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Publication Open Access New low power pulse compressed ionosonde at Gibilmanna Ionospheric Observatory(2005)A digital low power pulse compressed ionosonde was developed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, Italy. The aim of this Advanced Ionospheric Sounder, AIS-INGV, is to reduce the transmitted power and, consequently, weight, size, power consumption and hardware complexity. To compensate the power reduction the most advanced HF radar techniques such as the pulse compression and a phase coherent integration are used. The ionosonde is completely programmable and a PC supports the data acquisition, control, storage and on-line processing. The first prototype was installed at Gibilmanna Ionospheric Observatory (Sicily), an interesting location in the center of Mediterranean area. The new ionosonde will contribute to ionospheric database and real time knowledge of South European ionospheric conditions for space weather applications. In this work the first results (ionograms and autoscaled characteristics) are presented and briefly discussed.Publication Open Access The new AIS-INGV digital ionosonde(2003)A new digital ionosonde called AIS-INGV (Advanced Ionospheric Sounder) was designed both for research and for routine service of HF radio wave propagation forecast. Nearly the entire system was developed in the Laboratorio di Geofisica Ambientale at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome. It exploits advanced techniques for signal analysis, recent technological devices and PC resources. This paper describes design concepts and performance of the new ionosonde.Publication Open Access The New AIS-INGV Ionosonde at Italian Antarctic Observatory(2004)The Italian Ionospheric Antarctic Observatory of Terra Nova Bay (74.70S, 164.11E) was recently equipped with the AIS-INGV ionosonde developed at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), Rome, (Italy). This paper aims to describe briefly which are the main characteristics of the instrument and show the good quality and reliability of the recorded ionograms.Publication Open Access THE NEW INGV DIGITAL IONOSONDE: DESIGN REPORT(2002-04)The ionosonde is a system which exploits the radar technique: it applies electromagnetic waves with variable frequency in the HF band to measure the ionospheric layers electron density, height and other parameters. This paper is a technical report on the new digital ionosonde (AIS-INGV), which was designed both for research purposes and for the routine service of the HF radiowave propagation forecast. It has been developed almost completely within the Laboratorio di Geofisica Ambientale (LGA) at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV). It exploits advanced techniques for the signal analysis, recent technological devices and PC resources. The report is divided into two parts; the first is a general description of the design development, the second is a more detailed description of the blocks and circuits actually built and tested, directed to a specialist reader.Publication Open Access IONOSONDA A COMPRESSIONE DI IMPULSI - NOTA TECNICA PRELIMINARE(2002)Nel laboratorio di geofisica ambientale dell'Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia è stato progettato e realizzato il prototipo di una ionosonda a bassa potenza a compressione di impulsi secondo i dettami della moderna tecnica radaristica. Si è puntato sulla realizzazione di una macchina a bassa potenza e dal costo contenuto con possibilità di costituire una rete di ionosonde per scopi di sorveglianza ionosferica. Il sistema con una potenza di 200W consente di investigare la ionosfera da 90 a 700km con una risoluzione verticale di 5km in un range di frequenza da 1 a 20MHz.
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Publication Open Access Earth-prints Open Archive: brochure(2006-04-02)www.earth-prints.org aims to satisfy the increasing demand of fast, up-to-date, easy-accessible, and free-of-charge sources of information in all branches of Geosciences. It allows earth scientists to deposit electronic documents into its collections and to index them by subjects and keywords. Earth-prints provides a time-stamp to all deposited materials to insure precedence rights to original ideas and scientific results. It deals with copyright issues through Creative Common standards that offer a wide variety of licenses. All deposited material is made immediately available to the public. Subscribers will be sent a daily newsletter according to the topics they have signed in. The archive has a three-level hierarchical structure. The top level includes Atmosphere, Cryosphere, Hydrosphere, Solid Earth, and General. It then branches into several disciplines within the other two levels. Different collections take in different kinds of material, such as pre-prints, oral presentations, extended abstracts, published papers, conference papers, books and book chapters, posters, and Web products and databases. Earth-Prints main language is English but it accepts documents in other languages also, giving visibility to data and studies at local scale that are indeed of general interests. An abstract in English is always required. We will present a virtual tour into the many features of Earth-prints to provide all its potential users with an easy acquaintance of the system and make them explore its capabilities. Although the archive is based on latest information technology it requires no specific knowledge to be used because it manages all procedures for access, navigation, upload of documents and information retrieval through a user-friendly interface. What is the limit of open archive development? We think that the one and only limit of open archives is the eagerness of its users to share information and knowledge.Publication Open Access FEMSA: a finite element simulation tool for quasi-static seismic deformation modeling(2007-06)We set up a computational tool to numerically model static and quasi-static deformation generated by faulting sources embedded in plane or spherical domains. We use a Finite Element (FE) approach to automatically implement arbitrary faulting sources and calculate displacement and stress fields induced by slip on the fault. The package makes use of the capabilities of CalculiX, a non commercial FE software designed to solve field problems (see for details), and is freely distributed by request.Publication Open Access The historical earthquakes of Syria: an analysis of large and moderate earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D.(2005)The historical sources of large and moderate earthquakes, earthquake catalogues and monographs exist in many depositories in Syria and European centers. They have been studied, and the detailed review and analysis resulted in a catalogue with 181 historical earthquakes from 1365 B.C. to 1900 A.D. Numerous original documents in Arabic, Latin, Byzantine and Assyrian allowed us to identify seismic events not mentioned in previous works. In particular, detailed descriptions of damage in Arabic sources provided quantitative information necessary to re-evaluate past seismic events. These large earthquakes (I0>VIII) caused considerable damage in cities, towns and villages located along the northern section of the Dead Sea fault system. Fewer large events also occurred along the Palmyra, Ar-Rassafeh and the Euphrates faults in Eastern Syria. Descriptions in original sources document foreshocks, aftershocks, fault ruptures, liquefaction, landslides, tsunamis, fires and other damages. We present here an updated historical catalogue of 181 historical earthquakes distributed in 4 categories regarding the originality and other considerations, we also present a table of the parametric catalogue of 36 historical earthquakes (table I) and a table of the complete list of all historical earthquakes (181 events) with the affected locality names and parameters of information quality and completeness (table II) using methods already applied in other regions (Italy, England, Iran, Russia) with a completeness test using EMS-92. This test suggests that the catalogue is relatively complete for magnitudes >6.5. This catalogue may contribute to a comprehensive and unified parametric earthquake catalogue and to a realistic assessment of seismic hazards in Syria and surrounding regions.Publication Open Access Environment and Geoscience(2008-09-11)This book contains the proceedings of the 1st WSEAS International Conference on Environmental and Geological Science and Engineering (EG'08) which was held in Malta, September 11-13, 2008. This conference aims to disseminate the latest research and applications in Renewable Energy, Mineral Resources, Natural Hazards and Risks, Environmental Impact Assessment, Urban and Regional Planning Issues, Remote Sensing and GIS, and other relevant topics and applications. The friendliness and openness of the WSEAS conferences, adds to their ability to grow by constantly attracting young researchers. The WSEAS Conferences attract a large number of well-established and leading researchers in various areas of Science and Engineering as you can see from http://www.wseas.org/reports. Your feedback encourages the society to go ahead as you can see in http://www.worldses.org/feedback.htm The contents of this Book are also published in the CD-ROM Proceedings of the Conference. Both will be sent to the WSEAS collaborating indices after the conference: www.worldses.org/indexes In addition, papers of this book are permanently available to all the scientific community via the WSEAS E-Library. Expanded and enhanced versions of papers published in this conference proceedings are also going to be considered for possible publication in one of the WSEAS journals that participate in the major International Scientific Indices (Elsevier, Scopus, EI, ACM, Compendex, INSPEC, CSA .... see: www.worldses.org/indexes) these papers must be of high-quality (break-through work) and a new round of a very strict review will follow. (No additional fee will be required for the publication of the extended version in a journal). WSEAS has also collaboration with several other international publishers and all these excellent papers of this volume could be further improved, could be extended and could be enhanced for possible additional evaluation in one of the editions of these international publishers. Finally, we cordially thank all the people of WSEAS for their efforts to maintain the high scientific level of conferences, proceedings and journals.Publication Open Access High resolution magnetic anomaly map of Tenerife, Canary Islands(2007-10)This study presents magnetic anomaly data from a new high-resolution, low-altitude helicopter-borne magnetic survey recently collected on and offshore Tenerife in the Canary Archipelago. The Italian Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) in collaboration with the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales of the CSIC of Spain conducted the survey in 2006. The data for Tenerife and surrounding marine areas were processed into digital total intensity magnetic anomalies for geomagnetic epoch 2006.4. Relative to previously available higher altitude magnetic survey data, the new survey mapped higher resolution anomalies with significantly improved spatial details, especially over the Las Cañadas caldera and Teide-Pico Viejo complex in the central part of the island. A good correlation is evident between known structural geology and the magnetic anomalies, where the new shorter wavelength anomalies facilitate more detailed and comprehensive geologic interpretations.
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Publication Open Access Statistical analysis of site effect indicators at the Italian seismic network: inside the site characterization database CRISP(Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2025-07-11)This study investigates the relationships among various site-effect proxies collected in the CRISP database (http://crisp.ingv.it/), which archives site characterization data of the Italian National Seismic Network. We analyzed the Horizontal-to-Vertical spectral ratio (HVSR), derived from both earthquake and noise measurements at 320 stations, as a primary indicator of site effects. Our research also explored HVSR's correlation with topography and site classes, lithology, and magnitude residuals. This extensive dataset allowed us to group the HVSR curves into four distinct clusters based on their shapes, facilitating detailed comparisons between earthquake-and noise-derived estimates. The analysis revealed that: (i) approximately half of the permanent stations exhibit significant amplification, with amplitudes exceeding 2; (ii) although HVSR from noise generally mirrored that from earthquakes, it often showed lower or equal amplitudes of the curves but higher amplitude of resonance frequency, likely due to different wavefield compositions. The correlation between HVSR and other proxies displayed a weak but statistically significant dependence on lithology, site classes and magnitude residuals. Specifically, as soil characteristics degrade, the resonance frequency decreases, and its amplitude slightly increases. Furthermore, local magnitude tends to be overestimated at sites exhibiting HVSR amplification at frequencies below 2-3 Hz. No correlation was found with topographic classes. A significant challenge in clearly distinguishing HVSR behavior among soil categories, as defined by current building codes, arises from the considerable standard deviation observed. Nevertheless, our findings suggest that integrating seismological data, including HVSR curves, fundamental frequency, and amplitude, can substantially optimize soil class definitions within the updated Eurocode 8 framework.Publication Restricted Rock-site amplification on topography at Introdacqua, Central Italy: a rock-fracturing effect?([Warszawa] ; Warszawa ; Berlin : Springer-Verlag Versita Institute of Geophysics Polish Academy of Sciences., 2025-02-19)The prominent N-S trending ridge of Mt. Plaia in Introdacqua, Central Apennines, village hosts the permanent rock-site seismic station IV.INTR, of the Italian seismic network RSN, recording higher amplitude levels and positive residuals in the magnitude estimation. Recent studies confirmed the occurrence of a directional amplification effect between 1 and 3 Hz, with maximum amplification along N160° azimuth. The observed amplification pattern cannot be explained in terms of stratigraphic amplification, nor by simply considering the resonant topography model. In order to deepen the understanding, we implement an array of ambient noise measurements. A detailed structural geological survey highlights the local presence of intensely fractured rocks possibly associated with a E-W fault zone located about 2 km toward south. The directional effect is limited to the hilltop area, close to IV.INTR, being related to the local tectonic structure rather than to the topography. Amplification effects at rock sites are still not prescribed in seismic design codes and therefore represents a crucial issue in the framework of seismic hazard.Publication Open Access Supporting inclusive research assessment: the CoARA WG TIER perspectives(Copernicus GmbH, 2026-03-14)Current initiatives at the European and international levels have highlighted the opportunity to shift towards more responsible research assessment, such as those related to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) since 2012 and the more recent efforts of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) since 2022, to introduce improvements that address the diversity of research outputs and careers. In particular, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology of Italy (INGV) joined CoARA to reinforce the value of the diversity of outputs, results, and practices that constitute the geoscientific research conducted at the Institute. This contribution presents the ongoing activities at INGV and the perspective of the CoARA thematic Working Group Towards an Inclusive Evaluation of Research (TIER), which aims to advance gender equality, intersectionality, and diversity through improved research assessment; ensure inclusive and bias-mitigated processes in the evaluation of research quality; and develop training programmes for institutions and evaluators.Publication Restricted Slab break-off and carbonate metasomatism recorded by Mg-Mo isotopes in post-collisional volcanism of northwestern Iran(-Amsterdam Netherlands: Elsevier BV -Oslo : Universitetsforlaget, 2026-03-02)Mafic volcanism in post-collisional settings provides crucial insights into mantle processes, plateau uplift, and the climatic impacts of continental collision. However, the origin of these volcanic rocks in northwestern (NW) Iran, situated within the Arabia-Eurasia collision zone, remains contentious. To address this, we report new Ar-Ar ages and the coupled Mg-Mo-Sr-Nd-Pb dataset, as well as whole-rock elemental compositions for post-collisional basaltic rocks from NW Iran. The 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating indicate the magma emplaced during the Pleistocene (1.0-0.075 Ma). These rocks display high MgO contents and arc-like trace element signatures, characterized by negative Nb-Ta-Ti anomalies and enrichment of large-ion-lithophile elements, indicative of the typical continental arc basalts. Combined with their Sr-Nd-Pb isotopic compositions, we propose that these rocks were derived from a mantle source modified by subducted sediments. Notably, these basalts exhibit distinctly light δ 26 Mg values (− 0.43‰ to − 0.32‰) relative to the normal mantle and typical continental arc basalts worldwide, demonstrating their derivation from a mantle source containing Mg-rich carbonates. The observed negative correlations of δ 98 Mo values (− 0.34‰ to − 0.04‰) with Th/Sm values and 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios, combined with low Hf/Sm ratios, provide critical evidences for a dominant control by interactions between the carbonated mantle and pelagic sediment-derived melts. We propose a model of slab break-off that provided additional heat required for melting of Mg-rich carbonates, to account for the lower-than mantle δ 26 Mg values. This process was initialed by continental collision, which caused the Neo-Tethyan oceanic slab to detach from the Arabian continent due to the rheological contrasts at the oceanic-continental transition and sustained slab pull. The break-off of slab facilitated hot asthenosphere upwelling and remobilization of Mg-rich carbonates in the mantle source, ultimately triggering Quaternary volcanism in NW Iran. This geodynamic model not only offers a framework for understanding post-collisional mantle evolution but also underscores the significance of deep carbon cycling during continental collision.Publication Open Access Geochemistry of CO2-rich gas emissions in the Carpathians: Multiscale geological sources and implications for orogenic degassing(Amsterdam Netherlands: Elsevier BV, 2026-05-05)Degassing of deep-seated fluids is a key process occurring in orogenic systems, yet its sources and controlling mechanisms remain poorly constrained. The Carpathians represent a major degassing province in Europe, where CO 2 emissions are concentrated in the Neogene-Quaternary volcanic arc and carbonate-rich flysch nappes along tectonized suture zones (Magura, Pieniny and Ceahlȃu-Severin suture zone), while CH 4 of mostly thermogenic origin dominates in the Outer Flysch belt. We present the first regional geochemical dataset and map of CO 2 and CH 4 emissions in the Western and Eastern Carpathians, integrating chemical and isotopic analyses with lithological and structural constraints. Helium isotopes reveal variable mantle-crustal mixing: elevated R/R a values (>3) near long-dormant volcanic centres, especially Ciomadul, reflect persistent deep magmatic reservoirs with 60-70% mantle/magmatic 3 He input, whereas radiogenic 4 He signatures dominate non-volcanic flysch and metamorphic regions, producing low R/R a values (~0.02). CO 2 acts as the primary carrier of mantle He, but metamorphic devolatilization of marls and carbonates at 5-20 km depth provides the principal crustal CO 2 source, consistent with "orogenic CO 2 degassing" described in other collisional belts. Degassing sites cluster along nappe boundaries and fault zones, where enhanced permeability enables rapid volatile ascent. Carbon isotopes and CO 2 / 3 He ratios confirm heterogeneous carbon sources of the CO 2 gases emitted at the surface, with mantle and crustal inputs at different proportions. In general, the biogenic CO 2 contributions are negligible, with the majority of samples plotting along a mantle-limestone mixing line, indicating significant crustal-derived CO 2 up to 80-95% for non-volcanic areas, and 40-70% for volcanic areas. The carbon isotopes and CO 2 / 3 He ratios are variably modified by groundwater interaction (dissolution and precipitation processes). Mantle-derived He flux averages are 1.59 × 10-13 g m-2 s-1 for Ciomadul volcano, 8.64 × 10-14 g m-2 s-1 for the Eastern Carpathians volcanic area and 3.46 × 10-14 g m-2 s-1 for the Eastern Carpathians non-volcanic area. CO 2 fluxes show average values of 1.4 × 10 6 g km-2 y-1 for the Ciomadul volcanic area, 1.18 × 10 8 g km-2 y-1 for the volcanic area of the Eastern Carpathians and 5.1 × 10 7 g km-2 y-1 for the non-volcanic area of the Eastern Carpathians. Mantle-derived He fluxes coupled with CO 2 / 3 He indicates a 4.66 Mt. year-1 mantle CO 2 flux for the Carpathians. These values match with other active orogens, highlighting the Carpathians as a key setting to investigate volatile transport, crust-mantle interactions, and their contribution to the global carbon cycle.