The EarthCARE mission, implemented in cooperation with JAXA, will be the largest and most complex ESA Earth Explorer mission built to date. The satellite is expected to be ready for launch at the end of 2023 and will carry four payloads consisting of two active sensors, i.e. Atmospheric LIDar (ATLID) and Cloud Profiling Radar (CPR) and two passive instruments, i.e. Multi Spectral Imager (MSI) and Broad Band Radiometer (BBR). The mission will provide synergistic observations and unprecedented insight into aerosol, cloud, and precipitation vertical profiles, as well as radiative properties of the atmosphere. The validation of the numerous and complex synergistic products and retrieval in turn becomes a challenging and daunting task. The ESA EarthCARE Validation Team (ECVT) was established  and two such workshops were held in 2018 and 2021. The 2nd workshop included contributions from other similar (current and future) missions underlined the importance of EarthCARE as a bridge between those missions, potentially ensuring satellite data record continuity which is critical for the scientific community. The need for common guidelines on validation practices was highlighted through  clear demand for common or best practices for the validation of cloud and aerosol profiles.
One specific application of such practices is the recommended procedure to transform suborbital measurements to space-based observations, which is required to perform any meaningful intercomparisons between the measured signals applicable to the lidar, radar, and the imager observations.
The proposed activity is intended to address the need for validation common practices. There are several building blocks identified to be a valuable source of input to this activity, e.g. ongoing studies and activities under ESA. Moreover, ESA's initial effort towards convergence on common practices has managed to engage numerous scientific and validation experts in charting the way forward. These experts, collectively referred to as the Implementation Monitoring Group (IMG), together with the scientists involved in the aforementioned ESA contracts, can contribute, advise, and help review the progress of the best practice activity.
The present ESA project is contributing to the broader effort involving NASA and in the near future also JAXA and EUMETSAT. The CEOS Working Group on Calibration andValidation monitors progress of this work (CV-22-01) and the resulting document will be submitted to the CEOS-WGCV for endorsement as CEOS best practice.

Oggetto del presente Contratto è la collaborazione in attività di ricerca  scientifica atte a mettere a fattor comune il sistema delle informazioni, dei dati e delle competenze utili alla conoscenza nel campo del vento, della struttura termica dell'atmosfera, delle grandezze micrometeorologiche con obiettivo finale la ricostruzione del contributo alla qualità dell'aria del Comprensorio di Civitavecchia dovuto al funzionamento della centrale termoelettrica, Enel di Torrevaldaliga Nord a Civitavecchia

The project aims at advancing the work done in the framework of the QA4EO CCN5,  improving aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Ångström exponent (AE) retrievals based on a correction using synchronous NO2 data.  Development of this method is based on the fact that currently satellite climatological NO2 values are used for correcting the AOD retrievals for NO2 related optical depth. However, NO2 has high spatiotemporal variability and, hence, these values are rarely representative of the actual atmospheric conditions. Recently developed Pandonia Ground Network offers reliable, high measurement frequency ground-based data for NO2 column, alongside with current generation of satellites (S5P/TROPOMI) which provide a high NO2 spatial detail. These data will be used to evaluate the current uncertainty of AOD and AE retrievals and integrated procedures will be developed. Spatiotemporal AOD/NO2 characteristics using two (urban and suburban) neighbouring ground based stations (including AERONET, PGN and EUROSKYRAD related instrumentation) and satellite sensors will be analysed towards demonstrating the NO2 impact on AOD for such validation activities and ways to correct for it.

Molti materiale da costruzione del settore occidentale della Sardegna provengono dalle formazioni carbonatiche mioceniche affioranti. Questi materiali sono stati estesamente sfruttati nell'edilizia storica e monumentale per la loro facile estrazione e lavorabilità. Si tratta comunque di materiali estremamente vulnerabili ai processi di weathering, con notevoli perdite materiche. Questa ricerca è finalizzata ad indagare propedeuticamente la composizione mieno-petrografica dei materiali in opera nella facciata dell chiesa di Santa Lucia, comprese anche le malte originarie di allettamento dei conci lapidei, in modo da fornire risposte adeguate sullo stato di conservazione dei materiali, passo imprescindibile per gli interventi conservativi e di restauro da eseguirsi su detto monumento.

The proposed project puts together archaeologists, satellite image analysts and climate/environmental scientists from CNR-ISAC and UNEW, and the Iraqi academic community, to develop an approach combining satellite and on-the-ground observation to investigate anthropogenic and climate change-related processes impacting ancient buildings, tells and water systems.
The area of interest encompasses the sites and hinterlands of Eridu and Basra, recorded as part of a pilot study by Drs Rayne and Jotheri (UNEW team) using remote sensing and fieldwork. It also covers an area including Wasit governorate, where Drs Cigna and Tapete (CNR-ISAC team) conducted pilot satellite studies.
Iraq is a dense heritage landscape of monuments, mounds (‘tells’), ancient roads and canals, and other remains dating back to different ages that are spread across the country. Archaeological datasets including the Endangered Archaeology database provide case studies for analysis of changes. Much shorter may be the time scale by when these sites - and those yet to be inventoried - could disappear. As increasingly being witnessed by international consortia and the academic community of Iraq, heritage is threatened by urbanisation, agriculture, looting, land use/change of destination and conflict-related cascading hazards (e.g. destruction, fires, pollution), as well as by climate change-related problems. Documentation achieved in this project will have the impact of providing the local stakeholders with a set of digital thematic maps that can be used to expedite, in a context of limited resources, the survey and identification of threatened areas and inform the design of mitigation measures.