Doubtful Events Reported in Current Italian Earthquake Catalogues: The Medieval Earthquakes of Subiaco (Central Italy)

Within the framework of a study of the seismicity of the Aniene Valley (Central Italy), we analysed the medieval earthquakes of Subiaco (1216, 1227, 1299), the largest events reported for the area. Our main goal was to investigate some doubtful events reported in earthquake catalogues and, as such, currently utilised for seismic hazard estimates. A careful screening of the oldest available sources and their filiation pattern up to the present pointed out the uncertainty on the date and nature of these phenomena. A multidisciplinary approach based on the joint analysis of archaeological, geomorphologic and historical evidence allowed us to propose new interpretations concerning these events and their significance for the assessment of seismic hazard in the Aniene Valley. The main conclusion is that the dates of the 1216 and 1227 events are fairly unsupported. In particular, the 1216 earthquake could be dated back to between AD 1159 and 1181.     

The large earthquake of 8 August 1303 in Crete: seismic scenario and tsunami in the Mediterranean area

By conducting a historical review of this large seismic event in the Mediterranean, it has been possible to identify both the epicentral area and the area in which its effects were principally felt. Ever since the nineteenth century, the seismological tradition has offered a variety of partial interpretations of the earthquake, depending on whether the main sources used were Arabic, Greek or Latin texts. Our systematic research has involved the analysis not only of Arab, Byzantine and Italian chronicle sources, but also and in particular of a large number of never previously used official and public authority documents, preserved in Venice in the State Archive, in the Marciana National Library and in the Library of the Museo Civico Correr. As a result, it has been possible to establish not only chronological parameters for the earthquake (they were previously uncertain) but also its overall effects (epicentral area in Crete, Imax XI MCS). Sources containing information in 41 affected localities and areas were identified. The earthquake also gave rise to a large tsunami, which scholars have seen as having certain interesting elements in common with that of 21 July 365, whose epicentre was also in Crete. As regards methodology, this research made it clear that knowledge of large historical earthquakes in the Mediterranean is dependent upon developing specialised research and going beyond the territorial limits of current national catalogues.     

Assimilating data into open ocean tidal models

The problem of deriving tidal fields from observations by reason of incompleteness and imperfectness of every data set practically available has an infinitely large number of allowable solutions fitting the data within measurement errors and hence can be treated as ill-posed. Therefore, interpolating the data always relies on some a priori assumptions concerning the tides, which provide a rule of sampling or, in other words, a regularization of the ill-posed problem. Data assimilation procedures used in large scale tide modeling are viewed in a common mathematical framework as such regularizations. It is shown that they all (basis functions expansion, parameter estimation, nudging, objective analysis, general inversion, and extended general inversion), including those (objective analysis and general inversion) originally formulated in stochastic terms, may be considered as utilizations of one of the three general methods suggested by the theory of ill-posed problems. The problem of grid refinement critical for inverse methods and nudging is discussed.     

星载合成孔径雷达遥感及多卫星遥感数据融合方法

合成孔径雷达（ＳＡＲ）数据，以其特有的成像机理和对地物信息的属性描述及其全天时、全天候作业能力，形成了对传统多光谱遥感数据的互补。通过数据融合技术，可以优化遥感信息资源，实现多卫星遥感数据的优势互补，使遥感信息得到最大限度的利用，从而为地学研究中的各种模型方法和决策系统提供科学依据。根据信息的抽象程度不同，融合可分为原始数据融合、目标级融合和决策级融合三个层次。在不同的层次具有相对应的信息融合方法。     

数字地震台网大震前地脉动信息变化特征研究

通过计算机对数字地震台网产出的大动态、高分辨率、高精度的地震波形数据进行的实时采集跟踪分析，发现了有些台站大震前地脉动波形的周期和幅度有明显异常变化，探索大震前地脉动变化的特征和规律，将为区域性地震预报研究开辟一条新的途径。     

江苏及南黄海地区历史地震类型分布特征

通过对江苏地区及南黄海海域历史地震资料特点分析，将研究区历史地震类型分为相对安全类和相对危险类，并对地震类型的统计结果、地理分布特征及构造进行探讨. 结果表明:① 江苏及南黄海地区绝大多数中强以上历史地震类型为相对安全类，仅有13.8%的中强以上历史地震为相对危险类；② 江苏陆地、长江口以东海域和南黄海北部坳陷地区以相对安全类地震为主，苏中沿海南黄海海域地震类型分布较为复杂，相对安全类和相对危险类地震类型比例基本相当；③ 研究区历史地震类型统计结果和空间分布特征与现代地震序列类型实况非常吻合，反映本区地震活动具有继承性的特点.研究结果可以作为江苏省地震应急工作中震后早期趋势判定的参考依据.      

区域化探数据处理的几种分形方法

地球化学变量兼有随机性、确定性和区域结构性的特征，传统的数学方法难以精确地描述地球化学变量的空间分布规律，而新兴的分形几何是刻画空间不规则形体的一种比较有效的工具，且分维值可以表征空间不规则形体的确定性本质。基于分形原理，提出含量-总量法、空间分形插值法和分形趋势面法3种新的分形技术，应用于区域化探数据处理。在几个典型矿区应用后发现，上述分形方法不仅可以有效地模拟地球化学变量的空间分布特征，而且在保留原始有效异常信息的基础上可以更合理地区分地球化学变量的背景与异常，具有发现和强化弱异常信息的重要功效。     

工程岩体三维构模中钻孔数据处理方法

原始数据处理是工程岩体三维构模中存在的主要困难之一。从三维构模的角度,将工程岩体按几何特征抽象为4种结构单元类型。钻孔数据是描述工程岩体的重要原始数据,具有多尺度性。针对这个特点,提出钻孔数据纵向概化准则,解决工程岩体多尺度显示问题;根据地质学的地质数据解译方法,结合岩层层状分布的特点,提出层处理方法对钻孔数据进行概化处理,确定工程岩体所对应的结构单元类型,创建工程岩体结构单元三维构模数据,建立由钻孔数据所得到的工程岩体三维模型。     

Revising macroseismic data in Switzerland: The December 20, 1720 earthquake in the region of Lake Constance

Upgrading the Earthquake Catalog of Switzerland (ECOS) included revising the earthquake of 1720. This change has major importance for history and seismology.Although that quake has been the subject of several publications, none was based on critical methods. This re-evaluation of the event is built upon a new and more reliable database established after investigating archives and libraries. Using data from such historical sources, we assigned new site intensities, adopting the criteria established by the European macroseismic scale EMS 98 (Grünthal, 1998).We discovered that the event had been assigned an overestimated intensity, due to interpretation errors in former earthquake catalogs and compilations. We recommend reducing the intensity from I₀= VIII to I₀= VI (EMS 98). The moment magnitude is given as M_W= 4.6. Since the event had been considered the largest for its respective area, downgrading it now will influence the seismic hazard assessment for this region.     

GOCE Gravity Field Processing Strategy

A processing strategy and the corresponding software architecture for the processing of GOCE (Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer) observables is presented and described, with the major objective to compute a high-accuracy, high-resolution spherical harmonic model of the Earth's gravity field. The combination of two numerical solution strategies, i.e. the rigorous solution of the corresponding large normal equation systems applying parallel processing (on a PC cluster) as the core solver, and the fast semianalytic approach as a quick-look gravity field analysis (QL-GFA) tool, is proposed. Such a method fusion benefits from the advantages of the individual components: the rigorous inversion of the system providing also the full variance-covariance information, and the quickness enabling the consecutive production of intermediate gravity field solutions, for the purpose to analyse partial and incomplete data sets and to derive a diagnosis of the performance of the GOCE measurement system. The functionality and operability of the individual components are demonstrated in the framework of a closed loop simulation, which is based on a realistic mission scenario both in terms of the orbit configuration and the coloured measuring noise. Special concern is given to the accuracy of the recovered coefficients, the numerical behaviour, the required computing time, and the particular role of the individual modules within the processing chain. In the case of the core solver, it is demonstrated that the assembling and rigorous solution of large normal equation systems can be handled by using Beowulf clusters within a reasonable computing time. The application of the quick-look tool to partial data sets with short-term data gaps is demonstrated on the basis of several case studies. Additionally, the spectral analysis of the residuals of the adjustment is presented as a valuable tool for the verification of the noise characteristics of the GOCE gradiometer.