In relation to the article that appeared today, 25 October, in the newspaper "Corriere del Mezzogiorno, Campania edition" entitled "Observatory, instruments left in storage. Holes in the network that monitors volcanoes", the director of the Naples Section - Vesuvius Observatory of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (OV-INGV), Francesca Bianco, categorically denies the content and declares the following:
The existence of instruments that never came into operation does not correspond to the truth; the equipment purchased with regional and MIUR funding, in particular with funds from the “Vulcamed” and “Sistema” projects, is installed and fully used.
All the instrumentation acquired with the "Sistema" project has been installed for some time in Ischia and in the Campi Flegrei with the strengthening of the GPS network (7 new installations), thermal imaging monitoring (a new installation), geodetic monitoring (with 2 reflectors for satellites), remote imaging monitoring (2 drones) and CO2 monitoring with a portable thermal imaging camera. Furthermore, the minimal duplication of the IT and telematic infrastructure of the OV-INGV monitoring room at the SORU-RC (Campania Region Operations Room) was carried out.
The Vulcamed Project has made it possible to acquire seismic instrumentation for both the permanent and mobile networks: with the permanent ones (just under 50) the monitoring of the volcanic areas of Campania has been enhanced; mobile ones, including seismic arrays, are used for measurement campaigns, experiments or in case of emergencies. The Vulcamed Project has also allowed the instrumental strengthening of the geodetic networks (17 installations); thermal IR (infrared 3 installations); infrasonic (4 installations) as well as Geochemical and Petrological Laboratories. The aforementioned instrumentation is installed and fully used.
The only instrumentation not used and currently located in the OV-INGV laboratories is the reserve one, in addition to the one under maintenance. Geoelectric, magnetotelluric and seismic instruments are regularly used for periodic campaigns and experiments.
In relation, instead, to the Projects carried out illo tempore, i.e. between the years 2013 and 2015, the Director of the Naples OV-INGV Section was Dr. Giuseppe De Natale.
Furthermore, it is represented that the impossibility of accessing the Solfatara cannot in any way be attributable to failures by the OV-INGV which continues to monitor the area thanks to the Institute's sensors which transmit the relative signals to the Monitoring Centre. Finally, it should be noted that Vesuvius and Campi Flegrei are universally recognized by the national and international scientific community as the two most monitored volcanoes in the world.