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The Basilicata region (Italy) is affected by the intense seismic activity of the Apenninic Chain. Since 1998 the University of Basilicata and the Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis (IMAA-CNR) started a multi-parametric geophysical monitoring including seismometers and accelerometers. The 1996 marked the initial deployment of the Civil Protection of Province of Potenza accelerometric network with permanent real-time link since 2006. In 2003, the Basilicata regional government started a microzonation project that allowed the University and IMAA-CNR to manage a mobile accelerometric network and to redesign the permanent seismic and accelerometric network. This paper reviews the main results achieved so far, the data that will be contributed to ITACA (the Italian Accelerometric network) and the future developments of the two networks.

Worldwide interest in reducing greenhouse gases has led to apply the more accurate, less invasive imaging methods of geophysics for quantifying the root biomass and evaluating their critical role in space and time. The general aim of this work is to apply the combined application of geoelectrical imaging techniques (non-destructive) and conventional soil methods (destructive) on representative soil samples to study the spatial distribution of orchard tree roots and their relation to physical soil properties in tilled soil. This combined application aims at investigating roots, characterising them from other subsurface heterogeneities and studying (empirical) relationships between electrical resistivity, pedo-hydrological properties (e.g., texture, stone content, water content and quality) and root parameters (e.g., woody and fine root length, root density). This serve identify all sources of variability encountered in the experiment in an effort to improve the applicability of electrical resistivity techniques in this field. Using 2-D electrical tomography a set of field geoelectrical measurements were carried out at the study site for studying the spatial variability of soil root zone under varying conditions of soil management, stone content, clay content and moisture content. Resulting 2D and 3D resistivity Ú models can image root zones and hydro pedological horizons and heterogeneities. The Ú models are correlated with soil and root multiparameters measured directly on a sequence of core samples collected from trenches excavated below electrical profiles post to the survey. Results reflect a complex spatial variability of these parameters. The effects on the resistivity of the measured soil system parameters were investigated through multiregressive statistical analysis using backward method with confidence intervals of 95%. Resistivity shows significant relationships with stone content, woody root length and total root biomass density, soil salinity (measured by electrical conductivity) and particularly water content ?.

The results of a geophysical survey carried out in the historical area of "Sassi of Matera" (Basilicata region, southern Italy) are presented and discussed. Matera is one of the most fascinating and ancient towns of the Mediterranean area and is listed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. It represents an example of a town where the communities developed a cave-life culture in the cavities excavated through the Substratum of the hill of Matera. The urban area of Matera, therefore, is characterized by a complex system of interconnected and overlapping ancient shallow cavities: residences, galleries, cisterns, crypts, graves, etc. Consequently, local surface deformation phenomena are often observed. We describe the results from a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) survey carried out in St. Rocco Square, one of the most interesting areas of the historical centre of Matera, that was affected by both spread out and local subsidence phenomena. Great attention was paid to GPR data processing and inversion. In particular, a novel microwave tomography approach was applied to obtain high-resolution images of shallow ancient cavities that caused the local Surface deformations. Moreover, the GPR survey was integrated with an electrical resistivity tomography survey in order to prospect those Subsurface zones with a high electrical conductivity, where GPR investigation was not possible. The geophysical investigation enabled us to identify the cause of the subsidence phenomena and to reconstruct the geometry of the complex system of shallow cavities partially filled with unconsolidated material.

The Tursi-Rabatana historical site is very representative of the cultural heritage of Basilicata, Southern Italy. Morphological evolution of the landscape is characterized by very intense erosive phenomena such as landslides, deep gullies, rills, and piping, which affect the perimeter of urban settlements and threaten the conservation of these sites. Rainfalls and the lithology of the substratum are the main factors to which the landscape evolution is linked, triggering landslide and linear erosion phenomena. Climate analysis carried out during the last century showed an increasing trend in the rainfall intensity over extremely short periods. This condition also induced an increase in the vulnerability level of the slopes. Integrated analysis between territorial data (geology, geomorphology, climate) and historical documents showed that, at least from the last century, the geomorphological hazard has been accentuated by the intense human activity of cave excavation along several fronts under the present urban area. The geophysical investigation also permitted the mapping of shallow caves and tunnels in the subsurface reconstructing the multilevel complex hypogeal system. This work also produced evidence that the human interventions occurring during the historical period have been a determining factor in increasing the hazard level and accelerating the preexisting morphological processes.

The multiple segmenting method (MSM) has been applied to investigate the scaling behaviour in the Earth's apparent resistivity time series, measured in a seismic area of southern Italy. The study of apparent resistivity represents one of the most important scientific challenges in the studies devoted to the geophysical monitoring. Our results show that apparent resistivity is characterized by a persistent scaling behvaiour at all the periods considered, with the scaling exponent tending approximately to 0.5.

In questo lavoro si presentano i primi risultati relativi all'utilizzo di metodologie geofi-siche per la ricostruzione di apparati radicali di piante arboree, per la detezione di radicierbacee e per lo studio dei complessi fenomeni idrobiogeofisici che avvengono all'interfac-cia pianta-suolo-sottosuolo. Le misure geofisiche sono state effettuate sia in condizioni controllate, utilizzandovasche contenenti piante di pesco e riempite con terreno omogeneo, e sia in un campo spe-rimentale situato un'area del metapontino (Basilicata) a forte vocazione agricola. Le misu-re di laboratorio sono state ripetute modificando sia la tipologia del terreno che la geome-tria delle radici, in particolare sono stati utilizzati terreni di natura sabbiosa ed argillosa.È stata utilizzata la tecnica della tomografia elettrica di resistività e sono state ottenuteimmagini ad alta risoluzione sia 2D che 3D che hanno ben evidenziato il volume maggior-mente interessato dalla presenza di radici fini erbacee e legnose e le singole strutture legno-se ipogee con diametro superiore ai 50 mm. Le indagini geofisiche sono state opportuna-mente integrate e validate da misure di densità radicale nel sottosuolo, misure di conducibi-lità e di contenuto d'acqua effettuate in una trincea scavata in corrispondenza di uno dei pro-fili geoelettrici.In una seconda fase sono state utilizzate tecniche statistiche multivariate per analizzarele correlazioni tra i valori di resistività ed i parametri di interesse agronomico. I primi risul-tati ottenuti ci permettono di considerare la tomografia geoelettrica uno strumento ottimaleper la diagnostica non invasiva di apparati radicali anche complessi, mostrando la capacitàdi discriminare fra strutture ipogee lignificate e non, e fra le radici erbacee funzionali e quel-le morte. La tecnica ha permesso anche di ottenere informazioni sulla distribuzione spazia-le della fase liquida del suolo, e della sua conducibilità elettrica, legate alla fisiologia delleradici e di diretto interesse per la gestione agronomica dei sistemi suolo-pianta. Tali attività sono state svolte nell'ambito di una collaborazione tra il Dip.di Scienze deiSistemi Colturali, Forestali e dell'Ambiente dell'Università degli Studi della Basilicata, l'Ist.di Metodologie per l'Analisi Ambientale del CNR e la società Geostudi che ha come obiet-tivo strategico la definizione di un approccio fortemente multidisciplinare per lo studio dellageometria e della funzionalità degli apparati radicali.

The results of a geophysical survey carried out at the archaeological site of Masseria Nigro, located on a fluvial terrace on the north-eastern flank of the Agri valley (Viggiano, Basilicata Region), are presented and discussed. The site includes an important ancient structure, developed in successive phases between the 4th and 3rd centuries BC and destroyed after the Roman conquest. Magnetic mapping, GPR profiling and electrical resistivity tomography were applied in the course of geophysical exploration in the archaeological area. The application of these methods revealed information about buried ancient walls, helping to define the boundaries of the whole building. During the first phase of the excavation, archaeologists targeted only the western part of the ancient structure (about 1000 m(2)), but the geophysical survey performed in a second phase was able to cover the entire ancient structure (1400 m(2)), enabling the archaeologists to define the extent of the buried structures. Our findings confirmed the hypothesis of the larger extent of the archaeological area in the eastern part and revealed the complete plan of the ancient building.