Spatial data and GIS for the assessment of the environmental impact at Mount Etna

One of the fundamental tasks for environmental impact assessment and natural risk management is the accurate and updated cataloging of road infrastructures and buildings. This is particularly important in volcanic areas, in order to predict the range of damage and disruption, and therefore losses and reconstruction costs that could result from an eruption. GIS allows immediate access to spatial data with the ability to overlay location-based information for easy interpretation, providing a critical tool for assessing and mitigating risk from natural phenomena. In this work, we present an innovative GIS-based system for the identification of the values exposed to volcanic eruptions at Mount Etna, which can be used in both the readiness and response phases to a volcanic emergency. We carried out a precision mapping of buildings and road infrastructures on the flanks of the Etna volcano, giving particular attention to the exposed sensitive buildings (such as schools, barracks, hospitals, etc.) and to the construction and roofing characteristics. The result is an informative and dynamic platform that offers new opportunities and challenges to decision makers for the definition of both long-term strategies, such as territorial planning, and short-term strategies, for the prediction of the impact of eruptions or for managing evacuations during volcanic emergencies.