1,720,982 research outputs found
Channel planform changes along the Scrivia River floodplain reach in northwest Italy from 1878 to 2016
No full textA detailed, quantitative, multitemporal analysis of historical maps, aerial photos, and satellite images was performed to investigate the channel planform changes that occurred along the Scrivia River floodplain from 1878 to 2016. Various channel planform features, including channel length, area, width, braiding, sinuosity, lateral migration, activity, and stability, were computed through an innovative geographic information system–based procedure, starting from manually digitized active-channel polygons. Three active-channel morphological evolution stages are evident from: (1) 1878 to the 1950s; (2) the 1950s to the end of 1990s; and (3) the end of 1990s onward. In the first period, the river was generally able to migrate in its floodplain, shaping the riverscape. Active-channel narrowing and increasing channel stability characterize the second period. The most recent phase shows an inversion of the morphological evolutionary trend. This last phase is characterized by a slight generalized widening related to the reactivation of stabilized surfaces and to bank-erosion processes. Particularly from the 1950s to the 1990s, in-channel sediment mining and channelization with consequent occupation of riverine areas strongly affected the Scrivia River. These factors, together with floods, are thought to be the most likely causes of such consistent and fast morphological changes
Quantitative Assessment of Riverbed Planform Adjustments, Channelization, and Associated Land Use/Land Cover Changes: The Ingauna Alluvial-Coastal Plain Case (Liguria, Italy)
No full textThe active-channel planform adjustments that have occurred along the Centa, lower Arroscia and lower Neva rivers since 1930, along with the riverbed channelization processes and the land-use and land-cover changes in disconnected riverine areas, were investigated through a multitemporal analysis based on remote sensing and geographical information systems (GIS). These watercourses flow through the largest Ligurian alluvial-coastal plain in a completely anthropogenic landscape. This research is based on the integrated use of consolidated and innovative metrics for riverbed planform analysis. Specific indices were introduced to assess active-channel lateral migration in relation to the active-channel area abandonment and formation processes. The Arroscia and Neva riverbeds experienced narrowing, progressive stabilization, and braiding phenomena disappearance from 1930 to the early 1970s, and then slight narrowing up to the late 1980s. Subsequently, generalized stability was observed. Conversely, the Centa was not affected by relevant planform changes. Recently, all rivers underwent a slight to very slight width increase triggered by the November 2016 high-magnitude flood. The active-channel adjustments outlined in this paper reflect the relevant role in conditioning the river morphology and dynamics played by channelization works built from the 1920s to the early 1970s. They (i) narrowed, straightened, and stabilized the riverbed and (ii) reduced the floodable surface over the valley-floor. Thus, large disconnected riverine areas were occupied by human activities and infrastructures, resulting in a progressive increase in vulnerable elements exposed to hydrogeomorphic hazards. The outlined morphological dynamics (i) display significant differences in terms of chronology, type, and magnitude of active-channel planform adjustments with respect to the medium- and short-term morphological evolution of most Italian rivers and (ii) reflect the widespread urbanization of Ligurian major valley floors that occurred over the 20th century. The outcomes from this study represent an essential knowledge base from a river management perspective; the novel metrics enlarge the spectrum of available GIS tools for active-channel planform analysis
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Quantitative landslide susceptibility assessment of the Vernazza catchment (Cinque Terre National Park, Italy)
No full textAppropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Channel planform changes on the lower Peiros River (Patras, Greece): 1945-2018 comparison
No full textChanges between the active channel planform features of the lower Peiros River in 1945 and 2018 were examined through a multitemporal analysis performed in a GIS environment. The active channel experienced a consistent and rather generalized narrowing process (overall 71.6%, up to 84.3% at the reach-scale) along with localized increases of sinuosity and channel pattern variations associated with the disappearance of secondary channels and bars. Negligible changes in length occurred but the river mouth retreated by approximately 160 m. Large riverine areas disconnected from the active channel were involved in a peri-urbanization process and, thus, occupied by human activities and infrastructures; this resulted in anthropogenic landform modelling and increase in vulnerable elements exposed to hydrogeomorphic hazards. The observed active-channel planform changes could be, at least partly, human-induced. Further research is needed to define the Peiros River geomorphological evolution. The outcomes from this study represent an essential preliminary knowledge base under a river management perspective
Extreme Flood and Landslides Triggered in the Arroscia Valley (Liguria Region, Northwestern Italy) During the November 2016 Rainfall Event
No full textFrom November 20th, 2016, to November 25th, 2016, Liguria Region (northwestern Italy) experienced prolonged and intense rainfall. The rainfall sequence occurred following two main phases. The second phase mainly hit the western sector of the region, reaching its peak on November 24th. Rainfall was particularly abundant within the Arroscia valley, where the 5–days cumulative rainfall locally exceeded 50% of the mean annual precipitation. In this paper, we document the rainstorm magnitude, presenting a first inventory of the rainfall–induced ground effects within the Arroscia Valley. The mapping was performed by means of extensive field work that was partly supported by satellite imageries. More than 250 landslides affected the upper sector of the valley, while in the downstream reach, widespread flood-related forms and processes resulting from the abundant precipitation were mapped. The results of this study are expected to be helpful for future research on both landslide– and flood–related channel change susceptibility and risk scenarios evaluation
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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