Search results for "Island"
showing 10 items of 761 documents
On the Impact of Heat Pumps Electric Load on the Power Consumption of Lampedusa
2020
The present paper reports the results of a simulation study regarding the impact of the adoption of heat pumps for domestic hot water production in the island of Lampedusa (Italy). In the study, it has been assumed to replace electric storage water heaters with heat pumps at every dwelling of the about four thousand domestic end-users of the island and, in addition, to control the heat pump operation in order to enhance some parameters that characterize the quality of the generation and distribution system of the island (power peak, energy losses and voltage drop). According to the results of the simulations, while the replacement of electric storage water heaters with heat pumps is able to…
Diversity and Distribution of the Inland Water Decapods of Sicily (Crustacea, Malacostraca)
2022
The current knowledge of Sicilian inland water decapod malacostracans is scarce and an updated synopsis on species distribution is lacking. Therefore, we reviewed the checklist and recent distribution of Sicilian inland water decapods based on published and unpublished records and novel observations with the aim of providing an exhaustive repository, also to be used as a sound baseline for future surveys. Overall, five native decapod species occur in the study area, i.e., the atyid shrimp Atyaephyra desmarestii, the palaemonid shrimps Palaemon adspersus, P. antennarius, and P. elegans, and the freshwater crab Potamon fluviatile, and their current local distributions are described. In additi…
Telerilevamento e GIS per la valutazione e il monitoraggio delle isole di calore in ambiente urbano
2017
The techniques of spatial analysis and Remote Sensing represent an useful tool for the knowledge and the study of the Urban Heat Island phenomenon (English acronym UHI). In this study, among the different causes that lead to the generation of the event, those regarding physical features of the surface and the presence of different land use/cover such as: the high cover of urban areas and the lack of green areas have been examined. The Remote Sensing techniques allow to create maps of the land use/cover, then, in order to estimate the different in temperature due to the distance to the vegetation, the temperature of the bodies already tested have been compared with a thermal map. In detail t…
The impact of alien vascular plants in the aquatic habitats of a mediterranean island: preliminary data and observations in Sicily
2016
As is well known, invasive alien species pose a major global threat to the conservation of biodiversity, causing the extinction of native species and modifying ecosystem functions: this is true also for aquatic habitats, particularly susceptible to invasion due to usually high disturbance regimes and easy dispersal of propagules. The island of Sicily is one of the main hotspots of plant biodiversity, in the center of the Mediterranean basin; it hosts different types of freshwater habitats, both lentic (coastal wetlands, saltworks, temporary ponds, lakes, reservoirs) and lotic (springs, streams, permanent and seasonal rivers). As a first step of our analysis of the effects of the alien vascu…
Identification of the crossing point at N=21 between normal and intruder configurations
2017
The β− decay of 34Mg was used to study the 34Al nucleus through γ spectroscopy at the Isotope Separator OnLine facility of CERN. Previous studies identified two β-decaying states in 34Al having spin-parity assignments J π = 4− dominated by the normal configuration π(d5/2) −1 ⊗ ν(f7/2) and J π = 1+ by the intruder configuration π(d5/2) −1 ⊗ ν(d3/2) −1(f7/2) 2. Their unknown ordering and relative energy have been the subject of debate for the placement of 34Al inside or outside the N = 20 “island of inversion.” We report here that the 1+ intruder lies only 46.6 keV above the 4− ground state. In addition, a new half-life of T1/2 = 44.9(4) ms, that is twice as long as the previously measured 20…
Assessment of the Trend of Albedo: a Case Study of Palermo
2013
In this paper we propose a case study of urban heat island applied to Palermo. The urban heat island (UHI) is the most studied of the climate effects of settlements. The UHI refers to the generally warm urban temperatures compared to those over surrounding, non-urban, areas. The aim of this paper is to find a connection among the average rise in temperature and the modification of albedo.
Gulf of Maine shells reveal changes in seawater temperature seasonality during the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age
2011
article i nfo In this study, we use subannually resolved oxygen isotope values of fossil (dead-collected) and modern (live- caught) bivalve shells (Arctica islandica L.) from the northwestern Atlantic (Gulf of Maine, USA) to reconstruct past seasonal changes in seawater temperature. Our results indicate decreased seasonal temperature amplitude of about 1.6 °C (or ∼21%) during Medieval times (ca. AD 1033-1062) compared to shells from the early Little Ice Age (ca. AD 1321-1391) and during the late 19th century (AD 1864-1886). Additionally, seasonal oxygen isotope data suggest that summers were cooler and winters were warmer in the Gulf of Maine during the 11th century compared to summers and …
The community of Cystoseira brachycarpa J. Agardh emend. Giaccone (Fucales, Phaeophyceae) in a shallow hydrothermal vent area of the Aeolian Islands …
2014
A Cystoseira brachycarpa community from a vent area off Panarea Island (Italy) was investigated in two sites at different pH values. At low pH, species richness and coverage were low and the community displayed a reduced reproductive capacity. Conversely, at normal pH, dense canopies of fertile C. brachycarpa were found.
Growth and reproduction data of Plesionika narval (Decapoda, Caridea, Pandalidae) off the Island of Ustica (southern Tyrrhenian Sea)
2011
[We here report some data on the biology and population structure of Plesionika narval (Fabricius, 1787) captured along the coast of the island of Ustica in the southern Tyrrhenian Sea. Specimens were collected monthly from January to October 2000 using commercial traps at depths ranging from 15 to 100 metres. The carapace length (CL) of females ranged between 7.0 and 26.0 mm, and between 7.0 and 17.0 mm for males. Three modes were identified in the cumulative frequency distribution for females but only two for males. In females, the third modal value was observed only at the deeper sample sites. The Von Bertalanffy growth parameters and performance index p were K = 0.65 y–1, CL∞ = 27.4 mm …
Boat traffic in Lampedusa waters (Strait of Sicily, Mediterranean Sea) and its relation to the coastal distribution of common bottlenose dolphin (Tur…
2010
The volume of boat traffic and its potential connection to the coastal distribution of the common bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) was evaluated off Lampedusa Island (Strait of Sicily). From July to September 2006 daily surveys were carried out at eight sites along the coast, three times a day, to assess the number, type, and size of boats moving, fishing, or stationed in Lampedusa waters. The study area was divided into four geographic areas: northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast. Data were analyzed to determine the difference in the number of boats among the areas, sampling months, and times of day. The presence of dolphins was monitored by standardized land-based observat…