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Natural Hazards

Natural hazard

Advances in earthquakes forecasting pass through machine learning

January 25, 2021
Advances in earthquakes forecasting pass through machine learning
image edited from https://www.information-age.com/how-kubernetes-extends-machine-learning-ml-123492360/

In today’s interview, we meet Dr Fabio Corbi, a researcher at IGAG-CNR, the Institute of Environmental Geology and Geoengineering of the Italian National Research Council. Fabio has experience in analogue modelling of megathrust earthquakes and he is currently exploring the potentiality of machine learning in this research field. Hi Fabio, would you briefly tell us about you and your career? ...[Read More]

Climate Change: is Viticulture under threat?

December 21, 2020
Climate Change: is Viticulture under threat?
Figure 1 - Supercell reaching Soave hills, north-eastern Italy. (Photo credit: Elizabeth Zanella, Coffele Estate Wine Farm)

In the afternoon of August 29, 2020, an intense supercell, which is a thunderstorm characterized by the presence of a deep, persistently rotating updraft, affected the province of Verona in the north of Italy (Figure 1). It was not the first event of this kind; several other events, including tornado episodes, had already occurred during summer 2020. Here the video of the downburst recorded during ...[Read More]

A look into the life of a volcanologist in Japan, one of the most hazardous countries for volcanoes

December 7, 2020
A look into the life of a volcanologist in Japan, one of the most hazardous countries for volcanoes
Microscopic rock art. Chemical and textural features of olivine (ol) and orthopyroxene (opx) crystals in a lava flow from Ruapehu are revealed in these backscattered electrons (BSE) and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) images. On the left, the grayscale intensity reflects the iron and magnesium contents of the minerals (brighter = higher iron (Fe); darker = higher magnesium (Mg)). On the right, unique colours correspond to the different orientations of the crystals in this cluster. Photo Credit: Chris Conway.

In this interview, I talk with Chris Conway about his experience as a volcanologist in Japan, which is one of the countries with the highest volcanic threat in the world. You will read how studying crystals found within erupted lava flows can help hazard mitigation at active volcanoes and how volcanic hazard is managed in Japan.   Hi Chris!! Thank you for accepting this interview, first and foremo ...[Read More]

The earthquake traffic light

November 9, 2020
The earthquake traffic light

Dr. Laura Gulia is a senior post-doc at the University of Bologna, Department of Physics and Astronomy. She has a strong experience in statistical seismology, seismicity analysis as well as seismic hazard and risk assessment. Recently, she investigated the spatio-temporal evolution of the earthquake size distribution throughout a seismic sequence focusing on the b-value, a parameter characterizing ...[Read More]