Speaker
Description
Established in the early 2000s at the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV), the SISMOS Project represents one of the most significant Italian initiatives devoted to the recovery, preservation, and enhancement of the nation’s historical scientific heritage, including instruments, seismograms, documents, and archives at risk of loss or deterioration.
Over the past twenty-five years, SISMOS has carried out extensive activities in research, cataloguing, restoration, and digital reproduction of national and international seismological heritage. Among its major achievements are the recovery and restoration of more than thirty historical instruments, the preservation of documentary collections, and the high-resolution digital scanning of over 200,000 historical seismograms recorded between the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries and recorded in approximately 200 Italian and European observatories.
In parallel, the project has contributed to the development of an information system and a dedicated website providing open access to these data and related information for the international scientific community. This effort has fostered the growth of an international seismological sub-community specialising in the use of historical seismic recordings for the study of major earthquakes that occurred between the late nineteenth century and the mid-twentieth century.
SISMOS has also promoted numerous exhibitions, conferences, and public outreach initiatives, contributing to the dissemination of scientific culture and seismic risk awareness. Today, SISMOS represents a reference framework for the integration of historical observations with modern digital infrastructures and for the study and scientific exploitation of historical seismographic data.