41 research outputs found
Ground Penetrating Radar in Dam Monitoring: The Test Case of Acerenza (Southern Italy)
Nowadays, dam safety management is gaining great importance since it affects in a crucial way the monitoring and improvement of risky reservoirs, but this topic is very challenging since the dam safety requires long-term and time-continuous monitoring. In this framework, the exploitation of conventional geotechnical investigation methods often requires invasive actions in the inner of the structure to be investigated (destructiveness) and only provides punctual information for small volumes. On the contrary, the application of noninvasive sensing techniques makes it possible to investigate higher volumes without affecting the structure. In this paper we describe the application of GPR for the monitoring and diagnostics of one of the largest dams in the Basilicata region (Southern Italy). The investigation aims at detecting and localizing underground sandstone banks that are potential ways of flow of water below the dam. The manageability and the noninvasiveness of GPR have resulted in particularly suitable for this kind of application because the versatility of this geophysical method allows to investigate large areas with a good spatial resolution giving the possibility to detect the presence of inhomogeneities in the subsoil below the dam
Magnetic and ground penetrating radar for the research of Medieval buried structures in Marche Region
A magnetic and Ground Penetrating Radar joint
survey was carried out in the framework of the R.I.M.E.M.
project that has the aim of supporting the archaeological
prospections and drive the selection of the excavation areas
related to the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Ages
in the Central and Southern Italy. In particular, this papers
deals with the magnetic surveys acquired near “Madonna
della Valle” and GPR and magnetic joint surveys carried out
in “Monastero”site. Most of magnetic maps carried out in
“Madonna della Valle” site shown the absence of structured
magnetic anomalies, despite of the presence of archaeological signs. Several hypothesis were given to explain this evidence. Joint interpretation performed in “Monastero” site shown more intense magnetic anomalies related with shallower reflections due to probably to buried pipes. Other reflections are related with magnetic anomalies compatible with archaeological targets, but some significant reflections do not correspond to any magnetic anomaly, indicating magnetic method could be “blind” respect the archaeological target.
New field surveys including the electrical resistivity tomography could be carried out in order to overcome these
acquisition and interpretation difficulties
Magnetic and ground penetrating radar for the research of Medieval buried structures in Marche Region
A magnetic and Ground Penetrating Radar joint
survey was carried out in the framework of the R.I.M.E.M.
project that has the aim of supporting the archaeological
prospections and drive the selection of the excavation areas
related to the Late Roman Period and Early Middle Ages
in the Central and Southern Italy. In particular, this papers
deals with the magnetic surveys acquired near \u201cMadonna
della Valle\u201d and GPR and magnetic joint surveys carried out
in \u201cMonastero\u201dsite. Most of magnetic maps carried out in
\u201cMadonna della Valle\u201d site shown the absence of structured
magnetic anomalies, despite of the presence of archaeological signs. Several hypothesis were given to explain this evidence. Joint interpretation performed in \u201cMonastero\u201d site shown more intense magnetic anomalies related with shallower reflections due to probably to buried pipes. Other reflections are related with magnetic anomalies compatible with archaeological targets, but some significant reflections do not correspond to any magnetic anomaly, indicating magnetic method could be \u201cblind\u201d respect the archaeological target.
New field surveys including the electrical resistivity tomography could be carried out in order to overcome these
acquisition and interpretation difficulties
Chapter Electromagnetic Sensing Techniques for Non-Destructive Diagnosis of Civil Engineering Structures
Environmental policy & protocol
Tools for Semi-automated Landform Classification: A Comparison in the Basilicata Region (Southern Italy)
Recent advances in spatial methods of digital elevation model
(DEMs) analysis have addressed many research topics on the assessment of
morphometric parameters of the landscape. Development of computer algorithms for calculating the geomorphometric properties of the Earth’s surface has
allowed for expanding of some methods in the semi-automatic recognition and
classification of landscape features. In such a way, several papers have been
produced, documenting the applicability of the landform classification based on
map algebra. The Topographic Position Index (TPI) is one of the most widely
used parameters for semi-automated landform classification using GIS software.
The aim was to apply the TPI classes for landform classification in the Basilicata
Region (Southern Italy). The Basilicata Region is characterized by an extremely
heterogeneous landscape and geological features. The automated landform
extraction, starting from two different resolution DEMs at 20 and 5 m-grids, has
been carried out by using three different GIS software: Arcview, Arcmap, and
SAGA. Comparison of the landform maps resulting from each software at a
different scale has been realized, furnishing at the end the best landform map and
consequently a discussion over which is the best software implementation of the
TPI method
Electromagnetic methods to characterize the Savoia di Lucania waste dump (Southern Italy)
The aim of this work is the joint application and integration of non-invasive geoelectrical methods for studying the landfill of Savoia di Lucania (Southern Italy). This landfill for its engineering features and small dimensions (70 m · 30 m · 6 m) represents an optimal test site to assess a geophysical survey protocol for municipal solid waste landfills investigation and monitoring. The landfill of Savoia di Lucania has been built with a reinforced concrete material and coated with a highdensity polyethylene (HDPE) liner. Three electrical resistivity tomographies (ERT), two self-potential (SP) map surveys and one induced polarization (IP) section have been performed, both in the surrounding area and inside the waste landfill. The geophysical investigations have well defined some buried boundaries of the landfill basin and localized the leachate accumulation zones inside the dumpsite. Comparison of our results with other engineering and geological investigations could be the key for evaluating the integrity of the HDPE liner. Finally, the joint use of the ERT, IP and SP methods seems to be a promising tool for studying and designing new monitoring systems able to perform a time-lapse analysis of waste landfill geometry and integrit
Joint ERT, SP and IP Investigations at Waste Dump of Savoia di Lucania (Southern Italy)
The aim of this work was the joint application of different electric geophysical methods for studying the landfill of Savoia di Lucania (Southern Italy). This landfill for its engineering features and small dimensions (70m x 30m x 6m) represents an optimal test site to assess a geophysical survey protocol survey for municipal solid waste landfills. However, the proposed protocol should be used in time lapse way to obtain a monitoring system for waste deposits. The landfill of Savoia di Lucania has been built with reinforced concrete material and coated with a High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) liner. Three Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), two Self Potential (SP) map surveys and one Induced Polarization (IP) section have been performed both in the surrounding area and inside the waste landfill. The geophysical investigations well defined the buried boundaries of the landfill basin and localized the leachate accumulation zones inside the dumpsite. The comparison of our results with other engineering and geological investigations could be the key for evaluating the integrity of the HDPE liner. Finally, the integration of the ERT, IP and SP methods seems to be a promising tool for studying and for designing new monitoring systems able to perform a time-lapse analysis of waste landfill geometry and integrity
Building damage caused by tree roots: laboratory experiments of GPR and ERT surveys
The root growth of trees close to buildings can cause directly or indirectly
structural damages and the necessity arises of diagnostic tools to follow
their time-spatial behaviour. In this framework, sensing techniques as
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT)
are of relevant interest since they allow in principle the detection and
identification of roots in a fast and non invasive way.
Here, we present a feasibility study of GPR and ERT by means of laboratory
measurements performed in controlled conditions with a plant of peach in a
sand-clay box with the aim of identifying tree root system. High resolution
images were obtained with both the techniques in this homogeneous soil media
and they have clearly shown the presence of soil volumes with a high density
of fine and woody roots
Microwave Tomographic approach for masonry investigation: some real results
Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) is an electromagnetic technique very
appreciated by the community of the archaeologist and cultural heritage
end-users community thanks to its appealing features in terms of non
invasivity and rapidity of measurement and diagnostics. However, GPR data
requires a high operator expertise in the data processing and
interpretation. In the archaeological investigation, this drawback can be
mitigated by the availability of a priori information about the
archaeological scenario. On the other hand, in the case of the historical
heritage, when the knowledge of constructive modalities and material of the
structure may be completely missed, it is necessary to undertake other
strategies of processing and interpretation.
One of these can be provided by the use of novel inversion algorithms such
as the Microwave Tomography (MT) which allows to reduce the subjectivity and
the time consuming during the data processing. In this paper the MT was
applied on raw data collected at two historical buildings of Chania (Crete,
Greece). The first edifice is the Venizelo's House affected by visible
fractures in its walls made up of cemented irregular stones. The second one
is the headquarters of Prefecture of Chania showing some fractures along the
floors. For these raw data, microwave tomography provided well detailed
images which allowed to infer the fracture geometry and their extension in
the host medium. This suggests microwave tomography can be a reliable
complete processing tool requiring only the definition of the background
scenario in terms of the dielectric permittivity and the conductivity of the
host medium