An experiment of muon radiography at Mt Etna (Italy)

Abstract

Interactions of conduit geometry with gas-liquid flows control volcanic activity, implying that the evaluation of volcanic hazards requires quantitative understanding of the inner structure of the volcano. The more established geophysical imaging techniques suffer from inherent ambiguity, may require spatially dense measurements in active areas and may not provide sufficient spatial resolution in the uppermost part of the conduit system. It is thus desirable to develop new imaging techniques allowing a better spatial resolution of a volcano's upper feeding system, with reduced ambiguity and a low level of risk for operators.