Evaluating Lava Flow Hazard at Mount Etna (Italy) by a Cellular Automata based Methodology

The individuation of areas that are more likely to be interested by lava eruptions is of fundamental relevance for mitigating possible consequences, both in terms of loss of human lives and material properties. Here we show a methodology for defining flexible high-detailed lava invasion susceptibility maps. It relies on both an adequate knowledge of the volcano, assessed by an accurate analysis of its past behaviour, a reliable Cellular Automata model for simulating lava flows on present topographic data and on High Performance Parallel Computing for increasing computational efficiency. The application of the methodology to the case of Mt Etna, the most active volcano in Europe, points out its usefulness in land use planning and Civil Defence applications.