The structural behavior of Santa Maria del Fiore Dome: an analysis with machine learning techniques

The Brunelleschi’s Dome overlooking the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence is a symbol of the Italian Renaissance. Because of the presence of numerous cracks distributed on its entire surface, the Dome is subjected to a continuous monitoring activity that relies, among others, on electronic sensors, mainly deformometers, to measure the movements of the cracks, and thermometers, to measure the masonry temperatures. These instruments are active since more than 30 years and take measures more times a day, thus producing a huge amount of data. In this contribution, we aim at applying some machine learning techniques (i) to describe the overall movement of Dome surface through a suitable synthesis of the measures of the sensors and (ii) to make medium- and long-term predictions about the evolution of the Dome.