ROME (ITALPRESS) – New high-resolution air quality monitoring and forecasting tools are on the way thanks to the European Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service (Cams) program, which aims to extend and improve services on a local scale under the Cams2_72IT project carried out in collaboration with Enea, Ispra, Cnr-Isac, University of Tor Vergata, Italian Consortium of Copernicus Academy and 8 Regional Agencies for Environmental Protection (Emilia-Romagna, Lombardy, Campania, Liguria, Piedmont, Veneto, Umbria, Valle d’Aosta). “Camsis a reference point for greenhouse gas and aerosol monitoring at the global and European level; thanks to the combination of satellite data and atmospheric models, it offers essential tools to address the challenges related to pollution and climate change,” explains Antonio Piersanti, head of the Enea Models and Measurements Laboratory for Air Quality and Climate Observations.In detail, Enea researchers will conduct downscaling of pollutant concentration fields using the Enea air quality forecasting model FORAIR-IT, which will continue to operate in parallel with the corresponding forecasting systems of Arpa Emilia-Romagna (Kairos) and CNR-Isac (Chimbo). In order to strengthen collaboration among the institutions that manage the forecasting tools, the three national modeling systems will provide the concentration fields to the Arpa Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Lombardy, Piedmont, Umbria and Veneto to perform higher-resolution forecasts on their territories and evaluate their potential compared to the systems currently applied by Arpa. In the project, Enea researchers will also study Saharan dust intrusion in Italy, a phenomenon that can significantly affect air quality. Activities will focus on comparing observed data on the ground with model predictions and applying a new methodology for detecting Saharan dust intrusion events through the combined use of models and observations.(ITALPRESS).-Photo: Agenzia Fotogramma-
