CAE S.p.A. awarded the maintenance of the hydrometeorological network in Sicily

The three-year maintenance service of the Sicilian hydrometeorological network, aimed at Civil Protection purposes, has been awarded to CAE: a strategic and significant achievement that confirms the company’s role as a key technical partner in the management of environmental monitoring networks.

The Regional Civil Protection Department, through the Decentralized Functional Hydro-Centre, serves as the reference structure for ensuring the management of the regional alert system for meteorological-hydrological and hydrogeological risks. Its forecasting activity is based on the assessment, supported by modelling, of expected meteorological, snow-related, hydrological, hydraulic, and geomorphological conditions and their ground impacts. This activity is made possible by a network of ground-based monitoring stations distributed across the regional territory, which enable real-time observation of rainfall, water levels, wind, temperature, snow, and other essential parameters required to predict and manage critical situations and emergencies.

The network to be maintained is among the most extensive in Italy, with 397 heterogeneous stations and a dual communication system (UHF radio links and GPRS/UMTS devices), requiring careful intervention and coordinated management to ensure high performance and data availability. To date, it is composed as follows:

• 49 hydrometric monitoring stations (17 of which downstream of dams);
• 32 hydro-pluviometric monitoring stations (including 29 reservoir level gauges);
• 27 hydro-thermo-pluviometric monitoring stations;
• 249 thermo-pluviometric monitoring stations;
• 25 anemo-thermo-pluviometric monitoring stations;
• 14 nivo-thermo-pluviometric monitoring stations;
• 56 UHF radio repeaters, all equipped with backup repeater units with hot-switching management between the primary and backup systems;
• 1 control center located at the headquarters of the Regional Functional Centre of the Civil Protection Department in Palermo (CFD-Idro).

The service entrusted to CAE is primarily distinguished by:

• Planned routine maintenance: aimed at preserving the proper functioning of the network at the level of stations, repeaters, and the control center. All activities carried out must be accurately reported and cover every aspect of the network, including infrastructure, measurement sites, electronics, power supply, communication systems, and instrumentation;
• Corrective maintenance: providing rapid intervention in the event of faults, with restoration times ranging between 48 and 96 hours;
• Supplementary maintenance: including remote maintenance, 24/7 emergency on-call availability, customized support, and maintenance of transmission systems.

With this assignment, CAE will guarantee to the Regional Civil Protection a reliable, efficient, and always operational tool: a fundamental asset for the safety of the territory and Sicilian communities.