Determination of Volcanic Plume Three-Dimensional Structure Using CHRIS/PROBA-1 Multiangular Imagery: Case Study of Mount Etna

Abstract

The recent development of Earth observation satellites with multiangular capabilities and enhanced spectral resolution has led to preliminary attempts at determining the height of atmospheric scatterers, in particular, of top-cloud heights and smoke plumes originating from forest fires. Inspired by these previous studies, the present work presents an original methodology for the determination of the three-dimensional distribution of high-contrast atmospheric aerosols using multiangular images. The method starts with the approximately known geometry of image acquisition and a set of tie points and uses a linearized and regularized functional model to obtain the position of atmospheric scatterers identified by means of a semiassisted procedure on two or more images. A subsequent application to a CHRIS/PROBA-1 scene of Mount Etna following its eruption on June 14, 2014, allows determining the volcanic plume three-dimensional structure with a precision in the 100–200 m level.