Over the last decades the number of satellites in orbit has been constantly growing and the spacecraft payload complexity and demand continuously increased. Today, satellites provide close to full Earth coverage and produce a significant amount of data that needs to be downlinked to Earth for processing. The downlink constraints combined with the constantly growing productivity of missions require faster data handling, processing and transfer. Present processing solutions show constraints regarding computational performance. Size and transfer speeds of on-board storage/mass memory limited downlink/transmission capabilities. Furthermore, existing toolchains are not able to support recent evolving technologies. S4Pro will design and implement enabling technology for high-end data products produced on-board spacecraft through the implementation of a power efficient high performance space processing chain designed for low-Earth orbit (LEO) missions with a focus on Earth observation and satellite communication systems. This implementation will be achieved through consequent optimisation of the payload data management system accompanied by use of COTS components, as well as by the miniaturisation of high-performance hardware. S4Pro will combine state-of-the-art industrial computing technologies (COTS), equipped with advanced and scalable processing capabilities, and space qualified BSOTA computing platforms in order to optimise the data processing chain and support the next generation of data intensive missions, such as high data rate SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) and optical applications as well as powerful regenerative communication processors in SATCOM applications.

Karstified carbonate rocks constitute 21.6 % of the European land surface and contain abundant groundwater resources. These karst aquifers contribute substantially to the freshwater supply of most Mediterranean countries and many large cities, e.g., Rome and Beirut. However, karst aquifers are highly variable in terms of water availability and quality, and vulnerable to contamination and climate change. Therefore, they require specific investigation and management approaches. The main objective of the proposed KARMA project is to achieve substantial progress in the hydrogeological understanding and sustainable management of karst water resources across several scales. Based on our recently accomplished World Karst Aquifer Map, the project will deliver a detailed karst aquifer map at the scale of the entire Mediterranean area with valuable information, noticeably for stakeholders, on recharge, groundwater vulnerability and groundwater-dependent ecosystems. At catchment scale, five karst systems in Spain, France, Italy, Lebanon and Tunisia will serve as field observatories. Tracer tests, hydrologic monitoring and isotope studies will be applied to better quantify recharge and dynamic water balances. New generic models will allow a better understanding of karst hydrodynamic processes at different spatiotemporal scales, and thus better predictions concerning climatic and human impacts. At local scale, novel early-warning systems for microbial and chemical contamination will be developed, based on water-quality monitoring at karst springs. The resulting karst aquifer map will be a major tool for stakeholders and governments for transboundary water resources management in the entire Mediterranean region. The new generation of modeling tools proposed in this project will allow better long-term predictions of climate-change impacts and improved management decisions. Early-warning systems will be useful for water suppliers to identify short-term contamination at springs.

Scientific tools are widely applied across the EU and the AU to support strategic planning for climate-compatible development. They are used by national and local authorities, research institutes and civil society organisations, very often with the support of development partners, academia and consulting firms. They are an important part of the energy planning ecosystem. However, the scientific insights derived from these tools have not always supported the strategic energy planning process successfully. Sometimes uncoordinated and biased approaches to model design and application by the involved actors on the EU and AU side have led to poor reflection of country-specific social, economic, and environmental conditions (Gardumi et al., 2022). The result is often a lack ownership and credibility and thus limited uptake in planning and policymaking processes. In order to address this gap, the overall aim of RE-INTEGRATE is to establish within existing energy planning ecosystems across the AU and EU an enabling and non-exclusive environment for the sharing of knowledge, fit-to-context modelling toolkits and modelling expertise on climate-compatible development. RE-INTEGRATE addresses the need – expressed in the Work Programme - for fostering modelling approaches and expertise in the AU, which are not heavily reliant on the developed countries, by structurally enabling multi-lateral sharing of knowledge and research infrastructure. While doing so, it develops and tests fit-for-purpose 3E models in 8 AU contexts, building on local expertise and analysing climate-compatible development pathways.