Volcanic clouds disperse a great amount of volcanic ash that constitutes a great hazard to aviation. The accidental encounter between volcanic ash and airplanes causes damages to control surfaces, windshields and landing lights, loss of visibility and failure of critical navigational and operation instrumentations and in the worst case the failure of the engine. It is hence very important to define and forecast the region, which will be interested by the presence of volcanic ash in the case of explosive activity. The project will realize an automatic system for the monitoring and forecasting of volcanic ash dispersal between Sicily and Malta. New instruments will be installed and they will be able to gather important data on explosive activity and on volcanic particles and the use of tephra dispersal models will be able to forecast the locations and the height of the volcanic clouds. The developed system will be able to inspect the region between Sicily and Malta in which there will be a high probability to find dangerous concentration of volcanic ash and gas, and will produce alert systems highlighting the regions that will be interdicted to aviation. Results will be available to authorities and, giving also information of the tephra deposit, they will be very useful to community, social and productive activities of the interested areas.Le nubi eruttive disperdono in atmosfera una grande quantità di cenere vulcanica che costituisce un grande rischio per laviazione. Laccidentale incontro della cenere vulcanica con un aereo provoca danni alle superfici di controllo, ai parabrezza e alle luci di atterraggio, perdita di visibilità e guasti alla strumentazione di navigazione e di controllo e nei casi peggiori lo spegnimento del motore. E quindi molto importante definire e prevedere la regione che, in caso di unattività esplosiva dellEtna, sarà interessata dalla presenza di cenere vulcanica. Il progetto prevede la realizzazione di un sistema automatico per il monitoraggio e la previsione della dispersione delle ceneri vulcaniche nell'area transfrontaliera. Sarà prevista linstallazione di strumenti che siano in grado di fornire importanti informazioni sullattività esplosiva e sul materiale eruttato e lutilizzo di modelli di dispersione delle ceneri vulcaniche capaci di prevedere la posizione e la quota della nube eruttiva. Il sistema sviluppato sarà capace di identificare le zone tra la Sicilia e Malta in cui vi sarà unalta probabilità di trovare concentrazioni dannose di ceneri e gas vulcanici e produrrà dei sistemi di allerta evidenziando le zone che dovrebbero essere interdette alla circolazione aerea. I risultati saranno diffusi alle autorità competenti, e fornendo informazioni anche sulla caduta di ceneri vulcaniche al suolo, saranno di grande utilità per tutti i cittadini, le attività sociali e produttive delle aree interessate. Achievements: Etnas volcanic clouds disperse a large quantity of ash that can cause danger to civil and military air traffi c in the area between Sicily and Malta. Ash hitting aircraft in fl ight can cause serious damage to surfaces and windscreens, with consequent loss of visibility and malfunctioning of instrumentation and, in serious cases, the engines. The VAMOS SEGURO project has set up an automatic monitoring and forecasting system of Etnas volcanic ash dispersion in the cross-border area thanks to the use of complex instrumentation among which the LIDAR system, developed ad hoc by CNISM researchers. This system is able to identify the areas between Sicily and Malta that, in the case of explosive activity, will be hit by dangerous concentrations of volcanic ash and gas and it is also able to alert air traffi ccontrol authorities. The newly installed measuring devices are able to collect important data on volcanic activity and particles released into the atmosphere. This monitoring is fl anked by models able forecast the dispersion of the volcanic clouds. The value of the project has been recognized at international level and its results have been disseminated in numerous international scientifi c publications and conferences. The importance of the results achieved by the project have also been recognized by the European Commission, the European Parliament, and the Regional Committee that chose the project as European best practices in the mitigation and prevention of natural risks. • 1 LIDAR system in Sicily and Malta • 1 interface platform