SIMILE (Informative System for the Integrated Monitoring of Insubric Lakes and their Ecosystems) is a project financed by the Interreg Italy-Switzerland 2014-2021 program. It involves partners from the scientific and technical sector (Politecnico di Milano – Lecco Campus; Fondazione Politecnico; Water Research Institute - National Research Council; SUPSI - University of Applied Sciences and Arts of; Southern Switzerland) and from the institutional sector (Lombardy Region; Ticino Canton) working in synergy. The main project goal is the protection of water quality for Lugano, Maggiore and Como lakes through a geoinformatic coordination of existing monitoring systems with new data collection methods. Images from European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinels will be integrated with high frequency sensors, placed on buoys and floating platforms, and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) produced with a Citizen Science approach. This virtual cycle is described in the presentation.

1. SIMILE
Tools for Monitoring
the Environment:
the SIMILE Project
ISDE, 9 February 2023
Maria Antonia Brovelli
GEOLab – Politecnico di Milano

2. SIMILE
SIMILE Informative System for the Integrated Monitoring
of Insubric Lakes and their Ecosystems

3. SIMILE
Lake Lugano seen from the summit of the
Sighignola, Aconcagua, GFDL, Cc-by-sa-3.0
View to Lake Maggiore, Arona, Province of Novara, Region of
Piedmont, Italy - Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Varese lake at sunset, Docfra,
Creative Commons Attribution-
Share Alike 3.0
Unported license.

4. SIMILE
Ecological
importance
The lake district
south of the Alps is
characterized by
the presence of a
few among the
most representative
large and deep
lakes in Europe
(lakes Garda,
Maggiore, Como,
Iseo and Lugano),
representing
altogether almost
80% of the total
freshwater volume
in Italy.
Panoramic view of Como Lake and in particular of Bellagio town. Picture taken in
Plesio municipality (Como) on the 25th of October in 2015. Mænsard vokser, CC BY-
SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

5. SIMILE
GOALS PROTECTION OF WATER QUALITY
OF THE INSUBRIC LAKES
IMPROVEMENT OF LAKE
HYDRIC RESOURCE
EVALUATION AND
MANAGEMENT CAPACITY
STRATEGIES
COORDINATION OF EXISTING
MONITORING SYSTEMS WITH NEW DATA
COLLECTION METHODS (HF SENSORS,
SATELLITE IMAGES, CITIZEN
SCIENCE)
INCREASING ENVIRONMENTAL
AWARENESS AND PROMOTE
LEGAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE
COOPERATION BETWEEN
CITIZENS AND INSTITUTIONS
CROSS-BORDER OPERATIVE
AGREEMENT AND POLICY-
BRIEF

6. SIMILE
ITALY
Politecnico di Milano (Polo Territoriale di Lecco)
Regione Lombardia - D.G. Ambiente e Clima (con la
collaborazione di ARPA Lombardia)
CNR-IRSA Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque (Verbania-Pallanza)
Fondazione Politecnico di Milano
Collaboration: Università di Pavia e CNR IREA MILANO
SWITZERLAND
Scuola Universitaria Professionale della Svizzera Italiana
(SUPSI)
Canton Ticino – Dipartimento del Territorio
PARTNERS

7. SIMILE
In situ sensors(HFM)
Hydrodynamic
and ecological
modelling
Business Intelligence
platform
Satellite based maps
OGC
Services and
open source
software
THE SIMILE PROJECT ECOSYSTEM

8. SIMILE
https://insubrilakes.eu/

9. SIMILE
Satellite data Citizen Science
High frequency
monitoring (HFM)
Water issues RS HFM CS
Acidification - pH pH
Algal bloom chl-a
chl-a, phycocyanin,
phycoerythrin
Presence of algae
Aquatic life - Dissolved oxygen
Dissolved oxygen, presence of fauna
(e.g. dead fish)
Pollution - -
Presence of waste, discharges, foams,
oils and smells
Turbidity
Total suspended matter
(TSM)
Turbidity Transparency (Secchi disk)
Warming Temperature Temperature Temperature
MONITORING METHODOLOGIES

10. SIMILE
WEBGIS
Sentinel 3 A/B
373
maps of chlorophyll
concentration (CHL-a)
373
maps of total
suspended matter
(TSM)
Landsat 8
69
maps of surface
temperature (LWST)
produced since 2019

11. SIMILE
SENSOR DATA MANAGEMENT

12. SIMILE
Locations with
Max Pressure
CITIZEN
SCIENCE:
ANTHROPIC
PRESSURE
count of the average
number of users
• spatial resolution: 850m
• temporal resolution: 8h
The Facebook Data for Good
Initiative
https://dataforgood.fb.com

13. SIMILE
• SIMILE
Number of
users
Number of
users
Places where maximum pressure occurs on
weekdays
Places where maximum pressure occurs on
weekends
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Months with
Max Pressure

14. SIMILE
SIMILE APP – LAKE MONITORING
• Observations: communicate the presence of
unusual phenomena (foams, algal blooms,
pollutants...) by sending geo-referenced images
to facilitate monitoring
• Measurements: carry out and send precise
measurements of monitoring parameters such
as transparency (Secchi disk), temperature, pH,
oxygen
• Events: stay up to date on awareness and
training events (seminars, clean-ups,
mapathons)
• Glossary: ​​learn more about the lake
environment and the organisms that inhabit it

15. SIMILE
Algae bloom Foam
Litter
drains

16. SIMILE
WEB APP FOR CS DATA MANAGEMENT

17. SIMILE
Around 1200 students, 60 classes, 16 schools
9 Associations

18. SIMILE

19. SIMILE
NEXT ?
• MACHINE LEARNING
AND CITIZEN SCIENCE

20. SIMILE
NEXT ?
• Chat BOT: configurable chatbot
enabling the dispatching of data
collection forms (including
coordinates) that can be filled through
Telegram chats
• Example: GeoCollectorBot

21. SIMILE
• Bratic, G.; Carrion, D.; Cannata, M.; Rogora, M.; Strigaro, D. & Brovelli, M.A. (2022) Lake water quality monitoring tools. The
International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLIII-B4-2022, 599–606,
doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B4-2022-599-2022, 2022. [pdf]
• Vavassori, A., Oxoli, D., and Brovelli, M. A. (2022). Population Space–Time Patterns Analysis and Anthropic Pressure
Assessment of the Insubric Lakes Using User-Generated Geodata. ISPRS International Journal of Geo-Information. 2022;
11(3):206. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijgi11030206 [pdf]
• Biraghi, C. A., Lotfian, M., Carrion, D., and Brovelli, M. A. (2021). AI IN SUPPORT TO WATER QUALITY
MONITORING. International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLIII-
B4-2021, 167–174, doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B4-2021-167-2021 [pdf]
• Toro Herrera, J. F., Carrion, D., and Brovelli, M. A. (2021). A COLLABORATIVE PLATFORM FOR WATER QUALITY MONITORING:
SIMILE WEBGIS. International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLIII-
B4-2021, 201–207, doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B4-2021-201-2021 [pdf]
• Vavassori, A., Biraghi, C.A., Bratic, G., Carrion, D., Zamboni, G., Brovelli, M.A. (2021). Citizen science tools for lake monitoring in
the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: the project SIMILE. GI_Forum 2021, 1, 179-186,
doi.org/10.1553/giscience2021_01_s179 [PDF]
• Biraghi, C. A., Pessina, E., Carrion, D., and Brovelli, M. A. (2020). VGI Visualisation To Support Participatory Lake Monitoring:
The Case Study Of SIMILE Project. International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial
Information Sciences, XLIII-B4-2020, 237–244. doi.org/10.5194/isprs-archives-XLIII-B4-2020-237-2020, 2020 [pdf]
• Brovelli, M. A., Cannata, M., and Rogora, M. (2019) SIMILE, A GEOSPATIAL ENABLER OF THE MONITORING OF SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT GOAL 6 (ENSURE AVAILABILITY AND SUSTAINABILITY OF WATER FOR ALL). International Archives of the
Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing & Spatial Information Sciences, Volume XLII-4/W20, 3–10, doi:10.5194/isprs-archives-XLII-
4-W20-3-2019 [pdf]
• Biraghi C A, Carrion D AND Brovelli M A 2022 Citizen Science Impact on Environmental Monitoring towards SDGs
Indicators: The CASE of SIMILE Project. Sustainability 14 8107. https:IIdoi.orgI10.3390Isu14138107 [pdf]

22. SIMILE
THANKS! PLEASE
CONTRIBUTE TO SIMILE!