During March 2025, three intrusions of Saharan dust affected southern Italy, with observable effects on atmospheric composition and, in particular, on greenhouse gases. A recent study conducted by the Institute of Methodologies for Environmental Analysis of the National Research Council of Italy (CNR-IMAA) documented these events through integrated in situ and remote sensing observations. Significant variations in CH4 and CO2 concentrations were detected in correspondence with the dust transport episodes. In this work, we propose an approach based on Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) to retrieve the vertical profile of CH4. The results are evaluated against high-precision ground-based measurements from CNR-IMAA, in order to assess the model’s predictive accuracy and its sensitivity to atmospheric variations associated with the presence of mineral aerosols.

In March 2019, the PRISMA (PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa) hyper-spectral satellite was launched by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and it is currently operational on a global basis. The mission includes the hyperspectral imager PRISMA working in the 400-2500 nm spectral range with 237 bands and a panchromatic (PAN) camera (400-750 nm). This paper presents an evaluation of the PRISMA top-of-atmosphere (TOA) L1 products using different in situ measurements acquired over a fragmented rural area in Southern Italy (Pignola) between October 2019 and July 2021. L1 radiance values were compared with the TOA radiances simulated with a radiative transfer code configured using measurements of the atmospheric profile and the surface spectral characteristics. The L2 reflectance products were also compared with the data obtained by using the ImACor code atmospheric correction tool. A preliminary assessment to identify PRISMA noise characteristics was also conducted. The results showed that: (i) the PRISMA performance, as measured at the Pignola site over different seasons, is characterized by relative mean absolute differences (RMAD) of about 5-7% up to 1800 nm, while a decrease in accuracy was observed in the SWIR; (ii) a coherent noise could be observed in all the analyzed images below the 630th scan line, with a frequency of about 0.3-0.4 cycles/pixel; (iii) the most recent version of the standard reflectance L2 product (i.e., Version 2.05) matched well the reflectance values obtained by using the ImACor atmospheric correction tool. All these preliminary results confirm that PRISMA imagery is suitable for an accurate retrieval of the bio-geochemical variables pertaining to a complex fragmented ecosystem such as that of the Southern Apennines. Further studies are needed to confirm and monitor PRISMA data performance on different land-cover areas and on the Radiometric Calibration Network (RadCalNet) targets.