Remote sensing opens new perspectives for the study and monotoring of volcanoes. In this thesis, different approaches were discussed. optical and thermal satellite imagery provides a synoptic view over a wide area. The understanding of surface state changes is particulary important in the monotoring of the activity of active volcanoes. Several, questions arise: • What advantages offer optical observation satellites of the Earth for calculations of lava volumes issues? • What are their limits? • Calculations of flow by remote sensing are reliable? • What is the interest of a multi-tool and multi-source approach? These issues were addressed by taking the Piton de la Fournaise to target. Several methods have been implemented and tested: 1) automatic extraction of the contours of flows of lava, 2) the cretion of numerical model of elevation (DEM) imaging satellite, 3) the calculation of flows from thermal images, 4) follow-up post eruptive flow modelling of cooling and the observed deformations in-situ measurement. The added value of this work is the ability to validate the results of remote sensing measurements from models because of the proximity of the sites studied in situ. The use of these techniques to obtain the average flow rates of lavas to several eruptions and follow topographic evolution of the volcano and its large structures. Satellite thermal measurements provide the means of forcing changes in the flow of eruptions over time, while Dems helped to obtain a total volume in the case of flows with high thicknesses. With these techniques, it was possible to define two types of erutions with changes similar to those observed on different volcanoes.
