The "Eyes on Plastic" conference, organised by Enel with the participation of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Municipality of Genoa, was held today as part of the Ocean Race event. The meeting was attended by the Mayor Marco Bucci, Marco Campomenosi, Deputy of the European Parliament, Sergio Liardo, Admiral Inspector (CP) Maritime Director of Liguria, Sonia Sandei, Head of Electrification at Enel Group, Davide Coppola, Head of Space Applications Initiatives at ESA and Alfredo Viglienzoni, Director of the Technology Office Area of the Municipality of Genoa.

The initial results from the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the use of space technologies and applications to accelerate green and blue innovation, which was signed by the three parties in January 2022, were presented during the conference. As part of the MoU, the three parties have committed to supporting the development of innovative space applications relating to the blue economy, green mobility, the port and infrastructure.

"Eyes on Plastic" is the first project to be born from the signing of the protocol and is linked to the monitoring and reuse of plastics at sea from a circular economy perspective. The project - presented by Stefan Mühlbauer, EOMAP Project and Product Manager, and by Stefania Traverso, Head of the SIT Office at Genoa Municipality Technology Office Management, is being developed by the European consortium EOMAP. It combines data from satellite earth observation, sensors and on-site platforms, as well as innovative IT and algorithms, to identify the presence of plastic waste in water. The artwork "Ocean Gyre" by Raul Orvieto, made with plastic collected after the storms, was also presented.

”I am proud that Genoa has been chosen as a pilot city for this project” commented the Mayor of Genoa, Marco Bucci. “Every action that encourages innovation and improves the quality of life is essential for the city of the future. It is an important opportunity for collaboration: the dialogue between three different entities allows for the merging of skills and visions towards common objectives. Genoa wants to be at the centre of the ecological transition. The Ocean Race represents the ideal opportunity to give visibility to these projects worldwide. Everyone must be aware that ocean water is essential for the life of the planet: by respecting the oceans we respect the world. I thank Enel and ESA for the sensitivity shown on the subject and I am convinced that this collaboration will bring important results.”

“We joined this project with conviction and enthusiasm and today we are proud to present the fruits of the collaboration with ESA and the Municipality of Genoa” said Sonia Sandei, Head of Electrification at Enel Group. “Our contribution, combined with local knowledge, technological innovations and the experience of other interested parties, has made it possible to develop an innovative technology that will bring undoubted benefits to the sea, enhancing the circular economy and confirming Genoa as a leading city in the ecological transition, starting from the port and the blue economy".

ESA’s Davide Coppola said “We are proud of this project which is the first to emerge from ESA’s cooperation with the Municipality of Genoa and Enel. We are confident that this initiative will bring tangible benefits and results that will inspire future initiatives at scale.”   

The age-old craft of predicting the weather has taken a step forward with the launch of the world’s lightest weather sonde, the StreamSonde, developed by Skyfora in Finland with the help of the European Space Agency (ESA)’s Business Applications programme. Weighing in at less than 15 grams, the StreamSonde is able to deliver weather intelligence with world-class accuracy, recording atmospheric flows, weather parameters and air quality in great detail. 

The StreamSonde has been designed to be launched from balloons, aeroplanes, drones or UAVs and carried around by natural winds. By using GNSS technology and 3D motion sensors it is able to record winds with a higher degree of accuracy and in greater detail than ever before. It also uses multiple sensors to record a large number of weather parameters. The ESA Demonstration Project enabled Skyfora to evidence a wide range of benefits, not only around its contribution for improved weather forecasting ability but also in taking accurate storm and routine weather measurements.

The Demonstration Project was successfully concluded at the end of 2022 and the StreamSonde is now used by top-level government and research customers around the world. In the second half of 2022, the StreamSonde was launched more than 100 times as part of the ESA Demonstration Project. In several use cases it demonstrated breakthrough measurement accuracy, according to metrics laid out by the World Meteorological Organisation. The usefulness of the data for improving numerical weather prediction accuracy was also proven.

This ESA project has supported the Skyfora team in developing crucial know-how within the very complex and demanding field of measuring weather, processing weather data and weather forecasting. This includes new expertise around sensor placement on weather sondes, calibration procedures, test setups, data analysis, data assimilation to be used into numerical weather prediction, FM radio telemetry, GNSS engineering and embedded software development and testing. As well as developing technical expertise, the team has also been able to hone its commercial capabilities and has learnt to navigate the complex commercial landscape of public sector agencies that form the bulk of the weather sonde market. 

Skyfora’s CEO Fredrik Borgström said “with the support from ESA Business Applications in this project we have been able to develop our solution even further. Our mission is to update weather measurement and forecasting technology to the 21st century to bring accurate, high-resolution weather forecasts for improved industrial operations and for the protection of life and property. Skyfora’s view is that increasingly volatile weather caused by climate change urgently calls for such solutions.”

Enrico Spinelli, ESA’s Technical Officer on the StreamSonde project, said “we are pleased to have supported and worked with Skyfora since they were incubated at an ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC). The Streamsonde project has already achieved significant technical and commercial success in this complex field.”

Skyfora has recently secured significant investment and the growing team is committed to continuing to innovate and develop technology solutions that address critical weather prediction challenges.

Satellite data is increasingly being used in agriculture for precision farming, enabling crop health monitoring and informing more accurate decisions in a variety of areas including watering, the application of fertilisers and pesticides, and many others. 

In Portugal, with its Aquafarm project, Hidromod is targeting another vital aspect of farming: the validation of subsidies claimed through the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and efficient water management, with support from ESA through a Business Applications Kick-Start study and follow-on Demonstration Project.

Satellite data can play a significant role in helping farmers grow better crops and optimise harvesting. In a country such as Portugal, where a significant proportion of the land is used for agriculture, external competition at cheaper prices hasn’t persuaded buyers to abandon local produce. Nevertheless, CAP subsidies are still vital for farmers. Ensuring that the subsidies are going to the right place is a major challenge for Portugal’s Institute of Finance for Agriculture and Fish (IFAP). 

Hidromod is tackling this issue with its Aquafarm project, which uses Sentinel-2 satellite optical data and Landsat 8 data to provide remote crop monitoring. In the context of its Business Applications programme, ESA initially supported Hidromod to develop the service through a Kick-Start activity which was then followed by the Aquafarm 2.0 Demonstration project,  due to be completed in 2023. However, the project has been so successful that in June 2021 IFAP already signed a 2-year contract with Hidromod for the service. 

According to Rita Rinaldo, head of project and studies implementation at ESA “The Aquafarm 2.0 journey from study to project to commercial service highlights one of ESA Business Applications and Space Solutions’ strengths:  to support companies from an early application concept to operating as a viable service”.

Verifying CAP payments

Through the CAP policy, farmers receive direct payments to support them in the way they manage their farms for the benefit of the wider population, for example in work done to protect the environment. CAP payments also provide additional support to regions where conditions are difficult and to help young people take up farming. 

There is an increasing emphasis on technological innovation, digitisation and research and development designed to encourage positive environmental changes. Farmers taking this approach can access additional financing because, under the revised CAP policy, the amount they receive will depend not only on the size of the area they farm, but also on the farm’s impact on the environment and/or climate. 

In Portugal, IFAP controls the CAP payments. Its mission is to validate and fund the implementation of national and EU measures in agriculture, rural development, fisheries and related sectors. However, it is impossible to physically inspect every farm across the country to check whether the crops declared by farmers are the ones actually being grown. 

Not only can this lead to subsidies being wrongly attributed, but if discovered, can result in compulsory refunds of subsidies back to the EU. IFAP therefore wanted to use a system that would help it distinguish between agricultural and non-agricultural land, and then identify the individual ‘parcels’ of agricultural land – around 4 million parcels across Portugal – and the crops being grown on each one.

As explained by vice-president of IFAP, Nuno Moreira, the processing of Copernicus Sentinel satellite images has allowed the monitoring and identification of crops and the validation of individual claims for agriculture funds, with obvious advantages in the quantity and quality of control, as well as knowledge of the agriculture being carried out and support for the definition of agriculture policies.

Providing support to farmers in efficient water management

But Aquafarm 2.0 is used for much more than verifying CAP payments. Aquafarm 2.0 integrates data from satellites with meteorological models and measurements as well as plant growth models to provide results about plants and soil. The platform is connected to in situ data and ‘learns’ using historical data in order to increase the accuracy of its forecasts of crop development and water use. In particular, it detects the crop type and is able to predict when and where water is and will be consumed by plants. These type of predictions help farmers and water managers to ensure that there is a more efficient and sustainable use of water in agriculture. 

Aquafarm’s features also make it attractive for farmers, enabling them to maximise production by proactively addressing any identified stress factors in their crops. As part of the Demonstration Project, Hidromod is working with two companies that provide such services to farmers – Wisecrop and EDIA – to address this market.

Pedro Chambel Leitão, Aquafarm project manager, said “What truly impressed me in regards to the collaboration with ESA is that it was not only about selling satellite images. It was addressing the world's agricultural challenges together and adjusting and shaping where the satellite images can and can’t be used in order to achieve Aquafarm’s ambition to support crop and efficient water management.”

Rita Rinaldo added: “Water resources are heavily impacted by climate change and water-related challenges are one of the priorities of the COP27 agenda. Water is at the heart of climate adaptation and resilience. At the same time, water security is a necessary element of food security and soil protection. We are working alongside Hidromod and partners to introduce innovative measures in support of new practices for water management in the agri-food sector, leveraging on integrated space solutions.” 
 

A new research paper analysing the results of the Simona Project shows that the provision of information and expertise from a hospital in Italy has clearly improved the diagnoses and management of paediatric cancer at the primary childhood oncology unit in Iraq.

By the early 2000s, healthcare in Iraq had suffered after decades of war and economic sanctions. One of those to respond was paediatric haematologist Dr. Anna Maria Testi from Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, who set up the Simona Project (later renamed TOGETHER) after a visit to Baghdad in 2003. This enabled paediatric oncologists at the Sapienza University of Rome to provide up-to-date medical information and services to the Children’s Welfare Teaching Hospital (CWTH) in Baghdad via satellite. 

Over 12 years of collaboration between the two hospitals took place, 1182 patients aged up to 16 years old at CWTH received care through the project, including 500 whose cases were discussed during teleconsultation sessions. 

It took place Under the coordination of the Telemedicine service provider Telbios, with the involvement of the Italian humanitarian aid organisation INTERSOS, the Policlinico Umberto I Haematology Department at Sapienza University of Rome and the Children Paediatric Hospital. In Iraq Mazin Al-Jadiry and Salma Hadad worked on the project. 

The benefits of twinning and telemedicine

The research paper "'Comprehensive global collaboration in the care of 1182 pediatric oncology patients over 12 years: The Iraqi-Italian experience'", which was recently published in the journal Cancer Medicine, notes that “Twinning and telemedicine are proven strategies to improve care, speed the process of change and introduce new medical concepts in developing countries”. The positive results from the Simona project clearly align with this observation. 

The teleconsultations enabled by ESA’s project, along with tele-education, exchange visits and the provision of second opinions on pathological findings, had a measurable effect on patient care. In some cases diagnoses were changed, as were treatment regimens and supportive care measures. The overall outcome included decreases in mortality, toxicities, infections and relapse rates. There was also a reduction in the rates of patients abandoning treatment, which was attributed to improved parental trust based on their awareness of the alliance with the Italian team.

“Long-term initiatives such as this collaboration between two medical facilities in different countries can make a difference to so many lives,” said Francesco Feliciani, Head of Companies-Led Projects Section at the Downstream Business Applications Department at ESA. 

“Satellites can bring together experts across continents to enable them to support each other and thereby support their patients – on a practical level this simply can’t happen in any other way with such frequency and for so many years. ESA is proud to have supported the Simona Project and to know we’ve made a difference to the lives of so many children in Iraq.”

Meanwhile Mazin Faisal Al-Jadiry, assistant professor of paediatrics at the University of Baghdad said that the project has “helped to improve the diagnostic skills of our pathologists and as we are a tertiary and teaching centre the upgrading of the diagnostic skills will help to disseminate this experience to other parts of Iraq and to the new generations of pathologists and oncologists.”

The Simona Project is believed to have facilitated the most comprehensive telemedicine collaboration in paediatric oncology. Although the project has been finished for some time now, the positive outcomes are being maintained due to the improvements in knowledge and skills among the staff at CWTH.