NHAZCA’s Commitment to Hydrogeological Risk Mitigation: The NARCISSUS Project

NHAZCA is dedicated to advancing the field of hydrogeological risk mitigation through the development of the project “NARCISSUS Satellite based hydrogeological risk monitoring through spectral soil moisture measurement“.

Soil moisture is a crucial hydrological variable for numerous applications in environmental and Earth sciences, which have a direct impact on the global environment and human society. Potential applications include:

  • Weather and climate variability forecasting,
  • Prediction and monitoring of drought conditions,
  • Water resource management and allocation,
  • Agricultural production and drought mitigation,
  • Monitoring ecosystem responses to climate change,
  • Prevention of natural disasters such as fires, landslides, floods, and sandstorms.

Accurate knowledge of soil moisture is essential for assessing and preventing hydrogeological risks, a core area of interest for NHAZCA. In collaboration with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), we are engaged in the research and development of a revolutionary monitoring system based on the spectroscopic measurement of soil moisture using satellites.

Satellites are the primary tools for the development of this project as they provide radar images or scan large portions of the planet (acquired within hours) with a spatial resolution that can reach a few meters. In this project, we use L-band polarimetric data for radar satellites and hyperspectral data for optical satellites to develop innovative methods for calculating soil moisture from the latest generation of satellite data. These data, obtained from different satellites, will be “fused” into a single final product for spatiotemporal mapping of soil moisture.

By delving into technical and scientific topics and combining elements of Industrial Research and Experimental Development, we will examine the possible applications useful for building a tool for soil moisture analysis.

Thanks to NARCISSUS, we will be able to advance the state-of-the-art in soil moisture monitoring and provide precise and timely data, significantly enhancing our ability to manage and mitigate hydrogeological risks, thereby ensuring a safer and more resilient society.

NARCISSUS is a project co-financed by the Lazio Region for Competitive Industrial Repositioning.