Detail Project and Funding

Abstract: The MONICA project is aimed to provide a major contribution to prevention and management of sea and coastal environmental emergencies. In particular, an integrated monitoring system, based on fiber optic communication which will connect a network of traditional and innovative sensors, will be realized.
Monitoring activity on emerged areas will be performed on tuff coastal cliffs of Pozzuoli Gulf in order to verify its structural stability and vulnerability, in particular with respect to hydrogeological risk. The monitoring network will thus allow the realization of an early warning system for the management of emergencies and risk mitigation of landslide of coastal settlement.
A further subsystem is dedicated to the acquisition of chemical and physical parameters of sea water and to volcanic and seismic monitoring of submerged areas.
The geophysical parameters to be monitored by means of Fiber Bragg Grating – based innovative sensors, are static, dynamic and acoustic deformations. Slow deformations are in fact often observed in the early phase of landslide, while rapid deformations and accelerations are associated to earthquake and volcanic eruptions.
Traditional sensors will include accelerometer, seismometer, measurers of water and atmosferic temperature and pressure, wind intensity and direction, water and air pollutant.
Geochemical parameters to be monitored include flux and composition variations of fumarolic gases, which correspond to submarine variation of thermo dynamical parameters of the soil. Innovative sensors based on evanescent wave will be realized and spectroscopic techniques will be used to obtain analysis of liquid samples.
Interferometric techniques, based on digital holography, will be used for identification and morphometrical analysis of aquatic micro-organism.

INO’s Experiments/Theoretical Study correlated:
Evanescent-wave sensing and spectroscopy
Surface-plasmon resonance sensing with cavity-enhanced methods
Whispering gallery mode optical resonators

The Scientific Results:
1) Microscopy imaging and quantitative phase contrast mapping in turbid microfluidic channels by digital holography
2) On the holographic 3D tracking of in vitro cells characterized by a highly-morphological change
3) Frequency comb spectroscopy apparatus and method of frequency comb spectroscopy
4) Clear coherent imaging in turbid microfluidics by multiple holographic acquisitions
5) Optical resonators for physical and chemical sensing
6) Enhancing depth of focus in tilted microfluidics channels by digital holography
7) Optical Cavity-Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance refractive index sensing
8) Novel laser techniques for Surface Plasmon Resonance sensing
9) Evanescent-wave comb spectroscopy of liquids with strongly dispersive optical fiber cavities
10) Surface plasmon resonance optical cavity enhanced refractive index sensing
11) Investigating the resonance spectrum of optical frequency combs in fiber-optic cavities
12) Evanescent wave comb spectroscopy in fiber-optic resonators
13) Cavity ring down surface plasmon resonance chemical sensing
14) An Optical-Cavity Enhanced method for Surface Plasmon Resonance sensing
15) Broadband Fiber Dispersion Spectroscopy of Liquids with Optical Frequency Combs
16) Fiber-optic resonators for strain-acoustic sensing and chemical spectroscopy
17) Cavity-enhanced surface-plasmon resonance sensing: modeling and performance
18) Fiber-Optic Cavities for Physical and Chemical Sensing
19) High-sensitivity ring-down evanescent-wave sensing in fiber resonators