Source: INGV, 18/03/2026
A new magnetic and magnetotelluric station has been installed in Mamone (NU), in the heart of Sardinia, for the study of the natural electromagnetic field and the deep geophysical characterization of the territory.
The station is located within the area of the Onanì-Mamone prison, in an environmental context particularly favorable for geophysical observations: the site is characterized by an extremely low level of anthropogenic noise, an essential condition for the quality of long-term magnetic and magnetotelluric measurements.
The installation was made possible thanks to the collaboration of the Directorate of the Onanì-Mamone prison and the Sardinia Regional Directorate of the State Property Agency, which welcomed the proposal to host the station, recognizing the cultural and scientific value of the project.
“This represents a strategic opportunity not only for the scientific community, but also for the Sardinian territory and for the Barbagia area in particular, to which the Mamone Directorate will provide its full and unconditional support, making the relevant assets available”, stated the director of the penal facility, Dr. Vincenzo Lamonaca.
The initiative also foresees the involvement of the inmates of the prison in consolidating the station’s installation once the evaluation tests confirming the proper functioning of the sensors have been completed. In this way, the project also becomes an opportunity for active participation in an international research initiative, demonstrating how contexts not traditionally associated with scientific research can become an integral part of knowledge production.
From a scientific perspective, the new installation will make a significant contribution to the research activities carried out within the framework of the MEET (Monitoring Earth’s Evolution and Tectonics) project of the National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), aimed at developing infrastructures for the study of the processes that control the evolution of the Earth and its internal dynamics, with particular attention to the Italian territory and to areas most exposed to natural hazards. The magnetometric station will be an integral part of the FABER multiparametric Observatory, whose objective is to acquire long time series of geophysical data, including geomagnetic field measurements, under optimal environmental conditions.
The new station also represents an important component in the activities aimed at characterizing the site proposed to host the Einstein Telescope (ET), the future third-generation European gravitational-wave detector. In particular, this station will contribute to electromagnetic monitoring and to the understanding of the geophysical properties of the area, also in support of the evaluation of the environmental conditions of the territory proposed to host the research infrastructure.
The Mamone station therefore has the potential to become a key reference point for electromagnetic monitoring in Sardinia and an important element in the scientific pathway that accompanies, also from a social perspective, the realization of the Einstein Telescope in the region.