BEES Graduate Seminar

Thursday, November 20, 2025

3:30 PM-4:50 PM

Dr. Sophie Pailot Bonnetat, a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Geology and Environmental Science at the University of Pittsburgh, will discuss “Volcanic hydrothermal system thermal monitoring: Case study from the Fossa crater, Vulcano Island, Italy.”

Abstract:
Volcanic hydrothermal systems are located in areas where circulation and mixing of fluids are possible between a magmatic heat source, the groundwater network, and the surface. Fluid circulation is thus controlled by permeability conditions around and above the various components of the system as well as the thermal gradient. Above hydrothermal systems, enhanced heat flux results in diffuse, pervasive, i.e “passive” ground heating, causing low amplitude thermal anomalies. These thermal anomalies give information on the state of the hydrothermal system, which is crucial for hazard monitoring.

Using the example of the crater of La Fossa on the island of Vulcano, Italy, I use satellite thermal infrared data, ground-truthed and supported by ground-based measurements of soil temperature, to estimate a time series of the heat produced by the hydrothermal system, as well as investigate shallow soil properties, thermodynamic properties of heat exchange surface, and atmospheric controls in the low altitude air layer over the system. This methodology was applied on the currently ongoing unrest episode of Vulcano island which started in 2021, which serves as a blueprint for a future global database of volcanogenic passive and eruptive thermal anomalies.

Bio:
Dr. Sophie Pailot-Bonnetat is a postdoctoral research associate at the University of Pittsburgh’s Department of Geology and Environmental Science. She is part of the Image Visualization and Infrared Spectroscopy (IVIS) Laboratory which is directed by Michael Ramsey. She holds a mining engineering degree from the Polytechnique UniLasalle Institute (France) and a M.S. in Earth Science and Planets with a specialization on magmas and volcanoes from Clermont-Auvergne University (UCA, France), as well as a PhD in Volcanology from UCA. The IVIS research team focuses on laboratory and remote sensing spectroscopy applied to Earth and planetary volcanological targets to better understand and quantify volcanic processes. Dr. Pailot-Bonnétat is currently taking part in the design and calibration of a multispectral thermal camera and leads a project to build a global database of volcanogenic thermal anomalies seen from satellite remote sensing, including geothermal activity produced by volcanic activity.

Contact Information

bees@drexel.edu