Rapid population growth, with more than 70% of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, is making
urban areas and civil infrastructures crucial elements of the modern society. On the other hand, natural hazards
associated with climate change are making urban areas and civil infrastructures more and more exposed and
vulnerable to extreme events. Accordingly, the strategic programs for the sustainability and resilience of cities and civil
infrastructures (e.g. bridges, dams, lifelines) are promoting the development of novel strategies and methodologies for
non-destructive and not, or minimally, invasive surface and subsurface geophysical exploration and monitoring.
The session aims at presenting and discussing recent technological and methodological advances in urban geophysics.
Particular attention will be towards novel and effective modalities of performing surveys by means of seismic and electromagnetic methods, innovative sensors (e.g. fibre optics, MEMS) for dense and distributed geophysical network arrays, the use of AI-based algorithms and machine learning technologies for data processing and analysis, monitoring approaches based on augmented vision strategies of geophysical data. Furthermore, great attention
will be devoted to the presentation of applicative case studies, to the analysis of the interaction between subsurface, soil and built environment, and to the discussion of the contribute provided by the applied geophysics in urban programs for the “compact cities”, representing a new challenge
for avoiding urban sprawl and adaptation to climate change. The session also aims at promoting the activities of Early Career Scientists (ECS) in facing open challenges in the framework of urban geophysics.