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
Mental models are students' representations of the real world based on their knowledge and understanding. In a meaningful learning it is essential to analyse students' mental models and promote a reconstruction of scientific knowledge, by allowing them to become consistent with the scientific models. Having this in mind, we aimed to analyse undergraduate students' mental models concerning the seismic effects on soils and buildings, before they learn these contents at the university. To collect the data we applied a questionnaire with several items. The questionnaire was answered by a convenient sample of 31 freshmen from an undergraduate degree in Geology, in a northern Portuguese university. The results show that, in the majority of the items, students recognized the seismic effects on soils and buildings. However, some of their mental models were inconsistent with the scientific model, highlighting the importance of diagnosing students' mental models and their restructuring to promote a meaningful learning and scientific literacy.

Abstract
Faculty of Sciences of University of Porto annually organizes the Open Days to Schools, which allow the contact of high school students with researchers from different scientific areas. By recognizing a high potential to modelling, which promotes the construction of students’ knowledge through models that recreate geological phenomena, participants contacted with some models that simulated the effect of earthquakes on soils and buildings. We tried to understand if the use of models in the dissemination of Geology helps students to build their scientific knowledge, concerning seismology contents. A seismology model evaluation scale was applied to 126 high school students from schools of northern Portugal, which participated in the activities at Open Days to Schools. The results shown that students consider that models help to clarify and to restructure their knowledge about geological phenomena, highlighting the importance of modeling in the promotion of a meaningful learning. © 2014 LNEG - Laboratório Nacional de Geologia e Energia IP.

Abstract
The Geophysical Institute of the University of Porto (IGUP) is an important marker in the scientific and technological culture developed over more than a century in the city of Porto, thus a strategy is being planned out for its recovery. This mission aims to take advantage of all the activities in the history of this institution, taking into account several components such as research in areas of natural hazards, seismology, weather and radiometry, support for graduate and post-graduate education at the University of Porto, scientific dissemination, training addressed to students of the 2nd and 3rd cycles of basic education and in the context of extracurricular activities that are currently the responsibility of the municipality of Vila Nova de Gaia as well as the installation of a pole of the Science Museum of the University of Porto. This infrastructure has some instruments related to seismology, meteorology and radiation, which are directly related to the measurement of variables involved in the estimation of seismic, meteorological and radiological hazards and can thus relate to risk estimation. As such, it has the potential to become a center for research in Natural Hazards, which may contribute with studies, data and parameters for civil society and the scientific community. The recovery that is now underway in the previously integrated PTO seismic station - Worldwide Standardized Seismographic Network (WWSSN), can help to achieve the implementation of a center of research in seismology and simultaneously acknowledge the geopolitical importance of this station. As such, in the present work we intend to show part of the analysis of seismic records relating to previously unknown Soviet nuclear explosions as well as bringing back to life inactive equipment that was switched off since the 1990s and thus enabling the recording of more modern digital seismic records. © 2014 LNEG – Laboratório Nacional de Geologia e Energia IP.

Abstract

Abstract
Geophysical experts aimed to establish a method to identify contamination by landfill leakage without chemically analyzing subsoil samples, which is time-consuming and expensive. To that end, researchers developed a software package that let the experts create 3D visualizations of geophysical data acquired around the landfill and apply statistical analysis to detect anomalous values. The data used, electrical resistivity, are typically sparse. So, the application employs kriging to interpolate the data and provide a volumetric representation of the subsoil resistivity. To avoid invalid conclusions, the visualization also represents uncertainty. The application enabled the experts to better understand the phenomenon and to develop and validate their method. Their evaluation of the application indicated that it helped them throughout the method's development and significantly eased their workload. © 2014 IEEE.