Entire Italian Territory Research Articles

Copernicus high-resolution layers for land cover classification in Italy

ABSTRACTThe high-resolution layers (HRLs) are land cover maps produced for the entire Italian territory (approximately 30 million hectares) in 2012 by the European Environment Agency, aimed at monitoring soil imperviousness and natural cover, such as forest, grassland, wetland, and water surface, with a high spatial resolution of 20 m. This study presents the methodologies developed for the production, verification, and enhancement of the HRLs in Italy. The innovative approach is mainly based on (a) the use of available reference data for the enhancement process, (b) the reduction of the manual work of operators by using a semi-automatic approach, and (c) the overall increase in the cost-efficiency in relation to the production and updating of land cover maps. The results show the reliability of these methodologies in assessing and enhancing the quality of the HRLs. Finally, an integration of the individual layers, represented by the HRLs, was performed in order to produce a National High-Resolution Land Cover map.

Energy potential from residual biomass towards meeting the EU renewable energy and climate targets. The Italian case

The biomass sector has a strategic role in energy renewables policy, according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans (NREAPs), elaborated in compliance with the Directive 2009/28/EC. Planning a suitable use of biomass for energy purposes call for the clear definition of the biomass potential, that has to be periodically updated by inventories for all EU countries.The aim of this paper has been the assessment of the available residual biomass, particularly lignocellulosic, in the Italian territory, to evaluate the potential for bioenergy, particularly for electricity and heat generation. The greenhouse gas savings according to the European target and indicators have been estimated on the national scale. Particularly, the total final energy which could be generated from 22,208,455 t/y of residual biomass assessed in Italy, is equal to 4.57Mtoe, nearly 2.7% of the gross Italian energy consumption in 2013 and the total savings of GHG emissions coming from this bioenergy generation, are close to 52 Mt CO2eq for the entire Italian territory per year. The conclusions underline that an appropriate bioenergy policy can help decarbonise the economy, enhance the reliability of the energy supply and additionally it can revitalise rural areas.

A Computer-Based Environment for Processing and Selection of Seismic Ground Motion Records: OPENSIGNAL

A new computer-based platform has been proposed whose novelty consists in modeling the local site effects of the ground motion propagation using a hybrid approach based on an equivalent linear model. The soil behavior is modeled assuming that both the shear modulus and the damping ratio vary with the shear strain amplitude. So the hysteretic behavior of the soil is described using the shear modulus degradation and damping ratio curves. In addition, another originality of the proposed system architecture consists in the evaluation of the Conditional Mean Spectrum (CMS) on the entire Italian territory automatically, knowing the geographical coordinates. The computer-based platform based on signal processing has been developed using a modular programming approach, to enable the selection and the processing of earthquake ground motion records. The proposed computer-based platform combines in unified environment different features such as: (i) selection of ground motion records using both spectral and waveform matching, (ii) signal processing, (iii) response spectra analysis, (iv) soil response analysis etc. The computer-based platform OPENSIGNAL is freely available for the general public at http://areeweb.polito.it/ricerca/ICRED/Software/OpenSignal.php.

GIS based assessment of the spatial representativeness of air quality monitoring stations using pollutant emissions data

Spatial representativeness of air quality monitoring stations is a critical parameter when choosing location of sites and assessing effects on population to long term exposure to air pollution. According to literature, the spatial representativeness of a monitoring site is related to the variability of pollutants concentrations around the site.As the spatial distribution of primary pollutants concentration is strongly correlated to the allocation of corresponding emissions, in this work a methodology is presented to preliminarily assess spatial representativeness of a monitoring site by analysing the spatial variation of emissions around it. An analysis of horizontal variability of several pollutants emissions was carried out by means of Geographic Information System using a neighbourhood statistic function; the rationale is that if the variability of emissions around a site is low, the spatial representativeness of this site is high consequently.The methodology was applied to detect spatial representativeness of selected Italian monitoring stations, located in Northern and Central Italy and classified as urban background or rural background. Spatialized emission data produced by the national air quality model MINNI, covering entire Italian territory at spatial resolution of 4 × 4 km2, were processed and analysed.The methodology has shown significant capability for quick detection of areas with highest emission variability. This approach could be useful to plan new monitoring networks and to approximately estimate horizontal spatial representativeness of existing monitoring sites. Major constraints arise from the limited spatial resolution of the analysis, controlled by the resolution of the emission input data, cell size of 4 × 4 km2, and from the applicability to primary pollutants only.

Strategic use of the underground in an energy mix plan: Synergies among CO2, CH4 geological storage and geothermal energy. Latium Region case study (Central Italy)

In recent decades, the worldwide demand for energy has been increasing, with an associated rise in CO2 emissions being observed. In such conditions, the development of “low carbon energy technologies” and strategic energy-mix plans is necessary, and an evaluation of the underground energy potential may be a useful step in developing these plans. This evaluation involves the synergic development of such technologies as: coal combustion in combination with CO2 geological storage (CCS), natural gas geological storage (CH4-GS) and geothermal energy (GE), especially in densely populated countries, such as Italy.Currently, 13.7% of Italian energy demand is met by foreign providers. Most of the Italian regions have energy deficits, and the Latium Region (in Central Italy) represents one of those in the worst conditions.This work proposes a methodology to develop energy-mix scenarios, starting in Latium, to identify areas that are potentially suitable for CCS, CH4-GS and GE. Six geothermal systems and one CO2/CH4 storage potential area were identified.Three main scenarios are proposed: (A) a combination of CH4-GS with methane as cushion gas and GE; (B) a combination of CH4-GS with CO2 as cushion gas and GE; (C) a combination of CCS and GE. Scenario A results in a reduction of the regional energy deficit that ranges from 21.8% to 45.6%. In Scenario B, the regional energy deficit reduction ranges from 30.8% to 80.7% and the CO2 emissions reduction ranges from 1.4% to 5.6%, supposing an injection of 20years. Scenario C shows a decrease in the regional energy deficit that ranges from 15.9% to 22.1%, while the CO2 emissions reduction ranges from 7.1% to 31.3%, over the same time period.The proposed scenarios may be useful not only for the scientific community but also for policymakers as they identify the most reliable energetic strategies. Thus, this case study could be extended to the entire Italian territory with the ultimate goal of reaching energy autonomy in each region.

Typological Seismic Risk Maps for Italy

This paper describes the methodology followed to derive typological seismic risk maps for Italy and then presents the results. In its classical definition, seismic risk is obtained from the convolution of hazard, vulnerability and exposure. Due to the absence of reliable data on exposure for the entire Italian territory, this study proposes typological seismic risk maps, obtained by simply convolving hazard and vulnerability for several building typologies characteristic of the Italian building stock. A specific hazard study in terms of PGA has been carried out. The results have then been convolved with empirical typological fragility curves, that were derived from data collected during post-earthquake surveys after the main Italian events of the last 30 years. Useful applications can be found for the typological seismic risk maps, both for risk mitigation strategies and for purely economical evaluations (e.g., insurance and reinsurance studies).

Seismic Network Evaluation through Simulation: An Application to the Italian National Seismic Network

Abstract A properly organized seismic network is a valuable tool for monitoring seismic zones and assessing seismic hazards. In this paper we propose a new method (seismic network evaluation through simulation, SNES) to evaluate the performance of hypocenter location of a seismic network. The SNES method gives, as a function of magnitude, hypocentral depth, and confidence level, the spatial distribution of the number of active stations in the location procedure and their relative azimuthal gaps, along with confidence intervals in hypocentral parameters. The application of the SNES method also permits evaluation of the magnitude of completeness ( M C ), the background noise levels at the stations, and assessment of the appropriateness of the velocity model used in location routine. Italy sits on a tectonically active plate boundary at the convergence of the Eurasian and African lithospheric plates and has a high level of seismicity. In this paper, we apply the SNES method to the Italian National Seismic Network (Rete Sismica Nazionale Centralizzata dell’Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia, RSNC–INGV) which has monitored Italian seismicity since the early 1980s, following the destructive 1980 Irpinia earthquake. In recent years, the RSNC–INGV has grown significantly. In fact, in February 2010, it received signals from 305 seismic stations, 258 with wideband three-component sensors. We constructed SNES maps for magnitudes of 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3, fixing the hypocentral depth at 10 km and the confidence level at 95%. Through the application of the SNES method, we show that the RSNC–INGV provides the best monitoring coverage in the Apennine Mountains with errors that for M 2, are less than 2 and 4 km for epicenter and hypocentral depth, respectively. At M 2.5 this seismic network is capable of constraining earthquake hypocenters to depths of about 150 km for most of the Italian Peninsula. This seismic network provides a threshold of completeness down to M 2 for almost the entire Italian territory.

Quality assessment of the Italian Landslide Inventory using GIS processing

Landslides constitute one of the most important natural hazards in Italy as they are widespread and result in considerable damage and fatalities every year. The Italian Landslide Inventory (IFFI) Project was launched in 1999 with the aim of identifying and mapping landslides over the entire Italian territory. The inventory currently holds over 480,000 landslides and has been available by means of Web services since 2005. The aim of this study is to define quality indices for evaluation of the homogeneity and completeness of the IFFI database. In order to estimate the completeness of the landslide attribute information, a heuristic approach has been used to assign weighting values to significant parameters selected from the landslide data sheet. The completeness and homogeneity of the landslide mapping has been evaluated by means of three different methods: an area-frequency distribution analysis; the proximity of the landslides surveyed to urban areas; variation of the landslide index within the same lithology. The quality indices have allowed identification of areas with a high level of completeness and critical areas in which the data collected have been underestimated or are not very accurate. The quality assessment of collected and stored data is essential in order to use the IFFI database for definition and implementation of landslide susceptibility models and for land use planning and management.

Adjustment and transformation strategies of ItalPoS Permanent GNSS Network

A private network of 133 Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) permanent sites, named ItalPoS (Italian Positioning Service) and uniformly covering the entire Italian territory, was established in April 2006 by the Ital- ian Division of Leica Geosystems S.p.A. This network also involves several GPS stations of the INGV (Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology) RING (Real-time Integrated National Gps) network and GPS stations from other public and private bodies. Indeed Leica Geosystems contributed with its experience and its products to these networks which currently fulfil the national coverage where there are no ItalPoS stations. For instance, the purpose of the ItalPoS network is mainly GNSS data distribution in terms of real time corrections and RINEX files for the post-processing. In order to compute and distribute to private and scientific users a set of adjusted coordinates of the ItalPoS net- work in the IGS05 and ETRF89-2000 reference frames, a dataset of RINEX of about 120 GPS permanent sites was created and processed, using the distributed sessions approach, by means of Gamit/Globk 10.3 GPS data processor, also using some SOPAC (Scripps Orbits and Permanent Array Center) and EUREF (European Per- manent Network) solutions to improve the reference frame definition and the internal constraints. This paper describes all the strategies adopted to estimate coordinates and velocities of the ItalPoS Network in IGS05 and in ETRF89-2000 reference frames in the whole Italian territory.

Estimating land degradation risk for agriculture in Italy using an indirect approach

This paper illustrates a two-step procedure for measuring land degradation (LD) risk in agriculture. The procedure estimated the potential costs of LD from a standard index of land sensitivity to degradation (ESAI) by calculating, over 784 local districts covering the entire Italian territory, a ‘depletion factor’ in relation to the agricultural value added. The procedure was based on changes in the ESAI (1990–2000) and ancillary variables (i.e., per capita value added, share of agriculture in the total production, and agricultural profitability). On average, the estimated costs of LD in Italy amounted to nearly 0.5% of the agricultural value added (which corresponded to 12€/ha of cultivated surface). These figures are comparable to those presented in the literature for regions with similar environmental conditions. This paper contains descriptions of the assumptions under which the proposed scheme works and comments on their empirical plausibility.