Sustainable and ecosystem-based marine spatial planning is a priority of Pacific Island countries basing their economy on marine resources. The urgency of management coral reef systems and associated coastal environments, threatened by the effects of climate change, require a detailed habitat mapping of the present status and a future monitoring of changes over time. Here, we present a remote sensing study using free available Sentinel-2 imagery for mapping at large scale the most sensible and high value habitats (corals, seagrasses, mangroves) of Palau Republic (Micronesia, Pacific Ocean), carried out without any sea truth validation. Remote sensing ‘supervised’ and ‘unsupervised’ classification methods applied to 2017 Sentinel-2 imagery with 10 m resolution together with comparisons with free ancillary data on web platform and available scientific literature were used to map mangrove, coral, and seagrass communities in the Palau Archipelago. This paper addresses the challenge of multispectral benthic mapping estimation using commercial software for preprocessing steps (ERDAS ATCOR) and for benthic classification (ENVI) on the base of satellite image analysis. The accuracy of the methods was tested comparing results with reference NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA) habitat maps achieved through Ikonos and Quickbird imagery interpretation and sea-truth validations. Results showed how the proposed approach allowed an overall good classification of marine habitats, namely a good concordance of mangroves cover around Palau Archipelago with previous literature and a good identification of coastal habitats in two sites (barrier reef and coastal reef) with an accuracy of 39.8–56.8%, suitable for survey and monitoring of most sensible habitats in tropical remote islands.

Over the last decades, remote sensing techniques have contributed to supporting cultural heritage studies and management, including archaeological sites as well as their territorial context and geographical surroundings. This paper aims to investigate the capabilities and limitations of the new hyperspectral sensor PRISMA (Precursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa) by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), still little applied to archaeological studies. The PRISMA sensor was tested on Italian terrestrial (Alba Fucens, Massa D’Albe, L’Aquila) and marine (Sinuessa, Mondragone, Caserta) archaeological sites. A comparison between PRISMA hyperspectral imagery and the well-known Sentinel-2 Multi-Spectral Instrument (MSI) was performed in order to better understand features and outputs useful to investigate the aforementioned areas. At first, bad bands analysis and noise removal were performed, in order to delete the numerically corrupted bands. Principal component analysis (PCA) was carried out to highlight invisible details in the original image; then, spectral signatures of representative areas were extracted and compared to Sentinel-2 data. At last, a classification analysis (ML and SAM) was performed both on PRISMA and Sentinel-2 imagery. The results showed a full agreement between Sentinel and PRISMA data, enhancing the capability of PRISMA in extrapolating more spectral information and providing a better reliability in the extraction of the features.

There are many existing buildings for which seismic rehabilitation interventions are required, especially in earthquake-prone areas like Italy. At the same time, the huge energy cost increase in Europe highlights the need for sustainable techniques that are able to increase the energy efficiency of buildings. These issues are even more significant for weak social groups living in social housing buildings, often in poor and vulnerable conditions. In order to address the solution regarding building renovations from the social, structural, and energy efficiency perspectives, in the framework of the Horizon Europe REHOUSE (Renovation packagEs for HOlistic improvement of EU’s bUildingS Efficiency, maximizing RES generation and cost-effectiveness) Project, this paper proposes an integrated methodology of building assessment that was tested on a social housing building in Margherita di Savoia, a small town of Apulia Region, Italy. In addition to the structural and energy aspects, the social one is particularly important since the building is located in the “Capitanata Area”, considered to be one of the most socially vulnerable areas in Italy. For this reason, an assessment methodology must consider reducing the overall impact of the assessment activities while explaining to tenants the purpose of the assessment and future renovation actions, maintaining the accuracy of the assessment results. Therefore, this study outlines an assessment methodology, demonstrated through its application to the case study building, that integrates the structural, energy, and social aspects, showing that the tenants’ involvement is also crucial for the technical evaluations. The final result is a low-impact approach for the building knowledge gathering needed to start a deep renovation intervention in social housing.

In recent years, innovative Non-Destructive Testing (NDT) techniques, applicable for the assessment of existing civil structures, have become available for in situ analysis on Reinforced Concrete (RC) and masonry structures, but they are still not established for regular inspections, especially after seismic events. The damage assessment of RC buildings after seismic events is a very relevant issue in Italy, where most of the structures built in the last 50 years are RC structures. Furthermore, there is also a growing interest in being able to monitor structural health aspects by storing them on the building’s digital twin. For these reasons, it is necessary to develop an affordable and ready-to-use NDT procedure that provides more accurate indications on the real state of damage of reinforced concrete buildings after seismic events and to integrate these data into an interoperable digital twin for automated, optimized building performance monitoring, management, and preventive maintenance. To this end, a case study was conducted on a building in the Marche region in Italy, damaged by the 2016 earthquake. Non-destructive tests were performed and inserted into the LIS platform for the creation of a digital twin of the building. This platform seamlessly manages, visualizes, and analyzes the collected data and integrates various sensor nodes deployed throughout the building. The paper also presents a methodology to simplify the work of the test operator and make the entire process of knowledge of the building faster and more sustainable through a QR-code interface.

The loss of coral habitats and associated biodiversity have direct effects both on the physical dynamics of the coast and on natural resources, threatening the survival of local populations. Conservative actions, such as the creation of new Marine Protected Areas, are urgent measures needed to face climate change. Managers need fast and simple methods to evaluate marine habitats for planning conservation areas. Here, we present the application of an Ecological Quality Index (EQI), developed for regional-scale habitat maps of the Atlas of the Marine Coastal Habitats of the Kingdom of Tonga, by processing Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery. Both the habitat mapping classification and the EQI application were focused on the importance of coral reef, seagrass and mangrove habitats, both as natural defense and sustenance for the local populations. Twelve main Pacific reef habitats were evaluated through a three-level EQI score assigned to six parameters: nursery ground, connectivity, species reservoir, fish attraction, biodiversity and primary production. The EQI was integrated into a developed georeferenced database associated to the QGIS software providing the ability to identify on the maps the area of interest and the associated habitats, and to quantify their ecological relevance. The EQI is proposed as a tool that can offer to stakeholders and environmental managers a simple and direct indicator of the value of the marine coastal environment. The index may be handled for management purposes of vast areas with remote and uninhabited islands.

Structural diagnostics of buildings require optimization of investigation methods to minimize invasiveness, save time, and reduce costs. In this view, non-destructive tests, such as ultrasonic and sonic tests, are essential tools. However, it is crucial to reduce and properly locate the more laborious and/or destructive tests, to enhance the diagnostic campaign efficiency, particularly if buildings are in use, to ensure the occupants' well-being. While direct ultrasonic measurements provide precise data, they often require more invasive procedures and provide punctual information. In contrast, sonic tests, which can be performed using reflection techniques, require only surface access and are less invasive, providing valuable information when compared with direct ultrasonic data. In the framework of the MULTICLIMACT project, sonic and ultrasonic tests were conducted on some columns: the results were compared with each other, to validate the proposed methodology.