An intense R&D program has been carried out by the NOE Collaboration during
the last years, to develop a massive fine grain scintillating fiber calori
meter, to be used, in combination with an appropriate target, in a Long Bas
e Line experiment at the CERN to Gran Sasso (CNGS) neutrino beam. The perfo
rmance of a 4 ton NOE calorimeter prototype exposed to a test beam at CERN
PS is shown. Results on the linearity, electromagnetic and hadronic energy
resolution are reported and compared with the Monte Carlo predictions. (C)
2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.