Abstract
The Geophysical Institute of the University of Porto (IGUP) constitutes an important pillar in the scientific and technological culture, developed over more than a century in the city of Porto. A strategic plan for its recovery has been recently developed. In terms of instruments there are currently some instruments related to seismology, meteorology and radiation, which are directly related to the measurement of variables involved in the estimation of seismic hazard and risk, meteorological hazards and radiological hazards. Thus IGUP has the potential to become a center for research in the field of Natural Hazards that in turn may contribute to studies, data and parameters for civil society and the scientific community. The Recovery that is already underway in seismic station, previously included as PTO in the world network known as Worldwide Standardized seismographic Network (WWSSN), can help achieve the implementation of a complex research in seismology and simultaneously acknowledging the geopolitical importance of this stations records. With the current work we intend to show a brief analysis of a few previously unknown seismic records, relating to Soviet nuclear explosions, as well as a few aspects of the the digital signal conversion adaptation of the previous 1960s analogue equipment.

Abstract
A dangerous problem that many countries have to face is the existence of buried explosive devices, responsible for high numbers of civilian fatalities. Their detection and removal are therefore mandatory, which has led in recent years to the development of different techniques that can ensure safer and more efficient demining operations. Geophysical techniques have been employed, since allow ground search in a non-invasive, rapid and cost-effective way, with special interest being given to ground penetrating radar (GPR). In the current work, it was buried in a sandy soil and in a clayey soil (27m2 each), one of two similar sets of different inert explosive devices. GPR profiles of the subsoil were obtained with a 3D-GPR system, being then processed with the ReflexW software. Three dimensional cubes of the two study sites were constructed for better target signal visualization. The preliminary results confirm the efficiency of this technique, since all buried inert explosive devices were detected in both soil types. © SGEM2019.

Abstract
The American NASA Apollo missions to the lunar surface, between 1969 and 1972 greatly increased the knowledge of the Moon as well as that of our own Earth’s age and origins. Part of the scientific research used geophysical techniques to help define the structure of the Moon, both deep and also regarding the near surface. One such experimentation that was carried out, on both Apollo 14 and Apollo 16, as part of the Apollo Lunar Seismic Experiment Package (ALSEP), was the Active Seismic Experiment (ASE). The ASE comprised of three geophones, planted at approximately 45m apart along a longitudinal line, that recorded signals from small explosive charges deployed at specific distances in between the geophones, The analysis resulted in a set of traveltimes, from source to receiver, that were later interpreted using the intercept time method. Since then the data set results were accepted. The development of traveltime tomographic techniques in the early 1990’s allows for models to have a more realistic appearance with both lateral variations of seismic velocity as well as increasing velocities with a certain gradient in depth. This is opposed to the sharp sudden increases of compressional wave velocity typical of the intercept time method’s assumption. Herein we will present a discussion as well as the results of the reinterpretation of the Apollo 14 and 16 ASE refraction traveltimes using traveltime tomography techniques. © SGEM2019.

Abstract
Low velocity compressional wave (P-wave), Vp values, have been observed from the lunar geophysical measurements made during the Apollo 14, 16 and 17 missions. These low velocities are attributed to lack of water, low soil compaction as well as the non-consolidated nature of the regolith. The microgravity lunar regolith simulant velocity experiment (µ-SVeLSE) aims to determine if there is any dependence of gravitational force on the seismic longitudinal velocity measurements and thus correlate with data previously determined from in-situ lunar regolith measurements. The experiment is composed of a small cylindrical container and a low power control and data acquisition electronics. No external power source was necessary. The prototype is comprised of a regolith container (22cm x 7cm) with all the data acquisition and control electronics included and working on a low voltage battery power sources. The system, designed by us, produces very minute vibration impulses. The impulses from the source transducer (Tx) are sent during limited temporal windows of emission-reception (10 milliseconds), and recorded as weak sonic-ultrasonic impulses that reach the two receivers (Rx). The system has just a start-stop switch than can be initiated directly by a wireless mechanism. The system records the data on a micro-SD card and weighed, together with the lunar regolith (JSC-1), approximately 1.4 kg. The container is completely closed and designed not to vent any regolith particles. During October 2018 we took the experiment onboard an airborne microgravity campaign, carried out in Ottawa (Canada) by the National Research Council’s Falcon 20 aircraft. We acquired data on three parabolas of between 15 and 30 seconds with low noise microgravity values. Preliminary Vp measurement results, compared with those obtained in Earth’s normal 1g, show variations of signal amplitude that are attributed to lower coupling of the source and receivers to the suspended grains during the micro-g phases of flight. Vp velocity results measured during 1g were around 90 m/s whereas during micro-g phases of flight the velocities apparently decreased.

Abstract
The Kyrgyz Republic, as well as other countries of Central Asia, is highly exposed to natural-environmental hazards, which continues undermining efforts to achieve sustainable development. National disaster risk assessment procedures in Central Asian countries are mainly based on the evaluation of hazards without a detailed analysis of vulnerability and resilience. Additionally, the available practices of hazard assessments are mostly based on a zone-by-zone approach, which would make it difficult to develop a comparative assessment of facilities located in the same hazard zone. This situation hampers the efforts of the local governments to effectively plan and implement disaster risk reduction (DRR) actions when they cannot differentiate the individual facilities according to the risk level in order to focus the existing capacity (which is usually very limited) on increasing the resilience and reducing the vulnerability of the facilities with the highest risk. For improvement of DRR practices, the quantitative comprehensive approach of risk analysis applied in this study is used for risk assessment of educational institutions in one of the most seismically active and most disaster-prone mountain regions of Central Asia - the Alay valley, a wide intermontane valley situated in between the two biggest mountain systems in Asia: Tian Shan and Pamir. The developed multidisciplinary study suggests that the quantitative multi-risk assessment approach - can play a crucial role in understanding risks and can significantly improve the quality of disaster risk reduction planning. 

Abstract