474 research outputs found
Regional assessment of daily reference evapotranspiration: Can ground observations be replaced by blending ERA5-Land meteorological reanalysis and CM-SAF satellite-based radiation data?
No full textThis study evaluates the accuracy of daily reference evapotranspiration (ETo), computed according to the FAO Penman-Monteith equation by using a set of input weather variables obtained by blending ERA5-Land (ERA5L) reanalysis data with surface incoming solar radiation (Rs) provided by the instruments on board the Meteosat geostationary satellites, operationally delivered by the Satellite Applications Facility on Climate Monitoring (CM-SAF). Performance assessment was carried out in Sicily (southern Italy) by using data from 38 automatic ground weather stations (AWSs) for years 2003–2020. ERA5L and CM-SAF data were first downscaled and bias-corrected with a calibration dataset; ERA5L air temperature data were also downscaled by lapse-rate correction. ETo estimates obtained with the blended ERA5L and CM-SAF validation dataset (ERA5L+CM-SAF) were compared with two other ETo estimates respectively obtained by using ERA5L and interpolated ground weather data (IGD). Performance indicators of the IGD dataset were evaluated by recursively applying universal kriging or ordinary kriging to the observed weather data, according to a cross-validation procedure. Rs provided by CM-SAF outperformed Rs obtained by ground interpolation, thus confirming the convenience of using bias-corrected CM-SAF data even when ground observations are available in the study area. ETo estimates with ERA5L+CM-SAF showed a normalized RMSE of 12%, outperforming ERA5L ETo estimates while performing comparably to ETo estimates obtained with the IGD dataset. The results suggested that the proposed blended dataset is a good proxy for interpolated ground weather observations in the assessment of ETo at regional scale when weather measurements cannot be easily gathered or in data-sparse regions
Metrology for Agriculture and Forestry 2019
No full textThis Special Issue is focused on recent advances in integrated monitoring and modelling technologies for agriculture and forestry. The selected contributions cover a wide range of topics, including wireless field sensing systems, satellite and UAV remote sensing, ICT and IoT applications for smart farming
Primary succession on slopes exposed to intense erosion: the case of Vesuvius Grand Cone
No full text
Rainfall Extraordinary Extreme Events (EEEs) Frequency and Magnitude Assessment: The EEE Occurred on 14th–15th October 2015 in Benevento Area (Southern Italy)
No full textThe identification of suitable statistical models of rainfall maxima at regional scale is a key element for the definition of reliable flood and landslide risk mitigation plans and for the design and security evaluation of high hazard strategic engineering structures. The ability to develop such models is highly dependent on a rain gauge monitoring network able to observe the extreme events that occurred in a region for several decades. In Italy, the density of the monitoring network and the time series lengths are often inadequate to capture some of the rainfall extreme events (referred to as extraordinary extreme events - EEEs), characterized by very low frequencies and spatial extent scales much smaller than those of rainfall ordinary maxima. In recent years, new operational statistical approaches were proposed to properly retrieve the EEEs frequency from the available database. However, the meteorological patterns of the EEEs are still poorly known, due to the limited number of documented cases studies available. The post-event rainfall analysis of observed EEEs and the evaluation of the efficiency of the monitoring network in detecting their magnitude and spatial properties may certainly help to improve the interpretation of the phenomena and their probabilistic modeling. In this study, new insights about the characteristics of EEEs are retrieved by analyzing data collected by different automatic rain gauge networks operating in Campania region (Southern Italy) from year 2001 to 2020. In this time frame, the extreme rainfall event occurred on 14th–15th October 2015 in Benevento area is the only daily EEE observed. The analyses show the capability of different monitoring networks to observe the phenomenon and the impact of different statistical regional models of rainfall maxima in assessing its frequency
Invasion impact of the nitrogen-fixing shrub Genista aetnensis on Vesuvius Grand Cone
No full textVesuvius Grand Cone dominates the landscape of Napoli Gulf with its distinguishable grey bare slopes, exposed to
continuous surface erosion processes and rock falls which have been hindering the development of the vegetation
after the last volcanic eruptions (occurred in 1944). In the last 60 years the development of the vegetation became
evident along some portions of the Grand Cone. This process is facilitated by the upslope expansion of the Genista
aetnensis (Biv.) DC., a plant endemic of the Mt. Etna (Sicily) and of Eastern Sardinia, which has been imported to
Mt. Vesuvio in 1906 as part of a reforestation program of the Vesuvius slopes. Vesuvio National Park, within the
MED project For Climadapt, is conducting a multidisciplinary research program aiming at evaluating the effect of the
G. aetnensis invasion of the Vesuvius Grand Cone, both at landscape and ecosystem level, also in light of current and
predicted climatic changes. An intensive field investigation has been designed to explore the eco-hydrological
conditions facilitating the expansion of the G. aetnensis. Plant species and soils have been collected both underneath
and outside the cover of G. aetnensis canopies to gather relevant information about the interaction of the G. aetnensis
with the other species as well as to explore the small scale spatial gradients of soil fertility induced by the G.
aetnensis. Two permanent stations have been installed to monitor the differences in soil water content, soil
temperature and air temperature between inside and outside the canopy cover. The collected data evidence that G.
aetnensis tends to create an island of fertility by increasing the organic matter content in the soil and improving the
soil water retention properties. Moreover, the G. aetnensis mitigates the daily soil temperature excursions, reducing
the exposure of seeds to extremely high temperature values, particularly during the growing season, and the direct
soil evaporation loss. These results suggest that the invasion of G. aetnensis can promote alternative successional
trajectories that may dramatically affects vegetation dynamics. Further studies are needed to identity specific
management practices that can limit the spread and impact of this species
Analisi idrologica del rischio di colate su vaste aree mediante indici topografici, statici e dinamici
No full textAssessing crop evapotranspiration by combining ERA5-Land meteorological reanalysis data and visible and near-infrared satellite imagery
No full textMeasuring irrigation water volumes at national and regional scales is one of the priorities that the Italian legislation has identified among the requirements to support environmental policies and land monitoring. Crop evapotranspiration estimates under standard conditions represent a key component for the indirect evaluation of irrigation water volumes at regional scale. In this study, we present a way to assess crop evapotranspiration by combining visible and near-infrared (VIS-NIR) satellite crop imagery and meteorological reanalysis data, in the hypothesis that reanalysis products represent a valid proxy of past weather data when ground-based meteorological observations are missing. The study was conducted in Campania region (Southern Italy) where VIS-NIR high-resolution multispectral satellite crop images have been validated with ground LAI measurements performed in two maize fields during the irrigation seasons of years 2014 and 2015. For the same seasons, full sets of weather data were recorded by 18 automatic weather stations distributed across the region. The results show that the use of reanalysis data as proxy of past weather data for crop evapotranspiration estimates introduces acceptable errors (with overall RMSE of about 0.65 mm day-1) in the assessment of the crop evapotranspiration and clearly support the idea that for regions with limited past weather data archives or served by sparse and irregular monitoring networks, reanalysis data can be successfully exploited as a source of gridded weather data in similar agricultural and hydrological applications
Paternal sensitivity, attachment forerunners and their influence on the psycho-motor development of the newborn.
No full textPaternal sensitivity, attachment forerunners and their influence on the psycho-motor development of the newborn.
Baldoni Franco1, Facondini Elisa1,2, Minghetti Mattia1, D’Autilia Benedetta1, Dilorenzo Margherita1,3, Cena Loredana4, Chirico Gaetano5, Ancora Gina2.
1 Department of Psychology, University of Bologna, Italy
2 NICU Infermi Hospital, Rimini - AUSL Romagna, Italy
3 Kaleidos Institute, Potenza, Italy
4 Department of Clinical and Experimental Sciences, University of Brescia, Italy
5 NICU Civili Hospital-AUSL Brescia, Italy
Presenter email: [email protected]
Background: Recent research demonstrates that the psychological characteristics of the father are important for the protection of the family and for the child’s development. However, the paternal function is manifested not only by supporting and encouraging his partner to foster a good mother-child bond, but also directly in the relation with the child.
Aim: Aim of this research was to study the influence of attachment forerunners and parental sensitivity of the father on the child’s psycho-motor development.
Methods: A sample of 61 father-child couples, divided in 34 term and 27 preterm (birth weight < 1500 g) newborns, were assessed during the first 6 months of corrected age. At 3 months of corrected age, the CARE-Index (Crittenden, 2004), a video-recorded procedure of adult-child spontaneous interaction evaluating parental sensitivity and attachment forerunners, was administered to all father-child couples. At 6 months of corrected age, the child’s psycho-motor development was assessed through the Bayley Scales of Infant Development (BSID III).
Results: In term-born children an association with father’s high Dyadic Sensitivity (p=.001), father’s ‘Sensitive’ attachment forerunner (p=.010) and child’s ‘Cooperative’ attachment forerunner (p=.015) emerged. Conversely, father’s low Dyadic Sensitivity, father’s ‘Non-Responsive’ attachment forerunner and child’s ‘Difficult’ attachment forerunner were associated with preterm-born children. Both in term and preterm birth, father’s attachment forerunners resulted associated with the Expressive Language Scale (p=.014) (BSID-III) and the father’s dyadic sensitivity resulted associated with the Expressive Language Scale (p=.016) and the Motor Scale-Fine Motor Subscale (p=0.44) (BSID-III).
Conclusions: The results of this study evidence the influence of father’s sensitivity and attachment forerunners on the child’s development from early stages of life. Poor parental sensitivity and high-risk attachment forerunners resulted associated with a negative child’s psychomotor development, in term and preterm newborns. A more sensitive paternal relationship was associated with better child’s motor and language performance
Assessing Crop Water Requirement and Yield by Combining ERA5-Land Reanalysis Data with CM-SAF Satellite-Based Radiation Data and Sentinel-2 Satellite Imagery
No full textThe widespread development of Earth Observation (EO) systems and advances in numerical atmospheric modeling have made it possible to use the newest data sources as input for crop-water balance models, thereby improving the crop water requirements (CWR) and yield estimates from the field to the regional scale. Satellite imagery and numerical weather prediction outputs offer high resolution (in time and space) gridded data that can compensate for the paucity of crop parameter field measurements and ground weather observations, as required for assessments of CWR and yield. In this study, the AquaCrop model was used to assess CWR and yield of tomato on a farm in Southern Italy by assimilating Sentinel-2 (S2) canopy cover imagery and using CM-SAF satellite-based radiation data and ERA5-Land reanalysis as forcing weather data. The prediction accuracy was evaluated with field data collected during the irrigation season (April-July) of 2021. Satellite estimates of canopy cover differed from ground observations, with a RMSE of about 11%. CWR and yield predictions were compared with actual data regarding irrigation volumes and harvested yield. The results showed that S2 estimates of crop parameters represent added value, since their assimilation into crop growth models improved CWR and yield estimates. Reliable CWR and yield estimates can be achieved by combining the ERA5-Land and CM-SAF weather databases with S2 imagery for assimilation into the AquaCrop model
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