Morphology of basaltic lava channels during the Mt. Etna September 2004 eruption from airborne laser altimeter data

Abstract

The morphological features of active lava channels acquired over Mt. Etna by means of airborne laser altimeter data are presented. The data were acquired on 16th September 2004, using an Optech ALTM 3033 laser altimeter. The flight height was about 2000 m above ground. During the flight, the lava, erupted from the eastern part of the Mt. Etna summit area, flowed into the Valle del Bove. The measured morphologic features are: channel width (Wc), flow width (Wf), levee height (Hl), flow thickness (Tf), and channel depth (Dc). The main lava flow shows a well‐developed channel with levees. The average measured values for the morphologic features of this flow are: Wc = 16 m, Wf = 52 m, Hl = 7 m, Tf = 5 m and Dc = 2 m. The Wc parameter shows linear increase from about 7 m near the vent up to about 25 m close to the front (∼1600 m in length).