A historic volcanological observatory for our country and for the entire Old Continent, which has seen top-level personalities in the panorama of international volcanology alternate between its rooms.
The Etnean Observatory of Catania (OE) is one of the three monitoring sections of the INGV, with an active Operations Room manned by researchers and technicians 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, a fundamental point of reference in the area for the populations residing on the slopes of Sicilian volcanoes.
We interviewed the Director of the OE, Stefano Branca, who faced at the helm of this Section a year, 2021, which was particularly 'lively' for everything concerning the activity ordinary of Etna and Stromboli and that extraordinary of Vulcan.
Stefano, how long have you been Director of the INGV Etna Observatory Section?
I have been Director since 1 October 2019, therefore for just over two years.
So you faced the entire period of the Covid-19 pandemic as Director…
Yes, exactly, and this gives me the impression that these two years have actually been eight! I only experienced a very first phase of "normality" at the helm of the Etna Observatory, from approximately October 2019 to February 2020, after which it was chaos. The two years of the pandemic have made everything extremely more complicated: we as OEs are a monitoring section of INGV, so our work continued without stopping, but completing our operational tasks in the field was logistically very difficult. And then, for me, being able to keep the group of colleagues 'united' was another great challenge: preserving human relationships (as well as working ones) despite the inevitable physical distance that was required of us was really a great test. but I can say that we have succeeded very well and the way we have managed emergencies in this now long period is the most important proof of this.
How many colleagues are part of the Etna Observatory?
125 colleagues, in addition to fellows and research associates. We have been growing a lot in recent years and this makes us optimistic for the future.
L'International Institute of Volcanological Research, today INGV Etna Observatory, was born in 1968 from an idea of Alfred Rittmann, one of the most important volcanologists in history, as well as the father of contemporary volcanology in Europe. What does this prestigious position of Director mean to you today?
For me it is certainly a great pride and a great responsibility, precisely because the history of volcanology in Catania has an important past behind it which has been 'animated' by top-level figures in our subject, Alfred Rittmann above all. The objective to continue to follow, therefore, remains for me to always keep the level of our activity and our scientific productions very high, continuing to establish ourselves as excellence both in the monitoring activity and in the research and study of the volcanic activity.
Which the impact of your Section on the territory, according to your experience?
Well I have to say it's quite an impact. The Sicilian volcanoes, and Etna in particular, almost constantly affect the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens, as a result INGV has become over the years an essential point of reference for the local population, who are interested in our activities and the monitoring that we carry out 24 hours a day.
2021 was a particularly intense year for the Sicilian volcanoes, with the spectacular paroxysms of Etna, the explosive activity of Stromboli and the hydrothermal crisis of Vulcano which led the Civil Protection Department to order the passage of the alert level for the island from green to yellow. What did it mean to manage these crises from within?
I must say that 2021 was a year that allowed me to touch the very high competence of the colleagues who today make up the Etna Observatory: from the technical and technological components to the scientific and administrative ones. This is because, as you said, it was a year in which the activity of our volcanoes was very "vigorous". Etna has gone through the most intense activity phase of the last 20 years, Stromboli for its part has continued to his craft, and finally the "novelty" of the Vulcano crisis was added: all without forgetting the 'starting' management difficulties due to the still ongoing pandemic. The response from the Catania Section proved once again to be of the highest level and up to the situation, allowing us to receive important acknowledgments of appreciation both nationally and internationally.
What are the other scientific activities that the Etna Observatory deals with, in addition to the 24-hour monitoring of Sicilian volcanoes?
Having to summarize in one sentence, I would say everything related to the study and understanding of eruptive and seismic phenomena: starting from basic research, to arrive at the key element that characterizes our activity, i.e. the multidisciplinarity that allows us to cover all topics in the field of volcanological and geophysical studies. Furthermore, for some years now we have also been specializing in some branches of environmental research applied to volcanic regions.
What was, in these years as Director, the most important professional episode that you would like to tell?
As I was saying, these two years as Director have been so intense that it seems like many more... For this reason I can't think of a specific episode, perhaps I would say the whole year 2021 which was really very interesting for me. There were many opportunities for exchange and internal scientific comparison regarding what was happening on Etna, there was the great news of Vulcano and a lot of work was done with the National Department of Civil Protection to update the alert levels of volcanoes Sicilians. I must therefore say that for me 2021 was an important opportunity to take a step forward for my cultural, scientific and human experience: a year of growth, from many points of view.
…and the funniest anecdote?
More than a funny anecdote, an episode comes to mind that I would like to tell and which dates back to the darkest period of 2020, the one in which we were in full lockdown. Also in that case the volcanoes, Etna in particular, allowed us to "distract" ourselves: Etna continued to 'make the volcano' regardless of the presence or absence of the virus and it almost seemed as if he wanted us to 'detach' from reality a little at a stage in which we still had no idea how the pandemic would develop. Well, while we were all locked up in the house, in March of 2020, where
In order to continue to carry out monitoring activities, my friend and colleague Mauro Coltelli and I went on a monitoring mission to the summit craters of Etna in an absolutely surreal situation. In fact, since no one could move from home, there wasn't a living soul on the streets and on Etna: we experienced sensations that were a bit like echoes of a now very distant past, that of the first travelers who walked up the volcano in solitary, as in the extraordinary season of travel on the Grand Tour between the 700th and 800th centuries. This possibility was unique for us, it allowed us to savor the sensation of feeling truly alone in an extremely vast area such as that of the Muntagna and to make a climb to its craters as it was done in the past, before the road that led from Nicolosi to the Sapienza refuge was built in 1933. An unforgettable day, truly.
Are there any future projects regarding the OE that you would like to anticipate?
In these days we are working, like INGV, on the possibilities offered by the Government's National Recovery and Resilience Plan. This is certainly a great opportunity, a great opportunity to upgrade, update and develop all the infrastructures of the Etna Observatory, from the monitoring network to the Operations Room and to the whole system dedicated to data acquisition. Let's say that we have before us the possibility of laying the foundations for working on what the Observatory will be like in the coming decades: that's not a small thing at all!