Investigating the spatial variability of the time-scaling properties in Italian seismicity

International audienceSignificant power-law long-range correlated structures have been identified in the Italian seismicity from 1983 to 2003. We performed the Allan Factor Analysis and the Detrended Fluctuation Analysis on both the full and the aftershock-depleted seismic data, extracted by the INGV (National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) instrumental catalog.Our findings suggest that (i) the time-scaling behaviour characterizes mainly the Apennine chain; (ii) the time-correlated behaviour of the seismicity is persistent, and this implies that the dynamics underlying the seismic phenomenology is characterized by the presence of "positive feedback mechanisms"; (iii) significant time correlation is not simply related with the mainshock/aftershock mechanisms

Fisher Information Analysis of earthquake-related geoelectrical signals

International audienceWe studied the time fluctuations in the dynamics of geoelectrical data, recorded in Tito site, which is located in a seismic area of southern Italy. We used the Fisher Information Measure, which is a powerful tool to investigate complex and nonstationary signals. The time evolution of the Fisher Information Measure calculated for our signal reveals links with the earthquakes occurring in the investigated area

Multifractal variability in geoelectrical signals and correlations with seismicity: a study case in southern Italy

International audienceMultifractal fluctuations in the time dynamics of geoelectrical data, recorded in a seismic area of southern Italy, have been revealed using the Multifractal Detrended Fluctuation Analysis (MF-DFA), which allows to detect multifractality in nonstationary signals. Our findings show that the geoelectrical time series, recorded in the seismic area of southern Apennine Chain (Italy), is multifractal. The time evolution of the multifractality suggests that the multifractal degree increases prior the occurrence of earthquakes. This study aims to propose another approach to investigate the complex dynamics of earthquake-related geoelectrical signals

Object-Oriented Techniques for Land Use/Cover Classification:Application of Metaponto Area (Basilicata, Southern Italy)

Sustainable management of natural resources requires constant and detailed monitoring of various aspects of the environment. Land use/cover mapping is considered a key element for planning protection, management and monitoring of semi-natural areas in urban ecosystems. Hence the importance of the information acquired through Remote Sensing, airplane and satellite, has been recognized for decades. The Remote Sensing data offers notable advantages for territorial monitoring, particularly of the vegetated areas, in comparison with data collected on the ground. The study of the spectral response of vegetation gained from airplanes or satellites makes it possible to obtain useful information about plant species and their conditions (density, vegetative state, etc.) in repetitive synoptic images. The research was carried out over an area of study in southern Italy (Basilicata, Metaponto area) near the mouth of the Basento River. For this area, synchronous and geometrically corecorded aerial photographs and Landsat TM image covering the period May 2004, were developed. Firstly a preliminary analysis was carried out using unsupervised means of classification with the aim of grouping together clusters of multi-band spectral responses that are statistically distinctive. Following this and after having properly defined the levels of segmentation of Landsat images using aerial photographs as a reference, a supervised classification procedure was applied, first pixel-oriented and then object-oriented, obtaining a marked improvement both in accuracy and in the reduction of the “salt&papper” effect of the map obtained by the Maximum Likelihood classifier

Analysis the 1978–2008 crustal and sub-crustal earthquake catalog of Vrancea region

The crustal and sub-crustal seismicity that occurred in the Vrancea area from 1978 to 2008 is investigated. Due to quarry blast contamination, the analysis of the crustal seismicity was restricted to events that occurred between 20 km and 60 km, considering sub-crustal events as all those that occurred at depths larger than 60 km. The completeness magnitude was estimated between 2.3 and 2.5 for the crustal seismicity and between 2.9 and 3.1 for the sub-crustal one. The Gutenberg-Richter b-values show clear differences between crustal and sub-crustal seismicity, with values around 0.9 and 1.3–1.4, respectively. The analysis performed in this study represents a preliminary issue for the seismic hazard assessment of surrounding regions like Moldova, for which the earthquakes generated in Vrancea represent an important threat

Vertical dipoles to detect self potential signals in a seismic area of southern Italy: Tito station

International audienceSince 2000 the Institute of Methodologies for the Environmental Analysis (National Council of Research, Tito, Italy) installed a geophysical monitoring network able to detect geoelectric, geochemic and seismometric parameters in seismic areas of southern Italy. During this period a very large data-base of geophysical time series has been organized and it is actually available to assess robust statistical methodologies to identify geophysical anomalous patterns linked with local seismicity. To better understand the influence of rain and cultural noise on geoelectrical signals (Self Potential), during May 2004 we drilled in Tito station a 20 m-depth hole to measure the SP vertical component. The array is characterized by five Pb-PbCl2 electrodes put at different depths. The common electrode is fixed at 20 m. In this work we present some electrical anomalies probably correlated with local seismic activity on vertical dipoles recorded in Tito station

Principal component analysis of geoelectrical signals measured in the seismically active area of Basilicata Region (southern Italy)

International audienceGeoelectrical fluctuations are the end product of several geophysical phenomena. In particular geoelectrical signals measured in seismically active areas can be attributed to stress and strain changes, associated with earthquakes. The complexity of this problem has suggested the development of advanced statistical methods to investigate the heterogeneous nature of these fluctuations. In this paper we analysed the time dynamics of short-term variability of geoelectrical field measured at Giuliano station, located in Basilicata Region, one of the most seismically active areas of southern Italy. We applied the principal component analysis (PCA). The analysis has shown earthquake precursory patterns in the daily variation of the principal components, revealing that the PCA approach is promising for monitoring seismic areas

Time-clustering analysis of the 1978–2008 sub-crustal seismicity of Vrancea region

The analysis of time-clustering behaviour of the sub-crustal seismicity (depth larger than 60 km) of the Vrancea region has been performed. The time span of the analyzed catalogue is from 1978 to 2008, and only the events with a magnitude of <i>M</i><sub>w</sub> ≥ 3 have been considered. The analysis, carried out on the full and aftershock-depleted catalogues, was performed using the Allan Factor (AF) that allows the identificatiion and quantification of correlated temporal structures in temporal point processes. Our results, whose significance was analysed by means of two methods of generation of surrogate series, reveal the presence of time-clustering behaviour in the temporal distribution of seismicity data of the full catalogue. The analysis performed on the aftershock-depleted catalogue indicates that the time-clustering is associated mainly to the aftershocks generated by the two largest events occurred on 30 August 1986 (<i>M</i><sub>w</sub> = 7.1) and 30 May 1990 (<i>M</i><sub>w</sub> = 6.9)

Desertification risk assessment in southern Mediterranean areas

International audienceThe paper deals some important aspects concerning the study of desertification phenomenon that has significantly interested all European countries of the Mediterranean basin in the last decades. The territorial sensibility, qualitatively and/or quantitatively, of the risk related to the desertification processes has been valued as grade of susceptibility to the phenomenon in the study area, with respect to the hydraulic and hydrologic conditioning factors. The methodological approach followed is based on the classification of desertification indicators by means of a suitable conceptual model applied to the study area in Basilicata region. The classical desertification indexes have been evaluate referring to the study area generating temporal informative map. To achieve such objective, the historical series of temperatures and rainfall of several gauge-stations have been analysed, and the first results show an increasing trend for the temperature in last years, according to the global scale. An increase of aridity and erosion index values is, also, outlined by the collected data with slight reductions at higher altitudes

MONOFRACTAL AND MULTIFRACTAL ANALYSIS IN SHORT - TERM TIME DYNAMICS OF ULF GEOMAGNETIC FIELD MEASURED IN CRETE, GREECE

In this work, a monofractal and multifractal characterization of the short-term time dynamical fluctuations of the ultra low frequency (ULF) geomagnetic field, measured by one station installed in Creete, Greece, has been carried out. Time scale properties of the three ULF geomagnetic components, two horizontal (x, y) and one vertical (z) have been analyzed through the power spectral density, Higuchi method and Hurst R/S analysis. Results point out the presence of fractal features expressing long-range time correlation with scaling coefficients, which are the clue of persistent mechanism. Using a set of multifractal parameters, defined from the shape of the multifractal spectrum, it has been observed that the degree of multifractality, that characterizes the original signals, is "weaker" if compared to the residual signals, obtained from the original ones after removing the four observed periodicities (24-, 12-, 8- and 6-h periodicties). Furthermore the horizontal χ and y components have revealed to be less multifractal than the vertical z-component