The marine digital terrain model of the Panarea caldera (Aeolian Islands, southern Italy)

Abstract

A Marine Digital Elevation Model (MDEM) of the still active volcanic area of Panarea caldera is presented in this paper. A fast and accurate survey was performed by means of the Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) geodetic technique coupled with an echo-sounding gear and a real time navigation software. The instrumentation was installed on board of a low draught boat in order to collect data starting from the bathymeter of one meter. Planar positions and depths were obtained with average accuracies of ±30 cm and ± 10 cm respectively providing a 3D map of the seafloor useful for geomorphological, geophysical and volcanic hazard applications.