Dr. Sonia Santos Assunção, Doctor of Philosophy in Seismic Engineering and Structural Dynamics (cum laude, 2014) by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia.
She started on 2006 to apply geophysics methods (GPR) to detect water table in Sand Dunes in Portugal and (BSc). She applied integrated geophysical methods, electrical resistivity tomography and gravity to detect geothermal springs (Msc, 2009). Worldwide
experienced in diverse applications of geophysics both in companies and academics in South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, being Associate Professor in the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and later Research Scientist in the Polytecnhic University of Hong Kong.
Award: Best oral presentation in the GPR2014 congress
Chapter of a Book (3)
1. Jornades de Recerca, EUETIB, Barcelona UPC. ISBN 978-84-695-9922-8
Beatriz F. Giraldo Giraldo, Antonio Travieso Rodríguez and Ricardo Torres Cámara.
2. Short Term Scientific Missions and Training Schools – Year 1
Editors: L. Pajewski and M. Marciniak; Publishing House: Aracne; Rome, Italy, May 2014; 92 pp.; ISBN
978-88- 548-7225-7.
3. The Use of Geophysics for the Condition Assessment of Railway Infrastructure." Non-Destructive Techniques for the Evaluation of Structures and Infrastructure. CRC Press, 2016. 241-258.
Simona Fontul, R. Mínguez, Mercedes Solla and Santos-Assunção, S.
Scientific articles in Journals (10)
1. Title: A Feasibility Study of Thermal Infrared Imaging for Monitoring Natural Terrain—A Case Study in Hong Kong.
Authors: Chiu, Lydia Sin-Yau, Wallace Wai-Lok Lai, Sónia Santos-Assunção, Sahib Singh Sandhu, Janet Fung-Chu Sham, Nelson Fat-Sang Chan, Jeffrey Chun-Fai Wong, and Wai-Kin Leung.
Journal: Remote Sensing 15, no. 24 (2023): 5787.
2. Title: Combined Use of GPR and Other NDTs for Road Pavement Assessment: An Overview.
Authors: Ahmed Elseicy, Alex Alonso-Díaz, Mercedes Solla, Mezgeen Rasol and Sonia Santos-Assunçao.
Journal: Remote Sensing. 2022. 14(17), 4336
3. Title: Background clutter amplitude and frequency analysis of GPR signals to analyse water in sedimentary deposits: Urban infrastructure environment.
Authors: Rasol Mezgeen, Pérez Gracia Vega, Santos-Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Ramon Gonzalez-Drigo, Jaime Clapes, Viviana A. Sossa, Dransika Schimdt.
Journal: Environmental Research. 2022. v. 121, part A, 113189.
4. Title: GPR new tests and numerical models to characterize cracks in cement concrete specimens, exemplifying damage in rigid pavement.
Authors: Mezgeen A. Rasol; Vega Pérez-Gracia; Francisco M. Fernandes; Jorge C. Pais; Sonia Santos-Assunçao; Caio Santos and Viviana Sossa
Journal: Measurement. 2020. 158.
5. Title: Combining ground penetrating radar and seismic surveys in the assessment of cultural heritage buildings: The study of roofs, columns, and ground of the gothic church Santa Maria del Mar, in Barcelona (Spain).
Authors: Vega Perez鈥怗racia, Sonia Santos鈥怉ssunçao, Oriol Caselles, Jaime Clapes and Viviana Sossa
Journal: Structural Control and Health Monitoring.2019. 26(4)
6. Title: GPR Clutter Amplitude Processing to Detect Shallow Geological Targets
Authors: Victor Salinas Naval, Sonia Santos-Assunçao and Vega Pérez-Gracia
Journal: Remote Sensing. 2018. 10(1), 88.
7. Title: Ground-penetrating radar evaluation of the ancient Mycenaean monument Tholos Acharnon tomb.
Authors: Santos Assunçao, S., Dimitriadis, K., Konstantakis, Y., Perez-Gracia, V., Anagnostopoulou, E., Gonzalez-Drigo, J.R
Journal: Near surface geophysics, 2016. 14(2), 197-205.
8. Title: GPR Backscattering intensity analysis applied to detect paleochannels and Infilled Streams for Seismic Nanozonation in Urban Environments.
Authors: Sonia Santos-Assunçao, Vega Perez-Gracia, Victor Salinas, Ramon Gonzalez-Drigo, Oriol Caselles and Nieves Lantada
Journal: Journal of selected topics in applied earth observations and remote sensing .2016. 9(1), 167 - 177
9. Title: Assessment of Complex Masonry Structures with GPR Compared to Other Non-destructive Testing Studies
Authors: Sonia Santos-Assunçao, Victor Salinas, Vega Perez-Gracia, Oriol Caselles, Jaume Clapes.
Journal: Remote Sensing. 2014. 6(9), 8220-8237
10. Title: Nanozonation in Dense Cities: Testing a Combined Methodology in Barcelona City (Spain).
Authors: V. Salinas, J.O. Caselles, V. Pérez-Gracia, S. Santos-Assuncao, D. González-Valenzuela, J. Clapés, Ll. Pujades, J.A. Cañas.
Journal: Journal of Earthquake Engineering. 2014. 18(1), 90-112
Conferences (37)
Event: 12th Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR'23) (IWAGPR). 5-7th July 2023. Lisbon, Portugal.
Title: Automatic detection of reinforcement rebar and material type characterization
in concrete slab based on frequency analysis.
Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Lai Wallace Wai Lok
Event: 12th Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR'23) (IWAGPR). 5-7th July 2023. Lisbon, Portugal.
Title: Moisture concrete analysis in a damaged concrete slab
Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Perez-Gracia, Vega, Boualem Youcef, Nassim Benabdeloued, Shaz, Mohammed Hussein
Event: 12th Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR'23) (IWAGPR). 5-7th July 2023. Lisbon, Portugal.
Title: Cases study about corrosion analysis in structures.
Perez-Gracia, Vega, Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra
Event: 11th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR). December, 2021. Valetta, Malta.
Title: Optimising thresholding of bandpass filter through GPR wavelet transform in time-frequency domain.
Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Wong Tin-wai Phoebe, Lai Wallace Wai Lok
Event: 11th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR). December, 2021. Valetta, Malta.
Title: Assessment of humidity damage in cultural heritage
Pérez Gracia Vega, Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Sossa Viviana
Event: 11th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR). December, 2021. Valetta, Malta.
Title: Background clutter analysis of GPR signal for sedimentary deposit in Urban Infrastructure
Rasol Mezgeen, Pérez Gracia Vega, Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Franziska Schmidt
Event: 11th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR). December, 2021. Valetta, Malta.
Title: Background clutter analysis of GPR signal for sedimentary deposit in Urban Infrastructure
Rasol Mezgeen, Pérez Gracia Vega, Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra
Event: EGU General Assembly 2021
Title: New methodologies of GPR Assessment for analysing water content in sedimentary deposits; Application to the Hospital Sant Pau Urban Area in Barcelona, Spain
Rasol Mezgeen, Pérez Gracia Vega, Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra
Event: 24th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. September 2018.Porto, Portugal
Title: Study of Structural Elements in Heritage Buildings with Ground Penetrating Radar Images Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Pérez Gracia, Vega
Event: 24th European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering Geophysics. September 2018.Porto, Portugal
Title: Analysis of Random Backscattering in Ground-Penetrating Radar Signals to Detect Subterranean Watercourses - Field Results and Laboratory Tests.
Santos Assuncao, Sonia Alexandra, Pérez Gracia, Vega, Rovira Y.
Event: 17th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar - June 18-21, 2018
Rapperswil, Switzerland
Title: Analysis of corrosion in historical heritage structures. The case study of the Park Güell in Barcelona.
Sossa Arancibia V., Gracia V.P., Santos Assunção S.
Event: 17th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar - June 18-21, 2018
Rapperswil, Switzerland
Title: Analysis and Calibration of Ground Penetrating Radar Shielded Antennas.
Razol M., Gracia V, Assunção S
Event: Final meeting – Cost Action TU1208. Warsaw, Poland
Title: Geophysical exploration of underground Water in Accra, Ghana.
S. Santos-assuncao , Anastasios Balian, Daniel Doku
Event: TU1208 GPR Roadshow, Osijek, Croatia
Title: The point of view of a private end-user: Overview on GPR services offered by Murphy Surveys, in Ireland. Case studies.
S. Santos-Assunçao
Event: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017. Vienna. Austria.
Title: Combination of GPR with other NDT techniques in different fields of application - COST Action TU1208
Mercedes Solla, Vega Pérez-Gracia, Simona Fontul, S. Santos-Assunçao, and Melda Kucukdemirci
Event: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2017. Vienna. Austria.
Title: GPR applications in civil engineering collaborating with a Company and preparation of
material for the educational package to teach in Universities. STSM, COST Action TU1208
Viviana Sossa, S. Santos-Assunçao, V. Pérez-Gracia
Event: GPR Road Show - COST Action TU1208: 27-28 September 2016, Athens: Dissemination event on Ground Penetrating Radar in archaeology
Title: Non-destructive assessment of the Mycenaean Tomb of Acharnon
S. Santos-Assunçao, Klisthenis Dimitriadis, V. Pérez-Gracia
Event: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2016. Vienna. Austria.
Title: O’Connell bridge inspection by means of Ground Penetrating Radar.
S. Santos-Assunçao, Sophie Mann, Elodie Roussel
Event: Near Surface Geoscience 2015. 21st European Meeting of Environmental and Engineering geophysics. 2015. Florence,Italy.
Title: GPR Assessment of Columns in the Pavilions and the church of the Modernista Building Sant Pau, Hospital in Barcelona.
Sonia Santos-Assunçao, Ramon Gonzalez-Drigo, Vega Perez-Gracia
Event: 8th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR). July, 2015. Florence,Italy.
Title: Multi-purpose GPR Applications to Heritage Structures in Chile. The Case Study of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Valdivia.
Sonia Santos-Assunçao, Virginia Vasquez, Pilar Aburto, , Vega Perez-Gracia, Josep Pedret, David Alvarado , Ramon Gonzalez-Drigo1, Juan Pablo Muñoz, Galo Valdebenito, Victor Aguilar
Event: 8th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR). July, 2015. Florence,Italy.
Title: GPR backscattering applied to urban shallow geology. GPR application in seismic microzonation
S. Santos Assuncao, Vega Perez-Gracia, Ramón González-Drigo
Event: 8th International Workshop on Advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (IWAGPR). July, 2015. Florence,Italy.
Title: GPR assessment of the modernist Santa Creu i Sant Pau hospital in Barcelona.
Sonia Santos-Assunçao, Vega Perez-Gracia, Ramon Gonzalez-Drigo
Event: Construction Summit. Dublin, Ireland. June, 2015.
Title: Applied Geophysics by Murphy Surveys. Integrating the surface and the underground
S. Santos-Assunçao, J.P. Kelly, Alan Halpin
Event: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2015. Vienna. Austria.
Title: Exchanging knowledge and working together in COST Action TU1208: Short-Term Scientific Missions
S. Santos-Assunçao
Event: Third general meeting COST ACTION TU1208
Title: An approach to detect active and inactive subterranean watercourses by using the central frequency oscillation in GPR signals
S. Santos-Assunçao, V. Pérez-Gracia, R. González, V. Salinas, O. Caselles, J. Clapés, L.G. Pujades and N. Lantada
Event: Third general meeting COST ACTION TU1208
Title: Guidelines for GPR application to asphalt - Mara Nord project
Event: 15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar GPR 2014 June 30 - July 4, 2014
Title: Geological structures evaluated by means of scattering noise in ground penetrating radar images.
S. Santos-Assunçao, V. Pérez-Gracia, R. González, V. Salinas, O. Caselles, J. Clapés, L.G. Pujades and N. Lantada
Event: 15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar GPR 2014 June 30 - July 4, 2014
Title: Geophysical exploration of columns in historical heritage buildings.
S. Santos-Assunçao, V. Pérez-Gracia, R. González, V. Salinas, O. Caselles, J. Clapés and V. Salinas.
Event: 15th International Conference on Ground Penetrating Radar GPR 2014 June 30 - July 4, 2014
Title: Study of wood beams in buildings with ground penetrating radar.
V. Pérez-Gracia, S. Santos-Assunçao, O. Caselles, J. Clapés and J.A. Canas
Event: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2014. Vienna. Austria. 27 April – 02 May 2014
Title: Non-destructive assessment of the Ancient “Tholos Acharnon” Tomb building geometry.
Sónia Santos-Assunção, Klisthenis Dimitriadis, Yiannis Konstantakis, Vega Perez-Gracia, Eirini Anagnostopoulou, Mercedes Solla and Henrique Lorenzo.
Event: European Geosciences Union General Assembly 2014 Vienna. Austria. 27 April – 02 May 2014
Title: Non-destructive assessment of the Ancient “Tholos Acharnon” Tomb building geometry.
Sónia Santos-Assunção, Klisthenis Dimitriadis, Yiannis Konstantakis, Vega Perez-Gracia, Eirini Anagnostopoulou, Mercedes Solla and Henrique Lorenzo.
Event: 75th EAGE conference & Exhibition incorporating SPE EUROPEC 2013. London, UK.
Title: Ground Penetrating Radar Railways inspection
Sonia Santos Assunçao, Josep Pedret Rodes and Vega Pérez-Gracia.
Event: 15th World Conference in Earthquake Engineering. 2012. Lisbon, Portugal.
Title: Effects of the predominant periods due to strong lateral changes on the subsoil.
Víctor Salinas, Sonia Santos-Assunçao, Oriol Caselles, Vega Pérez-Gracia and Lluis Pujades G.
Event: 2a National conference of Non destructives techniques. Porto, Portugal.
Title: Ground Penetrating Radar – Methodology applied to transport section.
Sonia Santos-Assunçao, Vega Pérez-Gracia.
Event: La 6ième Edition des Journées Internationales des Geociencias de l’environnement Oujda 2011. Universidad Mohammed Premier, Faculté des Sciences. 2011. Oujda, Marrocco.
Title: Contribution de la géophysique innovative a l'exploration des ressources géothermiques aux pays méditerranéens, Caldes de montbui (Barcelone, NE d'Espagne) et Santa Maria Is Acquas (Sardaigne centrale)”.
Belghazal H., A. Trogu, G. Ranieri, A. Casas, Stitou El Messari J and S. Santos.
Event: 12 º Congreso Español de Ensayos No Destructivos. 2011. Valencia, Spain.
Title: GPR for the non-destructive study of historical structures: Which information provides?
V. Pérez-Gracia and S. Santos-Assunção.
Event:12 º Congreso Español de Ensayos No Destructivos. 2011. Valencia, Spain.
Title: Optimizing the visualization of the GPR signal using frequency analysis.
S. Santos-Assunção and V. Pérez-Gracia.
