CIMA Research Foundation

The FAIR - #ForestFire AI-based #RiskAssessment prototype from our Foundation won the GOBEYOND Innovation Prize! A step forward for integrating AI into wildfire risk management.

The #water crisis starts from above, where snow and ice are disappearing. Where precious reserves once accumulated, today the balance is breaking. #Glaciers are retreating, #snow falls less often or melts too soon. And the effects are felt further down: rivers run dry, crops struggle, hydropower slows down. The impacts move downhill, turning into crisis. Between #glacier melt and #drought: the acceleration of glacier retreat is worsened by the phenomenon of #snowdroughts — periods in which seasonal snow is drastically reduced or melts earlier than usual — which in recent years have been reshaping the hydrological cycle of #mountain regions. This means less water available in summer, greater exposure to heat, and a direct impact on the water security of millions of people. According to the #WorldDroughtAtlas, the loss of snow and ice is already creating tangible water deficits in many mountain regions, with consequences for agriculture, energy production, and access to water. From the Himalayas to the Alps, on the occasion of #WorldWaterDay, we explore how our Foundation contributes to understanding these local and global changes through tools for analysis, monitoring, and forecasting — all supporting concrete adaptation strategies: https://lnkd.in/dSDGcwrF #SaveOurGlaciers #SaveTheGlaciers

#Glaciers are massive reservoirs of water of vital importance, acting as regulators of #water balances that sustain millions of people around the world. However, these balances are being profoundly altered by global warming: #glaciermelting is an unequivocal sign of a #watercrisis that is already showing tangible consequences in various regions of the world, from South America to Europe, to Asia. #drought Understanding and monitoring the evolution of glaciers is the first step in proposing #adaptation solutions, a goal that our researchers are pursuing through increasingly advanced monitoring and modeling techniques. “The use of #drones has revolutionized our ability to observe glaciers, enabling the acquisition of data over vast areas and providing us with an unprecedented level of detail on ablation and accumulation processes, thus contributing to a more effective management of mountain water resources,” says Umberto Morra di Cella, researcher at our Foundation and #UAV pilot. While science can offer the tools to understand and predict the future of glaciers and water resources, collective #awareness and action are necessary to achieve conscious #watermanagement and succeed in preserving these fundamental ecosystems. #WorldDroughtAtlas  #WorldWaterDay #SaveTheGlaciers 👇 Find out more in our article "Glaciers, water sentinels: monitoring, research, and global drought impacts" and subscribe to our hashtag #newsletter so you don't miss out on upcoming updates! ARPA Valle d'Aosta, IPCC, European Commission, IVM Institute for Environmental Studies-Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam), United Nations University - Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Global Water Partnership, UN Convention to Combat Desertification Edoardo Cremonese, Tessa Maurer, Ph.D., Francesco Avanzi, Simone Gabellani

Involving citizens is critical to building effective #climateadaptation strategies. However, stimulating genuine interest and promoting active participation are often complex challenges. The Adaptation AGORA and #HorizonEU CLIMAS_EU projects provide support in this very context, developing innovative approaches to co-create effective climate solutions. If you would like to discover the results obtained through these methodologies of co-creation, co-production, co-design and co-implementation of #climatechange adaptation processes, follow the webinar organized by the Adaptation AGORA project: 📆9 April 2025 🕒15:00-16:30 CET 🔗 Register here: https://lnkd.in/ghbuRNxr 👉 More info: https://lnkd.in/g_xDgJ6e #ClimateAction #CitizenEngagement #EUResearch #EUMissionAdaptation

#FloodTuscany On March 14, a storm system hit #Tuscany with torrential rains and intense winds, causing widespread flooding and significant damage in many areas.  It was a significant event because of the amount of rain that fell in 24 hours: according to the analysis of our program director Antonio Parodi, “if we compare the observed rainfall with the monthly climatology for March, we see that in some areas of Tuscany the amount of #rain that fell in a single day was 300 percent of the monthly average.” But what were the factors that generated the phenomenon? And which areas were most affected? To understand the causes and assess the #impact of the event, our Foundation conducted a detailed analysis, integrating advanced meteorological data and satellite images. 🆕 Find out more on our website: https://lnkd.in/gdR99Wjy #alluvioneToscana #flood #meteorology #earthobservation #satellitedata #data

#Tanzania and #Mozambique are a significant example of transnational #cooperation, which in the context of southern Africa is a strategic element in strengthening capacities to prevent and respond to climate hazards and disasters.  Through collaboration under the African Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Action System (#AMHEWAS) program, in fact, the two countries are working to integrate their early warning systems, with the aim of ensuring increasingly timely and effective #emergencymanagement. This collaboration is part of a larger framework, including the launch of the Early Warnings for All (#EW4ALL) global initiative in Tanzania just these days as part of a workshop bringing together government representatives, international organizations and development partners to discuss the future of early warning in Tanzania. Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo, Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo - Sede di Nairobi, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), African Union. Strengthening early warning systems and the importance of transnational cooperation in the area of risk management were recently explored in an in-depth study published in IEEE Spectrum, which examined emerging technologies supporting climate resilience in Mozambique. The study highlights how innovation and knowledge sharing among institutions are key determinants in improving #climateresilience.  🆕 Find out more on our website: https://lnkd.in/eaRFd38X

#ArtificialIntelligence is increasingly emerging as an essential support for #scientificresearch that can amplify the ability to predict and manage environmental risks. One of the countless fields of study in which it is proving its effectiveness, for example, is forest fire management. Our researcher Paolo Fiorucci analyzed the relationship between AI and #wildfires risk awareness at the International Workshop on Wildfire Modeling & AI in Madrid. Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, The InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) Starting from the results of the study “A Machine Learning-Based Approach for Wildfire Susceptibility Mapping. The Case Study of the Liguria Region in Italy,” he showed how fire susceptibility research has made huge strides over time, moving from statistical analysis to the application of #MachineLearning (ML). The study's goal is to obtain fuel maps that can support fire #riskmanagement by improving scenario building. This is all thanks to Random Forest—a decision tree-based ML algorithm—which has made it possible to leverage historical data on past wildfires to project their behavior and thus identify the areas most prone to fire ignition and propagation, considering the geophysical and climatic characteristics of the location. The resulting fuel maps are a key tool for increasing risk awareness and consequently community safety. Learn more about the study: https://lnkd.in/dBQYMhda And about the workshop: https://lnkd.in/dU3HwNgZ

Species Distribution Models (SDMs) are a highly useful tool for defining targeted and effective conservation and management strategies. Nowadays, they are widely used to predict and describe the distribution of highly mobile species such as #cetaceans. They have also proven to be a valuable tool for studying the empirical relationships between cetacean distributions, physical and biological factors, and human-induced threats. SDMs have been used, for example, to address collision risks, overlap with fishing activities, and the potential impacts of #climatechange. The advancement of techniques for predicting the spatial distribution and abundance of animals has led to a series of comparative studies between different methods. However, only a small portion of these studies has specifically focused on comparisons for cetacean SDMs. This is precisely the goal of the study “Evaluating Three Modelling Frameworks for Assessing Changes in Fin Whale Distribution in the Mediterranean Sea,” of which our researcher Francesca Grossi is the first author and in which Aurelie Moulins, Paola Tepsich and Massimiliano Rosso collaborated. The research – carried out under the NBFC - National Biodiversity Future Center and LIFE Conceptu Maris projects – compares the predictive power of two commonly used models for studying cetacean distribution – Boosted Regression Tree (BRT) and Generalized Additive Models (GAM) – as well as a relatively new two-stage Hurdle model. In particular, the study focused on data related to the Mediterranean fin whale, the second most frequently sighted cetacean in the Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA) of the northwestern #MediterraneanSea and the species most at risk of vessel collisions. It is globally classified as "vulnerable" by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), while the subpopulation in the Mediterranean is “endangered”. The results highlight the role that SDMs can play in marine mammal conservation efforts, providing a solid foundation for informed decision-making and spatial management. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dkZq9qCn 

#Drought is a complex risk affecting water, agriculture, energy, and ecosystems. Effectively addressing it requires data, strategies, and #cooperation. The #WorldDroughtAtlas was created for this purpose: an initiative to understand and manage drought on a global scale. We will discuss it on March 20 in the first #webinar of the series "Unveiling the World Drought Atlas: Risks, Pathways, and Regional Perspectives", focusing on drought #impacts and #adaptation actions. 🇬🇧 Webinar in English 📅 20 March 2025, 14:00-15:00 CET 🎙️ Moderated by our researcher Tessa Maurer, Ph.D., with contributions from our director Lauro Rossi, along with Davide Cotti & Edward Sparkes (UNU-EHS), Daniel Tsegai (UNCCD). ℹ️ Info & registration: https://lnkd.in/d3UmNu6C The sessions are co-organized by CIMA Research Foundation, IVM Institute for Environmental Studies-Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, United Nations University - Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Global Water Partnership, & UN Convention to Combat Desertification.

#Wildfires are a major threat to forest ecosystems, with devastating consequences on the environment, biodiversity and local communities. Their management requires an integrated approach, combining #prevention, #monitoring and rapid intervention. When these events occur in border areas, cooperation among the countries involved becomes essential to ensure an effective and coordinated response. It is exactly in this context that the #SAILOR project operates: funded by the EU Civil Protection Mechanism and coordinated by University of Western Macedonia, it aims to strengthen forest fire management in the cross-border area between #Georgia and #Azerbaijan, acting both through #riskassessment and the implementation of plans for mitigation and management, including updating the procedures currently in use in the two countries. In this way, SAILOR also contributes to enriching what has been achieved under the European PPRD East 3 program. EU in Emergencies These days, our researcher Andrea Trucchia is in Thessaloniki, Greece, for the SAILOR project's training event on forest fire preparedness and management. The training, which aims to promote a shared vision between Azerbaijan and Georgia regarding forest fire preparedness and risk management activities, includes visits to places of excellence in the field: the headquarters of the Fire Brigade and the “OK!Thess” innovation hub center in Thessaloniki and the 2nd Special Disaster Response Unit in the “Sedes” Hellenic Air Force (HAF) Base. The aim is to foster the exchange of experience and information on cross-border intervention methods and to analyze, based on real emergencies, the basic pillars of any forest fire management plan: mapping and protection of vulnerable groups, critical infrastructure and cultural heritage monuments, cooperation with volunteers and local communities.