The digital representation of the new morphology of the Cumbre Vieja volcano following the eruption that took place between September and December 2021 on the island of La Palma was created
The eruption had a huge impact on the ecosystem of the island and the creation of the digital model just a few months after the end of the events is a particularly useful result for the reconstruction of the area.
In the study "High-resolution Digital Surface Model of the 2021 eruption deposit of Cumbre Vieja volcano, La Palma, Spain”, recently published in the journal 'Scientific Data' of Nature, the researchers of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), in collaboration with the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN), presented the digital model of the surface and shared the results principals of the study of the eruption. The data was obtained from aerial photogrammetric surveys carried out during the eruption and at the end of it with drones and thanks to the "Structure from Motion" techniques. The INGV team of researchers, also specialized in filming in areas at volcanic risk, intervened as part of the international scientific collaboration upon request and in coordination with INVOLCAN colleagues.
The eruption caused significant damage to various towns on the island of La Palma and forced the evacuation of over six thousand people from their homes.
Riccardo Civico, INGV researcher and first author of the study, explains “More than 200 million cubic meters of deposits, mainly lava, have caused profound morphological changes in the western portion of the island, affecting both the natural and anthropic environment for an area of tens of square kilometres, as evidenced by the digital model presented in this publication.”
Adds Luca D'Auria, Director of the volcanic surveillance area of the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN): “The lava produced by the eruption, which in some points was more than 60 meters thick, destroyed over 1600 buildings, more than 200 hectares of banana groves, the island's main economic resource in addition to tourism, and important infrastructures such as roads, power lines, aqueducts, reaching the ocean and changing the coastline. This work provides us with an important contribution to define the framework of the eruption and constitutes a useful tool for planning the recovery interventions of the urban area invaded by the products of volcanic activity”.
Concludes Piergiorgio Scarlato, coordinator of INGV activities in support of INVOLCAN on the island of La Palma during the volcanic crisis, “Drones are confirmed as crucial tools for safely detecting areas affected by natural events that cannot otherwise be reached, especially during a volcanic eruption. During the more than 800 km of overflights carried out by our drones, more than 12000 high-resolution and georeferenced aerial images were collected, giving us the possibility of constructing a highly detailed mapping of the lava field and the new volcanic edifice formed. The total volume and the eruptive rate of the volcanic products emitted by the volcano between September and December 2021 were then obtained. In the first days of the eruption, the latter had an average of about 60 cubic meters per second".
Studio: Civico et al., 2022, High-resolution Digital Surface Model of the 2021 eruption deposit of Cumbre Vieja volcano, La Palma, Spain”, Scientific Data, doi:10.1038/s41597-022-01551-8
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01551-8
First details of the study on the INGVvulcani Blog
Drones reveal the new appearance of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (Canary Islands) - INGVvulcani
Drone flights over Cumbre Vieja on INGVvulcani YouTube channel:
Cumbre Vieja - INGV volcanoes
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CUMBRE VIEJA | Digital surface model of the 2021 eruption in the Canary Islands published
The digital representation of the new morphology of the Cumbre Vieja volcano has been created after the eruption that took place between September and December 2021
The eruption had a huge impact on the ecosystem of the island and the publication of the digital surface model after only a few months from the end of the events, is a particularly useful result also for the management of the area.
in the study "High-resolution Digital Surface Model of the 2021 eruption deposit of Cumbre Vieja volcano, La Palma, Spain", recently published in the journal 'Scientific Data' of Nature, the researchers of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), in collaboration with the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN), presented the digital surface model and shared the main results of the study. The data were obtained from aerial photogrammetric surveys carried out using drones both during and after the eruption and using the "Structure from Motion" technique. The INGV team of researchers, also specialized in acquiring data in active volcanic areas, intervened in the context of international scientific collaboration on request and in coordination with INVOLCAN colleagues.
The eruption caused significant damage to several towns on the island of La Palma and forced the evacuation of over six thousand people from their homes.
Riccardo Civico, INGV researcher and first author of the study, explains "More than 200 million cubic meters of deposit, mainly lava, have caused profound morphological changes in the western part of the island, affecting both the natural and the anthropogenic environment for an extent of tens of square kilometers, as evidenced by the digital model in this publication".
Luca D'Auria, Director of the Volcanic Surveillance Area of the Instituto Volcanológico de Canarias (INVOLCAN) adds: “The lava produced by the eruption, which in some points exceeded 60 meters in thickness, destroyed over 1600 buildings, 200 hectares of banana groves, the main economic resource of the island in addition to tourism, and important infrastructures such as roads, power lines, aqueducts. It reached the ocean and changed the coastline. This study provides us with an important contribution to define the picture of the eruption and is a useful tool for planning the recovery interventions of the urban area invaded by the products of volcanic activity".
Piergiorgio Scarlato, coordinator of the INGV activities in support of INVOLCAN on the island of La Palma during the volcanic crisis, concludes, "Drones are confirmed as decisive tools for safely detecting areas affected by natural events that cannot otherwise be reached, in particular during a volcanic eruption. More than 12,000 high-resolution and geo-referenced aerial images have been collected by making over 800 km of flyovers with our drones. This allowed us to build a highly detailed mapping of the lava field and of the new volcanic building that was forming. In the end, we calculated the total volume and the eruptive rate of the volcanic products emitted by the volcano between September and December 2021. In the first days of the eruption it had an average of about 60 cubic meters per second".
Studies: Civico et al., 2022, High-resolution Digital Surface Model of the 2021 eruption deposit of Cumbre Vieja volcano, La Palma, Spain”, Scientific Data, doi:10.1038/s41597-022-01551-8
Link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-022-01551-8
First details of the study on the INGVvulcani Blog
Drones reveal the new appearance of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (Canary Islands) - INGVvulcani
Drone flights over the Cumbre Vieja on the INGV YouTube channel:
Cumbre Vieja - INGV volcanoes
picture 1 - Digital model of the surface of the eruptive cone formed during the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (September 19 - December 13, 2021).
Image 1- Digital surface model of the eruptive cone formed during the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (19 September - 13 December 2021).
picture 2 - Aerial view of the eruptive cone formed during the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (19 September - 13 December 2021).
Image 2 - Aerial view of the eruptive cone formed during the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (19 September - 13 December 2021).
picture 3 - Elevation differences for the period 2015 - January 2022 (pre- and post-2021 eruption of Cumbre Vieja volcano).
Image 3- Elevation differences for the period 2015 - January 2022 (pre- and post-eruption 2021 of the Cumbre Vieja volcano).
Picture 4 - INGV researchers engaged in aerial photogrammetric surveys in the area affected by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (19 September - 13 December 2021).
Image 4 - INGV researchers engaged in aerial photogrammetric surveys in the area of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (19 September - 13 December 2021).
picture 5 - INGV researchers engaged in aerial photogrammetric surveys in the area affected by the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (19 September - 13 December 2021).
Image 5 - INGV researchers engaged in aerial photogrammetric surveys in the area of the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano (19 September - 13 December 2021).