The new INGV eSWua platform will make it possible to consult the state of perturbation of the earth's ionosphere in real time and to navigate through time series, monitoring maps and interactive tools
The new portal for ionospheric monitoring of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) is online. The new eSWua platform (Electronic Space Weather Upper Atmosphere) aims to be a national and international point of reference for the distribution of data and scientific products for the study of physical phenomena that occur in the upper atmosphere.
Monitoring the ionosphere is an essential part of space weather (or Space Weather), a research field that deals with the study of phenomena involving the Sun, the solar wind, the magnetosphere, the ionosphere and the thermosphere, the object of growing attention due to its possible impacts on human life and modern technologies telecommunication and positioning.
The new INGV eSWua portal () collects and publishes data and products in real time (as well as historical series) acquired by the Institute's ionospheric monitoring network, managed by the research group in "Upper Atmospheric Physics and Radiopropagation". INGV boasts a long history in this field which began with the installation of one of the first ionospheric observatories in the world in 1947 and continued with the installation of special GPS receivers for ionospheric monitoring operating permanently at high, medium and low latitudes starting in the early 2000s.
The development of a new ionospheric data management and archiving system has allowed the creation of this innovative online platform which renews the previous portal, known for more than ten years to the international scientific community.
The new site stands out both for the quantity of information available and for the multiple possibilities for consulting, analyzing and accessing data, adhering to the principles of open science supported by the Institute and addressing FAIR-oriented data management (from English findable, Accessible, interoperable, Reusable).
On the homepage it will be possible to consult real-time information on the state of perturbation of the earth's ionosphere on a national, European and global scale, while the various subsections will allow navigation through time series, monitoring maps and interactive tools which integrate the data acquired from different observation.
In addition to scientific research, the eSWua platform will support the services provided in the context of national and international cooperations of which INGV is a part, such as, for example, the PECASUS consortium for the Space Weather service carried out in support of international civil aviation.
#ingv #eSWua #spaceweather #spacemeteorology #ionosphere
