Italian satellites to monitor Amazon

(ANSA) - Rome, April 12 - Italian satellites are set to monitor the Amazon rainforest for deforestation, sources said Tuesday.
    The four satellites of the Cosmo-SkyMed constellation will control the state of health of a million square metres of Amazon forest, with a close eye on growing deforestation in Brazil, they said.
    The e-Geos company, 80% owned by Finmeccanica-Telespazio and 20%-owned by the Italian Space Agency (ASI), has landed a contract, along with Brazil's Geoambiente, from the management centre for the protection of the Amazon, Censipam.
    The contract, valid thorugh 2016 and renewable for a second year, will enable researchers to get the first complete picture of the situation, given how hard it is to get data and images from an area that is continually covered in cloud.
    Thanks to their radar, the Cosmo-SkyMed satellites will be able to capture images and data in any weather conditions, working day and night.