Analysis of 35 years of monitoring data of the Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence

This paper reports on the data obtained from the static and dynamic Structural Health Monitoring systems installed on the Dome of Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence, and discusses the main outcomes concerning its structural behaviour. The static and environmental monitoring started in January 1988; additions to the original system were subsequently made in 2003, while the dynamic monitoring components were installed in 2018. A preliminary analysis of this updated dataset, while confirming past insights on the evolution of the Dome's damage pattern, opens new research questions. By improving knowledge on the structural behaviour against static and dynamic loading, these results can direct further data exploration of the Structural Health Monitoring measurements and future actions, thus contributing to the protection of this heritage masterpiece. The main objectives of this study are hence to evaluate the Structural Health Monitoring system performance until today, and to update and confirm past understanding of the structural behaviour of the Dome, with a preliminary exploration of the monitoring data that, since 2018, contains both static and dynamic measurements.