PDC-BuilD framework: Assessing building damage probability for pyroclastic currents of a small-size explosive eruption at Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy)

Abstract A methodology for evaluation of damage that the buildings exposed to pyroclastic currents from a possible small-size eruption at Campi Flegrei could suffer is proposed. It was implemented in a structured GIS framework named BuilD (Building Damage) that integrates spatial and no-spatial data and allows to quantify and map the differences in building composition of censual districts and the damage they could undergo. BuilD uses the fragility curves to assess the damage at censual district scale and requires as input data the building features (ISTAT data and Google Earth images) and the dynamic pressure exerted by Pyroclastic Density Currents. 16 maps of percentage probability of exceeding a damage threshold resulting from 4 increasing damage levels by an eruption occurring at 4 hypothetical volcanic vents were drawn. In the single map, five damage classes (from high to very low) depict the spatial distribution of potential harms that the built environment could suffer. The methodology is implemented for the knowledge of the current status of the built environment; it can be easily managed also by non-technical stakeholders, exported in areas with similar requirements and profitably used for other hazards. The BuilD frame is scalable to larger areas at risk, keeping the censual districts, available for the whole European territory, as the minimum territorial reference units, useful for comparisons of building damages at regional scale. The produced maps can be used for addressing available funds to ameliorate the structural features of the buildings and to support local authorities in better land management and land use.