hosted by the Cracow University of Technology, an outstanding University established in 1834. We will have the unique opportunity to perform Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) measurements in the Wawel Cathedral, in cooperation with the Polish company Restauro and the Greek company Geoservice: we very much look forward to this exciting experience. The Wawel ensemble, including the Royal Castle, the Wawel Cathedral and other monuments, is perched on top of the Wawel hill immediately south of the Cracow Old Town and is by far the most important collection of buildings in Poland.

Introduction to the School

Over the centuries, city centres have been continuously changing, developing and adapting to the requirements of society, architectural planning and advancing technology. Under the pressure of urbanisation, many cities and towns have significantly expanded and the limited space in their centres has been exploited more intensively. The shallow subsurface of historical cities is nowadays a very complicated scenario including reams of pipes, cables, rubble, bars and slabs of reinforced concrete, backfilled excavation trenches and pits, cellars, wells, cavities, tunnels, graves, walls and foundations of former houses, churches, monasteries, town fortifications, along with several other modern and ancient structures and manufacts. Underneath the asphalt layer of city roads and the paving stones of town squares, layers of sand and gravel are criss-crossed with modern fibre optic and electricity cables, whereas century-old sewer pipes are mixed with the debris of brick buildings. In layers with high levels of soil humidity or large clay content, organic materials such as wood, leather and bones can be preserved in good condition for centuries. Urban soil layers, as well as waste and latrine pits, contain plant macrofossiles which convey exciting information about the menu and habits of our ancestors, the local flora and the spreading of exotic plants. Many European cities have initially been made up to a large extent of houses built of organic materials, predominately wood. Later on, demands for fire safety as well as fashion promoted the use of stones and bricks as building materials. Subsequently, concrete has been extensively used. For the prospection of such a diversified, multilayered, intricate and complex underground environment, both for arcahaelogical and civil-engineering purposes, the most promising non-destructive geophysical method is GPR. As a matter of fact, GPR measurements result in the largest amount of data of all commonly employed near-surface methods, providing detailed three-dimensional information about the subsurface. GPR is a powerful tool not only for the prospection of subsurface but also for the non-invasive testing of historical buildings, fountains, historical bridges, sculptures, frescoes, pottery and other objects collected in museums: it can give information about their state of preservation, it can significantly help to address a restoration project properly, and sometimes it can also help to achieve information of historical interest (for example, about the presence of walled rooms, crypts, hypogeum rooms, tombs, hidden frescoes, and so on).

The school will present an insight into the challenges, advantages and potential of GPR prospection in historical cities. Data examples from urban historical centres will be presented and discussed. An introduction to electromagnetic modelling of GPR will be provided: indeed, simulations of GPR scenarios are extremely useful to understand how buried target structures get translated into recorded reflection profiles, interpret radargrams, understand the limitations of the GPR technique, highlight its capability, and find out whether in a certain environment GPR can or cannot function optimally. To widen the perspective, the school will include an introduction to urban remote sensing, describing how high-resolution satellite imagery or alternative sources of image date (such as high-resolution SAR and LIDAR) can be exploited for urban feature extraction, to analyze population, energy use, and other aspects of the urban environment.

The Coordinators of the Training School are Prof. Lidia Zakowska (Cracow University of Technology, Poland, TU1208 WG Member), Prof. Andrea Benedetto ("Roma Tre" University, Italy, TU1208 Editiorial Coordinator), and Dr. Lara Pajewski ("Roma Tre" University, Italy, Chair of the COST Action TU1208).

The Trainers are Ms. Pepi Avlonitou (Geoservice, Greece), Prof. Andrea Benedetto, Mr. Klisthenis Dimitriadis (Geoservice, Greece, TU1208 WG Member), Prof. Jerzy Karczewski (AGH University of Science and Technology, Polish Akademia Górniczo-Hutnicza im. Stanisława Staszica, Poland, TU1208 WG Member), Mr. Yannis Konstantakis (Geoservice, Greece TU1208 WG Member), Prof. Sébastien Lambot (Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, TU1208 MC Member), Dr. Lara Pajewski, and Prof. Lidia Zakowska.

Class Scheduling (Please note this is a provisional scheduling, still subject to change)

Tuesday, 5 May 2015