The Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) contributes to the new preparatory phase of the mission Keystone, selected by theEuropean Space Agency (ESA) within the scope of Earth Explorer 12, the twelfth in a family of missions dedicated to the study of the Earth system. The mission's goal is the systematic observation of the atmospheric layer between 50 and 250 kilometers above sea level, a key region for understanding the processes that connect Earth's atmosphere to the space environment.
The INGV contributes to the scientific definition of the project through the presence of Luca Spogli, senior researcher at INGV and member of the Keystone Mission Advisory Group, an international group of experts that supports ESA in developing the mission's scientific objectives and observational requirements.
The program includes continuous measurement of temperature, winds, and chemical composition, with specific attention to atomic oxygen concentration, to better understand energy balances at high altitudes.
The data collected will contribute to a better understanding of the processes that regulate the middle and upper atmosphere and their connections with space weather, with potential implications for the reliability of satellite navigation signals and radio communications and for monitoring satellite orbits.
Initially included among the candidate proposals in 2024, the Keystone mission thus continues its technical and scientific evaluation process in view of the subsequent developments of the Earth Explorer 12 program, including them within the scope of the atmospheric research programs that INGV has been conducting for some time.
Useful links:
Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
The European Space Agency (ESA)
