Study of volcanic activity at different time scales using hypertemporal land surface temperature data

The objective of the study was to detect volcanic activity at different timescales using geostationary satellite derived Land Surface Temperature data. LST data of the second-generation European Meteorological Satellites, were used to study (a) a paroxysmal, 1 day long eruption of Mount Etna (Italy); (b) a prolonged, 6 month period of effusive and lateral lava flows of the Nyamuragira volcano (Democratic Republic of Congo); and (c) intermittent activity in the permanent lava lake of Nyiragongo (Democratic Republic of Congo) over a period of 2 years (2011–2012). The results of the analysis were compared with published ground-based observations and satellite-based alert systems. The same analysis is also applied on mid-infrared and long-infrared brightness temperatures for the case of Etna, to compare findings and explore possibilities of synergistic application of different data