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

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

The meteo-hydrological analysis and the sport performance: which are the connections? The case of the XXI Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010

The main goal of this research is to show how the climatological and meteorological analysis, relatively to a determinate geographical zone and with reference to a specific period of interest, are able be used in sport area for the amelioration of the athlete’s performance

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

The meteo-hydrological analysis and the sport performance: which are the connections? The case of the XXI Winter Olympic Games, Vancouver 2010

The main goal of this research is to show how the climatological and meteorological analysis, relatively to a determinate geographical zone and with reference to a specific period of interest, are able be used in sport area for the amelioration of the athlete's performanc

Elementi di misura e di analisi dei parametri indicatori delle condizioni ambientali e igienico-sanitarie neiluoghi di scuderizzazione dei cavalli

http://www.psycosport.com/Corsi/Corsi_Meteo/Meteo&Equitazione_PV&FISE.pd

Analisi climatologiche e previsioni meteorologiche applicate agli sport equestri

http://www.psycosport.com/Corsi/Corsi_Meteo/Meteo&Equitazione_PV&FISE.pd