Translate Data Into Meaning: integration of meteorology and geomatics to generate meaningful information for decision makers

A variety of actors at all scales and acting in different domains such as emergency management, agriculture, sports and leisure and commercial activities, are becoming more aware of the challenges and opportunities that meteorological data analysis poses for their operational goals. The increasing availability of meteorological data coupled with a rapid improvement in technology led to the widespread dissemination of the weather information to a variety of users on a regular basis. Particularly through the internet and mobile application all users, despite their varied background, can access to big amount of data with a high potential to gather essential input that can significantly help their decisions. At the same time, simply creating and disseminating information without context does not necessarily offer an added value to sèecific users. One of the main issues is related to the scientific approach of weather analysis and to the representation of results, which are hardly understandable for non-technical users and therefore not easily usable to make decisions. As a result, there are several researches aiming at finding new ways of supporting decision making by supplying easy to use information. The main objective of this thesis is therefore to provide guidance on how to identify and characterize the needs for meaningful and usable information among various users of meteorology, including members of the public, emergency managers, other government decision makers, and private-sector entities, both direct users and intermediaries. In particular a methodology for the integration of meteorological data and GIS capabilities is investigated and applied to three different end users having similarities and differences. Scientific analysis, results and cartographic products are adapted to specific requirements, experience and perceptions of the three different users

Climate change characterisation and planning in large tropical and subtropical cities

In recent years, the number of large subtropical and tropical cities with defined climate plans has increased as a result of the initiatives of local governments, multi-bilateral development aid and development banks. Surveys carried out to date on climate planning consider the overall cities, at times by continent, without underscoring those that present planning deficiencies. For instance, we have no idea whether the cities that are most affected by hydro-meteorological and climatic disasters have plans, nor if their climate plans are ready to be implemented. Clarifying these aspects would strengthen the foundation of the current discussion on the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals 2016–2030. Hence, the objective of this chapter is to ascertain the relevance and quality of climate planning in large subtropical and tropical cities populated by over 1 million inhabitants. Our survey found 344 large cities in the two climate zones concerned, and 82 of these have mitigation, adaptation, resilience or emergency plans, strategies or policies. We verified the relevance of these tools for the climate zones concerned, the type of economy and the frequency of hydro-meteorological and climate-related disasters. The quality of plans was assessed, ensuring that they had taken climate characterisation into account, that every measure was managed by a designated agency or office, and that funds were secured for implementing measures, as well as a monitoring and reporting sytem was defined. The analysis of collected information underscores considerable differences between large cities in terms of per capita greenhouse gas emissions (which were double in the subtropics relative to the tropics) and exposure to hazards (which were greater in the subtropical zone). Emergency and mitigation plans were the most common, while adaptation plans and resilience strategies were more unusual. The relevance of plans is still weak, given that barely 1/4 of the large cities had a plan. Plans were unquestionably more common in the subtropics, especially in OECD countries and in the BRICS, while they were absent in the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), despite the presence of large cities that have been repeatedly affected by hydro-meteorological and climate-related disasters. Planning quality was good for 30% of cities only. In the remaining 70% of cities, climate characterisation was briefly defined; the planning process was fully funded by multi-bilateral development aid; measures were without a clear manager; cost, funds and monitoring of measures were not specified. Thus the indication being that local plans were still scarcely action-oriented. Hence, the fact that two sustainable development goals (# 11 and 13) address human settlements and climate change, respectively, especially through assistance to LCDs, seems justified

Bioindication of troposheric ozone by native vegetation: the potential of Viburnum lantana for large-scale surveys

Tropospheric ozone is one of the most important phytotoxic air pollutant. Biomonitoring by native plants is an option when the assessment of its impact on vegetation in large-scale surveys and in remote areas is of concern. The shrub species Viburnum lantana L. (wayfaring tree) is known to be sensitive to ozone, develops specific symptoms consisting in red stipples on the upper surface, and has a wide spatial distribution. However it is not fully known if it meets all the requirements to be used as an in situ bioindicator (Doley, 2010). In particular, the actual responsiveness to ozone of native plants and the relationship between the intensity of responses and the levels of exposure to the pollutant under field conditions remain to be evaluated. For these purposes, two field studies were carried out in Trentino (North Italy) at local (1) and large scale (2). (1) Firstly, at local level, we considered two 1x1 km quadrates characterized by different ozone levels. A fully randomized design was adopted to ensure within-quadrate replications and to select V. lantana plants for the monitoring of ozone-specific foliar symptoms development, the chlorophyll (Chl) content and the fluorescence of Chl a during the entire growing season. (2) Secondly, a stratified (elevation x ozone) random design was used to test the response of V. lantana in terms of symptomatic plant percentage at larger scale (6200 km2). Overall, the results of the two field studies allowed to verify a temporal development of the responses of V. lantana consistent with the trend of ozone exposure (Gottardini et al., 2010), and an higher frequency of symptomatic plants where ozone levels were also higher. However, the frequency of symptoms was not always proportionate to the level of ozone exposure. At the same time of the onset and spread of foliar symptoms, a decrease in the foliar Chl content and in photosynthetic performance occurred. V. lantana seems suitable as a bioindicator in situ to qualitatively assess the potential impact of ozone

Rilevamento di ozono presso i siti forestali UN/ECE Level I nella Provincia di Trento nel 2007

A causa del suo alto potere ossidante, dei suoi elevati livelli e della sua ampia diffusione in aree rurali e forestali, l’ozono troposferico (O3) è ritenuto il contaminante gassoso di potenziale maggiore pericolosità per la vegetazione agraria, semi-naturale e forestale. L’obiettivo del presente studio è ottenere stime realistiche dell’esposizione ad O3 della vegetazione forestale della provincia di Trento, essenziali per poter valutare se siano ipotizzabili effetti di questo inquinante sulla vegetazione. A tale scopo sono stati installati 15 siti di misura delle concentrazioni di O3, riferendosi ai punti della rete UE e UN/ECE di monitoraggio delle foreste di Livello I della provincia di Trento; l’ozono è stato misurato utilizzando campionatori passivi, che forniscono un dato settimanale, successivamente convertito in valori di concentrazione media oraria. L’affidabilità dei dati ottenuti è stata verificata per confronto con i dati forniti in parallelo da centraline automatiche. Le concentrazioni medie settimanali di O3 rilevate nel periodo 6 giugno - 19 settembre 2007 sono risultate comprese tra 62.4±12.4 e 130.6±22.3 μg*m-3. In termini di AOT40, l’indicatore di rischio utilizzato dalla normativa UE e dall’UN/ECE, i valori sono tali da prefigurare frequenti superamenti dei livelli critici nel corso della stagione estiva 2007. Si discutono nel dettaglio andamenti spaziali e temporali dei dati raccolti e si ipotizza una linea futura per la prosecuzione del lavoro nell’ottica di una maggiore comprensione del fenomeno

Planning to cope with tropical and subtropical climate change

During the last decade many local governments have launched initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions and the potential impact of hydro climatic disasters. Nonetheless, today barely 11% of subtropical and tropical cities with over 100,000 inhabitants has a climate plan. Often this tool neither issues from an analysis of either climate change or hydro climatic risks, nor does it provide an adequate depth of detail for the identified measures (cost, funding mode, implementation), nor a sound monitoring-evaluation device. This book contributes to improve the quality of climate planning by providing 19 examples of analysis and assessments in eleven countries. It is intended for local operators in the fields of climate, hydro climatic risks, physical planning, besides researchers and students of these subjects. The first chapter describes the status of climate planning in large subtropical and tropical cities. The following six chapters discuss the hazards (atmospheric drought, intense precipitations, sea level rise, sea water intrusion) and early warning systems in various contexts. Nine chapters enlarge on flood risk analysis and preliminary mapping, climate change vulnerability, comparing contingency plans in various scales and presenting experiences centred on adaptation planning. The last three chapters introduce some best practices of weather and climate change monitoring, of flood risk mapping and assessment

Analysis of the thermal comfort in cycling athletes

Abstract This research presents a detailed analysis of thermal comfort in road cycling athletes. The data have been collected during experimental road test in prevision of the UCI Road World Championship 2013 (Florence-Tuscany, Italy), considering the different technical situations and the different environmental conditions expected as the most probable for the race's period. The analysis presented in this work is based on the in-situ measurements of both environmental and physiological parameters (i.e.: air temperature, relative humidity, true wind velocity, apparent wind velocity, skin temperature, clothing temperature, heat transfer resistance of the clothing, internal heat production) made over different athletes in different race conditions. The recorded data have been used as input for the model "RayMan" [1] , [2] for the assessment of the thermal comfort using thermal indices such as Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) and Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET). It should be noted that the apparent wind velocity, which is a fundamental parameter in this kind of analysis but often disregarded, is evaluated in relationship with the movement and the effort made by the cyclist. The results obtained by the comparison of the PET and PMV indices with the measured skin temperature confirm the importance of considering the variation of environmental parameters in both training and strategy assessment and provide a working method which is believed to be innovative for the applied sport research

Analysis of navigation pattern in the sport of rowing

The effect of weather and environmental conditions on sports has been extensively studied over the last few years (Pezzoli et al., 2010). Based upon the studies of Lobozewicz (1981) and of Kay and Vamplew (2002), Pezzoli and Cristofori (2008) have studied the impact of some specific environmental parameters over different sports using a particular impact index divided into five classes. This analysis clearly shows that most of the outdoor sport activities are strongly influenced by the variation of meteorological parameters. However the impact of meteorological conditions on outdoor sport activities has not yet been extensively studied. The aim of this research is to show that an accurate assessment of wind and wave parameters enables decisive improvements in both training and race strategy planning. Furthermore this analysis provide a very innovative working method for the applied sport research. The work has been based on in-situ measurements of both environmental and performance parameters (wind direction, wind velocity, boat speed and stroke rate) made over different classes and in different race conditions during the 2009 FISA World Championship (Poznan, Poland). In particular a detailed environmental analysis was performed by measuring the wind direction, the wind speed and by evaluating the significant wave height and the wave peak period for each class during the semi-final phase and the final phase. It should be noted that, since wind is a key parameter affecting not only the boat speed but also the race strategy, the assessment of the wind velocity and of the wind direction has been made in connection with the boat movement. The comparison between coupled wind-wave data, boat speed and stroke rate evidently demonstrates that only crews that managed the adaption to changing in the environmental conditions from semi-final to final phase of the race, were able to get better results. References Kay, J., & Vamplew, W. (2002) Weather beaten: sport in the British climate. London: Ed. Mainstream Publishing. Lobozewicz, T. (1981) Meteorology in sport. Frankfurt: Ed. Sportverlag. Pezzoli, A,, Moncalero, M., Boscolo, A., Cristofori, E., Giacometto, F., Gastaldi, S., & Vercelli, G. (2010) The meteo-hydrological analysis and the sport performance: which are the connections? The case of the XXI Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010, Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness, 50: 19-20. Pezzoli, A., & Cristofori, E. (2008) Analisi, previsioni e misure meteorologiche applicate agli sport equestri, in: 10th Congress "New findings in equine practices, Druento: Centro Internazionale del Cavallo Ed., p.38-4

Production readiness assessment of low cost, multi-material, polymeric 3D printed moulds

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) technology allows to choose a large variety of materials and it is widely used by companies and individuals nowadays. The cost effectiveness of rapid prototyping is achievable via FDM, that makes this technology useful for research and innovation. The application of 3D printing to aid production is the most common approach. Moreover, the use of 3D printing in prototypes result in a waste of material since no reuse is considered. In the following manuscript, this technology is applied to mould fabrication by achieving a low surface roughness at a modest cost compared to conventional manufacturing methods. Moreover, the possibility to use a combination of thermoplastic materials is analysed by examination of the CAD model optimized for Additive Manufacturing (AM) from scratch and was verified using metrology tools. Several moulds were finally built and applied to the specific case study of carbon fibre laminated components. This manuscript aims to analyse the manufacturing process by comparing the mould surface geometry before and after the smoothing process. The achieved tolerance between the produced moulds is ±0.05 mm that ensures the repeatability of the process from an industrial point of view; whilst the deviation between CAD and mould is ±0.2 mm. To combine an accurate FDM process together with chemical smoothing proved to be a powerful strategy to produce high quality components that can be inserted in the production process by means of traditional manufacturing techniques. This will aid to reduce the cost of standard manufacturing for low production batches and prototypes of carbon fibre composites