SoftWater develops innovative methodologies and tailored software solutions to support environmental policies and foster smart and sustainable natural resources management.
We deal with climate change-related challenges, assessing the economic, social, and environmental impacts and risks (physical and transitional). We cover a wide range of case studies in terms of scale, scope, and complexity, from territorial analyses focusing on people’s safety to the risks associated with agricultural and/or industrial activities. Main competencies include handling different datasets (satellite, reanalysis, observations), statistical downscaling of regional climate data, computation of climate indicators, and exposure assessment.
Our modeling expertise lies in the development and application of mathematical, hydrological, and data-driven models to support decision-making, as well as in exploring solutions to multi-objective problems through evolutionary-based optimisation techniques. We integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning procedures to improve forecasts and predictions in the environmental fields of water, food, energy, and land. Our modeling activities exploit reliable computation libraries and include data pre-processing and harmonization, satellite image classification, statistical analyses and data-mining techniques.
We develop light and interactive web platforms, integrating spatial data, time series and visual analytic interfaces to provide customised solutions for effective data visualization and decision support tools. Based on a mature full open-source stack, our platforms can also include integrated models, engines for the computation of a vast range of indicators, and AI-based procedures, running in real-time to provide meaningful insights.
SoftWater team members have been involved in many national and international projects, thanks to the collaboration of the founding members from different research groups: Natural Resource Management Group of Politecnico di Milano, Agricultural Hydraulics of Università Degli Studi di Milano and Hydrology and Water Resources Management at ETH Zurich. A scientific advisory board keeps alive the strong connection between state-of-the-art research and SoftWater. A vast network of collaborators complements and enriches company expertise.
