Istituto Nazionale di Geosifica e Vulcanologia - Sezione di Catania

Current Research Interest
My research activities are focused on the development of models for monitoring and characterize volcanic activity through satellite images. I developed algorithms and techniques for the detection of thermal volcano anomalies (hotspots) applied to NOAA-AVHRR, EOS-MODIS and MSG SEVIRI data. In particular the usage of SEVIRI, thanks to its temporal continuity, opened new perspectives toward the near real-time modelling of eruptive events. The results of my research led to the design and implementation of an automated multiplatform system called HOTSAT, which was successfully tested at Mount Etna during the last eruptions and paroxysms. The whole system is intended for use in emergency response situations during an eruption to quickly locate potential vent area, provide an estimation of effusion rate and so drive lava flow simulators. Presently HOTSAT is a part of the WebGIS Lav@hazard (available at ctmgweb.ct.ingv.it/joomla/, password protected) in which products from satellite data (time-space evolution of hot spots, radiant flux, effusion rate, etc.) and physical modeling (MAGFLOW on CUDA architecture) are combined for lava flow hazard assessment.

Selected Publications
Ganci, G., James, M. R., Calvari, S., Del Negro, C. (2013), Separating the thermal fingerprints of lava flows and simultaneous lava fountaining using ground-based thermal camera and SEVIRI measurements, Geophys. Res. Letters, doi:10.1002/grl.50983.

Ganci, G., Harris, A.J.L., Del Negro, C., Guehenneux, Y., Cappello, A., Labazuy, P., Calvari, S., Gouhier, M. (2012), A year of lava fountaining at Etna: volumes from SEVIRI, Geophys. Res. Letters, VOL. 39, L06305, doi:10.1029/2012GL051026.

Ganci, G., Vicari, A., Cappello, A., Del Negro, C. (2012), An emergent strategy for volcano hazard assessment: From thermal satellite monitoring to lava flow modeling. Remote Sensing of Environment, vol. 119, pp. 197-207, doi: 10.1016/j.rse.2011.12.021.

Ganci, G., Vicari, A., Fortuna, L., Del Negro, C. (2011). The HOTSAT volcano monitoring system based on a combined use of SEVIRI and MODIS multispectral data, Ann. Geophys, 54, 5, 2011; doi: 10.4401/ag-5338.

Ganci G, Vicari A, Bonfiglio S, Gallo G, Del Negro C (2011). A texton-based cloud detection algorithm for MSG-SEVIRI multispectral images . GEOMATICS, NATURAL HAZARDS & RISK, vol. 2, ISSN: 1947-5705, doi: 10.1080/19475705.2011.578263

Vicari, A., Ganci, G., Behncke, B., Cappello, A., Neri, M., Del Negro, C. (2011). Near-real-time forecasting of lava flow hazards during the 12–13 January 2011 Etna eruption,. Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L13317, doi:10.1029/2011GL047545.

Vicari, A., Bilotta, G., Bonfiglio, S., Cappello, A., Ganci, G., Hérault, A., Rustico, E., Gallo, G., Del Negro, C. (2011). LAV@HAZARD: A Web-Gis interface for volcanic hazard assessment, Ann. Geophys., 54, 5, doi: 10.4401/ag-5347;

Bilotta G, Sanchez RZ, Ganci G (2013). Optimizing Satellite Monitoring of Volcanic Areas Through GPUs and Multi-Core CPUs Image Processing: An OpenCL Case Study . IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing, ISSN: 1939-1404, doi: 10.1109/JSTARS.2013.2255261

Del Negro, C., Cappello, A., Neri, M., Bilotta, G., Hérault, A., Ganci, G. (2013). Lava flow hazards at Mount Etna: constraints imposed by eruptive history and numerical simulations, Sci. Rep., doi: 10.1038/srep03493.

Kereszturi, G., Cappello, A., Ganci, G., Procter, J., Németh, K., Del Negro, C., Cronin, S.J. (2014). Numerical simulation of basaltic lava flows in the Auckland Volcanic Field, New Zealand – Implication for volcanic hazard assessment. Bulletin of Volcanology, 76:879, doi:10.1007/s00445-014-0879-6