Po River Research Articles

Economic characterization of irrigated and livestock farms in The Po River Basin District

This article highlights the potential for collecting and processing territorial data in order to facilitate planning and programming that respond to real local problems and include the political and regulatory framework in force. A case study is explored that involves the joint use of two databases with institutional functions: the Farm Accountancy Data Network (FADN) and the National Information System for Water Management in Agriculture (SIGRIAN). Both databases are managed by the Council for Agricultural Research and Economics (CREA). Those data were used to calculate economic-structural indicators for irrigated and livestock farms located in the Po River Basin District and to run the socioeconomic analysis required to update the Water Management Plan. The updating of plans is governed by the Water Framework Directive (Directive 2000/60/EC), which establishes the community framework for water and requires all Member States to review and update their Plan every six years. The first update deadline was December 2015 and the second one will be December 2021. The integrated use of two databases made it possible to identify farms according to two types of irrigation: collective or self-supplied. With collective irrigation (Irrigation Water Service), the farm is a user of a Local Agency for Water Management (LAWM) that collects and distributes irrigation water. With self-supplied irrigation, the individual farmers collect and distribute water themself. The analysis carried out demonstrates the need and opportunity to develop coordinated data collection and management systems, thereby strengthening and refining the monitoring and programming of water use in line with the real needs of the territory.

West Nile Virus Lineage 1 in Italy: Newly Introduced or a Re-Occurrence of a Previously Circulating Strain?

In Italy, West Nile virus (WNV) appeared for the first time in the Tuscany region in 1998. After 10 years of absence, it re-appeared in the areas surrounding the Po River delta, affecting eight provinces in three regions. Thereafter, WNV epidemics caused by genetically divergent isolates have been documented every year in the country. Since 2018, only WNV Lineage 2 has been reported in the Italian territory. In October 2020, WNV Lineage 1 (WNV-L1) re-emerged in Italy, in the Campania region. This is the first occurrence of WNV-L1 detection in the Italian territory since 2017. WNV was detected in the internal organs of a goshawk (Accipiter gentilis) and a kestrel (Falco tinnunculus). The RNA extracted in the goshawk tissue samples was sequenced, and a Bayesian phylogenetic analysis was performed by a maximum-likelihood tree. Genome analysis, conducted on the goshawk WNV complete genome sequence, indicates that the strain belongs to the WNV-L1 Western-Mediterranean (WMed) cluster. Moreover, a close phylogenetic similarity is observed between the goshawk strain, the 2008–2011 group of Italian sequences, and European strains belonging to the Wmed cluster. Our results evidence the possibility of both a new re-introduction or unnoticed silent circulation in Italy, and the strong importance of keeping the WNV surveillance system in the Italian territory active.

A combined hydrological and hydraulic modelling approach for the flood hazard mapping of the Po river basin

AbstractThe identification of flood prone areas is essential for a range of engineering, risk reduction and research applications. Here, we describe a combined hydrological and hydraulic modelling approach for the assessment of flood‐prone areas and we present the results obtained over the Po river (Northern Italy). Runoff and river discharges are calculated through the hydrological model CHyM driven by GRIPHO, a new precipitation dataset for Italy. River flow data are used to obtain flood hydrographs for the CA2D hydraulic model, which calculates flood hazard maps at a resolution of 90 m. Flood simulations are run over a re‐shaped HydroSHEDS digital elevation model that includes information of the channel geometry. Modeled flood hydrographs are compared with observed data for a choice of gauging stations, showing a good performance of the CHyM model. We validate the flood hazard maps against observed flood events and official hazard maps. For high return periods, modelled maps can correctly identify up to 67% of the flood extent, both on the Po River and on smaller tributaries, while performances are more variable for lower return periods. Overall, the proposed approach suggests a strong potential for further applications, such as flood hazard assessment under future climate scenarios.

Spaceborne River Discharge From a Nonparametric Stochastic Quantile Mapping Function

AbstractThe number of active gauges with open‐data policy for discharge monitoring along rivers has decreased over the last decades. Therefore, spaceborne measurements are investigated as alternatives. Among different techniques for estimating river discharge from space, developing a rating curve between the ground‐based discharge and spaceborne river water level or width is the most straightforward one. However, this does not always lead to successful results, since the river section morphology often cannot simply be modeled by a limited number of parameters. Moreover, such methods do not deliver a proper estimation of the discharge's uncertainty as a result of the mismodeling and also the coarse assumptions made for the uncertainty of inputs. Here, we propose a nonparametric model for estimating river discharge and its uncertainty from spaceborne river width measurements. The model employs a stochastic quantile mapping scheme by, iteratively: (a) generating realizations of river discharge and width time series using Monte Carlo simulation, (b) obtaining a collection of quantile mapping functions by matching all possible permutations of simulated river discharge and width quantile functions, and (c) adjusting the measurement uncertainties according to the point cloud scatter. We validate our method over 14 different river reaches along the Niger, Congo, Po Rivers, and several river reaches in the Mississippi river basin. Our results show that the proposed algorithm can mitigate the effect of measurement noise and also possible mismodeling. Moreover, the proposed algorithm delivers a meaningful uncertainty for the estimated discharge and allows us to calibrate the error bars of in situ discharge measurements.

Atlantic Ocean Variability and European Alps Winter Precipitation

Winter precipitation (snowpack) in the European Alps provides a critical source of freshwater to major river basins such as the Danube, Rhine, and Po. Previous research identified Atlantic Ocean variability and hydrologic responses in the European Alps. The research presented here evaluates Atlantic Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) and European Alps winter precipitation variability using Singular Value Decomposition. Regions in the north and mid-Atlantic from the SSTs were identified as being tele-connected with winter precipitation in the European Alps. Indices were generated for these Atlantic SST regions to use in prediction of precipitation. Regression and non-parametric models were developed using the indices as predictors and winter precipitation as the predictand for twenty-one alpine precipitation stations in Austria, Germany, and Italy. The proposed framework identified three regions in the European Alps in which model skill ranged from excellent (West Region–Po River Basin), to good (East Region) to poor (Central Region). A novel approach for forecasting future winter precipitation utilizing future projections of Atlantic SSTs predicts increased winter precipitation until ~2040, followed by decreased winter precipitation until ~2070, and then followed by increasing winter precipitation until ~2100.

UAV Approach for Detecting Plastic Marine Debris on the Beach: A Case Study in the Po River Delta (Italy)

Anthropogenic marine debris (AMD) represent a global threat for aquatic environments. It is important to locate and monitor the distribution and presence of macroplastics along beaches to prevent degradation into microplastics (MP), which are potentially more harmful and more difficult to remove. UAV imaging represents a quick method for acquiring pictures with a ground spatial resolution of a few centimeters. In this work, we investigate strategies for AMD mapping on beaches with different ground resolutions and with elevation and multispectral data in support of RGB orthomosaics. Operators with varying levels of expertise and knowledge of the coastal environment map the AMD on four to five transects manually, using a range of photogrammetric tools. The initial survey was repeated after one year; in both surveys, beach litter was collected and further analyzed in the laboratory. Operators assign three levels of confidence when recognizing and describing AMD. Preliminary validation of results shows that items identified with high confidence were almost always classified properly. Approaching the detected items in terms of surface instead of a simple count increased the percentage of mapped litter significantly when compared to those collected. Multispectral data in near-infrared (NIR) wavelengths and digital surface models (DSMs) did not significantly improve the efficiency of manual mapping, even if vegetation features were removed using NDVI maps. In conclusion, this research shows that a good solution for performing beach AMD mapping can be represented by using RGB imagery with a spatial resolution of about 200 pix/m for detecting macroplastics and, in particular, focusing on the largest items. From the point of view of assessing and monitoring potential sources of MP, this approach is not only feasible but also quick, practical, and sustainable.

High resolution (1 km) satellite rainfall estimation from SM2RAIN applied to Sentinel-1: Po River Basin as case study

High resolution (1 km) satellite rainfall estimation from SM2RAIN applied to Sentinel-1: Po River Basin as case study

Monitoring the morphological evolution of a reach of the Italian Po River using multispectral satellite imagery and stage data

The knowledge of the hydro-morphological evolution of lowland rivers is essential to develop integrated river management plans. Satellite data can provide continuous and efficient means to monitor fluvial geomorphological changes at various spatiotemporal scales. In this study, an automatic classification method was exploited to analyze the evolution of a 40 km reach of the Italian Po River from 1986 to 2020. Public domain multispectral satellite data acquired by Landsat 4-5-TM, Landsat-8-OLI and Sentinel-2-MSI were processed to extract the wet-channel and its variations over time. Very high-resolution GeoEye-01 and WorldView-02 images were employed for validating the classification method. The overall accuracy, obtained by multitemporal controls with very high-resolution images, was always greater than 0.90 for all the missions, showing that the classification accuracy remains consistent through time. Combining satellite data with hydrological measurements permitted to monitor the river at the reach scale and investigate the effects of river restoration works.

Carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis of the Padanian Plain sediments: Backgrounds and provenance indication of the alluvial components

This work reports an ab initio study on the carbon (C), nitrogen (N), and sulphur (S) elemental and isotope compositions of the Padanian Plain sediments collected in the province of Ferrara (Northern Italy). The investigated sediments were already characterized by previous research that highlighted a bimodal provenance, as some sediments are from the Alpine chain and were conveyed to the plain by Po River, whereas others are from the Apennine chain and were conveyed to the plain by the Reno River. This information was obtained considering the concentration of heavy metals retrieved from hundreds of X-ray fluorescence analyses available in the literature, whereas CNS elemental and isotope compositions are unknown. These tracers are generally considered scarcely useful to identify the sediment provenance, as influenced by multiple environmental factors. However, this work challenges these assertions observing that 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 34S/32S are significantly different in Po and Reno River sediments. Our hypothesis is that the CNS geochemical signal is 1) mainly regulated by the organic fraction included in the alluvial sediments, and 2) these organic fraction have in turn a specific composition in the distinct source catchments. More in general, the presented data increase the knowledge on the local elemental and isotopic backgrounds. This is important because many pollutants contain significant CNS concentration and specific isotope composition. Therefore, they serve as baseline and will provide new tools to recognize possible anthropogenic anomalies in the studied area.

Resumption of natural reproduction of the Adriatic sturgeon in the River Po

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Late Glacial and Holocene buried black soils in Emilia (northern Italy): genetic and paleoenvironmental insights

PurposeThe existence of black horizons (BHs) is often highlighted in European soils, and in the Po River plain of northern Italy. Nevertheless, BH chronological frameworks and genetic models are still debated. The present study investigated the genesis of BHs in the eastern Po Plain where they are buried at various depths.Materials and methodsSoil sequences were investigated with a multidisciplinary approach integrating geomorphologic, stratigraphic, pedologic, geochemical, isotopic, palynological, and radiometric analyses.Results and discussionThe formation of the studied BHs was scattered over time from the Last Glacial Maximum to at least the middle Holocene. The new data indicate that BHs developed when the landscape was dominated by coniferous forest during conditions that were totally different from the current pedoclimatic setting. The recurrent presence of black particles indicates that this vegetation cover was systematically affected by fire episodes that induced soil degradation and mineralization processes of the original organic compounds, thus contributing to darkening of the upper soil horizons.ConclusionsBH formation clearly coincided with cold time lapses. Evidence for repeated fire events (natural or human-induced?) provides insights for the controversial debate on early anthropogenic impacts on the environment.

Ecological Importance of Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Changing Marine Environmental Conditions

The effects of changing hydrological and climatic conditions on the dynamics of phosphorus (P) were studied in the Northern Adriatic Sea (NA), a coastal system currently affected by these changes. P limitation is one of the key stresses in the NA and it is a globally important phenomenon in aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, the response to P stress by inducing alkaline phosphatase activity (APA) was studied in characteristic water types in the NA, formed by the changing freshwater input in different thermic conditions. APA was important in providing P for microbial growth in upper waters dominated by assimilation during the warmer part of the year in stratified conditions. Contrarily, APA was not important during mixing in the colder part of the year, as well as in waters dominated by regeneration. In waters influenced by freshwater, temperature had no effect on APA, while in high-salinity waters, temperature was an important factor for APA increase. The highest APA occurred during riverine nutrients supply, indicating that the alteration of anthropogenic nutrient loads might strongly change P status in this coastal system. Furthermore, predicted increases in winter sea temperature and summer Po River discharge could delay the water column mixing, prolonging periods of P limitation.

Dissolved organic carbon accumulation during a bloom of invasive gelatinous zooplankton Mnemiopsis leidyi in the northern Adriatic Sea; case of the anomalous summer in 2017

In the so-called “anomalous” summer in 2017, an increased concentration of DOC was measured in the entire water column at the station SJ107 (eastern part of the Po River delta-Rovinj transect, Graphical abstract) in the northern Adriatic (NAd). Surface DOC ranged between 1.56 and 3.10 mg l−1, being 2.5 times higher than the long-term (1989–2017) average for the same area. Such enlarged concentration of DOC, typical for eutrophic lagoons or lakes and not for open waters, was most probably a consequence of an intensive bloom of Mnemiopsis leidyi, which was recorded with an exceptionally high population density (up to 76 ind. m−3) in the same waters. The number of jelly combs showed a decrease from the east (SJ107) to the west (SJ101) of the transect (Graphical abstract). Abundance in the central part of the transect was also quite low. Maximum of DOC corresponded with the abundance of the M. leidyi smallest specimens (<3 cm). At the western station of the same profile (SJ101), M. leidyi abundance was insignificant, and DOC concentration appeared to be controlled by seasonal changes in primary production and grazing activities. In contrast, at the eastern station (SJ107), changes in the complex food web interaction shaped the DOC quantity and quality. A large fraction of DOC at both stations was found to be reactive, significantly contributing to the organic matter pool represented by surface-active substances (SAS). A large anticyclonic gyre which developed from April to November in 2017 in the area of SJ107, supported calm water column conditions and abundant resources of zooplankton, which could support the residence and accumulation of the invasive ctenophore M. leidyi. For the first time, the presence of a long-lasting gyre (duration of at least 4 months) is documented both with hydrographic measurements and by numerical modelling. Such a situation characterised by the production of highly reactive DOC leads to an extreme eutrophic episode. A dispersion model indicated a high probability of M. leidyi spreading by the end of winter from the Venice Lagoon, its hypothetical winter residing area, to the Istrian coast (Croatia).

The disaster resilience assessment of coastal areas: A method for improving the stakeholders’ participation

Increasing frequency, intensity and severity of natural hazards associated to climate change are among the pressing challenges the world is facing requiring greater resilience for communities. This challenge calls for new policies and actions at regional and local level having the concept of resilience as their main driver and core component.However in order to prioriotirise and invest in the resilience building, the actors involved in the governance of a territory and in the implementation of Disaster Risk Reduction measures must first recognize the multifacted nature of resilience and the importance of its measurement.Priorities, resilience meaning and metrics are subject to different interpretations, making resilience a societal complex issue.To this end the paper aims to provide a new method for the incorporation of multilevel stakeholders’ view in the assessment of the inherent resilience of a place and in the design of a metric based Resilience Index (RI).The new approach integrates the Disaster Resilience of Place (DROP) model and the use of semi-structured interviews with a standpoint in the Grounded Theory Methodology to facilitate both the assessment of resilience in a quantitative manner and an in-depth analysis of the context.The method has been applied in the framework of coastal exposure to flood, by involving 18 municipalites of the Po River Delta (Italy). The interactions of the, physical and anthropogenic processes in the Po River Delta requires a better understanding in terms of resilince to support sustainable management and spatial planning actions in the context of climate change.The analysis spreads across different administrative boundaries and complex and dynamic natural systems that have recreational, residential and economic functions. The results demonstrate the potentiality of the method to guide different local actors in their disaster resilience strategy and in the identification of priorities.

Linking local natural background levels in groundwater to their generating hydrogeochemical processes in Quaternary alluvial aquifers

Calculating natural background levels (NBLs) in groundwater is vital for supporting a sustainable use of groundwater resources. Although NBLs are often assessed through a unique concentration value per groundwater body, where hydrogeochemical features are highly variable, spatial heterogeneity needs to be accounted for, leading to the calculation of so-called “local” NBLs. Despite much research devoted to the identification of the best performing techniques for local NBLs spatialization, a deep understanding of the link between local NBL values and their generating hydrogeochemical processes is often lacking and so is addressed here for the redox-sensitive species As, NH4, Fe and Mn in the groundwater bodies of Lombardy region, N Italy.Local NBLs were calculated by a tired approach involving the hybridization of preselection and probability plot methods. Since the spatial variability of the target species depends mainly on redox conditions, a redox zonation was performed using multivariate statistical analysis. A conceptual model was developed and improved combing factor and cluster analysis. Results showed that NBLs for arsenic were up to 291 μg/L, reached in groundwaters under methanogenesis, a condition related to the prolonged degradation of peat buried in aquifer sediments. Ammonium NBLs up to 6.62 mg/L were generated by the upwelling of fluids from deep sediments hosting petroleum systems; ammonium NBLs up to 4.48 mg/L were generated as the accumulation of by-products of peat degradation. Iron and manganese NBLs up to, respectively, 6.0 and 1.51 mg/L were generated by the oxidation of younger and less stable Mn and Fe oxides within river valleys, mostly the Po River valley.The evaluation of local NBLs, and their association to generating natural hydrogeochemical processes/conditions, achieves a step forward from the commonly used approach of a single NBL per groundwater body, improving decision-support tools for sustainable groundwater management and protection.

Justinian, Vitiges and the peace treaty of 540 (Proc. Bell. Goth. 2.29.2)

Abstract The proposed peace treaty of 540 between Justinian and Vitiges ‒ according to most interpretations of Proc. Bell. Goth. 2.29.2 ‒ included a partition of Italy into two areas, one located south of the river Po and controlled by Justinian and the other located north of the Po and controlled by the Goths. However, a closer examination of Procopius’ wording and of similar passages indicates that Justinian aimed to receive only the tax revenues of southern and central Italy, with the provinces themselves remaining in the hands of the Goths.

Meltwater flux from northern ice-sheets to the mediterranean during MIS 12

Planktonic foraminifer oxygen isotopes through MIS 12 were analysed from Ocean Drilling Program Site 977 in the Alboran Sea. After the correction of the sea surface temperature (SST) effect on the δ18O composition of foraminiferal calcite, the resulting seawater δ18O (δ18Ow) was used to reconstruct variations in the δ18Ow of the Atlantic inflow into the Mediterranean. A synchronous record from the KC01B core, in the Ionian Sea, was used to evaluate changes in the oxygen isotope gradient within the Mediterranean due to hydrological variations during MIS 12. Instead of the glacial δ18Ow enrichment expected for the Mediterranean, lower values than today have been observed both in the Alboran and the Ionian seas, especially between 455 ka and the end of MIS 12 (424 ka). These negative oxygen isotope anomalies must have been caused by a flux of freshwater to the Mediterranean during MIS 12. Although the largest fraction of the freshwater anomalies entered the Mediterranean through the Atlantic inflow, especially during Heinrich stadials, the Mediterranean δ18Ow gradient allowed us to identify other sources of freshwater to the eastern basin. One of these sources was probably the meltwater generated at the southern margin of the Fennoscandian ice-sheet that entered via the Caspian and Black seas. However, the proximity of core KC01B to the Adriatic Sea points to meltwater delivered from the Alpine ice-sheet and transported through the Po river into the Mediterranean as the main cause of the Ionian Sea 18O depletions.

Temporal variation of floatable plastic particles in the largest Italian river, the Po

We investigated the temporal concentration of floatable plastic particles in the Po river, the largest contributor of freshwater to the Adriatic Sea. Surface waters were sampled in 2019 with a Manta trawl, with almost bimonthly frequency. In total, 5063 plastic particles were collected, 80.6% of which were microplastics (<5 mm). Characterization through FT-IR spectroscopy evidenced 7 polymers, of which polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene accounted for 40.5%, 25.7%, and 14.9%, respectively. The highest plastic concentration was recorded in December (3.47 particles m-3; 5.89 mg m-3), while the lowest in August (0.29 ± 0.01 particles m-3; 0.22 ± 0.08 mg m-3). We estimated the annual load of floatable plastic particles carried by the Po river to be 145 tons. Plastic particle load was correlated with the hydraulic regime, and was higher in autumn and spring months.

Entropy Based River Discharge Estimation Using One‐Point Velocity Measurement at 0.6D

AbstractEntropy theory applied to hydrometric measurements enables establishing a relationship between the maximum and the mean velocities of flow passing a river section. In many developing countries, river discharge is still estimated by the velocity‐area method following the procedure established based on the point‐velocities measured at 0.6D depth from the water surface of many verticals of flow section. This study explores the establishment of a relationship between the maximum point‐velocity estimated at 0.6D depth of the vertical located at or nearer to the deepest flow depth, and the maximum point‐velocity occurring somewhere along the same vertical which in turn can be linked to the sectional mean flow velocity based on the established entropy theory. The appropriateness of the proposed two‐steps based approach of discharge estimation is first verified on the Tiber River and the Po River of Italy. The study finds that the values of the maximum point‐velocity estimated using the proposed approach closely matches with the recorded maximum flow velocity values along the same flow‐depths. After this verification, the proposed method was applied for discharge estimation at two Indian river gauging stations, where only the point‐velocity measurements at 0.6D depth locations of the verticals are recorded. The study finds that the discharges estimated by both the proposed approach and the velocity‐area method closely match with each other with the estimated Nash‐Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) values greater than 0.99. Thus the proposed two‐steps approach involving the entropy concept based relationship for discharge estimation enables to replace the tedious and time‐consuming velocity‐area approach.

Итальянская кампания 1703 года. Борьба за контроль над бассейном р. По

The research aims to identify characteristic features of the Western European art of war, using the Italian campaign of 1703 during the War of the Spanish Succession of 1701-1714 as an example. The article shows the command’s efforts on decision-making, planning, support and conduct of the operation, as well as combat activity in the Po River valley in summer of 1703. Scientific novelty lies in studying an important stage of the European military history, which has not been properly reflected in the Russian historiography yet. The research findings have shown that the Italian campaign of 1703 revealed such features of this era’s military strategy as rejection of decisive forms in favour of the manoeuvrable strategy, positional nature of the war, increasing role of logistical factors.