Project description
Detecting nanoscale shakes and quakes will enhance crisis management
As populations increase, more and more people are living near volcanoes and seismic faults. Accurate and precise measurement of slow-moving and small strain transients preceding volcanic eruptions and earthquakes is critical to the protection of infrastructure and human lives. Silicon carbide (SiC), particularly in a three-layer stacked cubic crystalline form (3C-SiC), has gained increasing attention as a highly sensitive mechanical strain sensor. The EU-funded SiC nano for PicoGeo project is developing a novel ground strain measurement system for geohazard monitoring that exploits this unique material. It has the potential to detect strain with approximately 100 times greater sensitivity than current technology. Use of fibre lasers for all-optical closed-loop operation will enable electronic readout from locations remote to the sensor location.
Objective
The project addresses an innovative and radical vision, enabled by a new technology concept that challenges current paradigms of high resolution strain detection for Geoscience and Geohazard monitoring. The goal is the development of a radically new dynamic ground strain measurement technology with an ultra-high resolution of 10-12 that is about two order of magnitude better than the presently available technology. The new technology is based on combining the high performance 3C-SiC material with a high Young modulus (almost 3 times higher than silicon) that improves the sensibility of the actual strain sensor, with fiber lasers for novel all-optical closed-loop operation of the resonator. This design gives the opportunity to use an electronic readout far from the borehole and easily accessible out of the deep drilling. In geophysical monitoring the proposed innovative instrument will allow to detect precisions not obtainable with the current instruments. Ultra small and slow strain transients preceding earthquakes and eruptions could be revealed and both new understanding of the volcano and of the seismology process can be obtained. This new sensor will strongly reduce the cost of the strain sensor and will promote a large impulse in the physics study of both the volcanic areas and of the seismogenic faults. Moreover, the small dimension and the cheap cost will allow to monitor a dense vertical profile of strain along a same hole. Therefore, the project outcomes will have direct implications in forecasting volcanic eruptions and thus improve volcano-seismic crisis management. At the end of the project a start-up of one innovative frontier laboratory for advanced monitoring of dynamic strain associated to volcanic and seismic processes will be done. This “Pico strain Etna Lab” will be the starting point of a new network infrastructure that could support and improve the main volcanic regions and the main faults in Europe.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology volcanology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences geology seismology
- engineering and technology electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering electronic engineering sensors
- natural sciences chemical sciences inorganic chemistry metalloids
- natural sciences physical sciences optics laser physics
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.2. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Future and Emerging Technologies (FET)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.2.1. - FET Open
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
RIA - Research and Innovation action
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-FETOPEN-2018-2020
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
00185 Roma
Italy
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.