A comprehensive database on synoptic and local circulation over Sicily for mesoscale applications

The aim of this work is to present a database of information available on the island of Sicily (Italy) to be used for the evaluation and/or the calibration of the numerical mesoscale meteorological models. The database relates to land type and land cover of the island as well as to meteorological fields collected at various locations over a time span of various years. The analysis of the database provides information on spatiotemporal variability of characteristic meteorological patterns on the mesoscale range over the island. Specific wind and temperature values characteristic of the regional circulation on the island are presented in the database and analyzed in this paper. The available data have different sources (fixed monitoring stations or measuring campaigns, remote-sensing instruments), and refer to vertical soundings or to measurements at fixed heights. Air temperature, wind speed and wind direction are among the meteorological parameters taken into account. The temporal frequency of the data ranges from 10 minutes to 24 hours

A new well-balanced non-oscillatory central scheme for the shallow water equations on rectangular meshes

This paper is concerned with the development of high-order well-balanced central schemes to solve the shallow water equations in two spatial dimensions. A Runge Kutta scheme is applied for time discretization. A Gaussian quadrature rule is used to evaluate time integrals and a three-degree polynomial which calculates point-values or flux values. A new procedure has been defined to evaluate the flux integrals and to approach the 2D source term integrals in order to verify the exact C-property, using the water surface elevation instead of the water depth as a variable. Numerical experiments have confirmed the high-resolution properties of our numerical scheme in 2D test problems.This work was partially funded by the "Programa de Apoyo a la Investigacion y Desarrollo" (PAID-06-10) and (PAID-05-12) of the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia. Angel Balaguer-Beser thanks the support of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science in the framework of the Projects CGL2009-14220-C02-01 and CGL2010-19591. The authors express their gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments.Capilla Romá, MT.; Balaguer Beser, ÁA. (2013). A new well-balanced non-oscillatory central scheme for the shallow water equations on rectangular meshes. Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics. 252:62-74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cam.2013.01.014S627425

The THESEUS space mission concept: science case, design and expected performances

THESEUS is a space mission concept aimed at exploiting Gamma-Ray Bursts for investigating the early Universe and at providing a substantial advancement of multi-messenger and time-domain astrophysics. These goals will be achieved through a unique combination of instruments allowing GRB and X-ray transient detection over a broad field of view (more than 1sr) with 0.5¿1 arcmin localization, an energy band extending from several MeV down to 0.3¿keV and high sensitivity to transient sources in the soft X-ray domain, as well as on-board prompt (few minutes) follow-up with a 0.7¿m class IR telescope with both imaging and spectroscopic capabilities. THESEUS will be perfectly suited for addressing the main open issues in cosmology such as, e.g., star formation rate and metallicity evolution of the inter-stellar and intra-galactic medium up to redshift 10, signatures of Pop III stars, sources and physics of re-ionization, and the faint end of the galaxy luminosity function. In addition, it will provide unprecedented capability to monitor the X-ray variable sky, thus detecting, localizing, and identifying the electromagnetic counterparts to sources of gravitational radiation, which may be routinely detected in the late ¿20s/early ¿30s by next generation facilities like aLIGO/ aVirgo, eLISA, KAGRA, and Einstein Telescope. THESEUS will also provide powerful synergies with the next generation of multi-wavelength observatories (e.g., LSST, ELT, SKA, CTA, ATHENA).© 2018 COSPARS.E. acknowledges the financial support from contracts ASI-INAF 1/009/10/0, NARO15 ASI-INAF 1/037/12/0 and ASI 2015-046-R.0. R.H. acknowledges GACR grant 13-33324S. S.V. research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 606176. D.S. was supported by the Czech grant 1601116S GA CR. Maria Giovanna Dainotti acknowledges funding from the European Union through the Marie Curie Action FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF, under grant agreement No. 626267 (>Cosmological Candles>)

AUTOMATIC RECONSTRUCTION OF SURGE DEPOSIT THICKNESSES - APPLICATIONS TO SOME ITALIAN VOLCANOES

The energy cone concept has been adopted to describe some kinds of surge deposits. The energy cone parameters (height and slope) are evaluated through a regression technique which utilizes deposit thicknesses and the correspondent quotes and heights of the energy cone. The regression also allows to evaluate a coefficient of proportionality linking the deposit thickness to the distance between topographic surface and energy line for a given eruption. Moreover, if an accurate topography is available (in this case a reconstruction of a digitalized topography of the Phlegrean Fields and of the Vesuvius), the energy cone parameters, obtained by the backfitted technique, can be used to evaluate the order of magnitude of the deposit volumes. The hazard map for a surge localized at the Solfatara (Phlegraean Fields, Naples) has been computed. The values of the energy cone parameters and the volume have been assumed to be equal to those estimated with the regression technique applied to a past surge eruption in the same area. © 1987

Reply to comment by Luigi Vigliotti on "Lost tsunami".

About 8.3 ka ago a devastating tsunami flooded the coasts of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea [Pareschi et al., 2006c]. That tsunami was triggered by a landslide from the collapse of the eastern flanks of Mt. Etna volcano (Sicily, Italy), in turn inducing: (1) a scar on volcano slopes, named Valle del Bove, (2) inland deposits (Chiancone and Milo units), dated >7.6\u20138.3 ka cal B.P. [Calvari and Groppelli, 1996; Calvari et al., 1998], and (3) offshore landslide deposits [Pareschi et al., 2006a]. The tsunami had a large impact, effecting southern Italy, western Greece and North Africa (including Tunisia to Libya, Egypt, southern Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and Israel. In Israel the tsunami ravaged the Neolithic village of Atlit-Yam, caused the death of villagers and animals, filling a water well and destroying village huts [Pareschi et al., 2006c, 2007]. An early Holocene sea level rise, dated 8,350\u20138,250 calendar year B.P., matches the timing of the Mt. Etna tsunami, the consequent flooding of coastal areas led to the sudden loss of land favoured by early farmers and initiated an abrupt expansion of activity across Europe [Turney and Brown, 2007]

Delineation of syn-eruptive floods in the circumvesuvian plain (southern Italy)

During explosive eruptions the deposition of fine-grained volcanic ash fallout reduces soil permeability, favouring runoff of meteoric water and thus increasing the occurrence of catastrophic floods. A fully dynamic, twodimensional model was used to simulate flooding scenarios in the Vesuvian area following an explosive volcanic eruption. The highest risk occurs in the catchment area of the Acerra-Nola Plain N and NE of Vesuvius. This plain has a population of 70,000 living in low-lying areas. This catchment area is vulnerable to ash fall because it lies downwind of the dominant synoptic circulation and it lacks a natural outflow toward the sea. Our numerical simulations predict dangerous scenarios, even in quiescent periods, during extreme rain events (return periods of 200 years have been considered), and a significant increase in the extent of the flooded areas due to renewed volcanic activity. Based on these simulations a hazard zonation has been proposed

Holocene tsunamis from Mount Etna and the fate of Israeli Neolithic communities.

Field evidence reveals that the Neolithic village of Atlit-Yam (Israeli coast) was destroyed in an event which also caused the sudden death of tens of inhabitants. Archaeological evidence and numerical simulations support the notion that the village was destroyed, ~8.3 ka B.P., by a tsunami triggered by a known Holocene flank collapse of Mt. Etna volcano (Italy). The filling of a water well within the village confirms inundation by a tsunami wave train and a sediment layer, composed of a clayed-sandy matrix and other detritus including reworked marine sediment, indicates tsunami inundation. This scenario shows that tsunamis generated by sector collapses from coastal volcanoes can seriously threaten near-shore settlements thousands of kilometres distant from the tsunami source.PublishedL163174.3. TTC - Scenari di pericolosità vulcanicaJCR Journalreserve

Impact of the Minoan tsunami of Santorini: Simulated scenarios in the eastern Mediterranean

We have simulated the impact of the tsunami generated by the Late Bronze Age (LBA) volcanic eruption of Santorini on the Eastern Mediterranean. Two different tsunami triggering mechanisms were considered: a caldera collapse and pyroclastic flows/surges entering the sea. Simulations include the ‘‘worst’’ input conditions in order to evaluate the maximum possible impacts, but also ‘‘lighter’’ input conditions, compatible with the lack of any tsunami trace on the Northern coasts of Crete. In all the simulations, tsunami propagation is mainly confined to the Southern Aegean. Outside the Aegean, the tsunami impact was negligible and not responsible for the slide-slumping of fine-grained pelagic and/or hemipelagic sediments considered the sources of the sporadically located seadeposits in the Ionian Sea and of the widespread megaturbidite deposits localized in the Ionian and Sirte Abyssal Plains.PublishedL18607JCR Journalreserve