Effects of temperature on flood forecasting: analysis of an operative case study in Alpine basins

Abstract. In recent years the interest in the forecast and prevention of natural hazards related to hydro-meteorological events has increased the challenge for numerical weather modelling, in particular for limited area models, to improve the quantitative precipitation forecasts (QPF) for hydrological purposes. After the encouraging results obtained in the MAP D-PHASE Project, we decided to devote further analyses to show recent improvements in the operational use of hydro-meteorological chains, and above all to better investigate the key role played by temperature during snowy precipitation. In this study we present a reanalysis simulation of one meteorological event, which occurred in November 2008 in the Piedmont Region. The attention is focused on the key role of air temperature, which is a crucial feature in determining the partitioning of precipitation in solid and liquid phase, influencing the quantitative discharge forecast (QDF) into the Alpine region. This is linked to the basin ipsographic curve and therefore by the total contributing area related to the snow line of the event. In order to assess hydrological predictions affected by meteorological forcing, a sensitivity analysis of the model output was carried out to evaluate different simulation scenarios, considering the forecast effects which can radically modify the discharge forecast. Results show how in real-time systems hydrological forecasters have to consider also the temperature uncertainty in forecasts in order to better understand the snow dynamics and its effect on runoff during a meteorological warning with a crucial snow line over the basin. The hydrological ensemble forecasts are based on the 16 members of the meteorological ensemble system COSMO-LEPS (developed by ARPA-SIMC) based on the non-hydrostatic model COSMO, while the hydrological model used to generate the runoff simulations is the rainfall–runoff distributed FEST-WB model, developed at Politecnico di Milano

Modeling rainfall-driven transport of Glyphosate in the vadose zone of two experimental sites in North-East Italy

A vertical one-dimensional analysis of infiltration processes and mobility of a tracer (potassium bromide) and a glyphosate-based herbicide, both subjected to hydrological forcing, was performed. Glyphosate is a widespread herbicide whose potential harmfulness and mobility under hydrological forcing have not been fully understood yet. Here, the spatio-temporal evolution of the two compounds was monitored for one year in two experimental sites (Settolo - Valdobbiadene, Colnù - Conegliano), located within the production area of the Prosecco wine (Treviso, Italy). In each experimental site the activities were carried out on two 25 m2 plots located at distances of 50-100 m from each other. The interpretative analyses considered rainwater infiltration as the driving mechanism of the herbicide transport and allowed us to obtain the calibration of a one-dimensional hydrologic model in each monitored plot. Different scenarios of the tracer evolution were simulated considering the pedologic properties of the shallower soil layers, the status of the plant coverage and of the root apparati, leading to a satisfactory reproduction of the observations in both the experimental sites. Modeling the mobility of the herbicide, considering also the degradation to its metabolite AMPA, proved to be more challenging, due to the tendency of glyphosate to be adsorbed to the soil matrix rather than be dissolved in water and transported toward deeper soil layers. Nevertheless, the analysis of model results for tracer and herbicide, compared with in situ observations, suggests that the transport of the glyphosate can take place even when it is adsorbed to the soil, through the movement, triggered by intense precipitation events, of microscopic soil particles within preferential flow paths

Polarization of the recoil proton from π0 photoproduction in hydrogen

The D3/2 nature of the second resonance in neutral single pion photoproduction, γ+p→p+π0, suggested by Peierls, has been confirmed by additional experimental observations of the polarization of the recoil proton over a range of photon energies. The photon energy dependence of the polarization at 90° c.m. is in substantial disagreement with alternative models suggested by Stoppini and Pellegrini, and Landovitz and Marshall if the observed angular distributions are also considered. An experimental method using nuclear emulsion as scatterer-detector, in conjunction with a magnetic spectrometer, is shown to have both good energy resolution and reasonable counting rate

Torino: A Tangible Programming Language Inclusive of Children with Visual Disabilities

© 2018, Copyright © 2018 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. Across the world, policy initiatives are being developed to engage children with computer programming and computational thinking. Diversity and inclusion has been a strong force in this agenda, but children with disabilities have largely been omitted from the conversation. Currently, there are no age appropriate tools for teaching programming concepts and computational thinking to primary school children with visual disabilities. We address this gap through presenting the design and implementation of Torino, a tangible programming language for teaching programming concepts to children age 7–11 regardless of level of vision. In this paper, we: (1) describe the design process done in conjunction with children with visual disabilities; (2) articulate the design decisions made; and (3) report insights generated from an evaluation with 10 children with mixed visual abilities that considers how children are able to trace (read) and create (write) programs with Torino. We discuss key design trade-offs: (1) readability versus extensibility; and (2) size versus liveness. We conclude by reflecting upon how an inclusive design approach shaped the final result

A Note on Transport in Stratified Formations by Flow Tilted with Respect to the Bedding

The tendency to ergodicity of transport through heterogeneous stratified formations by a flow tilted with respect to the bedding is examined in this note. The idealized model of evenly stratified formations resembles recharge areas in naturally layered sedimentary geological structures over short distances, and transport features of more complex heterogeneous structures. Two cases are considered herein: the ergodic limit and the nonergodic regime. In the former case the theory predicts a constant asymptotic value of longitudinal dispersivity controlled by the log transmissivity integral scale. In the latter case, asymptotic results of an analytic nature are derived for the limit case of large travel times. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to study the plume evolutions for a wide range of heterogeneities and of initial size of the solute body transverse to the bedding. Results are compared with the analytical solution. It is concluded that, in the realistic case of finite initial transverse size of the plumes, ergodicity is not obeyed. Ergodic conditions, in our experiments, were not achieved even for a solute body whose dimension was 400 times the log transmissivity correlation scale. In such cases, theoretical and numerical evidence suggests that in nonergodic regimes the longitudinal dispersion coefficient tends asymptotically to zero for any initial size of the solute body

La rete antincendio del centro storico di Venezia: risultati delle prime sperimentazioni di campo

La necessità di garantire un affidabile servizio antincendio al centro storico della città di Venezia, ha portato allo sviluppo di un progetto per una rete dedicata che interessa il centro storico e l’isola della Giudecca. Attualmente circa 44 km dicondotte e 700 idranti antincendio sono già stati posti in opera e assicurano il servizio in gran parte del centro storico della città. La rete antincendio è alimentata da 6 stazioni di rilancio opportunamente distribuite sul territorio e collegate ai tronchi principali della rete di distribuzione acquedottistica. Le pompe pilota di ciascuna stazione garantiscono una piezometrica minima di 6 bar richiesta dal servizio antincendio nell’intera rete. Quando viene aperto un idrante, la depressione si propaga fino alla centralina più vicina dove, scendendo al di sotto di unprefissato valore, causa l’accensione automatica delle pompe che innalzano la pressione in rete e assicurano l’alimentazione di 2 idranti che erogano un totale di 30 l/s. La necessità di tarare un adeguato modello del fenomeno transitorio allo scopo di verificare la capacità e l’affidabilità dell’intero sistema antincendio, ha suggerito di realizzare una serie di prove specifiche in situ. Dopo una presentazione generale del sistema, nella nota sono descritte le prove fino ad ora sviluppate in una porzione della rete eletta a campo sperimentale