Finapp

Company

Finapp is an innovative startup that was founded in 2019 as a spinoff of the University of Padua. The name of our company is an abbreviation for Applied Nuclear Physics since the founding partners were all professors and researchers in the Department of Nuclear Physics.

Finapp invented a new way of measuring water, using cosmic rays. Finapp’ patented CRNS (Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing) probes provide innovative and reliable knowledge of water content in soil and snow on a large scale, deep, continuous, and non-contact basis.

Vision

Finapp has set itself an ambitious goal: to make its contribution to safeguarding Life on Earth by preserving water, an element that has always been synonymous with birth and prosperity

Mission

To realize this mission, Finapp strives every day to make the innovative CRNS technology available to everyone: knowing how much water is available is the first step towards the conscious, targeted and efficient management of water resources. All sectors and operators, who have water as a fundamental element of their business, can benefit greatly from the use of Finapp’ probes. Finapp sees technology as a means, not an end, to combine economic growth and environmental protection.

Values

Commitment, teamwork, integrity and dynamism are at the heart of Finapp.

The primary objective is to create a unique product, which is based on innovative research processes, in order to quickly respond to new market requirements. Another founding value is sustainability: environmental, in the first place, which is then declined in various facets: passion, dedication, professional growth aimed at creating a profitable balance between working life and leisure time for all employees and collaborators.

Technology

Finapp produces CRNS - Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing - probes that measure:

• Soil moisture
• The water content inside the snow (SWE - Snow water equivalent)

In a unique way:

• On a large scale (approx. 5-20 hectares).
• In depth: 30-50 cm in the soil, metres in the snow.
• In real time.

Thanks to a single probe:

• Lightweight and compact.
• Installable anywhere: does not require mains connection.
• Non-invasive: installed 2m above ground, does not disrupt daily on-site activities.
• Plug & Play: no calibration required.
• No special maintenance required.
• Not operator dependent.

The soil moisture and SWE data provided by Finapp, precisely because it is representative on a large scale, can be used for multiple applications.

The hardware used is always the same, but the algorithms, software, data representations and information provided to the end user are targeted for different areas.

Applications

Technology and innovation are declined to meet the real needs of the various sectors. Starting from the data measured by Finapp probes, the applications developed are: 

Agriculture

Finapp supports precision agriculture by providing unique knowledge of soil moisture for a better irrigation strategy to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on efficient water use and hunger eradication. Knowing soil moisture on a large scale, in depth and continuously allows for more informed choices that optimize irrigation strategy, increase agricultural yields, and reduce water wastage.

Environmental monitoring

The knowledge of soil moisture provided by Finapp probes allows a site-specific approach to the issue of pre-alarming. Surface landslides and flooding are closely linked to a high level of soil saturation, conversely very dry soils are a prerequisite for fire development. The possibility of having representative large scale, deep, and real-time data significantly improves knowledge of the state of the ground and, therefore, risk assessment. By integrating predicted meteorological data and an artificial intelligence-based approach to reconstruct past disaster events, Finapp can project the level of risk into the future, three days in advance.

Water leaks

Finapp has patented a lightweight and compact probe that can read cosmic neutrons, which are our messengers on the water content deep in the ground, in real time. Finapp probes, positioned on a dedicated vehicle, travel along the roads above the pipes and detect the increased moisture in the soil, which is a sign of a potential leak. Finapp then provides the network operator with a geo-referenced pre-location map of water leaks along the pipelines, totalling 5-10% of the analysed network. Thanks to Finapp technology, it is possible to pre-localise leaks in the water network, monitoring up to 150 km per day, quickly and easily

Water resource

The importance of quantifying the water resource stored in the snowpack is strategic for its management for agricultural, industrial, and domestic purposes. Finapp assesses the available water resource through the determination of the snow water equivalent (Snow Water Equivalent). The probe is operator independent, maintenance-free, and unaffected by bridging phenomena, making it suitable for even the most inaccessible areas