Water balance estimates for determining natural aquifer recharge in the arid context of the Oum Zessar area (SE Tunisia)

WADIS-MAR demonstration Project, Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR),  Available Water Content (AWC

Monitoring raw cork TCA content in Sardinian woodlands

The studies on stopper contamination by TCA have focused on manufacturing phase and on relations between the wine and the cork. Less numerous are the forest and environmental monitoring research useful to evaluate whether different management models of the cork stands may have an influence on the process

An overview of ecological status, vulnerability and future perspectives of European large shallow, semi-enclosed coastal systems, lagoons and transitional waters

The paper gives an overview of some of the large, shallow, semi-enclosed coastal systems (SECS) in Europe, These SECS are important both from the ecological and the economic perspective (socioecological systems) and provide many valuable ecosystem goods and services. Although some of the systems are transitional waters under theWater Framework Directive, this is not the case for all of the systems. The paper adopts a Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response approach to analyse the ecological status, vulnerability and future perspectives of these systems in the context of global change.This work has been supported by: the EUROMEDLAG federation, http://www.euromedlag.eu/lagoonsfederation/; EC 5FP grant agreement 00084 (DITTY), http://www.ecolag.univ-montp2. fr/index.php?option¼com_content&task¼view&lang¼en&id¼226; EC 6FP grant agreement 036992 (SPICOSA),www.spicosa.eu/; the LOICZ project, http://www.loicz.org/.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The mediterranean sea we want

open58siThis paper presents major gaps and challenges for implementing the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030) in the Mediterranean region. The authors make recommendations on the scientific knowledge needs and co-design actions identified during two consultations, part of the Decade preparatory-phase, framing them in the Mediterranean Sea’s unique environmental and socio-economic perspectives. According to the ‘Mediterranean State of the Environment and Development Report 2020’ by the United Nations Environment Programme Mediterranean Action Plan and despite notable progress, the Mediterranean region is not on track to achieve and fully implement the Sustainable Development Goals of Agenda 2030. Key factors are the cumulative effect of multiple human-induced pressures that threaten the ecosystem resources and services in the global change scenario. The basin, identified as a climate change vulnerability hotspot, is exposed to pollution and rising impacts of climate change. This affects mainly the coastal zones, at increasing risk of extreme events and their negative effects of unsustainable management of key economic assets. Transitioning to a sustainable blue economy is the key for the marine environment’s health and the nourishment of future generations. This challenging context, offering the opportunity of enhancing the knowledge to define science-based measures as well as narrowing the gaps between the Northen and Southern shores, calls for a joint (re)action. The paper reviews the state of the art of Mediterranean Sea science knowledge, sets of trends, capacity development needs, specific challenges, and recommendations for each Decade’s societal outcome. In the conclusions, the proposal for a Mediterranean regional programme in the framework of the Ocean Decade is addressed. The core objective relies on integrating and improving the existing ocean-knowledge, Ocean Literacy, and ocean observing capacities building on international cooperation to reach the “Mediterranean Sea that we want”.openCappelletto M.; Santoleri R.; Evangelista L.; Galgani F.; Garces E.; Giorgetti A.; Fava F.; Herut B.; Hilmi K.; Kholeif S.; Lorito S.; Sammari C.; Lianos M.C.; Celussi M.; D'alelio D.; Francocci F.; Giorgi G.; Canu D.M.; Organelli E.; Pomaro A.; Sannino G.; Segou M.; Simoncelli S.; Babeyko A.; Barbanti A.; Chang-Seng D.; Cardin V.; Casotti R.; Drago A.; Asmi S.E.; Eparkhina D.; Fichaut M.; Hema T.; Procaccini G.; Santoro F.; Scoullos M.; Solidoro C.; Trincardi F.; Tunesi L.; Umgiesser G.; Zingone A.; Ballerini T.; Chaffai A.; Coppini G.; Gruber S.; Knezevic J.; Leone G.; Penca J.; Pinardi N.; Petihakis G.; Rio M.-H.; Said M.; Siokouros Z.; Srour A.; Snoussi M.; Tintore J.; Vassilopoulou V.; Zavatarelli M.Cappelletto M.; Santoleri R.; Evangelista L.; Galgani F.; Garces E.; Giorgetti A.; Fava F.; Herut B.; Hilmi K.; Kholeif S.; Lorito S.; Sammari C.; Lianos M.C.; Celussi M.; D'alelio D.; Francocci F.; Giorgi G.; Canu D.M.; Organelli E.; Pomaro A.; Sannino G.; Segou M.; Simoncelli S.; Babeyko A.; Barbanti A.; Chang-Seng D.; Cardin V.; Casotti R.; Drago A.; Asmi S.E.; Eparkhina D.; Fichaut M.; Hema T.; Procaccini G.; Santoro F.; Scoullos M.; Solidoro C.; Trincardi F.; Tunesi L.; Umgiesser G.; Zingone A.; Ballerini T.; Chaffai A.; Coppini G.; Gruber S.; Knezevic J.; Leone G.; Penca J.; Pinardi N.; Petihakis G.; Rio M.-H.; Said M.; Siokouros Z.; Srour A.; Snoussi M.; Tintore J.; Vassilopoulou V.; Zavatarelli M

Copernicus Ocean State Report, issue 6

The 6th issue of the Copernicus OSR incorporates a large range of topics for the blue, white and green ocean for all European regional seas, and the global ocean over 1993–2020 with a special focus on 2020

High spatial resolution interpolation of monthly temperatures of Sardinia

Interpolation of monthly averages of maximum and minimum temperatures for 1 year data on a 250 m grid by multilinear regression his presented here. The principal aim is to find a suitable parameter for interpolation of minimum temperatures in cases of nocturnal inversion. For this purpose a geostatistical parameter has been calculated and tested. It is related to the height relative to the nearest valley. The second aim is to find how the regression equation depends on the sea distance, if in a linear or non linear form and, if nonlinear, what is the best exponent. The procedure has been tested on a 1 year data set from 60 meteorological stations on Sardinia Island. The selection of parameters has been made by the forward selection method. The interpolation errors (RMSE) on independent stations (i.e. not used to calculate the regression coefficient) have been calculated by the cross-validation method using a developmental data set of size n − 1. The parameter that contains most of the variance is the height: the second one, for minimum temperatures, is the relative height. For maximum temperatures the second parameter is the sea distance, but only in summer months. The RMSE on the independent data ranges from 1.0 to 1.5 °C for minimum temperatures and from 0.5 °C (winter months) to 1.4 °C (summer months) for maximum temperatures. The effect of relative elevation in the regression is a 15% increase of the coefficient of determination. At the same time it lowers the RMSE significantly

A combined methodology for estimating the potential natural aquifer recharge in an arid environment

An innovative methodology that combines an indirect physiography-based method for determining the runoff coefficient at a sub-basin scale and a water balance model applied on a daily time scale was developed to calculate the natural groundwater recharge in three watersheds within the Oum Zessar arid area, Tunisia. The effective infiltration was calculated as part of the water surplus by considering the average available water content (AWC) of soil and an average runoff coefficient for each sub-basin. The model indicates that the sub-basins covered mainly by the ?artificial? soils of tabias and jessour, characterized by average AWC values greater than 150 mm, did not contribute to natural groundwater recharge over the 10-year period (2003?2012) considered. The estimated volume for the Triassic aquifer amounted to about 4.5 hm(3) year(-1), which is consistent with previous studies. For the Jurassic and Cretaceous aquifers, the estimated volumes amounted to about 200 dm(3) year(-1)

From Ecosystems to Ecosystem services. A spatial methodology applied to a case study in Sardinia.

Ecosystem services (ES) evaluation is the most recommended approach to assess and monitor environmental health and quality of human life. A key role to ensure provision of ecosystem benefits is played by protected areas and nature conservation projects worldwide. Natural capital accounting includes ES evaluation in sustainable land management and planning, setting the challenge to monitor ES over time and to update governance tools considering ES flows. The MAES initiative by the European Environmental Agency suggests ecosystems as the proper land units to evaluate, map and monitor related ES. Ecological Land Classification methodology was applied to obtain Asinara island (Sardinia, Italy) Ecosystem Map within the activities of GIREPAM project (INTERREG Program 2014-2020), aimed at integrating management policies in marine protected areas and parks governance. An ES inventory was also implemented, among others, through expert opinion survey, and carbon sequestration potential was estimated and mapped. Preliminary results of potential ES all over Asinara island territory and carbon sequestration mapping are presented, representing important tools for Asinara National Park future management planning and governance

Rischio climatico per l'agricoltura in ambiente Mediterraneo

In questo lavoro è stata sviluppata una metodologia affidabile e facilmente trasferibile per l’individuazione delle aree agricole e delle colture a rischio climatico nella regione mediterranea. Le procedure di analisi messe a punto sono state applicate al caso reale della regione Sardegna. Lo studio è stato condotto secondo i principi della Land Capability e si è basato su un insieme integrato di informazioni territoriali (geologia, morfologia, pedologia, clima e uso del suolo). Il metodo sviluppato ha consentito di rappresentare graficamente il rischio climatico per l’agricoltura nelle diverse aree del territorio. Nelle aree climaticamente e pedologicamente più vocate per le attività agricole, è stato possibile discriminare, per aree di analoga vocazionalità agricola, livelli di rischio climatico significativamente differenti