The Vesuvius Observatory, Naples Section of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV-OV), participated in the exercise, called VOLCITA 2017, organized by the National Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC). The objective of the exercise was to verify the effectiveness of the communication procedures between the various Bodies responsible for controlling the safety and regularity of flight operations in the event of contamination, even of large extents, of the national airspace by volcanic ash emitted during an explosive eruption of an Italian volcano. The exercise was based on the simulation of an explosive eruption of the Campi Flegrei, characterized by the formation of an eruptive column up to 14 km high, and by the dispersion of an ash cloud towards a large part of south-eastern Italy, the Albania, Greece, up to Turkey (see figure). The Vesuvius Observatory-INGV issued, throughout the day, a series of warning messages of volcanic activity, called VONA (Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation), addressed to the ENAC Crisis Room, to the Rome Regional Air Traffic Control Center (ENAV SpA), to the Meteorology Operations Center (COMET) of the Pratica di Mare Air Force, and to the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC) of Toulouse in France, ICAO Competence Center for the European and Mediterranean area, in order to allow these Centres, on the basis of the volcanological information disseminated by the Observatory, to produce the aeronautical messages connected to this scenario.
INGV, through its two volcanological observatories (Vesuvian Observatory of Naples and Etneo Observatory of Catania), formally recognized by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, International Civil Aviation Organization), operates a constant monitoring of volcanic phenomena that can represent a potential risk for aviation and, in the past years, has already participated in numerous similar national and international exercises (VOLCEX, VOLCETNA, VOLCITA 2016), simulating eruptions of the Sicilian volcanoes Etna and Stromboli. This exercise is the first to be carried out with a scenario relating to a Neapolitan volcano, and will be followed in the coming years by similar exercises with scenarios relating to Vesuvius and the island of Vulcano, thus involving all five Italian volcanoes considered by ICAO dangerous to aviation. "For INGV this activity is extremely important to refine its ability to monitor the eruptions of active Italian volcanoes", says Mauro Coltelli, senior researcher of the Etna-INGV Observatory who, together with Giovanni Macedonio, director of the Vesuvius Observatory- INGV, participated in the exercise. "The monitoring of volcanic ash clouds and the information of aeronautical significance produced by the two INGV observatories contributes substantially to the improvement of air navigation safety which represents an important means of mobility and therefore of income for our country, carrying millions of tourists visiting Italy and, in particular, in its south rich in natural beauty and historical monuments." Coltelli continues.
According to Giovanni Macedonio, "The VOLCITA 2017 exercise in Campi Flegrei successfully tested the communications between INGV and the bodies responsible for traffic control and air navigation safety in Italy, in the event of a volcanic emergency".
A special thanks goes to the staff on duty in the Operations Room of the Vesuvius Observatory-INGV, and to the staff of ENAC, ENAV, Air Force, and VAAC of Toulouse, for their collaboration in the success of the exercise.
Caption: Map of the volcanic ash concentration expected between the flight altitudes of 20000 feet (about 6000 meters) and 35000 feet (about 11000 meters) 18 hours after the start of the simulated eruption at Campi Flegrei. The simulation was performed by the VAAC (Meteo France) of Toulouse a few minutes after the start of the simulated eruption (thanks to the VAAC of Toulouse, for allowing the publication of the figure).