A Global Navigational Satellite System (GNSS) tomography experiment has been performed for 1 week, introducing Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) remote sensing data to initiate and update a 3D wet refractivity hourly solution series of the troposphere. Some qualitative and quantitate studies have been performed, taking advantage of a local radiosonde campaign with a 4-hour sampling data. 3D wet refractivity maps with an accuracy close to 2 g/m 3 are obtained.

A Global Navigational Satellite System (GNSS) tomography system is implemented in the Lisbon area, Portugal, to estimate the water vapor dynamics at a local scale. A field experiment was carried out, in which a series of temporary GNSS stations were installed, increasing the network from 9 permanent stations to a total of 17 GNSS stations. A radiosonde campaign was also performed with high sampling launches, at 4-h intervals, for 1 week. A time series of hourly 3D wet refractivity solutions were obtained during the radiosonde campaign. Radiosonde and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) measurements were used to compute wet refractivity profiles to initialize and update the tomography solutions. The dependence of the GNSS tomography solution on the initial conditions obtained from both radiosonde and AIRS measurements, and their updating frequencies are studied. It is found that the GNSS tomography continuous measurement of the atmospheric refractivity provides solutions with an RMS mean of about 2 g/m(3).

Age constrains and statistical properties of the summit palaeosurface of the south-Apennine chain - Calabrian Arc have been investigated with the aims of refining its use as a morphotectonic marker and distinguishing climate and tectonic contributions in landscape evolution. The tops of the mountains of southern Italy are often featured by erosional flat landforms representing the remnants of a wide palaeosurface attributed to the late Pliocene - Quaternary boundary. Apatite fission-track analyses collected in the last years furnished new chronological constrains in terms of its absolute age: this kind of data has been here used in combination with geology and morphotectonics to better define its evolution. On this basis, we infer that both the cooling event and the erosion land surface now preserved at the top of the relief are evidence of the same episode of exhumation. It is worthy to note that the AFT cluster is comprised between 2 and 3 Ma, as well as mid-Pliocene sediments are the youngest deposit involved in the ancient planation process. Curiously, also the new interpretation of these data in the key of land surface dating suggests that the transition period between the late Pliocene and the early Pleistocene represents the time-span in which the summit palaeosurface developed. Such a regional feature was displaced by the 1.8 Ma regional tectonic stage. Maps of palaeosurfaces derived by geomorphological survey have been compared to those constructed by identifying pixels on the SRTM DEM on the base of their current altitude and slope. The Sila Massif (Calabrian Arc) and the Campania-Lucania segment of the southern Italian Apennines, characterized by quite different geological settings, are chosen as test sites. The statistical properties of the palaeosurface remnants are here interpreted in terms of a common climate-driven fluvial erosion process and different tectonic activities in the two study areas.

We study the imaging and interferometric performances of a MIMO radar on board of an airship as alternative to airborne and spaceborne SAR remote sensing techniques. Four different MIMO radar arrays are designed working in L, C, X and Ku frequency bands. A frequency bandwidth of 250 MHz has been considered for the MIMO radars. The spatial resolution is 0.6 m in range and 0.3 degree in azimuth. The imaging and interferometric performances of the MIMO radar are analyzed in terms of the airship stability. A synthetic raw data set is generated assuming a target deployed on a flat area at different azimuth angle. This MIMO imaging solution is intended for continuous imaging over an area of interest.

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) tomography provides 3-D reconstructions of atmosphere wet refractivity, related to water vapor. A simulated analysis of the integration of Global Positioning System and future Galileo data is presented. Atmospheric refractivity is derived from radiosonde data acquired over the Lisbon area. The impact of Galileo data on the tomographic reconstruction is assessed. Furthermore, horizontal anomalies are added to a reference vertical profile of atmospheric refractivity to reproduce low-level dry or wet air intrusions, a phenomenon commonly observed in meteorological data acquired by both radiosonde and satellites. The dependence of tomographic solution on the GNSS network density is also analyzed. Better reconstruction capabilities in the lower layers are observed when increasing the network density.

Over the past decade there have been many investigations aimed at defining the role of scientists and research groups in their coauthorship networks. Starting from the assumptions of network analysis, in this work we propose an analytical definition of a collaboration potential between authors of scientific papers based on both coauthorships and content sharing. The collaboration potential can also be considered a useful tool to investigate the relationships between a single scientist and research groups, thus allowing for the identification of characteristic "types" of scientists (integrated, independent, etc.). We computed the collaboration potential for a set of authors belonging to research groups of an institute specialized in the field of Medical Genetics. The methods presented in the paper are rather general as they can be applied to compute a collaboration potential for a network of cooperating actors in every situation in which one can qualify the content of some activities and which of them are in common among the actors of the network.

The availability of accurate rainfall data with high spatial resolution, especially in vast watersheds with low density of ground-measurements, is critical for planning and management of water resources and can increase the quality of the hydrological modeling predictions. In this study, we used two classical methods: the optimal interpolation and the successive correction method (SCM), for merging ground-measurements and satellite rainfall estimates. Cressman and Barnes schemes have been used in the SCM in order to define the error covariance matrices. The correction of bias in satellite rainfall data has been assessed by using four different algorithms: (1) the mean bias correction, (2) the regression equation, (3) the distribution transformation, and (4) the spatial transformation. The satellite rainfall data were provided by the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, over the Brazilian Amazon Rainforest. Performances of the two merging data techniques are compared, qualitatively, by visual inspection and quantitatively, by a statistical analysis, collected from January 1999 to December 2010. The computation of the statistical indices shows that the SCM, with the Cressman scheme, provides slightly better results.

Very high resolution precipitable water vapor maps obtained by the Sentinel-1 A synthetic aperture radar (SAR), using the SAR interferometry (InSAR) technique, are here shown to have a positive impact on the performance of severe weather forecasts. A case study of deep convection which affected the city of Adra, Spain, on 6-7 September 2015, is successfully forecasted by the Weather Research and Forecasting model initialized with InSAR data assimilated by the three-dimensional variational technique, with improved space and time distributions of precipitation, as observed by the local weather radar and rain gauge. This case study is exceptional because it consisted of two severe events 12hr apart, with a timing that allows for the assimilation of both the ascending and descending satellite images, each for the initialization of each event. The same methodology applied to the network of Global Navigation Satellite System observations in Iberia, at the same times, failed to reproduce observed precipitation, although it also improved, in a more modest way, the forecast skill. The impact of precipitable water vapor data is shown to result from a direct increment of convective available potential energy, associated with important adjustments in the low-level wind field, favoring its release in deep convection. It is suggested that InSAR images, complemented by dense Global Navigation Satellite System data, may provide a new source of water vapor data for weather forecasting, since their sampling frequency could reach the subdaily scale by merging different SAR platforms, or when future geosynchronous radar missions become operational.

In this work we present a methodology to estimate the 3D distribution of water vapor in atmosphere based on the use of SAR interferometry (InSAR) and Sentinel-l data. Maps of propagation delay in atmosphere are assimilated in a high resolution Numerical Weather Model to enhance the forecast of atmosphere parameters. These are used to compute the atmosphere refractivity. Furthermore, 3D maps of hydrometers in atmosphere are derived after the assimilation of InSAR data. Both refractivity and hydrometeors maps are used to map 3D Water vapor patterns in atmosphere. Examples of InSAR signatures of water vapor in atmosphere are shown. We show how the 3D maps liquid refractivity and hydrometeors can be a useful tool to map moisture in atmosphere in case of convective phenomena in atmosphere.

In this work, we study the problem of assimilating high resolution Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) maps using the Weather Research and Forecast 3D Variational Data assimilation system (WRF-3DVar). The PWV maps are obtained using the Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images and the SAR interferometry (InSAR) technique. The influence of the high resolution PWV data on the initial condition of WRF and during the next 12 hours is studied. We demonstrate that the assimilation of InSAR PWV maps increases both the water vapor concentration and temperature over areas affected by extreme weather events so correctly generating localized convection cells. The PWV forecast, after the assimilation of InSAR maps, are compared with the PWV estimates provided by a dense GNSS network. The precipitation pattern and amount are compared to meteorological radar measurements. The case study of the extreme weather event that affected the city of Adra, Spain, on 6 th September 2015, is used to demonstrate how the assimilation of high resolution PWV maps.

alpha-Helices are peculiar atomic arrangements characterizing protein structures. Their occurrence can be used within crystallographic methods as minimal a priori information to drive the phasing process towards solution. Recently, brute-force methods have been developed which search for all possible positions of alpha-helices in the crystal cell by molecular replacement and explore all of them systematically. Knowing the alpha-helix orientations in advance would be a great advantage for this kind of approach. For this purpose, a fully automatic procedure to find alpha-helix orientations within the Patterson map has been developed. The method is based on Fourier techniques specifically addressed to the identification of helical shapes and operating on Patterson maps described in spherical coordinates. It supplies a list of candidate orientations, which are then refined by using a figure of merit based on a rotation function calculated for a template polyalanine helix oriented along the current direction. The orientation search algorithm has been optimized to work at 3 A resolution, while the candidates are refined against all measured reflections. The procedure has been applied to a large number of protein test structures, showing an overall efficiency of 77% in finding alpha-helix orientations, which decreases to 48% on limiting the number of candidate solutions (to 13 on average). The information obtained may be used in many aspects in the framework of molecular-replacement phasing, as well as to constrain the generation of models in computational modelling programs. The procedure will be accessible through the next release of IL MILIONE and could be decisive in the solution of new unknown structures.

Hydrogel composite membranes (HCMs) are used as novel mineralization platforms for the bioinspired synthesis of CaCO3 superstructures. A comprehensive statistical analysis of experimental results revealed quantitative relationships between crystallization conditions and crystal texture and the strong selectivity toward complex morphologies when monomers bearing carboxyl and hydroxyl groups are used together in the hydrogel synthesis in HCMs.

The integration of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) and GPS tomography techniques for the estimation of the 3-D distribution of atmosphere refractivity is discussed. A methodology to use the maps of the temporal changes of precipitable water vapor (PWV) provided by InSAR as a further constraint in the GPS tomography is described. The aim of the methodology is to increase the accuracy of the GPS tomography reconstruction of the atmosphere's refractivity. The results, which are obtained with SAR and GPS data acquired over the Lisbon area, Portugal, are presented and assessed. It has been found that the reconstruction of the atmospheric refractivity is closer to the real atmospheric state with a mitigation of the smoothing effects due to the usual geometrical constraints of the GPS tomography.

The purpose of this article is to present a methodology to identify the sources of activity in brain networks from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data using the multiset canonical correlation analysis algorithm. The aim is to lay the foundations for a screening marker to be used as indicator of mental diseases. Group analysis blind source separation methods have proved reliable to extract the latent sources underlying the brain activities but currently there is no recognized biomarker for mental disorders. Recent studies have identified alterations in the so called default mode network (DMN) that are common to several neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia. In particular, here we account for the hypothesis that the alterations in the DMN activity can be effectively highlighted by analyzing the transient states between two different tasks. A set of fMRI data acquired from 18 subjects performing working memory tasks is investigated for such purpose. Subjects are patients affected by schizophrenia for one half and healthy control subjects for the other. Under these conditions, the proposed methodology provides high discrimination performances in terms of classification error, thereby providing promising results for a preliminary tool able to monitor the disease state or to perform a prescreening for patients at risk for schizophrenia. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

In this paper we analyze the influence of the geographical position on the increase of the total electron content in the ionospheric D-region during solar X-ray flares. We modeled the total electron content using data related to signals whose propagation paths lie in the mid and both mid and low latitude ionosphere. The obtained results indicate a larger increase of the total electron content in the perturbed equatorial D-region where the solar radiation is more pronounced and causes a larger electron density gradient with altitude.

In this study, an experiment aimed to integrate Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) atmospheric data with meteorological data into a neural network system is performed. Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) estimates derived from GNSS are combined with surface pressure, surface temperature and relative humidity obtained continuously from ground-based meteorological stations. The work aims to develop a methodology to forecast short-term intense rainfall. Hence, all the data is sampled at one hour interval. A continuous time series of 3 years of GNSS data from one station in Lisbon, Portugal, is processed. Meteorological data from a nearby meteorological station are collected. Remote sensing data of cloud top from SEVIRI is used, providing collocated data also on an hourly basis. A 3 year time series of hourly accumulated precipitation data are also available for evaluation of the neural network results. In previous studies, it was found that time varying PWV is correlated with rainfall, with a strong increase of PWV peaking just before intense rainfall, and with a strong decrease afterwards. However, a significant amount of false positives was found, meaning that the evolution of PWV does not contain enough information to infer future rain. In this work a multilayer fitting network is used to process the GNSS and meteorological data inputs in order to estimate the target outputs, given by the hourly precipitation. It is found that the combination of GNSS data and meteorological variables processed by neural network improves the detection of heavy rainfall events and reduces the number of false positives.

In this paper, we present the results of an experimentaiming to compare measurements of atmospheric delay bysynthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry and GPS techniquesto estimates by numerical weather prediction. Maps of thedifferential atmospheric delay are generated by processing a setof interferometric SAR images acquired by the ENVISAT-ASARmission over the Lisbon region from April to November 2009. GPSmeasurements of the wet zenith delay are carried out over thesame area, covering the time interval between the first and the lastSAR acquisition. The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)model is used to model the atmospheric delay over the studyarea at about the same time of SAR acquisitions. The analysis ofresults gives hints to devise mitigation approaches of atmosphericartifacts in SAR interferometry applications.

In this paper we summarize the results of an experiment aiming to compare soil moisture estimates obtained by Sentinel-l interferometric data with in-situ measurements. The study area, located close to Lisbon in Companhia das Lezirias, Portugal is characterized by a flat topography, large agricultural areas and sparse vegetation. In a test site, four soil moisture sensors were deployed and soil moisture was measured (at a depth of 5 cm) for a period of 7 months in an hourly basis. For the same interval of time and with a temporal resolution of 6 days C-band Sentinel-l SAR images were interferometrically processed and coherence, phase and phase triplet images were derived. The in-situ soil moisture measurements have been used to predict the analytical interferometric phases, coherences and phase triplets and compared with the measured interferometric phases in both VV and VH polarimetric channels. As a further analysis, a regression analysis of in-situ soil moisture measurement and Sentinel-l backscattering images has been carried out.

We study the impact of assimilating very high-resolution Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) maps into a non-hydrostatic Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) model by the three-dimensional variational (3D-var) technique. PWV maps are obtained by processing the Sentinel-1 Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), using the SAR interferometry (InSAR) technique. Changes in the 3D distribution of water vapor, temperature and wind are studied to explain the onset of a deep convection phenomenon. Sentinel-1 images are used to build a time series of PWV maps having a spatial resolution up to 25 m and a time sampling of 6 days. We show that a sub-daily time sampling can be attained if data from different SAR platforms and/or orbits are used, or when future geosynchronous SAR satellites will become operational. The Weather Research Forecasting Data Assimilation (WRFDA) model is used to implement the 3D-Var technique. The finer 3-km domain is centered over the area of interest. A two-way nesting procedure was used. The initial and boundary conditions are set using ECMWF forecasting over Europe are available at very high resolution (0.1°). The InSAR PWV map are assimilated only on the fine domain (3-km). A model spin-up for 6h. For the assimilation the model is initiated at the time of SAR acquisitions and run for 12 hours. The background error covariance matrix B was computed by the National Meteorological Centre (NMC) method, for the finer-resolution domain, where the model perturbations were given by the differences between forecasts (e.g., T + 24 minus T + 12) valid at the same time over a period of one month. We discuss the improvement of the InSAR PWV assimilation in terms of model thermodynamics. Changes in the Convective Available Potential Energy (CAPE), Convective Inhibition (CIN) and Severe Weather Threat Index (SWEAT) are evaluated and used to improve the detection of deep convection onset. A thorough statistical analysis is performed comparing the WRF output with the results obtained by assimilating InSAR and GNSS-based PWV measurements. We show that the assimilation of InSAR data provides an improvement in terms of precipitation and forecast skill score. We analyze also the changes in the 3D distribution of hydrometeors that in the case of storms can significantly contribute to the measured PWV. A case study of deep convection which affected the city of Adra, Spain, on 6-7 September 2015 is presented. The advantage and limitations of assimilating InSAR data into the mesoscale model are discussed. Reference: P. Mateus, J. Catalão, and G. Nico, "Sentinel-1 Interferometric SAR Mapping of Precipitable Water Vapor Over a Country-Spanning Area", IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 55(5), 2993-2999, 2017.

To reduce the data acquisition time and the high-level sidelobes produced by conventional focusing methods for ground-based synthetic aperture radar interferometry, we present a new method to provide accurate displacement maps based on the dimension-reduced compressive sensing (CS) method combined with the multiple measurement vectors (MMVs) model. The proposed CS method consists in selecting the supported area of targets, estimated by the fast conventional method with undersampled data. The following sparse reconstruction is applied only to the selected areas. The MMV-based approach allows increasing the coherence and the precision of displacement estimates. Two experiments are carried out to assess the performance of the proposed method.

In this work, we study the capability of the ground surface to generate Persistent Scatterers (PS) based on the lithology, slope and aspect angles. These properties affect the scattering behavior of the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) signal, the interferometric phase stability and, as a consequence, the PS generation. Two-time series of interferometric SAR data acquired by two different SAR sensors in the C-band are processed to generate independent PS datasets. The region north of Lisbon, Portugal, characterized by sparse vegetation and lithology diversity, is chosen as study area. The PS frequency distribution is obtained in terms of lithology, slope and aspect angles. This relationship could be useful to estimate the expected PS density in landslide-prone areas, being lithology, slope and aspect angles important landslide predisposing factors.

In this work we study the problem of mapping soil moisture by means of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images. A test site has been set in Companhia das Lezirias, close to Lisbon, Portugal. The main advantage of using SAR images is their capability to map soil moisture at a very high spatial resolution. This opens interesting perspectives for agricultural applications, where soil moisture can abruptly change across field boundaries depending on the agricultural practices. The study area is characterized by flat topography, large agricultural areas and sparse vegetation. Five sensors have been deployed in a test area to measure soil moisture with a sampling time of one hour for a period of seven months. In-situ measurements are compared with the results obtained by processing 33 C-band Sentinel-1 images using the SAR interferometry technique. The aim of the study is to analyze the relation between the interferometric phase and time varying soil moisture. The main advantage of SAR interferometry with respect to the use of radar cross-section is that the information about soil moisture can be recovered using a reduced number of in-situ measurements. In particular, we combine three interferograms obtained from three SAR images, acquired over the same area at different times, to derive maps of bi-coherence and phase triplet. This last quantity allows to disentangle the phase contribution due to soil moisture from those related to microwave propagation in atmosphere and terrain displacements. Results are compared to those obtained using the interferometric phase and coherence to emphasize the importance to split the effects due to propagation (e.g. atmosphere) from those related to volume scattering.

In this work, we exploit the integration of anadvanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry techniqueand the application of the finite-element method for theassessment and the interpretation of a localized subsidence phenomenonthat took place within a specific area of Lisbon, Portugal.SAR images over the Lisbon city, covering different time intervalsin the period of 1995-2010, were acquired and processed bymeans of the persistent scatterers (PSs) technique. Results clearlyreveals a localized subsidence, limited to an area 2 km × 1.5 kmwide, which has been confirmed by the leveling performed in 1976,1996, and 2010. A physical interpretation of the observed grounddeformations is provided based on the results of a finite-elementmodel using stratigraphic data, in situ piezometric measurements,and geotechnical properties of the involved soils. The ground subsidenceis interpreted as the consequence of a consolidation processaffecting the central fine-grained soil layer, which in turn has beendriven by water withdrawal from the existing aquifers. The changeof the hydraulic boundary conditions was generated by the excavationworks for the construction of underground lines and alsoby the reduction of rainfall water infiltration as an effect of theincrease in ground surface impermeable areas due to urbanization.The consequent consolidation process of the compressiblefine-grained soil layer is supposed to provide a reasonable explanationof the observed time series of ground displacement in theexamined area.

In this work, we exploit the integration of an advanced synthetic aperture radar (SAR) interferometry technique and the application of the finite-element method for the assessment and the interpretation of a localized subsidence phenomenon that took place within a specific area of Lisbon, Portugal. SAR images over the Lisbon city, covering different time intervals in the period of 1995-2010, were acquired and processed by means of the persistent scatterers (PSs) technique. Results clearly reveals a localized subsidence, limited to an area 2 km × 1.5 km wide, which has been confirmed by the leveling performed in 1976, 1996, and 2010. A physical interpretation of the observed ground deformations is provided based on the results of a finite-element model using stratigraphic data, \textit{in situ} piezometric measurements, and geotechnical properties of the involved soils. The ground subsidence is interpreted as the consequence of a consolidation process affecting the central fine-grained soil layer, which in turn has been driven by water withdrawal from the existing aquifers. The change of the hydraulic boundary conditions was generated by the excavation works for the construction of underground lines and also by the reduction of rainfall water infiltration as an effect of the increase in ground surface impermeable areas due to urbanization. The consequent consolidation process of the compressible fine-grained soil layer is supposed to provide a reasonable explanation of the observed time series of ground displacement in the examined area.

Recently, synthetic aperture radar interferometry (InSAR) has been recognized as a promising tool to generate high-resolution maps of atmospherical precipitable water vapor temporal changes (Delta PWV) from the propagation delay of radar signal in atmosphere. The relationship between Delta PWV and propagation delay mainly depends on the vertical profiles of temperature and water vapor pressure. In this letter, we present a methodology to study the spatial and temporal variations of the temperature's vertical profile and generate more accurate high-resolution Delta PWV maps by means of InSAR.

In this paper, we describe a new methodology for the nondestructive measurement of absolute displacements of a pier during a bollard pull trial by ground-based synthetic aperture radar (GBSAR) interferometry. This technique measures displacement patterns with a submillimeter precision in any weather conditions, operating at a distance up to 4 km from the target area. Bollard pull trials are performed to study the deformation response of a pier when a static pull is applied by a tug to a bollard on the pier edge. The precise measurement of the pulling force and the corresponding displacement pattern of the pier around the bollard is a useful piece of information for the back-analysis studies during the assessment phases of recently built piers. An experiment is carried out to measure pier's displacements at 12 co-located corner reflectors (CRs) and surveying prisms, by SAR interferometry and topographic techniques during a bollard pull trial. The GBSAR results have been validated at the CR locations using the displacement measurements provided by topographic survey. The pulling force applied to the bollard is measured by a load cell specifically customized to precisely measure the pulling force during the trial. Results demonstrate that GBSAR systems can provide a useful tool for the assessment of harbor infrastructures, such as piers, measuring absolute displacements with near-real time capabilities.

A method to derive accurate spatially dense maps of 3-D terrain displacement velocity is presented. It is based on the merging of terrain displacement velocities estimated by time series of interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) data acquired along ascending and descending orbits and repeated GPS measurements. The method uses selected persistent scatterers (PSs) and GPS measurements of the horizontal velocity. An important step of the proposed method is the mitigation of the impact of atmospheric phase delay in InSAR data. It is shown that accurate vertical velocities at PS locations can be retrieved if smooth horizontal velocity variations can be assumed. Furthermore, the mitigation of atmospheric effects reduces the spatial dispersion of vertical velocity estimates resulting in a more spatially regular 3-D velocity map. The proposed methodology is applied to the case study of Azores islands characterized by important tectonic phenomena.

Nel febbraio del 2010 nei pressi dell'abitato di Maierato, in provincia di Vibo Valentia, si è verificata una franaprofonda, evoluta in colata veloce, che ha determinato una condizione di grave emergenza. Le attività di studio eindagine condotte nell'ambito dell'Ordinanza della Presidenza del Consiglio dei Ministri n. 3862/2010 ed i successiviapprofondimenti, hanno evidenziato la presenza di un'antica frana nella parte sud dell'abitato, in località Vonace. Inparticolare, lo studio geologico-strutturale e geomorfologico ha evidenziato che si tratta di un antico scorrimento inblocco, costituito da calcare evaporitico messiniano, con movimento lungo una superficie a basso angolo, localizzataall'interno delle sottostanti marne emipelagiche tortoniano-messiniane, prossima al contatto stratigrafico tra le dueunità. L'antica scarpata di frana è attualmente modellata ed il blocco di calcare evaporitico traslato si trova nella partebassa del versante. Su base geologico-geomorfologica non sussistono elementi riconducibili ad una riattivazione delloscorrimento in blocco e un'analoga indicazione si desume dall'analisi di sensitività delle condizioni di stabilità condottacon riferimento al modello geotecnico preliminare. I tempi e le risorse necessari per continuare gli approfondimenti distudio, e la presenza in località Vonace di elementi geologico-strutturali simili a quelli riscontrati nel versante coinvoltodalla frana del febbraio 2010, suggeriscono l'opportunità di utilizzare il monitoraggio per il controllo dell'area e perindividuare variazioni significative di grandezze correlabili alle condizioni di instabilità. Nella nota è pertanto illustratauna sperimentazione che vede l'utilizzo di un monitoraggio che considera l'integrazione dei dati acquisiti da misureGPS, inclinometriche e da Ground-Based SAR (GBSAR). In particolare, l'analisi delle misure eseguite fornisceindicazioni circa lo stato di attività della frana antica considerata. Le indicazioni desunte dalla sperimentazione condottaforniscono gli elementi per precisare la strategia di monitoraggio integrato, con tecniche tradizionali e tecnologieinnovative, finalizzata al controllo nel medio-lungo termine delle condizioni di movimento ed alla mitigazione delrischio da frana in località Vonace. I risultati ottenuti indirizzano, inoltre, la prosecuzione degli approfondimenti distudio in corso.

The work deals the monitoring of a single ancient landslide detected in the Vonace area,southwards of Maierato (Calabria, Italy). A 18-hour-measurement campaign has been carriedout using the Ground-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBSAR) interferometry techniquecarried between March, 25th and 26th. Displacement maps have been geolocated and overlaidto a Digital Elevation Model of the scene. It has been observed that the Vonace area is almoststable except two portions located at the foot of the ancient landslide and at the centre of thetown, respectively. In both cases, a maximum displacement of about 0.5 mm has beenmeasured. A further campaign is needed to confirm this displacement.

The aim of this paper is to describe how ground-based radar interferometry can provide displacement measurements of earth dam surfaces and of vibration frequencies of its main concrete infrastructures. In many cases, dams were built many decades ago and, at that time, were not equipped with in situ sensors embedded in the structure when they were built. Earth dams have scattering properties similar to landslides for which the Ground-Based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBSAR) technique has been so far extensively applied to study ground displacements. In this work, SAR and Real Aperture Radar (RAR) configurations are used for the measurement of earth dam surface displacements and vibration frequencies of concrete structures, respectively. A methodology for the acquisition of SAR data and the rendering of results is described. The geometrical correction factor, needed to transform the Line-of-Sight (LoS) displacement measurements of GBSAR into an estimate of the horizontal displacement vector of the dam surface, is derived. Furthermore, a methodology for the acquisition of RAR data and the representation of displacement temporal profiles and vibration frequency spectra of dam concrete structures is presented. For this study a Ku-band ground-based radar, equipped with horn antennas having different radiation patterns, has been used. Four case studies, using different radar acquisition strategies specifically developed for the monitoring of earth dams, are examined. The results of this work show the information that a Ku-band ground-based radar can provide to structural engineers for a non-destructive seismic assessment of earth dams.

A new methodology for the mapping of intertidal terrain morphology is presented. It is based on the use of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images and the temporal correlation between the SAR backscatter intensity and the water level on the intertidal zone. The proposed methodology does not require manual editing, providing a set of geolocated pixels that can be used to generate a digital elevation model of the intertidal zone. The methodology is validated using TerraSAR-X SAR images acquired over Tagus estuary. This methodology can be useful for the regular updating of intertidal bathymetric models useful for both flood hazard mitigation and morphodynamics modeling.

Tangible cultural heritage, historical buildings and bridges have an important cultural significance and economic value within the tourism industry and the identity of local communities. The preservation and the assessment of their structural health are important issues which call for multidisciplinary teams and non-invasive monitoring techniques due the uniqueness and historical values of these man-made structures. Numerical models used to study the structural behavior of these historical buildings and bridges under different adverse conditions (eg intense traffic flow, natural hazard events, chemical pollution or simply aging) can benefit from accurate measurements of mechanical properties such as displacements and vibration frequencies, both bringing information about the static and dynamical behavior of such historical constructions. This work presents some results of structural monitoring of man-made structures by Ground-based Synthetic Aperture Radar (GBSAR) interferometry techniques. A ku-band GBSAR interferometer is used to derive displacement maps of the monitored target, with a sub-millimeter precisions. Furthermore, GBSAR interferometry is used to measure vibration frequencies of vertical and horizontal structures, such bell towers, towers, bridges and historical walls. The main advantage of this technique is its capability to operate in any weather and sun-illumination condition, in a truly Non-Destructive Monitoring (NDM) approach, ie without installing any reflector on the observed target.

The cooperation of scientists in Big-Sky-Earth COST Action creates an emergent group of researchers with relation to meteor science. Selected cases of development of novel approaches and techniques for meteor simulation and observation are presented.

In this work we present a methodology for the mapping of Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) temporal variations based on the Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry technique and Sentinel-1 data. The shift in the interferometric phase caused by the refraction of the microwave signal penetrating the snow layer is isolated and exploited to generate maps of temporal variation of SWE from coherent SAR interferograms. The main advantage of the proposed methodology with respect to those based on the inversion of microwave SAR backscattering models is its simplicity and the reduced number of required in-situ SWE measurements. The maps, updated up to every 6 days, can attain a spatial resolution up to 20 m with sub-centimetre ASWE measurement accuracy in any weather and sun illumination condition. We present results obtained using the proposed methodology over a study area in Finland. These results are compared with in-situ measurements of ASWE, showing a reasonable match with a mean accuracy of about 6 mm.

A method that is used to generate synthetic interferograms of the atmospheric phase delay temporal changes is presented. The Weather Research and Forecasting Model is used to forecast the spatial distribution of the main atmospheric parameters at the acquisition times of synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The method is applied to mitigate atmospheric artifacts in SAR interferograms. The Lisbon Region and the Pico and Faial Islands in the Azores archipelago are chosen as case studies. They are characterized by a different temporal behavior of atmospheric phase delay properties. Results are assessed by means of a statistical analysis.

The geomorphological evolution of the Pliocene-Quaternary Auletta basin, a wide fault-bounded depression of the southern Apennines axial zone, Italy, was reconstructed using both DEM-based morphometric analysis and classical morphotectonic investigations. Morphotectonic analyses have been integrated with geological, structural and paleomagnetic data in order to reconstruct the Quaternary evolution of the area. The Auletta basin coincides with the lower valley of the Tanagro River and is filled by Pliocene to Pleistocene marine and continental sediments. The strike of the basin is N120-130 degrees, according to the main fault systems of the area. Long-term landscape evolution results from interaction and feedback of geomorphic stages with the morphogenesis of erosional land surfaces alternating with tectonic pulses in which also block-tectonic rotation occurred. The ages of the morphological de-activation of such terraced surfaces have been roughly defined on the grounds of their morpho-stratigraphic relationships with Pliocene and Quaternary deposits, and better constrained by radiometric dating. Tectonic tilting has been established from morphological relationships between rotated blocks related to the activity of the Alburni fault line and the several generations of erosional and depositional land surfaces. The stratigraphic, structural, paleomagnetic and geomorphological data presented here suggest that the studied basin appears to have a more complex tectonic evolution than an extensional graben. Transtensional tectonics along NW-SE striking, listric faults of the Alburni margin system created the depression since Pliocene times, whereas extensional tectonics plays a key role in the middle to late Pleistocene morphotectonic evolution of the basin. This work demonstrates the usefulness of an integrated analysis in order to extract information on tectonic activity and landscape evolution in the Auletta basin, as an example for other study areas.

Earth Observation (EO) mining systems aim at supportingefficient access and exploration of large volumes of imageproducts. In this work, we address the problem ofcontent-based image retrieval via example-based queriesfrom Petabyte-scale EO data archives. To this end, wepropose an interactive data mining system that relies ondistributing unsupervised ingestion processes onto virtualmachine instances in elastic, on-demand computinginfrastructures that also support archive-scale contentindexing via a "big data" analytics cluster-computingframework. In particular, we focus on the analysis ofpolarimetric SAR data, for which target decompositiontheorems have proved fundamental in discovering patterns indata and in characterizing the ground scattering properties.Experiments are carried out on the publicly availableUAVSAR full polarimetric data archive, whose basicproducts amount to about 0.64 PB of storage. We report theresults of the tests performed by using a public IaaS. Theobtained measures appear promising for data mapping andinformation retrieval applications.

This paper presents a methodology to generate maps of atmosphere's precipitable water vapor (PWV) over large areas with a length of hundreds of kilometers and a width of about 250 km, based on the use of interferometric Sentinel-1A/BC-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data with a high spatial resolution of 5 x 20 m(2) and the revisiting time of six days. An algorithm to calibrate and merge PWV maps from different swaths of Sentinel-1 acquired along the same track, using global navigation satellite system (GNSS) measurements, is described. The proposed methodology is tested on Sentinel-1A SAR images acquired over the Iberian Peninsula, along both descending and ascending tracks. The assessment with an independent set of GNSS measurements shows a mean difference of a fraction of millimeter and a dispersion lower than 2 mm. Both the use of Sentinel-1A/B SAR images and the proposed methodology open new perspectives on the application of SAR meteorology for the high-resolution mapping of PWV over large region-spanning areas and the assimilation of interferometric SAR data into numerical weather models.

The role of protein Z (PZ) in the etiology of human disorders is unclear. A number of PZ gene variants, sporadic or polymorphic and found exclusively in the serine protease domain, have been observed. Crystal structures of PZ in complex with the PZ-dependent inhibitor (PZI) have been recently obtained. The aim of this study was a structural investigation of the serine protease PZ domain, aiming at finding common traits across disease-linked mutations. We performed 10-20 ns molecular dynamics for each of the observed PZ mutants to investigate their structure in aqueous solution. Simulation data were processed by novel tools to analyse the residue-by-residue backbone flexibility. Results showed that sporadic mutations are associated with anomalous flexibility of residues belonging to specific regions. Among them, the most important is a loop region which is in contact with the longest I helix of PZI. Other regions have been identified, which hold anomalous flexibility associated with potentially protective gene variants. In conclusion, a possible interpretation of effects associated with observed gene variants is provided. The exploration of PZ/PZI interactions seems essential in explaining these effects.

Modulated enhanced diffraction (MED) is a technique allowing the dynamicstructural characterization of crystalline materials subjected to an externalstimulus, which is particularly suited for in situ and operando structuralinvestigations at synchrotron sources. Contributions from the (active) part of thecrystal system that varies synchronously with the stimulus can be extracted by anoffline analysis, which can only be applied in the case of periodic stimuli andlinear system responses. In this paper a new decomposition approach based onmultivariate analysis is proposed. The standard principal component analysis(PCA) is adapted to treat MED data: specific figures of merit based on theirscores and loadings are found, and the directions of the principal componentsobtained by PCA are modified to maximize such figures of merit. As a result, ageneral method to decompose MED data, called optimum constrainedcomponents rotation (OCCR), is developed, which produces very preciseresults on simulated data, even in the case of nonperiodic stimuli and/ornonlinear responses. The multivariate analysis approach is able to supply in oneshot both the diffraction pattern related to the active atoms (through the OCCRloadings) and the time dependence of the system response (through the OCCRscores). When applied to real data, OCCR was able to supply only the latterinformation, as the former was hindered by changes in abundances of differentcrystal phases, which occurred besides structural variations in the specific caseconsidered. To develop a decomposition procedure able to cope with thiscombined effect represents the next challenge in MED analysis.

Big Data Era in Sky and Earth Observation (BIG-SKY-EARTH, http://www.bigskyearth.eu) is COST Action that aims at setting the ground for a long-term networking between astronomy and remote sensing research communities in the area of Big Data utilization. The purpose of BIG-SKY-EARTH is to emphasize similarities between these disciplines and boost the communication within and between the emerging field of astroinformatics and its older Earth Observation counterpart geoinformatics, in close collaboration with computer scientists. The Action is now entering its final year and the results are visible on several scales. There are many examples of concrete "industrial cross-pollination" stories where BIG-SKY-EARTH facilitated exchange of methods and knowledge between network participants. For example, remote sensing and astronomy big data repositories for meteorological nowcasting, thermosolar energy production forecasting, astronomy big data analytics libraries for wind farm predictive maintenance visualization, astronomy and remote sensing C-based stack for scalable numerical analysis used in advanced manufacturing analytics, GPU analytics for remote sensing and industrial analytics, or developing astronomy platform on the top of commercial remote sensing airship to enable transfer the same technology to a high-resolution remote sensing platform. Some of those collaborations expanded into research papers or even project proposals for H2020 based on partnerships between academia and industry, including developing new types of astronomy and remote sensing research based on innovative airship technologies. The Action has also organized three training schools so far: "Big Data Processing" (Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany), "Big Data Visualization" (Preston, UK), "Big Data GPU Analytics" (San Sebastián, Spain). On the level of the entire networking, the Action is also working on the book "Big Data in AstroGeoInformatics" and accompanying code and algorithm repository. Altogether, the established level of activity and interests for further collaboration suggest that this networking will actively continue also after the official end of COST funding. This presentation will also show two examples of research activities that the presenter started thanks to BIG-SKY-EARTH. The first example focuses on the Precipitable Water Vapor (PWV) estimated from Sentinel-1 images using the SAR interferometry technique. Large databases of high resolution Sentinel-1 PWV maps will need to be analyzed before their assimilation in Numerical Weather Models and use for the estimation of geophysical parameters. This research started during an STSM visit at the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute led to the first tools for the analysis of PWV time series in terms of terrain topography and landcover and the visualization of atmosphere thermodynamic quantities [1]. The second example is on the mapping of the Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) using Sentinel-1 SAR images[2-4]. References: [1]G.Nic

In the Grande da Pipa river basin, north of Lisbon, 64 % of the total number of landslides inventoried is totally or partially included in a lithological unit composed by marl, clay, and sandstone intercalation complex that is present in 58 % of the study area. The Persistent Scatterer synthetic aperture radar interferometry technique is applied to a data set of TerraSAR-X SAR images, from April of 2010 to March of 2011, firstly to the Laje-Salema test site and further exported to the Grande da Pipa river basin. This work's specific objectives are the following: (i) to assess the potential of the Persistent Scatterer displacement maps to the identification of new landslides/unstable areas and in the redefinition of landslide limits, (ii) to update the landslide state of activity, and (iii) to evaluate the capacity of the Persistent Scatterer deformation maps in assessing landslide susceptibility at the regional scale. Based on this approach, it was possible to increment the number of landslides and to redefine the landslide limits in the test site in 3.8 %. For 39 landslides, it was possible to update the landslide state of activity, in particular from dormant to reactivated or dormant-reactivated (23 landslides) or from stabilized to reactivated (5 landslides). Landslide susceptibility map based in Persistent Scatterer deformation rates, independently validated with a deep rotational slide map, obtained the best value of area under the curve (0.668).

This paper studies the problem of the assimilation of precipitable water vapor (PWV), estimated by synthetic aperture radar interferometry, using the Weather Research and Forecast Data Assimilation model 3-D variational data assimilation system. The experiment is designed to assess the impact of the PWV assimilation on the hydrometers and the rainfall predictions during 12 h after the assimilation time. A methodology to obtain calibrated maps of PWV and estimated their precision is also presented. The forecasts are compared with GPS estimates of PWV and with rainfall observations from a meteorological radar. Results show that after data assimilation, there is a correction of the bias in the PWV prediction and an improvement in the prediction of the weak to moderate rainfall up to 9 h after the assimilation time.

This paper is focused on visualization of the information extracted by GBSAR data acquired in landslide areas. It describes the way Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) can be used to generate and visualize accurate GBSAR images and displacement maps in near real time. Examples of GBSAR images, as radar coordinates and rendered on Digital Surface Models (DSMs), coherence and displacement maps are shown.