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At Mount Etna volcano, the focus point of persistent tectonic extension is represented by the Summit Craters. A muographic telescope has been installed at the base of the North-East Crater from August 2017 to October 2019, with the specific aim to find time related variations in the density of volcanic edifice. The results are significant, since the elaborated images show the opening and evolution of different tectonic elements; in 2017, a cavity was detected months before the collapse of the crater floor and in 2018 a set of underground fractures was identified, at the tip of which, in June 2019, a new eruptive vent started its explosive activity, still going on (February, 2020). Although this is the pilot experiment of the project, the results confirm that muography could be a turning point in the comprehension of the plumbing system of the volcano and a fundamental step forward to do mid-term (weeks/months) predictions of eruptions. We are confident that an increment in the number of telescopes could lead to the realization of a monitoring system, which would keep under control the evolution of the internal dynamic of the uppermost section of the feeding system of an active volcano such as Mount Etna.

Experimental results from a dataset collected with a full-scale muon tomograph for the inspection of cargo containers were studied in a single scattering scenario with a multiparametric analysis based on the method of the Point Of Closest Approach (Poca). To search for high-Z materials, a 4  dm 3 Pb block was positioned inside the volume to be inspected, in order to quantitatively investigate the appearance of the Poca signal. Signal-to-noise ratio and significance of the Poca signal were investigated by means of mono-dimensional spectra of the Poca components, for different values of the scattering angle between the incoming and outgoing muon tracks and with different angle-dependent weights. A systematic scan of two-dimensional maps was also carried out, as a strategy to search for possible enhancements to the Poca signal. A comparison was also done between the results obtained from the two half-volumes, one containing the Pb block and one left empty, to take into account the response of the detector and some aspects of the Poca strategy.

An experimental investigation of cosmic muons has been carried out with the Muography of Etna Volcano (MEV) tracking telescope, installed at an altitude of about 3100 m a.s.l. in front of the North-East Etna crater. The analysis of a statistically significant data sample ( ∼ 10 7 events), taken during a period of approximately 2 months, has been carried out to investigate the angular distribution of cosmic muons originating both from the open sky side and from a large solid rock thickness (Etna side). Due to the geographical orientation of the MEV telescope, anisotropies caused by the East–West effect could also be observed, extracting the asymmetry factor in small steps of the zenithal angle.

The main task of the read-out electronics for the new NUMEN focal plane detector (FPD) is the real-time data collection from the front-end ASICs and the high bandwidth transmission to data acquisition, in addition to the slow control of the front-end electronics and the synchronization of the whole detector. The read-out electronics architecture, designed to be modular and expandable to the final size of the detectors, is based on System On Module (SOM). This very versatile device couples high performance FPGA to powerful processor architecture and allows a graphical approach to the programming and interfacing. A detailed description of the architecture and the specifications of the read-out electronics are presented.

The objective of the research and development activities, regarding the upgrade of the MAGNEX focal plane detector (FPD) and the development of the γ detector array for the NUMEN project, is the construction of new detectors capable to fulfil the requirements of high event rate, radiation tolerance and data acquisition and transmission bandwidth deriving from the upgrade of the Superconducting Cyclotron at INFN Laboratori Nazionali del Sud. The design of the front-end (FE) and read-out (RO) electronics has been performed in parallel with that of the new tracker. The design of the new segmented anode and the architecture of the front-end and read-out electronics are presented.

A preliminary study of an alternative solution for the optical detection and tracking of the ions in the MAGNEX focal plane detector for the NUMEN project is presented. The tracks of the ions are sampled by means of the light that they produce through a scintillating gas, which is collected by arrays of Silicon Photo Multiplier suitably arranged. A complete Geant4 simulation is under development in order to correlate detector geometry, characteristics of the gas and light collection efficiency. Fast timing performance could be achieved through a completely digital (on-off) read-out system of the light sensors and a position reconstruction algorithm.

. An experimental investigation of multiple muon tracks detected by the MEV (Muography of Etna Volcano) cosmic ray telescope has been carried out during a commissioning phase of the project. The MEV telescope, which is based on three 1×1 m 2 tracking planes segmented into scintillation strips with wavelength fibers and PMT readout, has been installed at an altitude of about 3100m a.s.l. in front of the North-East Etna crater since the summer of 2017. The main aim of this facility is to provide a detailed muography of the interior of the target object. An additional analysis of a first sample of data, taken during a period of approximately two months in 2017 has been undertaken to measure the abundance and topology of nearly horizontal multiple cosmic muons.

In this contribution, we will illustrate the main results of the R&D activities related to the Silicon Carbide detectors associated with NUMEN project.