Gravitation astrometric measurement experiment

The Gravitation Astrometric Measurement Experiment (GAME) is a mission concept based on astronomical techniques (astrometry and coronagraphy) for Fundamental Physics measurements, namely the ?? and ?? parameters of the Parametrized Post-Newtonian formulation of gravitation theories extending the General Relativity. The science case also addresses cosmology, extra-solar planets, Solar System objects and fundamental stellar parameters. The mission concept is described, including the measurement approach and the instrument design.     

Resilience and brittleness in the ALERTA RIO system: a field study about the decision-making of forecasters

Natural disasters, particularly those triggered by heavy rainfall, may cause major damage and death. However, if an accurate early warning is issued, the damage can be mitigated. In Latin America and Brazil, characteristics of socioeconomic development often lead to a disorderly growth of cities and, consequently, occupation and irregular construction in risk areas. Therefore, forecasts of heavy rainfall, as well as preventative and mitigatory actions based on meteorological data/alerts, are essential to saving lives and minimizing material loss. An event that would have benefited from such actions is that which occurred in the mountainous region of Rio de Janeiro in January 2011, when over 800 people lost their lives. This work describes the first research initiative on resilience engineering domain in systems to forecast heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro. The results indicate important sources of brittleness in the system that supports the work of meteorologists, mainly related to the technical and organizational framework, and suggests that the main source of resilience in dealing with critical situations is the tacit knowledge of experts.     

LiDAR-based digital terrain analysis of an area exposed to the risk of lava flow invasion: the Zafferana Etnea territory, Mt. Etna (Italy)

The town of Zafferana Etnea, located on the southeastern slope of Mt. Etna volcano (Italy), has been repeatedly threatened by lava flows in recent centuries. The last serious threat occurred during the 1991–1993 eruption, when the lava front came to a halt only 1.7 km from the centre of town. Morphostructural data derived from light detection and ranging (LiDAR) surveys carried out on Etna in 2005 have enabled us to evaluate the risk of lava invasion in a section (16 km²) of the Zafferana Etnea territory. Qualitative and quantitative results are obtained combining the information derived from LiDAR analysis with geological, morphological and structural data using geographic information systems technology (GIS). The study quantifies in unprecedented detail the areal extent and volume of forested and urban areas and its degree of exposure to different levels of hazard from future lava invasion. Nearly 52% of the urban texture fall into areas of moderate to high risk from lava invasion. Future land use planning should take these findings into account and promote new development preferentially in areas of lower risk.     

'Sediment'–cement relationships in a Pleistocene speleothem from Italy: a possible analogue for 'replacement' cements and Archaeolithoporella in ancient reefs

Ancient carbonate buildups may contain extraordinarily large amounts of early diagenetic precipitates. In some, host rock lamination may be traced into inclusion bands within the 'cement' crystals, suggesting that the crystals are replacive. By analogy with a Pleistocene speleothem from the Sorrento Peninsula, however, these relationships can be explained differently. In the speleothem, large, repeatedly split and dendritic calcite crystals occur within a laminated carbonate. Lamination consists of sub-mm alternations of micrite and microspar. Micritic laminae pass laterally into inclusion-rich growth bands in the dendritic calcite crystals, and have replaced an aragonitic cement, whereas the microspar laminae were primary calcite cements. Three types of inclusion-rich bands occur in the dendrite crystals: (1) with aragonite relicts, (2) 'ribbon calcite' and (3) with oriented micropores. When aragonite precipitated, the calcite dendrite branches were unable to keep growing as single crystals and split into crystallites (separated by micropores, some forming ribbon calcite), whereas during episodes of calcite lamina precipitation, the larger crystals were regenerated by crystallite coalescence. Calcite crystals are primary: they did not replace a micritic precursor. By analogy with the Italian speleothem, some ancient reefal sparry carbonates may not be replacements of earlier laminated sediments, but may have grown concurrently with them. It is also probable that some ancient laminated sediments were instead sea-floor precipitates, and that stromatolites containing cross-cutting crystal fabrics, and the alternating micrite-microspar laminae typical of Archaeolithoporella , could be largely abiotic crystal growths.     

Elasto‐plastic analysis of block structures through a homogenization method

The paper describes the development and numerical implementation of a constitutive relationship for modeling the elasto‐plastic behavior of block structures with periodic texture, regarded at a macroscopic scale as homogenized anisotropic media. The macroscopic model is shown to retain memory of the mechanical characteristics of the joints and of the shape of the blocks. The overall mechanical properties display anisotropy and singularities in the yield surface, arising from the discrete nature of the block structure and the geometrical arrangement of the units. The model is formulated in the framework of multi‐surface plasticity. It is implemented in an finite element (FE) code by means of two different algorithms: an implicit return mapping scheme and a minimization algorithm directly derived from the Haar–Karman principle. The model is validated against analytical and experimental results: the comparison between the homogenized continuum and the original block assembly shows a good agreement in terms of ultimate inelastic behavior, when the size of the block is small as compared with that of the whole assembly. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Ferrara hard X-ray facility for testing/calibrating hard X-ray focusing telescopes

We will report on the current configuration of the X-ray facility of the University of Ferrara recently used to perform reflectivity tests of mosaic crystals and to calibrate the experiment JEM–X aboard Integral. The facility is now located in the technological campus of the University of Ferrara in a new building (named LARIX laboratory= ̳LARge ̳Italian ̳X-ray facility) that includes a tunnel 100 m long with, on the sides, two large experimental rooms. The facility is being improved for determining the optical axis of mosaic crystals in Laue configuration, for calibrating Laue lenses and hard X-ray mirror prototypes.