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Abstract:
Remote sensing of volcanic activity is an essential tool for hazard quantification and risk assessment. Monitoring often provides a unique source of data from which information on the eruption could be safely gathered. However, an accurate reconstruction of complex dynamics and mixed (effusive/explosive) events require complementing monitoring observations with field surveys and deposit studies. Deposit data are essential not only for the calibration of remote sensing techniques but also for the characterization of magma properties, fragmentation mechanisms, and an accurate description of the eruptive dynamics. We are presenting a detailed reconstruction of the 10 February 2022 SEC eruption of Etna (Italy), combining visual, thermal, UAS and satellite data with field surveys. While a lava flow was continuously fed, explosive activity started and climaxed with the generation of a lava fountain which lasted about 100 min and formed a plume rising up to 13 km a.s.l., extending up to 60 km to the NW. In the meanwhile, explosions triggered cone instability and a series of 10 collapses generating flows running to the S and E. Tephra blanket volume, grainsize and componentry were calculated based on samples collected from 26 outcrops at distances ranging from 1 to 26 km from the vent; flow lobes volume, grainsize and componentry were assessed based on data collected from UAS surveys and stratigraphic data and samples from more than 30 trenches. Finally, by comparing field and monitoring data we obtained a full reconstruction and quantification of the eruptive sequence.
