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TIRVolcH: a Satellite-Based Volcano Monitoring System for Advancing Global Thermal Data Collection and Processing

Simone Aveni1,2, Marco Laiolo2,3, Adele Campus2, Francesco Massimetti2, Diego Coppola2,3

  • Affiliations:  1Department of Civil, Constructional and Environmental Engineering (DICEA), Sapienza University of Rome, Via Eudossiana 6 18, 00184 Rome, Italy; 2Department of Earth Sciences, University of Turin, Via Valperga Caluso 35, 10125 Turin, Italy; 3NATRISK: Centro Interdipartimentale sui Rischi Naturali in Ambiente Montano e Collinare, Università di Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini, 2, 10095 Grugliasco, Italy 

  • Presentation type: Poster

  • Presentation time: Monday 16:30 - 18:30, Room Poster Hall

  • Poster Board Number: 148

  • Programme No: 3.1.40

  • Theme 3 > Session 1

Abstract

Data collection in hazardous, gas-rich, corrosive, and potentially explosive environments makes continuous ground-based monitoring impractical, often leading to significant gaps or complete lack of data. This challenge is exacerbated in remote and scarcely accessible locations, where satellite-based remote sensing serves as the primary source of volcanic surveillance. While satellite-based thermal remote sensing provides valuable insights into volcano monitoring, the broad spectrum of thermal activity---ranging from weak early indicators of unrest to strong, clearly defined eruption-related signals---presents detection and quantification challenges. As a result, existing systems often fail to consistently track the entire lifecycle of an eruptive event, from early unrest to post-eruptive cooling phases. In this context, we present a wide range of data and applications collected via TIRVolcH, an algorithm designed to detect low-to-high thermal anomalies in volcanic regions. Case studies from various global locations illustrate the algorithm's ability to track and quantify, inter alia, (i) hydrothermal crises at fumarolic fields, (ii) monitoring heating and cooling cycles at volcanic crater lakes, (iii) identifying thermal unrest preceding dome extrusions andor explosive eruptions, (iv) spatially tracking the extent of emplaced lava flows, (v) quantifying flow advancement rates, (vi) tracking long-term lava flow cooling behaviour and, (vii) estimating erupted volumes. We anticipate that TIRVolcH will play a crucial role in detecting and monitoring the full lifecycle of eruptive phenomena, contributing to hazard management, risk reduction, and advancing satellite-based data collection for volcanological applications.