SPACE IT UP proposes 9 thematic areas in addressing the challenges to enhance space domination of the mankind, for both downstream and upstream applications. SPACE IT UP project aims at developing innovative ideas and disruptive solutions to make Italy one of the leading countries in space exportation and exploitation.

CMCC role
CMCC will participate in different Spokes: Spoke 5 -Planetary protection and geohazards mitigation, and Spoke 7- Space for sustainable development of the planet

– Spoke 5 focuses, through interdisciplinary activities, on advancing Earth natural and geo-hazard mitigation through six key challenges: (1) achieving near real-time analysis, (2) identifying precursor signals, (3) managing and utilizing big data, (4) leveraging new sensors with untapped or combined data sources, (5) integrating diverse EO and in situ data via data fusion, and (6) enhancing modeling and simulation techniques.
– Spoke 7 addresses the critical challenge of ensuring the sustainability of human activities for global peace, prosperity, and planetary health. It adopts a holistic, interdisciplinary approach with considerations across various spatial and temporal scales: From foundational science and data collection to big data analysis, validation of scientific outputs, and assessment of social and economic benefits.

Activities
CMCC will take part of several activities in Spoke 5 and 7 to:

– Implement the actions, including travel, devoted to communicating and disseminating the research activities carried out at Spoke level (5.1.4; 7.1.4).
– Take part of upstream gap analysis (WP5.2: 5.2.1, 5.2.2, 5.2.4) to identify and address gaps between the current performance of Earth Observation (EO) systems and desired outcomes, reviewing aspects such as data collection capabilities, resolution, sensitivity, and instrumental parameters to align EO systems with downstream user needs for applications like weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and disaster management.
– Take part of downstream gap analysis (WP5.4: 5.4.1, 5.4.2, 5.4.3), leveraging innovative EO, AI-driven methods, big data analysis, and numerical modeling for geohazard mitigation and adaptation to extreme climatic events to identify potential new services enabled by advanced data and IT technologies and highlight gaps that must be addressed.
– Create hybrid methods that integrate physical modeling, data assimilation, and AI to develop advanced systems for single and multimodal applications (WP5.5: 5.5.8): Develop numerical models to integrate data and enhance EO and ground-based systems to tackle complex challenges in natural disaster prediction, prevention, and monitoring.
– Enhance tools and systems for analysing and responding to extreme weather and climate events, focusing on observation data integration and automation (WP7.2: 7.2.2, 7.2.3): Relocatable models to study, predict and map impacts of extreme events such as coastal flooding; automating emergency mapping and grading systems by integrating AI and 3D aerial/satellite data.
– Monitor plastic pollution in the ocean from EO data and validation of model results (WP7.4: 7.4.1)

Expected results
SPACE IT UP will use the most advanced technology in terms of image recognition, artificial intelligence, internet-of-things, predictive models, and real-time monitoring solutions to pursue the following outcomes
– Prediction and mitigation of extreme weather events (Spokes 7)
– Near real-time monitoring of natural events, e.g., earthquakes and tsunamis (Spokes 5)
– Monitoring humans’ impact on the planet (Spokes 7)

Partners
Alma Mater Studiorum – Universita Di Bologna
C.I.R.A. (Centro Italiano Ricerche Aerospaziali) – S.C.P.A.
Fondazione Centro Euro – Mediterraneo Sui Cambiamenti Climatici
Consiglio Nazionale Delle Ricerche
E-geos – S.P.A
ENEA – Agenzia nazionale per le nuove tecnologie, l’energia e lo sviluppo economico
sostenibile
Fondazione Bruno Kessler
Gran Sasso Science Institute – GSSI
Istituto Italiano Di Tecnologia – IIT
Istituto Nazionale di Astrofisica – INAF
Istituto Nazionale Di Fisica Nucleare – I.N.F.N.
Istituto Nazionale Di Geofisica E Vulcanologia – INGV
Istituto Nazionale di Ricerca Metrologica – INRiM
Leonardo – Società Per Azioni
Fondazione Links – Leading Innovation & Knowledge For Society
Mapsat – Telerilevamento Euromediterraneo S.R.L.
Politecnico di Bari
Politecnico di Milano
Politecnico Di Torino
Università degli Studi di Firenze
Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico I
Università degli Studi di Padova
Università di Pisa
Università degli Studi di Roma “La Sapienza”
Università degli Studi di Roma “Tor Vergata”
Università degli Studi di Trento
Università della Calabria
Sitael S.P.A
Thales Alenia Space Italia S.P.A.
Telespazio S.P.A
Tyvak International S.R.L.