The science-to-technology breakthrough of the present proposal will be the development of the innovative strain sensing technology illustrated in Fig. 1. The outcome of the proposed technology will be an optical fibre strain sensor with picostrain resolution (10-12), measurement band 0-100 Hz, temperature range -20-700 °C, suitable for remote, ultra high-resolution ground strain measurements to be applied in a wide spectrum of Geosciences’ purposes.
The new sensing technology will be obtained by the combining operating principles belonging to the fields of micromechanical resonators and distributed optical fibre sensors. The proposed device will be constituted by a vacuum-encapsulated SiC (silicon carbide) thin membrane resonator mounted on the termination of a multimode optical fiber (Fig. 1-a).
Natural geohazards, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, are major concern for Society and their effects may profoundly impacts human life and Earth’s environment. At the territory of Italy, earthquakes represent a significant burden for the people’s life security and generate a considerable financial loss due to infrastructure damage. Recently, more than 250 persons died due to a magnitude M6 earthquake in the Central Italy. Continuous monitoring of the seismic activity of the faults of the Italian territory that go from the Alps to Sicily, of the faults of the Balkan peninsula and of the Anatolian one, with an efficient and affordable strain meter, would help safe human lives and reduce the financial burden by timely signalling and evacuation. Volcano eruptions also have a large impact on the Society with significant casualties and destructions of human infrastructures. More than 500 million people live within the potential exposure range of a volcano. The risk of catastrophic losses in future eruptions is significant given population growth, proximities of major cities to volcanoes, and the possibility of larger eruptions.
