442 research outputs found
Analyzing Space–Time Coherence in Precipitation Seasonality across Different European Climates
No full textSeasonality is a fundamental feature of environmental systems which critically depend on the climate annual cycle. The regularity of the precipitation regime, in particular, is a basic factor to sustain equilibrium conditions. An incomplete or biased understanding of precipitation seasonality, in terms of temporal and spatial properties, could severely limit our ability to respond to climate risk, especially in areas with limited water resources or fragile ecosystems. Here, we analyze precipitation data from the Climate Hazards Group Infrared Precipitation with Stations (CHIRPS) at 0.050 resolution to study the spatial features of the precipitation seasonality across different climate zones in Central-Southern Europe during the period 1981–2018. A cluster analysis of the average annual precipitation cycle shows that seasonality under the current climate can be synthesized in the form of a progressive deformation process of the annual cycle, which starts from the northernmost areas with maximum values in summer and ends in the south, where maximum values are recorded in winter. Our analysis is useful to detect local season-dependent changes, enhancing our understanding of the geography of climate change. As an example of application to this issue, we discuss the seasonality analysis in a simulated scenario based on IPCC projections
MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY MEASUREMENTS FOR THE MONITORING OF HEAVY METALS IN THE INDUSTRIAL AREA OF TITO SCALO. COMPARISON WITH THE RESULTS OBTAINED IN DIFFERENT INDUSTRIAL AREAS OF BASILICATA REGION (SOUTHERN ITALY)
No full textRadium concentration and magnetic susceptibility measurements for characterizing soils devoted to cereal cultivation
No full textIn order to characterize soil samples collected
in two different agricultural areas of Potenza suburbs
(Southern Italy) devoted to durum wheat cultivation,
we used the combination of two techniques: magnetic
susceptibility measurements and effective radium
concentration obtained from radon emanation.
Magnetic susceptibility measurements are generally
used as a proxy method for monitoring heavy metals
in soil. Radium concentration and radon exhalation
rate from soil are used for characterizing different
soils. First results suggest that effective radium concentrations
in soils can be helpful for the interpretation
of magnetic susceptibility field surveys
Satellite flood detection integrating hydrogeomorphic and spectral indices
No full textSatellite remote sensing is a highly valuable data source useful in the monitoring of surface water dynamics and an essential tool in flood risk management although several factors can interfere with the detection of water features. This study explores an approach that integrates satellite optical images and DEM-based hydrogeomorphic features to enhance real‐time identification of river flooding. Spectral indices, namely MNDWI and the combination of NDWI/NDTI, were taken from Sentinel-2 images and used to detect flooded areas, while DEMs were used to identify areas more exposed to river flooding using the Geomorphic Flood Index. The integration/overlapping of these layers allowed us to refine the final map with a significant detection improvement compared to those based exclusively on the segmentation of a spectral index. The proposed integrated approach was tested in five areas of the Piave river (Northern Italy) where a flooding event caused by the Vaia storm took place in October 2018. Results have been evaluated against reference maps produced manually in five selected areas, demonstrating good capabilities of the proposed procedure (mean accuracy 0.90), significantly reducing false alarms (Matthews Correlation Coefficient improvements among 0.02–0.43 in 4 out of 5 areas). The key advantages of such a procedure are the rapid application and the free and easy availability of the data that, in turn, allow for the investigation of large areas in the aftermath of an event.</p
Investigating climate variability and long-term vegetation activity across heterogeneous Basilicata agroecosystems
No full textThe Basilicata region summarizes many basic features of the biogeographic complexity characterizing Mediterranean countries. The intricate geomorphology and the long history of human management generated the current landscapes, which include both high-value ecosystems and areas prone to desertification. Preserving goods and services provided by such composite land cover mosaics poses many problems due to the interference/overlap of diverse natural and anthropic factors which make the correct selection of relevant parameters and the interpretation of observational data rather difficult. Here, we study interconnections between local climate and vegetation activity by correlating parameters characterizing the interannual statistics of the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), derived from satellite data, with a recently devised multivariate statistical index of meteoclimatic variability. We used a 15-year sequence of remote images concerning a set of plots located around meteorological ground stations of the central-eastern part of the region to pick up spatial structures in the vegetation–climate relationships. Our analyses were able to correlate spatial heterogeneity to variations in water exchanges between vegetation and atmosphere. This study represents a first step to improve the description of relevant processes to protect natural habitats and quality agriculture, therefore combating land degradation and climate change detrimental effects
Il ruolo delle autorità indipendenti nella integrazione e conformazione del contratto
No full textLa regolazione autoritativa delle Authorities si
configura come una fonte di eteroregolamentazione degli accordi che si aggiunge alla legge in senso formale. Il contenuto dettagliato dei regolamenti di tali Autorità (es. art. 117 TUB) tende a conformare il contenuto del contratto
In-between Environmental Sustainability and Economic Viability: An Analysis of the State, Regulations, and Future of Italian Forestry Sector
No full textForest management is a complex topic at the interface between sustainability and the
resilience of socioeconomic and environmental systems. The influence of market forces, supranational,
country and regional policies, as well as climate change, on forest goods and services, is expected
to increase in the near future. Such a complex interplay between economic and environmental
forces is common to most European countries. The aim of this study is to operationally delineate
and discuss the transition of the environmental sustainability and economic viability of forestry in
Italy. This country encompasses the typical Mediterranean ecosystems with broad forest coverage
in mountainous and hilly areas, where expanding woodland areas have been observed in the last
decades mainly as a consequence of the decline of agropastoral activities, especially in disadvantaged
and marginal areas. The consequent increase in wood biomass was frequently conceived as an element
of environmental criticality, exposing woods to high vulnerability to wildfires and a consequent
reduction in their economic value, possibly exacerbated by local warming. These dynamics usually
took place in contexts where only a part of the overall forest heritage was subjected to regular
management, despite the efforts made through various policies such as the Constitutional Law
3/2001 and the recent Law on Forests and Forestry Supply Chains. The latter policy tool, enhancing
the concept of “active forest management” aimed to establish a sustainable approach to forest
resources, leading to a broader forest area for formal planning and controlled harvesting. These
dynamics took place in parallel with the inherent expansion in forest certification schemes formally
promoting long-term environmental sustainability and a wider spectrum of forest ecosystems. Timber
and non-wood materials and products are key elements from the perspective of achieving sustainable
(climate-neutral) development in advanced economies
Next Stop: Development. The Continuous Interplay between Agriculture and Environment in a Mediterranean Peripheral Region
No full textThe issue of soil degradation in Italy, particularly in Southern regions, has been a long-standing concern. Scientific literature qualifies land degradation as a pathological “relationship between social organization and the 124bio-physical characteristics of the natural ecosystem,” affecting not only the natural environment, but also a complex network of socioeconomic actions. At the local level, soil degradation is closely tied to the ecological impacts of human societies, leading to negative consequences on natural ecosystems. Understanding the evolution of land systems requires the scrutiny of several categories and factors contributing to soil degradation processes. This analysis extends beyond ecological considerations to encompass the impact of socioeconomic organization on land. To comprehend the degree of feedbacks and conditioning in both ecological and socioeconomic terms, a multidisciplinary investigation methodology is proposed here. This approach involves examining historical, sociological, and political-economic data to identify functional and/or structural connections characterizing the processes of territorialization and their associated degradation. In this perspective, the primary research goal shifts from monitoring landscape transformations to evaluating the dynamics of conditioning. This contribution focuses on providing a territorial history, specifically identifying key processes and phenomena influencing soil quality in inland districts of Southern Italy
L’industrializzazione dell’agricoltura nella Piana del Sele: una prospettiva geografica basata sull’Urban Atlas Copernicus
No full textIl contributo nasce da un approccio interdisciplinare allo studio delle trasformazioni territoriali: ne sono autori, infatti, geografi, fisici e ingegneri
ambientali esperti di telerilevamento.
L’obiettivo è quello di studiare la recente espansione del capitalismo
agricolo in una regione strategica per l’economia del Mezzogiorno: la
Piana del Sele. In pochi anni, questo territorio a forte vocazione agricola ha conosciuto una drastica alterazione della copertura del suolo,
che, se nel 2012 registrava un sostanziale equilibrio tra seminativi e
serre, nel 2018, in appena sei anni, ha visto una crescita ponderosa
delle serre a scapito proprio dei seminativi. È questa la conseguenza dell’espansione della cosiddetta “quarta gamma” nel mercato ortofrutticolo - esplosa anche in Italia nelle ultime due decadi – ovvero
la produzione in serra di prodotti freschi, lavati e pronti al consumo.
Si tratta di un fenomeno che, oltre alla valenza commerciale, ha dei
riverberi geo-economici, sociali e ambientali di prim’ordine. In primo
luogo, la penetrazione nei mercati locali dei grandi capitalisti agricoli;
in secondo luogo, la riduzione della capacità degli ecosistemi di assicurare beni e servizi; in terzo luogo, il depauperamento del paesaggio
e il potenziale aumento del rischio idrogeologico.
La metodologia d’indagine prevede l’analisi dei cambiamenti della land cover nei comuni di Battipaglia e Bellizzi, nella provincia di
Salerno, nel segmento temporale 2012-2018 attraverso l’Urban Atlas
Copernicus, realizzato utilizzando dati satellitari ad altissima risoluzione. Attraverso il software InVEST, ai cambiamenti osservati è stata
abbinata la quantificazione della perdita generata dalla riduzione dei
beni e servizi ecosistemici
Detection of persistent anomalies in air temperature and NDVI spatial patterns for the identification of degraded areas
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