GC12-FibreOptic-54, updated on 06 May 2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-gc12-fibreoptic-54
Galileo conference: Fibre Optic Sensing in Geosciences
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Investigating Volcanic tremor, Explosions and Pyroclastic Flows with Fibre-Optic Sensing at Stromboli Volcano (Italy)

Francesco Biagioli1,2, Jean-Philippe Métaxian1, Maurizio Ripepe2, Eléonore Stutzmann1, Pascal Bernard1, Giorgio Lacanna2, Gilda Risica2, Alister Trabattoni3, Yann Capdeville4, Anne Mangeney1, Vadim Monteiller5, Gianluca Diana2, and Lorenzo Innocenti2
Francesco Biagioli et al.
  • 1Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France (biagioli@ipgp.fr)
  • 2Department of Earth Science, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy
  • 3Université Côte d’Azur, IRD, CNRS, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, Géoazur, Valbonne, France
  • 4Laboratoire de Planétologie et de Géodynamique de Nantes, Nantes, France
  • 5Laboratory of Mechanics and Acoustics (LMA), UMR 7031 AMU, CNRS, Centrale Marseille, 13453 Marseille Cedex 13, France

Continuous seismic monitoring of volcanoes is challenging due to harsh environments and associated hazards. However, investigating volcanic phenomena near their sources is essential for eruption forecasting. In seismo-volcanic applications, Distributed Acoustic Sensing (DAS) offers new possibilities for long-duration surveys. 

We analyse DAS strain rate signals generated by volcanic tremor, explosions and pyroclastic flows at Stromboli volcano (Italy) recorded along 4 km of a dedicated fibre-optic cable installed between 2020 and 2022. We buried the fibre-optic cable at a depth of 30 cm and designed the layout geometry to provide broad coverage on the active craters. We compared DAS recordings with the data provided by the monitoring network of the University of Firenze (Italy) comprising broadband seismic stations, tiltmeters, infrasonic sensors, tsunami gauges and visible and thermal cameras. We also installed nodal seismometers along the fibre to calibrate the recordings together with an innovative optical strainmeter.

The inversion of time delays between DAS strain rate waveforms provides back-azimuths indicating a dominant and persistent seismic source in the proximity of active craters during tremor and explosions. We analysed two pyroclastic flows of varying intensity that occurred in October and December 2022. The two flows propagated from the craters to the shore, generating centimetre-scale tsunami waves. The back-azimuths estimated with the DAS array enabled us to track the downslope movement of the seismic source with a timing consistent with what is observed with monitoring cameras and with seismic and infrasonic observations. These results demonstrate the potential of DAS in monitoring volcanic areas.



How to cite: Biagioli, F., Métaxian, J.-P., Ripepe, M., Stutzmann, E., Bernard, P., Lacanna, G., Risica, G., Trabattoni, A., Capdeville, Y., Mangeney, A., Monteiller, V., Diana, G., and Innocenti, L.: Investigating Volcanic tremor, Explosions and Pyroclastic Flows with Fibre-Optic Sensing at Stromboli Volcano (Italy), Galileo conference: Fibre Optic Sensing in Geosciences, Catania, Italy, 16–20 Jun 2024, GC12-FibreOptic-54, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-gc12-fibreoptic-54, 2024.