This paper presents the project Comprehensive spAce wEather Studies for the ASPIS prototype Realization (CAESAR), which aims to tackle the relevant aspects of Space Weather (SWE) science and develop a prototype of the scientific data centre for Space Weather of the Italian Space Agency (ASI) called ASPIS (ASI SPace Weather InfraStructure). To this end, CAESAR involves the majority of the SWE Italian community, bringing together 10 Italian institutions as partners, and a total of 92 researchers. The CAESAR approach encompasses the whole chain of phenomena from the Sun to Earth up to planetary environments in a multidisciplinary, comprehensive, and unprecedented way. Detailed and integrated studies are being performed on a number of well-observed “target SWE events”, which exhibit noticeable SWE characteristics from several SWE perspectives. CAESAR investigations synergistically exploit a great variety of different products (datasets, codes, models), both long-standing and novel, that will be made available in the ASPIS prototype: this will consist of a relational database (DB), an interface, and a wiki-like documentation structure. The DB will be accessed through both a Web graphical interface and the ASPIS.py module, i.e., a library of functions in Python, which will be available for download and installation. The ASPIS prototype will unify multiple SWE resources through a flexible and adaptable architecture, and will integrate currently available international SWE assets to foster scientific studies and advance forecasting capabilities.

Mini-EUSO (Multiwavelength Imaging New Instrument for the Extreme Universe Space Observatory) is a telescope observing the Earth in the ultraviolet band (290-430 nm) from the Russian Zvezda module of the International Space Station since 2019. The telescope is capable of observing UV emissions of cosmic, atmospheric, and terrestrial origin on different time scales. Among the atmospheric phenomena that can be studied, ELVES (Emission of Light and Very low-frequency perturbations due to Electromagnetic pulse Sources) have been photographed by Mini-EUSO with a time resolution of 2.5 μs. ELVES are rapidly expanding rings of optical and ultraviolet emissions, 75-95 km in height, resulting from the de-excitation of molecular nitrogen and oxygen in the lower ionosphere following a lightning-associated ElectroMagnetic wave Pulse (EMP). A detailed study of their characteristics, such as radius, speed, and energy, is required for the understanding of these phenomena. In this work, results from the observation of about 30 ELVES with Mini-EUSO will be presented. Using dedicated algorithms, their electro-optical dynamics and morphological characteristics have been thoroughly investigated.

LIDAL (Light Ion Detector for ALTEA, Anomalous Long-Term Effects on Astronauts) is a radiation detector designed to measure the flux, the energy spectra and, for the first time, the time-of-flight of ions in a space habitat. It features a combination of striped silicon sensors for the measurement of deposited energy (using the ALTEA device, which operated from 2006 to 2012 in the International Space Station) and fast scintillators for the time-of-flight measurement. LIDAL was tested and calibrated using the proton beam line at TIFPA (Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics Application) and the carbon beam line at CNAO (National Center for Oncology Hadron-therapy) in 2019. The performance of the time-of-flight system featured a time resolution (sigma) less than 100 ps. Here, we describe the detector and the results of these tests, providing ground calibration curves along with the methodology established for processing the detector’s data. LIDAL was uploaded in the International Space Station in November 2019 and it has been operative in the Columbus module since January 2020.

We share long term, continuous measurements of soil radon emanations in Italy acquired from 2009 to 2021 by the Italian Radon mOnitoring Network (IRON). The radon concentrations were measured at 62 stations and consist of 621 720 single measurements. Employed detectors are both in-house prototypes (LUCAS) and commercial devices (AER by Algade©), suitably calibrated at INGV radionuclide laboratory. In addiction to radon concentration, most stations acquire internal temperature, while a subset of them also record relative humidity. When available, all these data series are provided along with radon time series and consist of 1 320 710 local temperature and humidity data. The presented dataset allows monitoring variations in radon emissions on multiple time scales, using different analysis techniques. Potential investigations include the effect of environmental parameters/conditions on radon emissions, the study of the impact on such emissions of transient signals like those associated with seismic and volcanic preparation processes and fluid migration dynamics as well as analyses of risk for human health, related to prolonged exposure to radon gas accumulated in confined spaces.