Etna discrete geodetic networks
Ionica network
In 1997, in order to better resolve the deformation field affecting the lower eastern flank of Etna, a GPS network was installed on this sector of the volcano. This is the largest second-order network, after the principal inner network. A short-lived E.D.M. “Ionic Network” existed in the same area from 1982 to 1984, but it was impossible to recover the original benchmarks, most of them having been destroyed by urbanization or covered by dense vegetation. The “Ionica” GPS network consisted of 24 stations and covered the lower eastern flank of the volcano, along the Ionian sea, from Catania to Taormina and from 0 to 1300 m a.s.l.. The network configuration was designed to monitor the dynamics of a number of faults existing in this part of the volcano. Four “Ionica” stations were also belonging to the reference frame or to the principal inner network. One station, also belongs to a smaller GPS network installed to monitor the ground deformation along the lower segment of the Pernicana fault, in the Rocca Campana area. All stations consist of self-centering benchmarks.
