05.09. Miscellaneous

Active volcanoes can generate multiple types of geological hazards. Besides syneruptive threats (e.g., lava, pyroclastic flows or ash fall), other adverse events such as landslides or lahars can occur at any time. To manage these threats efficiently, three key objectives must be jointly addressed: (1) improving prevention tools, through the collection and acquisition of data on hazards and risks, and its dissemination as maps and scenarios; (2) improving crisis management capabilities, based on monitoring and early warning systems, but also reliable communications systems; and (3) reducing people’s vulnerability and developing recovery and resilience capabilities after an event has occurred. The special issue “Approaches and methods to improve risk management in volcanic areas” presents research results focusing on these three objectives. It demonstrates the utility of addressing them jointly, and particularly examines the case of volcanoes where little knowledge is available. These results were presented at the conference Integrated Approaches for Volcanic Risk Management (Hohenheim University, Stuttgart, 11/12 September 2012) of the European MIAVITA (MItigate and Assess risk from Volcanic Impact on Terrain and human Activities) project.

During recent years hyperspectral remote sensing data were successfully used to characterise the state and properties of vegetation. The information on vegetation cover and status is useful for a range of environmental modelling studies. Recent works devoted to the understanding of the fate of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the environment showed that forests and vegetation in general act as a «sponge» for chemicals present in air and the intensity of this «capture» effect depends on some vegetation parameters such as surface area, leaf composition, turnover etc. In the framework of the DARFEM experiment conducted in late June 2001, different airborne hyperspectral images were acquired and analysed to derive some vegetation parameters of relevance for multimedia models, such as the spatial distribution of plant species and their relative foliage biomass. The study area, south west of Milan, encompasses a range of land cover types typical of Northern Italy, including intensive poplar plantations and natural broad-leaf forest. An intensive field campaign was accomplished during the aerial survey to collect vegetation parameters and radiometric measurements. Results obtained from the analysis of hyperspectral images, map of vegetation species, Leaf Area Index (LAI) and foliage biomass are presented and discussed.

In public research organizations in Italy, communication and outreach, as well as research support services, are often left to women. Consequently, the role which female staff plays, becomes central in communication processes both inside and outside the organization. An increasing number of female researchers have to abandon terms like “il ricercatore” (the researcher, used in the masculine form of the noun) or “man/month” in everyday language without fear of being diminished because of the use of feminine, nor of being discriminated while considered feminists. They should instead use inclusive expressions, taking into account gender, hence communicating real images of science and scientists. On the other hand, administrative documents should address the whole personnel, and not only to the ubiquitous “il dipendente” (the employee, masculine noun) opposed to “lavoratrici madri” (“mother-workers”). There is a plenty of opportunities to convey images of science meaning that research is performed both by women and men, and that consequences are addressed to women and men: activities with schools, seminars, outreach events and exhibitions, institutional communication and social networks. The responsibilities of an inclusive communication are numerous; they invest institutions and bodies in charge with structural changes in the organizations as well as those people who every day interact with users and participants of knowledge processes. Training as well as a daily practice are necessary. The paper comments some communication experiences in earth sciences, in progress at the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology of Italy – INGV.

Approximately 20 km north-east of Rome, along the modern trace of the Tiburtina road, recent archaeological diggings have brought to light a system of aqueduct galleries constructed by Roman engineers. This site falls inside the Acque Albule Basin, a travertine plateau Upper Pleistocene in age, that has been interpreted as a rhombshaped pull-apart basin created by strike-slip faulting within a N-S shear zone. This study provides evidence that two narrow water channels of this aqueduct system were significantly deformed by tectonic movement that occurred subsequent to their construction (II-III century A.D.). The geometry of the deformation pattern is compatible with that expected for a shear zone bounded by N-S oriented, right-lateral faults. The palaeomagnetic study of the volcanic formation («Pozzolane Rosse» Formation, 457± 4 kyr) containing the Roman aqueduct system evidences significant clockwise rotation around sub-vertical axis, consistent with the above-mentioned tectonic style.

La diffusione delle discipline STEM, il tema del genere e dell’educazione di qualità equa e inclusiva, obiettivi 4 e 5 dell’Agenda ONU 2030, sono fondamentali per l’attuale e la futura società. Questi temi sono da affrontare con metodi più attuali e accattivanti, capaci di superare le distanze fra i diversi attori sociali, e invogliare ragazze e ragazzi a intraprendere il loro percorso di studi e di vita nel mondo della ricerca o in quello dell’impresa, della didattica o della comunicazione e/o disseminazione. Viene illustrata una Rete per la parità di genere e la formazione di qualità, che comprende azioni e idee progettuali e che coinvolge diversi portatori d’interesse e associazioni che operano sul territorio, il mondo dell’università, degli Enti di ricerca e della scuola di ogni ordine e grado. La Rete ha l’obiettivo di condividere e integrare metodologie, esperienze e competenze diverse, rompere stereotipi di genere sulle abilità scientifiche e tecniche, e infine portare a tutte e tutti il messaggio che "ogni cosa è possibile" scegliendo le chiavi giuste per aprire le porte della conoscenza, dell'inclusione e dell'innovazione.

The length of the gravitational field lines/of the orthogonal trajectories of a family of gravity equipotential surfaces/of the plumbline between a terrestrial topographic point and a point on a reference equipotential surface like the geoid í also known as the orthometric height í plays a central role in Satellite Geodesy as well as in Physical Geodesy. As soon as we determine the geometry of the Earth pointwise by means of a satellite GPS (Global Positioning System: «global problem solver») we are left with the problem of converting ellipsoidal heights (geometric heights) into orthometric heights (physical heights). For the computation of the plumbline we derive its three differential equations of first order as well as the three geodesic equations of second order. The three differential equations of second order take the form of a Newton differential equation when we introduce the parameter time via the Marussi gauge on a conformally flat three-dimensional Riemann manifold and the generalized force field, the gradient of the superpotential, namely the modulus of gravity squared and taken half. In particular, we compute curvature and torsion of the plumbline and prove their functional relationship to the second and third derivatives of the gravity potential. For a spherically symmetric gravity field, curvature and torsion of the plumbline are zero, the plumbline is straight. Finally we derive the three Lagrangean as well as the six Hamiltonian differential equations of the plumbline, in particular in their star form with respect to Marussi gauge.

Social distancing, as experienced by the Italian population during the COVID-19 outbreak, generated the long-term activation of stress-response in individuals. This has been a crucial opportunity to study the coping strategies that people put in place to adapt their lives and habits to such a unique condition. For this reason, we have investigated both emotion-focused and problem-oriented coping strategies among the Italian population by relating them to other structural factors, such as social, economic and cultural conditions.

The results of the survey through the online questionnaire “what do you know about ethics in geosciences?” described in the Deliverable 13.1 (http://www.envriplus.eu/wpcontent/uploads/2015/08/D13.1.pdf) has clearly shown the general recognition by interviewees on the importance of ethical and social aspects involved in own research and technological activities, but at the same time identified a general lack of awareness on what this concretely means. In addition, even if problems related to internal dynamics of the research working environment seem to be known or at least perceived, what one's own work can mean for the benefit of society seems not so clear, and ethical and social implications related to activities are perceived as quite difficult to be analyzed. ENVRIplus is aimed at providing shared solutions for science and society. The questionnaire developed not only helped to learn more about ethical matters with respect to scientific work, but also raised with its distribution recipients’ (ENVRIplus project participants) awareness for ethical and societal aspects of their research activities. The Ethical Label aims to continue these efforts by supporting researchers to clarify the potential ethical, societal, and scientific impact of their activities. Moreover, filling the Ethical Label can constitute a useful internal project training on developing a critical thinking in ethics in science and in science-society interactions. The Ethical provides information about the ethical, social and environmental implications and impact of a deliverable or other project results, thereby adding value to the usual technical-scientific focused description of any project outcome. The Ethical Label represents a schematic and simplified information, in tabular form, as a support of the introductory part of every outcome of the project, which orients the end-user to better identify concepts and aspects that describe the function of that product, with particular reference to its impact on the scientific community, society and the environment.

The occurrence and distribution of monogenic eruptive features in volcanic areas testify to the presence of deep-crustal or subcrustal magma reservoirs hydraulically connected to the surface via a fracture network. The spatial distribution of vents can be studied in terms of self-similar (fractal) clustering, described by a fractal exponent D and defined over a range of lengths (l) between a lower and upper cutoff, Lco and Uco, respectively. The computed Uco values for several volcanic fields on Earth match the thickness of the crust between vents and magma reservoirs at depth. This analysis can thus be extended to other volcanic fields and volcanoes on rocky planets in the solar system where features such as vents and dykes occur, and for where complementary geophysical data are currently lacking. We applied this method to the Ascraeus Mons volcano on Mars, which presents hundreds of collapse pits similar to those observed on Earth volcanoes that are most likely related to feeder dykes. Based on structural mapping with High Resolution Stereo Camera data at 12 m/px and Context Camera data at 6 m/px mosaics, more than 2300 collapse pits and dyke traces were analysed, revealing two distinct fractal clustered populations. The obtained Uco values reveal the presence and likely depth of both a deep magma reservoir (c. 60 km deep) and a small shallower chamber (c. 11 km deep). This analysis can help to better constrain the depth and time evolution of volcanic processes on Tharsis, and on terrestrial planets’ volcanoes in general.