Description
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For all the European Countries, the rail network represents a key critical infrastructure, deserving protection in view of its continuous structure spread over the whole territory, of the high number of European citizens using it for personal and professional reasons, and of the large volume of freight moving through it.
Railway system, in general and the Italian rail system in particular, traverses a wide variety of terrains and encounters a range of geo-technical conditions. The interaction of these factors together with climatic, and seismic forcing, may produce some geo-technical failures that impact on the safety and efficiency of rail operations.
In such a context, a particular interest is directed to the development of technologies regarding both the prevention of mishaps of infrastructures, due to natural disasters and/or to terrorist attacks, and the fast recovery of their normal working conditions after the occurrence of accidents (disaster managing). Both those issues are of strategic interest for EU Countries, and in particular for Italy, since, unlike other countries, it is characterized by a highly particular geo-morphological and hydro geological structure that increases the risk of natural catastrophes due to landslides, overflowings and floods.
The present project aims at producing a diagnostic system called CAR-SLIDE that by integrating in situ data detected from on board sophisticated innovative measuring systems, with Earth Observation techniques (based on weather forecast, SAR and optical data) will be capable to foresee and monitor landslide events along rail networks. Particular importance will be attached to the use of advanced SAR interferometry techniques capable to detect small ground surface deformations that in several cases precede the critical failure phase leading to landslide movements. Special attention will be directed to the use of SAR images detected by COSMO/SkyMed (ASI) constellation capable to achieve very high spatial resolutions and very short revisit and response time.
The innovative character of the proposal is mainly the use of measuring systems detecting values that could be directly exploited as inputs for data processing systems, addressed to the identification of hazard level in an unstable slope.
The project will exploit for the first time the dynamic integration of different leading edge satellite technologies in operational context, aiming at guarantee the safety of train and railway in case of accident. The environmental information will be provided by a Space Segment (e.g. Earth Observation satellites, GPS, EGNOS and/or Galileo satellites), and rail network infrastructure information will be provided by an on board system, and integrated into a Decision Support System made of a data processor, multilevel dynamic GIS (Geographic Information System) system, a web portal and a communication layer.
The unique capability of the CAR-SLIDE vehicle to seamlessly and continuously integrate information coming from different sources will enable Railway Operators to monitor the rail infrastructure and its surroundings, during the normal course of the daily rail transport and to promptly react when an unexpected situations occurs setting an effective disaster response with thorough knowledge of the area where it has taken place.
The feasibility of the technical solution, resulting from the research activities, will be pointed out with the aid of a full-scale Demonstrator that will undergo on-site tests on a few railway lines.
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Distribution
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Advancement of distribution in %
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Total amount distributed
2,042,808.40 euro
NOP R&C distributed amount
1,741,023.44 euro
PAC distributed amount
0.00 euro
Amount distributed with other funds 301,784.96 euro
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