variation related to the shallow conduit is the increase in volcanic tremor amplitude and the change in the spectral content of long-period events during the transition between effusive and explosive activity. A slight increase in the very long period (VLP) events source elevation seems to mark the rise of the magma at the end of the effusive phase. The variations in the VLP events occurrence rate are more likely to be attributed to changes in the gas flow rate and the bubble coalescence mechanism, therefore, to a deeper portion of the magmatic system. The 5 April paroxysm is associated only with a small increase of the activity in the following days.

International audience; The MU-RAY detector has been designed to perform muon radiography of volcanoes. The possible use on the field introduces several constraints. First the electric power consumption must be reduced to the minimum, so that the detector can be solar-powered. Moreover it must be robust and transportable, for what concerns the front-end electronics and data acquisition. A 1 m2 prototype has been constructed and is taking data at Mt. Vesuvius. The detector consists of modules of 32 scintillator bars with wave length shifting fibers and silicon photomultiplier read-out. A dedicated front-end electronics has been developed, based on the SPIROC ASIC. An introduction to muon radiography principles, the MU-RAY detector description and results obtained in laboratory will be presented.

This paper was partially supported by a research project (project INGV-DPC Paroxysm V2/03, 2007–2009) funded by Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia and by the Italian Civil Protection.

On February 27, 2007, the Stromboli volcano, which has usually been characterized by moderate explosive activity, started an effusive eruption with a small lava flow down the NW flank. The permanent broadband network installed on the island allowed the revealing of anomalies in the seismicity before the effusive eruption and for the phenomena to be followed over time, thus obtaining meaningful information about the eruption dynamics. During the effusive phase, a major explosion occurred on March 15, 2007. On that occasion, two strainmeters deployed on the volcano in the previous year recorded a strain increment before the blast. After this explosion, which further destabilized the upper part of the edifice, swarms of Long-Period (LP) and hybrid events were recorded. The characteristics and locations of these events suggest that they were associated with the fracturing processes that affected the summit area of the cone. During the effusive phase, changes in the Very Long Period (VLP) event location were recorded. This type of events accompanied the change in the eruptive style, providing information about the magmatic conduit involved in their seismogenetic processes. The effusive phase stopped on April 2, 2007, and the typical Strombolian activity restarted some months later.

The PAMELA satellite-borne experiment, scheduled to be launched in 2004, is designed to provide a better understanding of the antimatter component of the cosmic rays. Its ToF scintillator system will provide the primary experimental trigger and time-of-flight particle identification. The time resolution requested is σ, < 120 ps. To fulfill the detector requirements the digitization electronics should have a time resolution ≤ 50 ps and provide a wide dynamic range for charge measurements. The peculiarity of the developed electronics arises from the need to obtain such a time resolution operating in a satellite environment, which implies low-power consumption, radiation hardness, redundancy and high reliability.

The PAMELA (Payload for Antimatter Matter Exploration and Light-nuclei Astrophysics) satellite-borne experiment, scheduled to be launched in 2003, aboard a Soyuz TM2 rocket, is designed to provide a better understanding of the antimatter component of cosmic rays. In the following we report on the features and performances of its scintillator telescope system which will provide the primary experimental trigger and time-of-flight particle identification.