The 163 coastal plains at risk of marine flooding (in red), highlighted in the context of the European project .
INGV's commitment in this field is aimed at the development of geophysical research which aims at the characterization of the territory and the subsoil and at the monitoring of environmental phenomena and is also aimed at the development of geophysical investigation techniques, operational and interpretative methodologies and procedures for a better characterization of the territory. These activities are aimed at mitigating natural and man-made risks.
At INGV, the most modern and effective geophysical prospecting techniques are studied, tested and applied, aimed at defining the structure of the subsoil, from the first meters down to hundreds of meters deep. Some areas of application concern the environment, archeology and the territory.
The research and monitoring activities include an observation phase in which measurements are carried out on the territory which envisage the use of different tools and different techniques. The purpose of the measurement phase is to detect underground structures and pollutants through techniques ranging from gamma spectrometry, magnetism, gravimetry and electromagnetism and can be conducted both from the ground and in flight. This is then followed by a phase of processing the collected data which results in a map on which the results of the measurements are reported.
Geophysical techniques are non-invasive and can generally be used quickly and cheaply over large areas of the territory, to obtain important information on the characteristics and geological structure of the territory without necessarily having to resort to direct excavation or drilling of the ground.
In the environmental field, one of the activities carried out are those concerning the identification of waste illegally concealed in the subsoil (such as drums containing toxic materials, illegal landfills), the characterization of landfill areas and various forms of underground pollution. The same topic includes studies aimed at identifying and characterizing environmental pollution due to natural gases, water and fine particles present in the atmosphere.
For archaeology, the activity concerns the reconnaissance of the subsoil for the purpose of identifying buried anthropic structures such as tombs, necropolises, walls, floors, temples, cisterns, etc... In this context, the various geophysical techniques are used jointly for a better reconstruction of the subsoil, even three-dimensional. The activities are carried out in the context of special agreements or scientific collaborations with the main Superintendencies of the national territory.
As far as the study of the territory is concerned, one of the main objectives of the research concerns the study and deep reconstruction of intramountain geological basins and in particular: the definition of the depth of the substrate and the thickness of the sedimentary filling of areas with high seismic risk, the fault mappings. Other activities instead concern the geophysical exploration of the subsoil aimed at the characterization of the underground aquifers, the study and identification of areas subject to sudden sinking (sinkhole) and the mapping of cavities in urban areas at potential risk of collapse.
Environmental geophysics activities also include studies on sea level rise and the formulation of possible flooding scenarios along the Mediterranean coasts due to climate change. The digital reconstruction of the topography of unstable areas is aimed at analyzing the morphometry, identifying and quantifying the topographic variations and studying the kinematics. Thanks also to the work carried out in the context of European projects, the objective is pursued of helping populations that live even at less than 1 m above sea level to increase awareness of coastal risk and to favor its prevention, providing multi-temporal scenarios on the retreat of the coast up to 2100.
Since 2006, INGV has also carried out research activities using satellite data for the study of natural disasters, also using data from the European Copernicus programme. An example is fire emergency management. Improving the detection and characterization of the fire front with remote systems contributes both to improving the characterization of the phenomenon and to mitigating its consequences on the environment, society and the economy.