The project for the conservation and enhancement of the national historical-scientific heritage is underway with a public digital database to share the historical documents of seismology and meteorology of our country, useful for the study of solutions for the mitigation of future risks
Monday January 27 2025, at 17:00 pm in the prestigious setting of the Galileo Museum in Florence (Judges Square, 1), will be held Presentation of the Italian Historical Documentary Center of Seismology and Meteorology, the project started by theNational Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) in collaboration with the Galileo Museum with the aim of creating a public and centralized digital archive of seismic and meteorological documents.
Italy has a long tradition in scientific observation of meteorology and seismology, which began in the 17th century with the first meteorological network in Florence and continued in the 18th century with the first instruments for recording earthquakes. This tradition has led to the creation of a vast network of observatories, both public and private, sometimes managed by religious orders such as the Barnabites, Piarists and Jesuits.
This now centuries-old activity has produced a huge amount of scientific documentation: seismic and meteorological records, bulletins, registers and correspondence, kept in the spaces of institutions such as the INGV itself or the Council for Agricultural Research and Analysis of Agricultural Economics (CREA). However, part of this precious documentation has been lost over the years.
Il Historical Documentary Center which will be presented in Florence It was created precisely to avoid further losses and enhance the data in our possession in order to reconstruct historical series, which are essential for understanding the past and mitigating present and future risks of extreme natural events.
Over the last 35 years, the INGV Tròmos and SISMOS projects have already surveyed and digitized over 200.000 historical seismograms, 25.000 letters e 100.000 pages of documents: all this material will be made available for consultation through a database open access.
The first phase of the project, funded by INGV and lasting 24 months, focuses in particular on seismic documentation, with a database structure that will subsequently integrate meteorological data.
Current partners of the project, in addition to INGV and Museo Galileo, also include Ximenian Observatory Foundation of Florence and theMeteorological-Seismic Observatory of Alberoni College of Piacenza; in the future, the involvement of several other bodies with a prestigious tradition in the two disciplines of interest to the Historical Documentary Centre is planned, in addition to collaboration with schools for the reproduction and transcription of documents.
The project represents an important step forward in the conservation of the Italian scientific heritage, ensuring that future generations will be able to benefit from the legacy of the Italian pioneers of seismology and meteorology.
Admission to the presentation event at the Museo Galileo will be free until all available seats are filled.
Useful links:
National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV)
