Abstract
Italian teams have been involved many times in Space Weather observational campaigns from space and from the ground, contributing in the advancing of our knowledge on the properties and evolution of the related phenomena. Numerous Space Weather forecasting and now-casting modeling efforts have resulted in a remarkable add-on to the overall progress in the field, at both national and international level. The Italian Space Agency has participated several times in space missions with science objectives related to Space Weather; indeed, an important field for the Italian scientific and industrial communities interested in Heliophysics and Space Weather, is the development of new instrumentation for future space missions. In this paper, we present a brief state-of-the-art in Space Weather science in Italy and we discuss some ideas on a long-term plan for the support of future scientific research in the related disciplines. In the context of the current roadmap, the Italian Space Agency aims to assess the possibility to develop a national scientific Space Weather data centre to encourage synergies between different science teams with interest in the field and to motivate innovation and new mission concept development. Alongside with the proposed recommendations, we also discuss how the Italian expertise could complement international efforts in a wider international Space Weather context.
Highlights
Italian teams have been involved many times in Space Weather observational campaigns from space and from the ground, contributing in the advancing of our knowledge on the properties and evolution of the related phenomena
Ground-based observations have been an important resource for numerous studies in the field of Space Weather science
We provided a series of recommendations toward an in-depth understanding of the scientific aspects behind Space Weather, taking into consideration the existent observational and modeling capabilities supporting Space Weather research in Italy
Summary
Circumterrestrial Space Weather (often referred to, as “Space Weather”) has its main origin at the Sun being driven by the solar activity (e.g., flares, Coronal Mass Ejections – CMEs) and characterized by its effects in the Earth’s magnetosphere and upper atmosphere. It is important to mitigate the risks of Space Weather impacts on technology, infrastructure, navigation, health and human activities, based on: our knowledge of the physics of the Sun, the interplanetary space, the Earth’s environment (magnetosphere, ionosphere, atmosphere) and its interior, and their coupling at long and short timescales; the use of scientific research products for the development of reliable systems for Space Weather forecasting originating, preferably, from multi-data observations. The associated discipline aims, through observation, monitoring, analysis and modeling, at understanding and predicting the state of the Sun, the interplanetary and planetary environments, and the solar and non-solar driven perturbations that affect them; and at forecasting and now-casting the possible impacts on biological and technological systems” Based on this definition, and from a wider perspective, Space Weather refers to the entire Solar System.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
