Monte Cimone
The closest inhabited areas are small villages (1500 inhabitants) placed 15 km from and about 1100 m below the observatory, whereas major towns (500.000 inhabitants) are situated in the lowlands about 60 km away (Bologna, Firenze). Within several kilometers from the site, there are no crops, and human activity is very limited. A detailed description of Mt. Cimone surrounding and anthropogenic activity have been provided by GEOMON UE-Project (see http://geomon.empa.ch/index.php?id=CMN): over a 50 km radius, the following values were assessed for: (I) total population: 1593265; (ii) Mean population density: 193 (km-2), see attached map.