Modeling Eruption Source Parameters by Integrating Field, Ground-Based, and Satellite-Based Measurements: The Case of the 23 February 2013 Etna Paroxysm

• Main Authors: Poret, M., Costa, A., Andronico, D., Scollo, S., Gouhier, M., Cristaldi, A.
• Other Authors: Synopsys Inc., Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia - Sezione di Catania (INGV), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, Laboratoire Magmas et Volcans (LMV), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne (UJM)-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Observatoire de Physique du Globe de Clermont-Ferrand (OPGC), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Clermont Auvergne 2017-2020 (UCA 2017-2020 )-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia – Sezione di Pisa (INGV)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2018
• Subjects: total grain‐size distribution; PM10; FALL3D; SEVIRI; tephra dispersal; air traffic safety; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; [SDU.STU.VO]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Volcanology; Aerosol Robotic Network
• Online Access: https://uca.hal.science/hal-02057109; https://uca.hal.science/hal-02057109/document; https://uca.hal.science/hal-02057109/file/2017JB015163.pdf

International audience Volcanic plumes from Etna volcano (Italy) are governed by easterly winds driving ash over the Ionian Sea. The limited land tephra deposit makes total grain‐size distribution (TGSD) assessment and its fine ash fraction highly uncertain. On 23 February 2013, a lava fountain produced a ~9‐km‐high column above sea level (a.s.l.). The atypical north‐easterly wind direction dispersed the tephra from Etna to the Puglia region (southern Italy) allowing sampling up to very distal areas. This study uses field measurements to estimate the field‐based TGSD. Very fine ash distribution (particle matter below 10 μm—PM10) is explored parameterizing the field‐TGSD through a bi‐lognormal and bi‐Weibull distribution. However, none of the two latter TGSDs allow simulating any far‐traveling airborne ash up to distal areas. Accounting for the airborne ash retrieved from satellite (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager), we proposed an empirical modification of the field‐based TGSD including very fine ash through a power law decay of the distribution. The input source parameters are inverted by comparing simulations against measurements. Results suggest a column height of ~8.7 km a.s.l., a total erupted mass of ~4.9 × 109 kg, a PM10 content between 0.4 and 1.3 wt%, and an aggregate fraction of ~2 wt% of the fine ash. Aerosol optical depth measurements from the AErosol RObotic NETwork are also used to corroborate the results at ~1,700 km from the source. Integrating numerical models with field, ground‐based, and satellite‐based data aims at providing a better TGSD estimation including very fine ash, crucial for air traffic safety.