In a significant step towards smarter urban management, ESA and AMA Roma – Rome’s municipal waste management agency – are demonstrating how Earth Observation can transform city operations. From identifying illegal waste dumping to monitoring ground stability, this collaboration showcases the growing role of space-based intelligence in addressing complex urban challenges.
As cities grow in scale and complexity, integrating satellite-derived insights into municipal workflows is becoming a strategic necessity. This proof-of-concept (PoC), developed under ESA’s Future EO Industrial Competitiveness and Resilience activities and in synergy with the IRIDE Programme, represents a concrete step in that direction.
The initiative is implemented by an industrial consortium led by e-GEOS, with Planetek Italia and Latitudo 40, delivering the first results of a pilot designed to enhance environmental intelligence in Rome.
From space data to city operations
The first phase of the project focuses on one of the most visible and persistent urban challenges: illegal waste discharge. Leveraging Very High Resolution (VHR) optical imagery (30–50 cm), the team has established a rigorous end-to-end processing chain capable of detecting uncontrolled waste deposits across selected areas of interest.
The service builds on data provided through ESA’s Third Party Missions programme, with acquisitions scheduled approximately every 15 days. The processing workflow combines automated analytics with expert validation to ensure reliability and is based on a Service Chain developed for the IRIDE Environmental Intelligence Service.
The methodology
The detection pipeline integrates:
- Machine learning–based image classification
- Spatial filtering to reduce noise and artefacts
- Expert photointerpretation for validation and refinement.
This multi-layered approach ensures that outputs are both technically robust and operationally actionable.
Turning detection into action
A key strength of the initiative lies in its operational integration. Rather than generating standalone products, the system delivers geospatial layers via OGC-compliant services (WMS/WFS), directly ingested into AMA’s U.C.R.O.N.I.A. platform.
UCRONIA is a digital twin and operational ecosystem based on a Multi-Scale Convergence Framework, enabling the integration of data acquired at very different scales, distances and frequencies into a single coherent representation, with potential applications across critical infrastructure, urban utilities, civil protection, urban planning, mobility, environment, agriculture, governance and public health.
Direct ingestion of satellite-derived products into UCRONIA enables AMA operators to visualise potential waste sites and areas requiring attention, including locations not previously known or mapped, within their existing GIS environment, monitor changes over time – such as whether waste piles have increased, decreased or been removed following clean-up operations – and transform this information into actionable inputs for field verification and targeted interventions.
Initial validation, supported by AMA’s field inspections, confirms the effectiveness of the approach, showing strong consistency between satellite detections and in-situ observations.
“The ability to identify and prioritise illegal dumping sites remotely is a game changer for our operations. It allows us to optimise resources and intervene more quickly where it matters most.”
— Giuseppe Morone, Head of Geo-AI Transformation at AMA Roma
Building on the positive outcomes of the demonstration phase, AMA is now considering an operational follow-up to ensure service continuity. This next step would leverage data from the IRIDE satellite constellation to support sustained waste monitoring activities, marking a transition from pilot experimentation towards regular operational use and confirming the maturity and value of the EO-based solution developed by the industrial consortium.
Beyond waste: a broader vision for urban resilience
The collaboration extends beyond waste management, reflecting the multi-dimensional nature of urban sustainability.
The proof-of-concept includes three key use cases, based on three IRIDE geospatial services:
- Illegal Waste Discharge Monitoring –described above
- Urban Heat Island Monitoring – assessing thermal patterns to support climate adaptation and urban planning
- Ground Motion Monitoring – analysing surface deformation to safeguard infrastructure
Together, these applications demonstrate how EO can provide a comprehensive, cross-sectoral view of city dynamics.
IRIDE: enabling a new generation of services
This initiative is closely aligned with the IRIDE Programme, Italy’s ambitious Earth Observation constellation whose development is managed by ESA with the support of ASI and national institutions. IRIDE is designed to deliver high-frequency, high-resolution data across multiple spectral domains, enabling a new class of operational services for environmental monitoring, risk management, and urban governance.
Within this framework, the AMA proof-of-concept serves as an early demonstration of how IRIDE-based services can be translated into tangible benefits for public authorities. By validating processing chains, data integration workflows, and user uptake, the project helps de-risk future operational deployments.
Featured image : Agreement ESA-AMA signature event at ESA-ESRIN on 08/07/2025. On the left side, ESA Director of Earth Observation Programmes Simonetta Cheli, on the right side Bruno Manzi, President of AMA S.p.A. Photo credit: ESA