Recent advances in deformation sensing have led to new applications in various geophysical disciplines such as earthquake physics, broadband seismology, volcanology, seismic exploration, strong ground motion, earthquake engineering and geodesy.
New developments in translation, rotation and strain sensing enable the complete observation of seismic ground motion and deformation. Applications are manifold, ranging from the reduction of nonuniqueness in seismic inverse problems to the characterization, separation and reconstruction of the seismic wavefield.
Among others, fibre optic technologies is bound to become a standard tool for crustal exploration and seismic monitoring thanks to: (i) easier installation (low cost, simpler installation and maintenance, robustness in harsh environment); (ii) high spatial and temporal resolution over long distance; (iii) broader frequency band. There have been significant breakthroughs, applying fibre optic technologies to interrogate cables at very high precision over very large distances both on land and at sea, in boreholes and at the surface.
These developments overlap with considerable improvements in optical and atom interferometry for inertial rotation and gravity sensing which has led to a variety of improved sensor concepts over the last two decades.
We welcome contributions on theoretical advances and applications of novel sensing methodologies in seismology, geodesy, geophysics, natural hazards, oceanography, urban environment, geothermal investigations, etc. including laboratory studies, large-scale field tests and modelling.

We are happy to announce Nathaniel J. Lindsey as invited speaker.

Observational seismology has witnessed tremendous advances in the last two decades in Europe and worldwide. Current state-of-the-art permanent seismic monitoring means dense deployments of modern broadband velocity and acceleration sensors, often co-located, writing on 24- or 26-bit digitisers, with continuous real-time streaming to data centres. Technological improvements have been accompanied by community developments of standards, protocols, strategies and software to ease and homogenise data acquisition, archival, dissemination and processing. The establishment of EIDA (http://orfeus-eu.org/data/eida/) marked a change of paradigm in seismic data dissemination in Europe. The EIDA federated infrastructure is accessible via standard web services, including those promoted by FDSN. The deployment of dense modern accelerometer networks has progressively blurred the boundary between broadband and strong-motion seismology. Geophysical site characterisation has become standard practice, and open databases have been created to host basic and advanced station metadata. In this dynamic landscape, ORFEUS (http://orfeus-eu.org/) carries out since more than 30 years its mandate to promote and coordinate waveform seismology in Europe through the collection, archival and distribution of seismic waveform data, metadata and closely-related derived products. ORFEUS services (http://orfeus-eu.org/data/) currently provide access to the waveforms acquired by ~ 10,000 stations in Pan-Europe, including dense temporary experiments, with strong emphasis on open data and high data quality. Contributing data to ORFEUS archives means long-term archival, state-of-the-art quality control, enhanced data access and usage. At the onset of a new era for observational seismology, characterised by the challenges posed by big data and the establishment of a coordinated governance of all European seismological services in EPOS Seismology, this session discusses the latest advances in seismological observation in Pan-Europe and the challenges ahead. This includes integration of different datasets like GPS, OBS and portable arrays. Focus is on, but not limited to the participants to ORFEUS, their hardware and software infrastructure, technical and scientific products. Contributions from other global / international / national agencies focused on observational seismology are welcome. This session facilitates seismological data discovery and promotes open data sharing and integration.

Environmental systems often span spatial and temporal scales covering different orders of magnitude. The session is oriented in collecting studies relevant to understand multiscale aspects of these systems and in proposing adequate multi-platform and inter-disciplinary surveillance networks monitoring tools systems. It is especially aimed to emphasize the interaction between environmental processes occurring at different scales. In particular, a special attention is devoted to the studies focused on the development of new techniques and integrated instrumentation for multiscale monitoring high natural risk areas, such as: volcanic, seismic, energy exploitation, slope instability, floods, coastal instability, climate changes and other environmental context.
We expect contributions derived from several disciplines, such as applied geophysics, geology, seismology, geodesy, geochemistry, remote and proximal sensing, volcanology, geotechnical, soil science, marine geology, oceanography, climatology and meteorology. In this context, the contributions in analytical and numerical modeling of geological and environmental processes are also expected.
Finally, we stress that the inter-disciplinary studies that highlight the multiscale properties of natural processes analyzed and monitored by using several methodologies are welcome.

Space-based geodetic techniques including Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) and SAR-based change detection have become essential tools for high-quality mapping and analysis of the damage, change and deformation induced by natural and anthropogenic processes. Processing of these data have led to many new insights into understanding of geophysical and geological processes related to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, sinkholes, floods, glaciers, and groundwater exploitation. They are also extremely useful for civil protection authorities for post-disaster response, detecting precursors of failure, and planning warning systems for areas prone to risk.
All scientists exploiting SAR/InSAR data to address challenges in the areas of the geosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and hydrosphere are cordially invited to contribute to this session. We welcome contributions from innovative processing algorithms, interpretation and modelling methods that are used for generating high-level products from SAR data for applications in earth and environmental sciences. Submissions are encouraged to cover a broad range of topics, which may include, but are not limited to, the following activities: SAR/InSAR algorithm development including cloud-based computing, deep learning and big data analysis, crustal deformation and earthquake cycle, landslides, volcanic processes, land subsidence, sinkholes, mining activities, infrastructure monitoring, flood monitoring, forest biomass and agriculture, glacier and ice dynamics, and permafrost