Environmental monitoring in Italy using the optical sensors of the Priroda module

In the field of the scientific co-operation between the authors´ two Institutes started in 1986, a common research program was developed for the analysis of the characteristics and the application of advanced spaceborne optical sensors for the remote sensing of the Earth. This program has become a part of the international scientific project Priroda, which combines efforts of scientists from Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the USA. The space module Priroda is the technical base for the project. It was launched and attached to the inhabited space platform Mir in April 1996. By means of the optical sensors placed on board of the Priroda module, the authors are going to study the geophysical parameters useful for environmental monitoring and resource evaluation in Italy. Taking into account the characteristics of different sensors and utilising both experimental data available now and coming from similar sensors placed on aircraft or spacecraft and suitable models, the authors are estimating the possible applications of such new sensors over some test sites in the Tuscany region