Luca Stevanato

Luca Stevanato graduated with honors in Nuclear Physics at the University of Padua in September 2009. He obtained his doctorate in Physics in April 2013. Since 2016 he has been a researcher at the same university in the field of applied nuclear physics and responsible for the Physics Laboratory course at the master's degree in Physics. He holds two European patents in the field of nuclear physics, and has also a third one for the measurement of snow and soil moisture through the use of cosmic neutrons. He is CEO of Finapp, that he founded with other 3 researchers.

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Presentation

Finapp cosmic ray neutron sensor as a promising technology for the cryosphere

The ability to monitor the cryosphere is of key importance for understanding and predicting climate evolution and for the strategic assessment of water resources for agriculture, industry and hydroelectric power generation. The measurement of snow water equivalent (SWE) is a challenging task since mountain snowpack is characterized by complex layering and high temporal and spatial variability of thickness and density. Cosmic ray neutron sensing (CRNS) promises to overcome these hurdles, by providing a real-time, direct evaluation of averaged SWE in a large footprint (up to dozens of hectares), in a continuous and autonomous operation regime, with a compact and light probe.