Application of an integrated hydrological nowcasting chain on Liguria Region

Presentación realizada en la 3rd European Nowcasting Conference, celebrada en la sede central de AEMET en Madrid del 24 al 26 de abril de 2019

Comparison of two early warning systems for regional flash flood hazard forecasting

The anticipation of flash flood events is crucial to issue warnings to mitigate their impact. This work presents a comparison of two early warning systems for real-time flash flood hazard forecasting at regional scale. The two systems are based in a gridded drainage network and they use weather radar precipitation inputs to assess the hazard level in different points of the study area, considering the return period (in years) as the indicator of the flash flood hazard. The essential difference between the systems is that one is a rainfall-based system (ERICHA), using the upstream basin-aggregated rainfall as the variable to determine the hazard level, while the other (Flood-PROOFS) is a system based on a distributed rainfall-runoff model to compute the streamflows at pixel scale. The comparison has been done for three rainfall events in the autumn of 2014 that resulted in severe flooding in the Liguria region (Northwest of Italy). The results obtained by the two systems show many similarities, particularly for larger catchments and for large return periods (extreme floods).Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Impact of mangrove forests degradation on biodiversity and ecosystem functioning

Abstract Mangroves are amongst the most productive marine ecosystems on Earth, providing a unique habitat opportunity for many species and key goods and services for human beings. Mangrove habitats are regressing at an alarming rate, due to direct anthropogenic impacts and global change. Here, in order to assess the effects of mangrove habitat degradation on benthic biodiversity and ecosystem functioning, we investigated meiofaunal biodiversity (as proxy of benthic biodiversity), benthic biomass and prokaryotic heterotrophic production (as proxies of ecosystem functioning) and trophic state in a disturbed and an undisturbed mangrove forests. We report here that disturbed mangrove area showed a loss of 20% of benthic biodiversity, with the local extinction of four Phyla (Cladocera, Kynorincha, Priapulida, Tanaidacea), a loss of 80% of microbial-mediated decomposition rates, of the benthic biomass and of the trophic resources. The results of this study strengthen the need to preserve mangrove forests and to restore those degraded to guarantee the provision of goods and services needed to support the biodiversity and functioning of wide portions of tropical ecosystems

Valorisation of typical products through characterising and promoting actions: morpho-biometric traits, sensory analysis and flavonol content in Cipolla di Giarratana

The performances of 9 accessions of Cipolla di Giarratana landrace were evaluated at 5 different sites located 2 in the area where this landrace is traditionally grown (South-Eastern Sicily, 550 m asl), 2 in the neighbor areas with similar average altitude, and one on the South East coast of Sicily (sea level). Biometric and morphological traits, flavonol content and sensory profile were all considered in the valorisation of a typical product of a marginal area of Sicily. Data on the actual yield and crop management at farm scale were also obtained involving more than half of the growers actually cultivating Cipolla di Giarratana , and measuring yield, plant density, and bulb weight directly on the farms. The Cipolla di Giarratana landrace is characterised by a large and heavy bulb (535 g), strongly flattened at the poles, with the maximum diameter at the central section, and white in colour. Significant differences in bulb weight and diameter were found among accessions and locations, but there were no interactions between them and one accession reported the highest bulb weight value in all of the locations studied. With regards to bulb weight, farm scale data confirm the results we obtained at the experimental locations. Fifty percent of registered yield at farm scale ranged between 86 and 152 t ha –1 with a median of 119 t ha –1 , and measured plant density revealed that 50% of the farmers planted 20-27 plants per square meter. Analysis of the UV-vis and mass spectra showed the presence of 10 different flavonols with Quercetin as the most represented flavonol. The sensory profile of Cipolla di Giarratana onion showed that this landrace is characterised by a high intensity of sweet, typical fresh flavour and texture perception