Activities and Development of a GIS Information Tool to Support Public Administrations to Counteract the Urban Heat Island Phenomenon: The First Year of Activity of the Mirificus Project

The present contribution shows the research activities from the MIRIFICUS project, funded by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), with the scientific direction of the National Research Council (CNR) and in collaboration with the Institute for Environmental Protection and Research of Italy (ISPRA). MIRIFICUS aims to characterize nationwide (at municipal level) the distribution and density of various urban elements that influence the seasonal Surface Urban Heat Island (SUHI), facilitating the evaluation of the effectiveness of reforestation interventions.The project involves the development of geospatial indicators about the urban surfaces and thermal characteristics of each municipal area, integrating remote sensing data, in particular from ASI (Prisma and COSMO-SkyMed) and NASA (Landsat-8 and 9) missions, and Copernicus Program (Sentinel-1 and 2). A geographic information tool (WebGIS) will be developed to support Public Administrations (PAs) in planning SUHI mitigation interventions and assessing the effectiveness of reforestation measures in the targeted cities.