In the Rome office of INGV there is an incredibly versatile laboratory, which directs its activities and the results of its work towards all the sectors of interest of the institution, from seismology to volcanology, passing through environmental monitoring and heritage conservation archaeological and national construction.
It is the Laboratory of Geo-Archaeomatics and Experimental Geophysics, a forge of innovative ideas and fertile ground for the development and implementation of techniques and tools that are always new and in step with the times.
We interviewed Fawzi Doumaz, INGV researcher and coordinator of the Lab, to discover the innumerable applications of the work carried out in his Laboratory and let us guide us through drones, submarines and augmented reality.
What does the activity of the Laboratory consist of?
The Laboratory of Geo-Archaeomatics and Experimental Geophysics uses modern technologies for the acquisition of quality data in the geological, environmental, littoral, archaeological fields and buildings with a high historical-cultural and strategic content.
The activities we carry out within the Lab, together with our colleagues Arrigo Caserta and Marco Anzidei, can be carried out promptly, for a limited period of time, or continue over time for medium-long term monitoring of the analyzed area. Furthermore, data acquisition techniques can be proximal or remote.
What are the main areas of application of the activities carried out in the Lab?
The activities of the Laboratory are transversal to all Sections of INGV, given the important technological content of its resources and working methodologies. Our goal is to always seek the best techniques and solutions for acquiring and analyzing scientific data in different contexts: for activities involving individual Departments, therefore Environment, Earthquakes and Volcanoes, for studies in urban areas, at sea , in lakes, in the polar regions, and so on…
The Lab also deals with the management of a Geoportal, “Kharita”, which makes cartographic products available to the Organization online. The service provides basic geographic data to all projects of INGV and the Competence Centers for emergency management.
Finally, within the Laboratory we also work in the field of digital photogrammetry to create numerical models of the terrain, high resolution orthorectified cartographies, 3D models, digitization of monuments, paleosimological trenches, altimetric data of sea level on the coasts, GIS and WEB- GIS.
And what about experimental geophysics?
Experimental Geophysics is the other major branch of the Laboratory. In this case the work is organized around the use of seismological techniques (array) to study the interaction between soil and architectural structures. These are activities that gravitate mainly around the study and monitoring of cultural heritage in multi-risk environments. The dynamic approach of the studies characterizes the soil that receives and interacts with the building on the one hand, and the behavior and response of the building itself to telluric stresses on the other.
How do the results obtained from these studies become concretely useful for the preservation of buildings?
With the experimental geophysics surveys that we carry out in the laboratory, we are able to study where the seismic stress of a given structure is concentrated during an earthquake, identifying its weakest points or areas. We therefore look at the evolutionary behavior of structures in an environment of continuous stress and change, both in the short and long term. This allows us to develop very useful parameters for the world of engineering and restoration, helping to strengthen the resilience of cultural heritage.
It should also be remembered that these techniques can also be used in the absence of seismic events as the recordings are based on listening to seismic noise, generated by both endogenous terrestrial and human activity.
What kind of instrumentation is the Lab equipped with?
The Lab has a very varied and nourished instrumentation. Among the many tools we mention drones, remotely piloted aircraft (UAV), remotely operated submarines (ROV), MEMs sensors, multi-parameter sensors for Arduino and other microcontrollers, thermal cameras, accelerometers, velocimeters, GPS RTK (for kinematic georeferencing in time real), laser scanners, contact thermometers, cameras, virtual reality glasses, augmented reality...
Furthermore, given the amount of data produced by this type of instrumentation, over the years investments have also been made in means of calculation and storage capacious. Computing and computer analysis resources are very important elements for processing data and information of this kind and size.
Are there any collaborations in which the Laboratory takes part?
Yes, the Laboratory participates in various technical-scientific activities such as pro-active collaborations in the geophysical and geomatic fields applied to cultural heritage.
In particular, just to name a few, I like to remind you that as Labs we are members of the technical table of the Colosseum Archaeological Park and of the Scientific Council of the National Center for Archaeological Research in Algeria (CNRA), as well as coordinators of projects for the enhancement of Roman archaeological sites in Algeria (Lambaesis, Tipasa).
We are also project collaborators “Castrum Novum” of Santa Marinella (RM) and dynamic monitoring of the Colosseum and the monuments of the Roman Forum. We collaborate with the University of Enna for the 3D mathematical modeling and the development of the vibrating deformation table for synthetic tests with input of real seismic signals; with an important European computer center based in Barcelona we collaborate on the creation of a Meshator for unstructured 3D Grids of soils and buildings. Finally, we are also in contact with a national network of theoretical and mathematical physicists working in the field of stochastic modeling.