## 6 Conclusions  
This paper presented the first comparison of results from the thermal monitoring data (\(\mathrm{SHS_{Flux}}\) and TRE from lava fountains) obtained from two stations at very different locations (Bottoniera line and Belvedere area) during the explosive activity occurring at Mt. Etna from March to April 2012. Both thermal emanations represented a part of the energy output linked to the main (magmatic) source during the studied period. After March 2012, the deepening of the massive advection front and the long-lasting decreases in the \(\mathrm{SHS_{Flux}}\) (Figures 5 and 6) showed the progressive decrease in heat transfer from the magmatic system through the NE Rift, the active fracture that is located at a distance of more than 5.5 km from the eruptive vent of the NSE cone (Figure 1). These events occurred before the end of the paroxysmal activity, whereas the NSEC was still erupting lava, and a sequence of sustained lava-fountaining episodes were still to occur [27,30]. After April 2012, the seasonal modulation became the predominant feature for the heat release on the thermal anomaly of the NE Rift. The BTL station showed a deepening of the convective front into the ground and the diffuse heat flux (SHS\({}_{\text{Flux}}\)) reached the lowest values ever recorded. The diffuse heat released in the thermal site of the NE Rift appeared to be inversely related to the heat channeled through the NSEC during the major paroxysms. A possible explanation for the inverse correlation between SHS\({}_{\text{Flux}}\) from the NE Rift and the total thermal radiation (TRE) of the last lava fountains can be found in [PERSON] et al. [29] as a possible balancing in the shallow reservoir between gas accumulation and output. [PERSON] et al. [29] suggested the rapid gas drainage towards the erupting channel during the final lava fountain episode as an explanation for the multidisciplinary signals registered during 2012. In this paper we put together two very different forms of thermal release (SHS diffuse flux and radiant energy from lava fountain events) showing so much different intensity and space distribution that they may appear to be incomparable. The heat fluxes from the SHS are mild, but they are persistent over any volcanic phase and are caused by the advection of hot fluids that can either be sourced from a direct magmatic origin or reflect other thermal disequilibrium, generating long-lasting hydrothermal circulation. On the contrary, lava fountains are the most powerful thermal phenomenon, reflecting the rapid escape of the multiphase flow through the open eruptive conduits. Despite their very different intensity and time evolutions, both the diffuse heat release and the paroxysmal lava fountains monitored at the surface are derived from the mobility of the fluid phase, essentially water vapor, that is released by the entrapping reservoirs (i.e., magma, aquifer, rocks) in response to physical changes due to complex multiphase processes, including transitions among fluid, viscous, or solid behavior of magma components. We are confident that the continuous monitoring of ground temperature allows the transient phases of steam advection to be highlighted as a potential indicator of processes occurring below the surface of the volcanic system over a long-term period of observation and constant frequency of measurement. Time variations in ground temperatures next to fumaroles are modulated by a complex combination of external agents (i.e., of atmospheric origin) and endogenous agents (i.e., geothermal, magmatic, volcanic). Long-term time-series analyses indicate the background flux and the local effects of the ordinary external influences (either cyclical or episodic, and related to meteorology), and, at the same time, could highlight other transient processes, possibly reflecting a temporal disequilibrium of the endogenous energy source.