A mobile geophysical and environmental data tracking device, specially designed for hostile environments, such as the summit of active volcanoes, to manage environmental risks. The applications of the SMoG project will be presented on Friday 27 November at 17,30 by a team of researchers from INGV at the Catania section
Friday 27 November at 17.30 pm at the Bonajuto Chapel - Via Bonajuto, 9/13 Catania (CT), the new applications of the project Smog (Multiparametric Geophysical and Environmental Monitoring System for Civil Protection Application).
Conducted by the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology - Etna Observatory (INGV-OE), in collaboration with Ingegno-Servizi di Ingegneria Srl, Be-On Srl and NCE-Network Consulting Engineering Srl, the project intends to address the problems associated with thermal monitoring and the detection of geophysical data in hostile environments, through the preparation of a network of stations located in large geographical areas.
"It is a modular data collection system on a portable platform", explains Luigi Lodato, INGV-OE researcher and project coordinator, "which, using various types of sensors, is able to acquire, record and communicate the information via various transmission systems to a control center”.
The implementation of a bi-directional communication mode has also allowed the remote connection of the system and the possibility of carrying out the download of data, thus enabling rapid decision-making in the management of environmental risks.
“The SMoG system, in particular, was developed to create a specific type of network, called Wireless Sensor Networks, consisting of a set of nodes (multi-parametric stations) scattered in the area subjected to monitoring, capable of acquiring geophysical and environmental data and transmitting them to the collection points called base station, from which it is possible to manage the individual stations present in the nodes, acquire data and make them available to other users for subsequent processing”, continues Lodato.
But the most important impact of the project lies in the creation of an easily transportable monitoring and control infrastructure.
"The platform", says the INGV-OE researcher, "was designed to be used in hostile environments, such as the summit of active volcanoes, where cutting-edge power systems are used, optimized in the size/weight/performance ratio" .
Thanks to multi-disciplinary scientific applications of typeLow power hardwarere dedicated software infrastructures, the raw or pre-processed data, acquired by the system, can, through the adoption of web systems and high-level user interfaces, be reachable "on demand” by authorized external users or bodies in charge such as research bodies, prefectures and civil protection for appropriate interactions with communities and individuals.
“For economic enterprises this project has been a reason for growth in terms of know-how for the exchange of knowledge with the world of research and of great economic impact. In fact, the system constitutes a modular structure, useful for various fields: from industry to environmental monitoring systems, such as the monitoring of dangerous gases, thermal anomalies and any diffusion of polluting chemical agents”.
The objectives and results obtained at the end of the project comply with the spirit of the PO FESR 2007-2013 tender (European Fund Operational Program for Regional Developmente) and the fees indicated in order to create value-added systems in the ICT field (Information and Communication Technology) and the environment.
“Following the guidelines identified in the context of the Regional Innovation Strategy (SRI), in harmony with the European Commission”, concludes Lodato “the activities carried out make it possible to favor the development of cutting-edge technologies with a strong impact on the social, technological enrichment and industrial research".