Spoke 1 – VS1: Water

AIDA combines the latest methods for generating meteorological data for the Italian territory with available data on soil characteristics and crop-specific agro-idrological models. This will make it possible to produce information on irrigation requirements for individual crops in the specific areas where they are grown. This information will be available for the entire national territory with a resolution of 1 km, maintaining the distinction between crops, as well as providing a higher resolution zoom for specific areas.

ATLAS is an information system capable of hosting and managing data in raster, vector, multidimensional matrices, and sheet/table formats. Its modular and scalable structure is expected to initially accommodate at least the following datasets:

• Maximum annual precipitation values for short and very short durations (sub-daily and subhourly) and annual maxima of daily peak and average flows, which are utilized for research on the statistics of precipitation extremes and floods in small basins, as well as for assessing the impacts of climate change on extreme events and consequently on flood risk.
• Spatially distributed precipitation fields with high spatial/temporal resolution, estimated from observations of the national weather radar network combined with high temporal resolution ground rainfall observations, for the analysis of extreme events.
• Geomorphological parameters of river basins, with a specific focus on small-sized basins, for the reconstruction of extreme events and the development and implementation of appropriate modelling.
• Parameters for the characterization of soils and the quantification of erosion and runoff in small river basins.
• Riverbed descriptors for reconstructing flow/debris flow estimates in small basins.
• Cartography for the implementation of models and the evaluation of hazard and hydraulic risk.

The ATLAS structure will enable the national scientific community to easily access fundamental information for research development, overcoming the current main obstacle of data availability

The first product is an inventory of shoreline lines, created using not only data from the Emilia Romagna Region but also utilizing all available data from national and international databases.

The second product has been developed using the databases resulting from the first product and the Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) software, which is provided by the USGS (image below; USGS DSAS).

This type of tool enables the monitoring of shoreline evolution as a whole, as well as along user-defined transects, and allows for statistical analysis of shoreline changes.

This advanced monitoring tool is a comprehensive resource that provides historical and real-time information on water resources at different spatial scales. Its comprehensive approach, data integration, flexibility and predictive capabilities make it an indispensable resource for understanding, managing and planning the sustainable use of water resources in Italy.

The dataset will be developed based on existing data provided by project partners, including hindcast models and projections for the entire Mediterranean basin and the Italian coastal region. Spatial and temporal resolutions will be chosen to capture variability along the coastline and sufficiently represent storm events.

NatFIM is a GIS tool that, given a flood scenario, provides an assessment of the impacts on exposed categories as defined by the Floods Directive. The model’s essential features are:

• Quantitative assessments wherever possible.
• Monetary evaluations where feasible and appropriate.
• Primarily focuses on direct damages, with indirect damages assessed in sectors where they are highly relevant.
• Results are provided at the census section scale and, where feasible, at more detailed scales (e.g., individual exposed elements).

EXTRAFLOOD builds upon the recent availability of next-generation, high-resolution climate models capable of explicitly representing the convective processes responsible for intense precipitation. Additionally, it leverages innovative statistical methodologies to assess the impact of climate change on extreme precipitation, flash floods, and debris flows in Italy.

The RETURN-PB project aims to provide practical tools for analyzing hydraulic hazards in small drainage basins, which are characterized by nonlinear responses to forcing scenarios, rapid hydrological reactions, and limited spatial and temporal scales. These basins also experience intense sediment and wood debris transport, and may be affected by mass transport events.
The project will consider different types of small basins, representative of the Italian landscape:

• steep alpine basins, prone to debris flow formation;
• Apennine/Mediterranean basins with hyperconcentrated sediment transport;
• basins affected by pyroclastic flows or mudflows;
• basins with ordinary sediment transport.

Data on high-intensity flood events are essential for the development of flood risk reduction methods. Typically, these data are collected by stream gauging networks, but even the densest monitoring networks are unable to document the hydrologic response of small mountain and hill basins during flash floods. Effective documentation therefore requires integrated post-event survey strategies in streams affected by flash floods.