0000000001062156

AUTHOR

Francesco Alongi

Multilayer blue-green roofs as nature-based solutions for water and thermal insulation management

Abstract Green roofs have been widely recognized as sustainable nature-based solutions to mitigate floods in urban areas, which, in the last decades, are increasing due to the combination of intense worldwide urbanization and climate change. Besides flood mitigation, green roofs provide additional benefits for the urban environment (e.g., reducing the urban heat island and ensuring energy saving for the underneath building). Moreover, green roofs facilitate the increase of urban biodiversity, attracting different species of small animals, and upgrade the city aesthetic value. Among the different types of green roofs, multilayer blue-green roofs present an additional layer to store water dur…

research product

Large-Eddy Simulation e tecnica LS-PIV: lo studio della turbolenza superficiale

Gli avanzamenti tecnologici degli ultimi decenni hanno fatto registrare la rapida diffusione di tecnologie innovative con cui condurre un monitoraggio ambientale più efficiente ed efficace. Nel campo del monitoraggio fluviale sono sempre più utilizzate le tecniche basate sull’elaborazione di immagini, fornendo una valida alternativa alle metodologie tradizionalmente adottate. Le tecniche ottiche restituiscono infatti misure non intrusive, assicurando migliori condizioni di sicurezza per gli operatori. I metodi ottici più utilizzati sono la Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LS-PIV) [1] e la Large-Scale Particle Tracking Velocimetry (LS-PTV) [2]. Le tecniche LS-PIV e LS-PTV si basano su…

research product

Green roof effects on the rainwater response in the Mediterranean area: first results of a Sicilian case study

<p>Over the last decades, we have been witnessing an increasing frequency of urban floods often attributed to the interaction between intensification of rainfall extremes due to climate change and increasing urbanization. Consequently, many studies have been trying to propose different new alternatives to mitigate ground effects of ever more frequent and severe extreme rainfall events in a context of growing urbanization, such as rain gardens, green roofs, permeable parking lots, etc., which are commonly referred to as green infrastructures.</p><p>With this regard, one of the most promising mitigation solutions is represented by multilayer green roo…

research product

Optical techniques for river flow monitoring: an automatic procedure for the identification of the best video sequence to process by LS-PIV technique

Technological advances over last decades gave an innovative impulse to the development of new streamflow measurements techniques, especially regarding remote flow monitoring methods that allow for non-intrusive measurements. The most widely used image-based techniques are the optical ones, such as Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LS-PIV) and Large-Scale Particle Tracking Velocimetry (LS-PTV). The dynamic movement of tracers floating on the water surface of a river is recorded, and the resulting videos are processed by applying a statistical cross-correlation analysis to detect the most probable frame-by-frame displacement, finally deriving the surface velocity field. To obtain river …

research product

Numerical experiments for defining criteria for the use of LS-PIV based techniques in river monitoring.

The developing of new image-based techniques for environmental monitoring is opening new frontiers for remote streamflow measurements in natural environments, since they allow for non-intrusive measurements even in adverse circumstances, such as high flow conditions that often hinder the use of traditional approaches and instruments. Methods based on the acquisition, analysis and elaboration of images for streamflow observation, such as the large scale particle image velocimetry (LSPIV) and the particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) techniques, are rapidly evolving also in consideration of the growing availability of a new generation of optical sensors, digital cameras and methodologies. A num…

research product

On the use of LSPIV-based free software programs for the monitoring of river: testing the PIVlab and the FUDAA-LSPIV with synthetic and real image sequences

<p>The development of new image-based techniques is allowing a radical change in the environmental monitoring field. The fundamental characteristics of these methods are related to the possibility of obtaining non-intrusive measurements even in adverse circumstances, such as high flow conditions, which may seriously threaten the operators’ safety conditions in traditional approaches.</p><p>Optical techniques, based on the acquisition, analysis and elaboration of sequences of images acquired by digital cameras, are aimed at a complete characterization of the river instantaneous surface velocity field, through the analysis of a floating…

research product

Optical Methods for River Monitoring: A Simulation-Based Approach to Explore Optimal Experimental Setup for LSPIV

Recent advances in image-based methods for environmental monitoring are opening new frontiers for remote streamflow measurements in natural environments. Such techniques offer numerous advantages compared to traditional approaches. Despite the wide availability of cost-effective devices and software for image processing, these techniques are still rarely systematically implemented in practical applications, probably due to the lack of consistent operational protocols for both phases of images acquisition and processing. In this work, the optimal experimental setup for LSPIV based flow velocity measurements under different conditions is explored using the software PIVlab, investigating perfo…

research product

The potential of multilayer green roofs for stormwater management in urban area under semi-arid Mediterranean climate conditions

Different low impact development measures have been proposed to make cities more flood-resilient, and recent literature is paying great attention to the evaluation of their direct benefits in terms of flood risk mitigation and the numerous co-benefits that they may offer. This study describes an experimental prototype of a technologically advanced multilayer green roof installed in a Mediterranean urban area (i.e., Palermo, Italy) and explores the results of an analysis of data collected over a one-year monitoring period by a complex sensors network. Multilayer green roofs, or "blue-green" roofs (BGRs), are characterized by a high water retention capacity compared to traditional green roofs…

research product

Tetti verdi multistrato per lo sviluppo sostenibile di città resilienti: quattro casi studio italiani

Negli ultimi anni le inondazioni in ambito urbano sono state sempre più frequenti, provocando notevoli danni sia livello sociale che a livello economico. Questo fenomeno è in parte determinato da un aumento di urbanizzazione causato dalla crescita della popolazione, che tende sempre più a spostarsi dalle zone rurali alle aree urbane, che si espandono molto velocemente, spesso con infrastrutture idrauliche inadeguate. Inoltre, a causa di cambiamenti climatici, soprattutto nelle aree mediterranee, si può osservare un aumento di lunghi periodi di siccità, intervallati da piogge di breve durata, ma di sempre più forte intensità e frequenza. La presenza di questi fenomeni di pioggia intensa, in …

research product

TECNICA LS-PIV PER IL MONITORAGGIO DEI CORSI D’ACQUA NATURALI: UN APPROCCIO NUMERICO PER L’INDIVIDUAZIONE DI SETUP SPERIMENTALI OTTIMALI

Nuove tecniche per il monitoraggio ambientale, come le tecniche LS-PIV (Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry) e PTV (Particle Tracking Velocimetry), consentono una più speditiva e sicura acquisizione di misure di velocità nei corsi d’acqua. L’impiego di tecniche basate sull’elaborazione di immagini presenta infatti numerosi vantaggi che permettono di superare alcune criticità tipiche di approcci tradizionali (es. misure non invasive, low-cost, possibili anche in circostanze avverse e in real-time). Il recente sviluppo di tali tecniche è progredito di pari passo con la crescente disponibilità di sensori digitali sempre più performanti ed economici. Nonostante la grande disponibilità anche …

research product

TECNICHE OTTICHE PER IL MONITORAGGIO DEI CORSI D’ACQUA: UNA PROCEDURA AUTOMATICA PER L’INDIVIDUAZIONE DELLA MIGLORE SEQUENZA VIDEO DA PROCESSARE CON TECNICA LS-PIV

Misurare con accuratezza le portate di un corso d’acqua è uno dei principali obiettivi dell’idrometria tecnica (Eltner et al., 2020) e rappresenta da decenni una vera e propria sfida per la comunità scientifica. Le osservazioni di deflusso nei corsi d’acqua sono di fondamentale importanza per qualsiasi applicazione idrologica e idraulica (Pizarro et al., 2020) e consentono di comprendere al meglio le dinamiche di processi complessi, come ad esempio le piene lampo (Perks et al., 2016). La portata è una grandezza fisica la cui stima è caratterizzata da considerevole incertezza. Gli approcci tradizionali prevedono una stima indiretta della grandezza, attraverso un metodo velocità-area, che con…

research product

River flow monitoring: LS-PIV technique, an image-based method to assess discharge

The measurement of the river discharge within a natural ort artificial channel is still one of the most challenging tasks for hydrologists and the scientific community. Although discharge is a physical quantity that theoretically can be measured with very high accuracy, since the volume of water flows in a well-defined domain, there are numerous critical issues in obtaining a reliable value. Discharge cannot be measured directly, so its value is obtained by coupling a measurement of a quantity related to the volume of flowing water and the area of a channel cross-section. Direct measurements of current velocity are made, traditionally with instruments such as current meters. Although measur…

research product

Large-Eddy Simulation in LSPIV techniques: the study of surface turbolence

<p>In recent years, technological advances have been observed in environmental monitoring field, leading to a rapid spread of innovative technologies overcoming many historical challenges. In river monitoring field the use of image-based techniques provides non-intrusive measurements ensuring the best safety conditions for operators. The most used optical methods are the Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry (LSPIV) and the Large-Scale Particle Tracking Velocimetry (LSPTV).</p><p>In LSPIV and LSPTV techniques a floating tracer is introduced on the water surface and its motion is recorded by commercial devices (e.g. digital cameras). Resulting video…

research product

Optical techniques: non-intrusive river monitoring approach

<p>Technological advances over last decades gave an innovative impulse to development of new streamflow measurements techniques, making possible to implement remote flow monitoring methods that allow for non-intrusive measurements. Here, we focus on image-based techniques that involve the use of digital camera, either installed on a bridge or equipped by a drone (UAVs – Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The most widely known and used optical techniques are the Large-Scale Particle Image Velocimetry and the Large-Scale Particle Tracking Velocimetry. Optical techniques are based on four main steps: (i) seeding and recording, (ii) images pre-processing, (iii) images proces…

research product