The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ion... more The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ionomagnetosphere and inner Van Allen radiation belts, originated by electromagnetic sources external and internal to the geomagnetic cavity, cosmic rays and solar events. In particular, the objective of the space mission is to investigate lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms (including effects of lightning, earthquakes, volcanoes and artificial electromagnetic emissions) that induce perturbations of the top side of the ionosphere and lower boundary of the radiation belts. To this purpose, the mission has been conceived to take advantage of a multi-instrument payload comprising nine detectors for the measurement of electromagnetic field components, plasma parameters and energetic particles, as well as X-ray flux. The Italian team participating in the CSES mission has built one of these devices, the High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD), for high-precision observations of electrons, protons and light nuclei. During its trip along the orbit, and thanks to the large set of detectors operated on board, CSES completely monitors the Earth, acting as an excellent instrument for Space Weather.
Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They h... more Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They have been shown to outperform traditional strategies in particle identification, tracking and energy reconstruction in the most modern high-energy physics experiments. The attractive feature of these techniques is their ability to model large dimensionality inputs and catch nontrivial correlations among the variables, which could be hidden or not easy to model. This paper focuses on the application of deep neural networks to the event reconstruction of the Limadou High-Energy Particle Detector on board the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite. The core of the reconstruction chain is a set of fully connected neural networks that reconstructs the nature, the arrival direction and the kinetic energy of incoming electrons and protons, starting from the signals recorded in the detector. These networks are trained on a dedicated Monte Carlo simulation as representative as possible of real data. We describe the simulation, architecture and methodology adopted to design and train the networks, and finally report on the performance measured on simulated and flight data.
Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021), Jul 30, 2021
This contribution describes the Trigger board of the High-Energy Particle Detector, which will be... more This contribution describes the Trigger board of the High-Energy Particle Detector, which will be placed onboard the second China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite for CSES-Limadou mission. This mission will monitor variations in ionospheric parameters that are supposed to be related to earthquakes. The first satellite is already in orbit and the second one will be launched in 2023. The HEPD detector will be composed by a tracker made of CMOS sensors (ALPIDE sensors), followed by two segmented planes of plastic scintillators used for trigger signals generation. The actual calorimeter will be composed by twelve planes of plastic scintillator and two segmented planes of an inorganic scintillator called LYSO. The calorimeter is surrounded by five scintillator planes used as a veto system. All the scintillators are coupled with PMTs, whose signals are acquired and digitized by the Trigger board, that also implements the trigger system for the whole apparatus. The ongoing work on the Trigger board consists in the design of both the hardware and the firmware used for the communication with the other boards of the detector, power managing, and the interfacing with the ASIC used for PMTs' readout. Eventually the Trigger board will be tested to verify its functionalities and its compliance with the HEPD design specifications. Next developments are the integration of the Trigger board with the other systems on the detector and the environmental testing of the whole system.
Time-dependent energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) carry crucial information regarding ... more Time-dependent energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) carry crucial information regarding their origin and propagation throughout the interstellar environment. When observed at the Earth, after traversing the interplanetary medium, such spectra are heavily affected by the solar wind and the embedded solar magnetic field permeating the inner sectors of the heliosphere. The activity of the Sun changes significantly over an 11 yr solar cycle—and so does the effect on cosmic particles; this translates into a phenomenon called solar modulation. Moreover, GCR spectra during different epochs of solar activity provide invaluable information for a complete understanding of the plethora of mechanisms taking place in various layers of the Sun’s atmosphere and how they evolve over time. The High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD-01) has been continuously collecting data since 2018 August, during the quiet phase between solar cycles 24 and 25; the activity of the Sun is slowly but steadily r...
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Abstract CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) is a Chinese–Italian scientific space miss... more Abstract CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) is a Chinese–Italian scientific space mission dedicated to monitor the variations of the main parameters of the topside ionosphere (electric and magnetic fields, plasma parameters, charge particle fluxes) caused by either natural emitters – especially earthquakes – or artificial ones. The CSES satellite was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the west of Inner Mongolia on February 2nd, 2018, and it is now orbiting under nominal conditions. The expected mission lifetime amounts to 5 years. CSES is the first element of a multi-satellite monitoring system; several satellites are scheduled for the next few years. The High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD) is the main contribution of the Italian collaboration to the mission. It was designed and built in order to detect electrons in the energy range between 3 and 100 MeV, protons between 30 and 200 MeV, and light nuclei in the MeV energy window. The electronics of the detector was designed following stringent requirements on mechanical and thermal stability, power consumption, radiation hardness and double redundancy. The system successfully went through the space qualification tests. In this paper, we describe the HEPD electronics, the space qualification tests performed before launch, and the in-flight performance of the detector.
In the past twenty years, satellite gravimetry missions have successfully provided data for the d... more In the past twenty years, satellite gravimetry missions have successfully provided data for the determination of the Earth static gravity field (GOCE) and its temporal variations (GRACE and GRACE-FO). In particular, the possibility to study the evolution in time of Earth masses allows us to monitor global parameters underlying climate changes, water resources, flooding, melting of ice masses and the corresponding global sea level rise, all of which are of paramount importance, providing basic data on, e.g. geodynamics, earthquakes, hydrology or ice sheets changes. Recently, a large interest has developed in novel technologies and quantum sensing, which promise higher sensitivity, drift-free measurements, and higher absolute accuracy for both terrestrial surveys and space missions, giving direct access to more precise long-term measurements. Looking at a time frame beyond the present decade, in the MOCAST+ study (MOnitoring mass variations by Cold Atom Sensors and Time measures) a sa...
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Electron density (Ne) and temperature (Te) values recorded by the Langmuir probe onboard the firs... more Electron density (Ne) and temperature (Te) values recorded by the Langmuir probe onboard the first satellite of the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES-01) mission allow calculating quantities such as the rate of change of electron density index (RODI) and the rate of change of electron temperature index (ROTEI), which are essential to describe the ionospheric irregularities and their dynamics. These two indices depend significantly on two parameters, i.e., the measurement sampling time and the width of the sliding windows used for their computation. Ne and Te measurements from CSES-01 present two different sampling times, i.e., 3 s in the survey mode and 1.5 s in the burst mode. The purpose of this article is to understand what are the best values of these two parameters to be used when computing RODI and ROTEI based on CSES-01 data. The main results of the study show the following: The shorter the data sampling time, the higher the values of the calculated ionospheric indices, which means that it is not possible to merge values of either RODI or ROTEI calculated with a different sampling time; the wider the sliding window used to calculate the indices, the higher the indices. A reasonable compromise between the data sampling time and the satellite orbital velocity suggests that the optimal way to calculate RODI and ROTEI from CSES-01 should be done by considering data with a 3-s sampling time (i.e., in the survey mode or in the downsampled burst mode), and a 24-s wide sliding window.
Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They h... more Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They have been shown to outperform traditional strategies in particle identification, tracking and energy reconstruction in the most modern high-energy physics experiments. The attractive feature of these techniques is their ability to model large dimensionality inputs and catch nontrivial correlations among the variables, which could be hidden or not easy to model. This paper focuses on the application of deep neural networks to the event reconstruction of the Limadou High-Energy Particle Detector on board the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite. The core of the reconstruction chain is a set of fully connected neural networks that reconstructs the nature, the arrival direction and the kinetic energy of incoming electrons and protons, starting from the signals recorded in the detector. These networks are trained on a dedicated Monte Carlo simulation as representative as possible of real data. We describe the simulation, architecture and methodology adopted to design and train the networks, and finally report on the performance measured on simulated and flight data.
The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ion... more The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ionomagnetosphere and inner Van Allen radiation belts, originated by electromagnetic sources external and internal to the geomagnetic cavity, cosmic rays and solar events. In particular, the objective of the space mission is to investigate lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms (including effects of lightning, earthquakes, volcanoes and artificial electromagnetic emissions) that induce perturbations of the top side of the ionosphere and lower boundary of the radiation belts. To this purpose, the mission has been conceived to take advantage of a multi-instrument payload comprising nine detectors for the measurement of electromagnetic field components, plasma parameters and energetic particles, as well as X-ray flux. The Italian team participating in the CSES mission has built one of these devices, the High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD), for high-precision observations of electrons, protons and light nuclei. During its trip along the orbit, and thanks to the large set of detectors operated on board, CSES completely monitors the Earth, acting as an excellent instrument for Space Weather.
On May 20, 2012, at 02:03 UTC, a moderate earthquake of local magnitude, Ml 5.9 started a seismic... more On May 20, 2012, at 02:03 UTC, a moderate earthquake of local magnitude, Ml 5.9 started a seismic sequence in the central Po Plain of northern Italy The mainshock occurred in an area where seismicity of comparable magnitude has neither been recorded nor reported in the historical record over the last 1,000 years. The aftershock sequence evolved rapidly near the epicenter, with diminishing magnitudes until May 29, 2012, when at 07:00 UTC a large earthquake of Ml 5.8 occurred 12 km WSW of the mainshock, starting a new seismic sequence in the western area; a total of seven earthquakes with Ml >5 occurred in the area between May 20 and June 3, 2012. Immediately after the mainshock, the Italian Department of Civil Protection requested the Italian Space Agency to activate the Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean Basin Observation (COSMO-SkyMed) to provide Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) coverage of the area. COSMO-SkyMed consists of four satellites in a ...
<p>The Italian space industry, and specifically Leonardo S.p.A., has gained... more <p>The Italian space industry, and specifically Leonardo S.p.A., has gained unique skills at an international level in the development of space-qualified power laser sources with for lidar Earth observation applications (Aeolus, EarthCARE). Moreover, Leonardo S.p.A. and the Italian optical industry, has a consolidated technical-scientific knowledge and consolidated experience in the design and development of lidar receiver sub-systems (telescopes, optical devices and sensors) with  space applications. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) intends to benefit from long-term expertise to design and develop a lidar system for Earth observation applications. Two separate feasibility studies, one focusing of technical aspects and one focusing on scientific aspects, are presently underway to define mission goals and a possible instrument layout.<br>CALIGOLA has a primary focus on the atmosphere, but also a strong focus on the study of the Ocean-Earth-Atmosphere system and the mutual interactions within it. Exploiting the three Nd: YAG laser emissions at 354.7, 532 and 1064 nm and the elastic (Rayleigh-Mie) and Raman lidar echoes from atmospheric constituents, CALIGOLA is conceived to carry out three-wavelength particle backscatter and depolarization ratio and two-wavelength particle extinction profile measurements from aerosols and clouds to be used to retrieve their microphysical and dimensional properties. Furthermore, measurement of the elastic backscattered echoes from the sea surface and the underlying layers, and their degree of depolarization, CALIGOLA will be exploited to characterize sea optical properties (ocean color) and the suspended particulate matter, which are needed to study the seasonal and inter-annual phytoplankton dynamics and to improve the understanding of the role of phytoplankton in marine biogeochemistry, in the global carbon cycle and in the response of marine ecosystems to climate variability. A specific measurement channel will be dedicated to fluorescence measurements from atmospheric aerosols and marine chlorophyll, for the purpose of aerosol typing and for characterizing ocean primary production. Aerosol fluorescence measurements at 680 nm/460 nm are also planned for the purpose of aerosol typing. CALIGULA will also allow accurate measurements of the small-scale variability of the earth's surface elevation primarily associated with variations in the terrain, vegetation and forest canopy height.<br>The CALIGOLA project is explicitly included the on-going Three-Year Activity Plan (2021-2023) of the Italian Space Agency, with a scheduled tentative launch window of 2026-2028. The considered strategy to develop the above described space lidar mission in such a short time relies on the maximum exploitation of subsystems already developed at national level for space applications, with a high TRL (TRL>7), ultimately leading to a space mission with high impact and scientific timeliness. The Phase A study of the technological feasibility of the laser source is on-going, commissioned by ASI to Leonardo S.p.A., and scientific studies in support of the mission also on-going, with the University of Basilicata being the leading scientific institution. The Italian Space Agency is willing to pursue this mission in a coordinated way with one or more other European or extra-European Space Agencies, with a bilateral or multi-lateral contributed mission approach, and, in this regard, any interest from other Agencies is welcome and desired.</p>
ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2015
Agencies from CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites) have traditionally focused their e... more Agencies from CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites) have traditionally focused their efforts on the response phase. Rapid urbanization and increased severity of weather events has led to growing economic and human losses from disasters, requiring international organisations to act now in all disaster risk management (DRM) phases, especially through improved disaster risk reduction policies and programmes. As part of this effort, CEOS agencies have initiated a series of actions aimed at fostering the use of Earth observation (EO) data to support disaster risk reduction and at raising the awareness of policy and decision-makers and major stakeholders of the benefits of using satellite EO in all phases of DRM. <br><br> CEOS is developing a long-term vision for sustainable application of satellite EO to all phases of DRM. CEOS is collaborating with regional representatives of the DRM user community, on a multi-hazard project involving three thematic pilots (floods...
The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ion... more The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ionomagnetosphere and inner Van Allen radiation belts, originated by electromagnetic sources external and internal to the geomagnetic cavity, cosmic rays and solar events. In particular, the objective of the space mission is to investigate lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms (including effects of lightning, earthquakes, volcanoes and artificial electromagnetic emissions) that induce perturbations of the top side of the ionosphere and lower boundary of the radiation belts. To this purpose, the mission has been conceived to take advantage of a multi-instrument payload comprising nine detectors for the measurement of electromagnetic field components, plasma parameters and energetic particles, as well as X-ray flux. The Italian team participating in the CSES mission has built one of these devices, the High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD), for high-precision observations of electrons, protons and light nuclei. During its trip along the orbit, and thanks to the large set of detectors operated on board, CSES completely monitors the Earth, acting as an excellent instrument for Space Weather.
Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They h... more Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They have been shown to outperform traditional strategies in particle identification, tracking and energy reconstruction in the most modern high-energy physics experiments. The attractive feature of these techniques is their ability to model large dimensionality inputs and catch nontrivial correlations among the variables, which could be hidden or not easy to model. This paper focuses on the application of deep neural networks to the event reconstruction of the Limadou High-Energy Particle Detector on board the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite. The core of the reconstruction chain is a set of fully connected neural networks that reconstructs the nature, the arrival direction and the kinetic energy of incoming electrons and protons, starting from the signals recorded in the detector. These networks are trained on a dedicated Monte Carlo simulation as representative as possible of real data. We describe the simulation, architecture and methodology adopted to design and train the networks, and finally report on the performance measured on simulated and flight data.
Proceedings of 37th International Cosmic Ray Conference — PoS(ICRC2021), Jul 30, 2021
This contribution describes the Trigger board of the High-Energy Particle Detector, which will be... more This contribution describes the Trigger board of the High-Energy Particle Detector, which will be placed onboard the second China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite for CSES-Limadou mission. This mission will monitor variations in ionospheric parameters that are supposed to be related to earthquakes. The first satellite is already in orbit and the second one will be launched in 2023. The HEPD detector will be composed by a tracker made of CMOS sensors (ALPIDE sensors), followed by two segmented planes of plastic scintillators used for trigger signals generation. The actual calorimeter will be composed by twelve planes of plastic scintillator and two segmented planes of an inorganic scintillator called LYSO. The calorimeter is surrounded by five scintillator planes used as a veto system. All the scintillators are coupled with PMTs, whose signals are acquired and digitized by the Trigger board, that also implements the trigger system for the whole apparatus. The ongoing work on the Trigger board consists in the design of both the hardware and the firmware used for the communication with the other boards of the detector, power managing, and the interfacing with the ASIC used for PMTs' readout. Eventually the Trigger board will be tested to verify its functionalities and its compliance with the HEPD design specifications. Next developments are the integration of the Trigger board with the other systems on the detector and the environmental testing of the whole system.
Time-dependent energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) carry crucial information regarding ... more Time-dependent energy spectra of galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) carry crucial information regarding their origin and propagation throughout the interstellar environment. When observed at the Earth, after traversing the interplanetary medium, such spectra are heavily affected by the solar wind and the embedded solar magnetic field permeating the inner sectors of the heliosphere. The activity of the Sun changes significantly over an 11 yr solar cycle—and so does the effect on cosmic particles; this translates into a phenomenon called solar modulation. Moreover, GCR spectra during different epochs of solar activity provide invaluable information for a complete understanding of the plethora of mechanisms taking place in various layers of the Sun’s atmosphere and how they evolve over time. The High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD-01) has been continuously collecting data since 2018 August, during the quiet phase between solar cycles 24 and 25; the activity of the Sun is slowly but steadily r...
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A: Accelerators, Spectrometers, Detectors and Associated Equipment
Abstract CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) is a Chinese–Italian scientific space miss... more Abstract CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite) is a Chinese–Italian scientific space mission dedicated to monitor the variations of the main parameters of the topside ionosphere (electric and magnetic fields, plasma parameters, charge particle fluxes) caused by either natural emitters – especially earthquakes – or artificial ones. The CSES satellite was successfully launched from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center located in the west of Inner Mongolia on February 2nd, 2018, and it is now orbiting under nominal conditions. The expected mission lifetime amounts to 5 years. CSES is the first element of a multi-satellite monitoring system; several satellites are scheduled for the next few years. The High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD) is the main contribution of the Italian collaboration to the mission. It was designed and built in order to detect electrons in the energy range between 3 and 100 MeV, protons between 30 and 200 MeV, and light nuclei in the MeV energy window. The electronics of the detector was designed following stringent requirements on mechanical and thermal stability, power consumption, radiation hardness and double redundancy. The system successfully went through the space qualification tests. In this paper, we describe the HEPD electronics, the space qualification tests performed before launch, and the in-flight performance of the detector.
In the past twenty years, satellite gravimetry missions have successfully provided data for the d... more In the past twenty years, satellite gravimetry missions have successfully provided data for the determination of the Earth static gravity field (GOCE) and its temporal variations (GRACE and GRACE-FO). In particular, the possibility to study the evolution in time of Earth masses allows us to monitor global parameters underlying climate changes, water resources, flooding, melting of ice masses and the corresponding global sea level rise, all of which are of paramount importance, providing basic data on, e.g. geodynamics, earthquakes, hydrology or ice sheets changes. Recently, a large interest has developed in novel technologies and quantum sensing, which promise higher sensitivity, drift-free measurements, and higher absolute accuracy for both terrestrial surveys and space missions, giving direct access to more precise long-term measurements. Looking at a time frame beyond the present decade, in the MOCAST+ study (MOnitoring mass variations by Cold Atom Sensors and Time measures) a sa...
IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing
Electron density (Ne) and temperature (Te) values recorded by the Langmuir probe onboard the firs... more Electron density (Ne) and temperature (Te) values recorded by the Langmuir probe onboard the first satellite of the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES-01) mission allow calculating quantities such as the rate of change of electron density index (RODI) and the rate of change of electron temperature index (ROTEI), which are essential to describe the ionospheric irregularities and their dynamics. These two indices depend significantly on two parameters, i.e., the measurement sampling time and the width of the sliding windows used for their computation. Ne and Te measurements from CSES-01 present two different sampling times, i.e., 3 s in the survey mode and 1.5 s in the burst mode. The purpose of this article is to understand what are the best values of these two parameters to be used when computing RODI and ROTEI based on CSES-01 data. The main results of the study show the following: The shorter the data sampling time, the higher the values of the calculated ionospheric indices, which means that it is not possible to merge values of either RODI or ROTEI calculated with a different sampling time; the wider the sliding window used to calculate the indices, the higher the indices. A reasonable compromise between the data sampling time and the satellite orbital velocity suggests that the optimal way to calculate RODI and ROTEI from CSES-01 should be done by considering data with a 3-s sampling time (i.e., in the survey mode or in the downsampled burst mode), and a 24-s wide sliding window.
Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They h... more Deep learning algorithms have gained importance in particle physics in the last few years. They have been shown to outperform traditional strategies in particle identification, tracking and energy reconstruction in the most modern high-energy physics experiments. The attractive feature of these techniques is their ability to model large dimensionality inputs and catch nontrivial correlations among the variables, which could be hidden or not easy to model. This paper focuses on the application of deep neural networks to the event reconstruction of the Limadou High-Energy Particle Detector on board the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite. The core of the reconstruction chain is a set of fully connected neural networks that reconstructs the nature, the arrival direction and the kinetic energy of incoming electrons and protons, starting from the signals recorded in the detector. These networks are trained on a dedicated Monte Carlo simulation as representative as possible of real data. We describe the simulation, architecture and methodology adopted to design and train the networks, and finally report on the performance measured on simulated and flight data.
The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ion... more The CSES satellite aims to monitor electromagnetic-, particle-and plasma perturbations in the ionomagnetosphere and inner Van Allen radiation belts, originated by electromagnetic sources external and internal to the geomagnetic cavity, cosmic rays and solar events. In particular, the objective of the space mission is to investigate lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanisms (including effects of lightning, earthquakes, volcanoes and artificial electromagnetic emissions) that induce perturbations of the top side of the ionosphere and lower boundary of the radiation belts. To this purpose, the mission has been conceived to take advantage of a multi-instrument payload comprising nine detectors for the measurement of electromagnetic field components, plasma parameters and energetic particles, as well as X-ray flux. The Italian team participating in the CSES mission has built one of these devices, the High-Energy Particle Detector (HEPD), for high-precision observations of electrons, protons and light nuclei. During its trip along the orbit, and thanks to the large set of detectors operated on board, CSES completely monitors the Earth, acting as an excellent instrument for Space Weather.
On May 20, 2012, at 02:03 UTC, a moderate earthquake of local magnitude, Ml 5.9 started a seismic... more On May 20, 2012, at 02:03 UTC, a moderate earthquake of local magnitude, Ml 5.9 started a seismic sequence in the central Po Plain of northern Italy The mainshock occurred in an area where seismicity of comparable magnitude has neither been recorded nor reported in the historical record over the last 1,000 years. The aftershock sequence evolved rapidly near the epicenter, with diminishing magnitudes until May 29, 2012, when at 07:00 UTC a large earthquake of Ml 5.8 occurred 12 km WSW of the mainshock, starting a new seismic sequence in the western area; a total of seven earthquakes with Ml >5 occurred in the area between May 20 and June 3, 2012. Immediately after the mainshock, the Italian Department of Civil Protection requested the Italian Space Agency to activate the Constellation of Small Satellites for Mediterranean Basin Observation (COSMO-SkyMed) to provide Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) coverage of the area. COSMO-SkyMed consists of four satellites in a ...
&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The Italian space industry, and specifically Leonardo S.p.A., has gained... more &amp;lt;p&amp;gt;The Italian space industry, and specifically Leonardo S.p.A., has gained unique skills at an international level in the development of space-qualified power laser sources with for lidar Earth observation applications (Aeolus, EarthCARE). Moreover, Leonardo S.p.A. and the Italian optical industry, has a consolidated technical-scientific knowledge and consolidated experience in the design and development of lidar receiver sub-systems (telescopes, optical devices and sensors) with &amp;amp;#160;space applications. The Italian Space Agency (ASI) intends to benefit from long-term expertise to design and develop a lidar system for Earth observation applications. Two separate feasibility studies, one focusing of technical aspects and one focusing on scientific aspects, are presently underway to define mission goals and a possible instrument layout.&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;CALIGOLA has a primary focus on the atmosphere, but also a strong focus on the study of the Ocean-Earth-Atmosphere system and the mutual interactions within it. Exploiting the three Nd: YAG laser emissions at 354.7, 532 and 1064 nm and the elastic (Rayleigh-Mie) and Raman lidar echoes from atmospheric constituents, CALIGOLA is conceived to carry out three-wavelength particle backscatter and depolarization ratio and two-wavelength particle extinction profile measurements from aerosols and clouds to be used to retrieve their microphysical and dimensional properties. Furthermore, measurement of the elastic backscattered echoes from the sea surface and the underlying layers, and their degree of depolarization, CALIGOLA will be exploited to characterize sea optical properties (ocean color) and the suspended particulate matter, which are needed to study the seasonal and inter-annual phytoplankton dynamics and to improve the understanding of the role of phytoplankton in marine biogeochemistry, in the global carbon cycle and in the response of marine ecosystems to climate variability. A specific measurement channel will be dedicated to fluorescence measurements from atmospheric aerosols and marine chlorophyll, for the purpose of aerosol typing and for characterizing ocean primary production. Aerosol fluorescence measurements at 680 nm/460 nm are also planned for the purpose of aerosol typing. CALIGULA will also allow accurate measurements of the small-scale variability of the earth&#39;s surface elevation primarily associated with variations in the terrain, vegetation and forest canopy height.&amp;lt;br&amp;gt;The CALIGOLA project is explicitly included the on-going Three-Year Activity Plan (2021-2023) of the Italian Space Agency, with a scheduled tentative launch window of 2026-2028. The considered strategy to develop the above described space lidar mission in such a short time relies on the maximum exploitation of subsystems already developed at national level for space applications, with a high TRL (TRL&amp;gt;7), ultimately leading to a space mission with high impact and scientific timeliness. The Phase A study of the technological feasibility of the laser source is on-going, commissioned by ASI to Leonardo S.p.A., and scientific studies in support of the mission also on-going, with the University of Basilicata being the leading scientific institution. The Italian Space Agency is willing to pursue this mission in a coordinated way with one or more other European or extra-European Space Agencies, with a bilateral or multi-lateral contributed mission approach, and, in this regard, any interest from other Agencies is welcome and desired.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;
ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, 2015
Agencies from CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites) have traditionally focused their e... more Agencies from CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites) have traditionally focused their efforts on the response phase. Rapid urbanization and increased severity of weather events has led to growing economic and human losses from disasters, requiring international organisations to act now in all disaster risk management (DRM) phases, especially through improved disaster risk reduction policies and programmes. As part of this effort, CEOS agencies have initiated a series of actions aimed at fostering the use of Earth observation (EO) data to support disaster risk reduction and at raising the awareness of policy and decision-makers and major stakeholders of the benefits of using satellite EO in all phases of DRM. <br><br> CEOS is developing a long-term vision for sustainable application of satellite EO to all phases of DRM. CEOS is collaborating with regional representatives of the DRM user community, on a multi-hazard project involving three thematic pilots (floods...
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Papers by Simona Zoffoli