Search results for "Storm"

A new expression of the slope length factor to apply USLE-MM at Sparacia experimental area (Southern Italy)

2013

Abstract Predicting soil loss due to water erosion by empirical models is useful to assess the severity of the phenomenon in an area of interest and to predict the effect of alternative soil erosion control practices. The USLE scheme cannot be used at the Sparacia experimental area (Sicily, South Italy) to predict event soil loss per unit plot area, Ae, because experimental data suggest that, generally, Ae does not increase with plot length, λ. The USLE-MM scheme uses the runoff coefficient, QR, as an additional independent variable in order to develop an empirical model allowing prediction of storm soil loss values that do not necessarily increase with λ. According to this model, Ae is exp…

The digital outcry: What incites participation behavior in an online firestorm?

2017

Brands, celebrities, or politicians are increasingly facing enormous online outrages in response to moral misconducts. These online firestorms are characterized by high message volume, indignant tonality, and negative opinion climate. Based on the concept of moral panics, this article analyzes why people join online firestorms. We argue that participation behavior is driven by a moral compass and a desire for social recognition. Results of an experiment and a content analysis of user comments show that a higher number of participants decreases users’ willingness to participate but fosters compliance with the prevalent opinion and tonality of the comments. We also observe that a higher mora…

Solar storm effects during Saint Patrick's Days in 2013 and 2015 on the Schumann resonances measured by the ELF station at Sierra Nevada (Spain)

2016

A paradigm of extreme rainfall pluvial floods in complex urban areas: the flood event of 15 July 2020 in Palermo (Italy)

2021

Abstract. In the last few years, some regions of the Mediterranean area have witnessed a progressive increase in extreme events, such as urban and flash floods, as a response to the increasingly frequent and severe extreme rainfall events, which are often exacerbated by the ever-growing urbanization. In such a context, the urban drainage systems may not be sufficient to convey the rainwater, thus increasing the risk deriving from the occurrence of such events. This study focuses on a particularly intense urban flood that occurred in Palermo (Italy) on 15 July 2020; it represents a typical pluvial flood due to extreme rainfall on a complex urban area that many cities have experienced in rece…

Observation of intrinsically bright terrestrial gamma ray flashes from the Mediterranean basin

2015

Abstract  We present three terrestrial gamma ray flashes (TGFs) observed over the Mediterranean basin by the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscope Imager (RHESSI) satellite. Since the occurrence of these events in the Mediterranean region is quite rare, the characterization of the events was optimized by combining different approaches in order to better define the cloud of origin. The TGFs on 7 November 2004 and 16 October 2006 came from clouds with cloud top higher than 10–12 km where often a strong penetration into the stratosphere is found. This kind of cloud is usually associated with heavy precipitation and intense lightning activity. Nevertheless, the analysis of the cloud type…

Latest Cretaceous storm-generated sea grass accumulations in the Maastrichtian type area, the Netherlands – preliminary observations

2019

Abstract Ever since the first description of fossil material during the mid-nineteenth century, sea grass has been shown to be quite commonly preserved in ‘pockets’ or ‘clumps’ at certain levels within the Gulpen, Maastricht and Kunrade formations in southern Limburg (the Netherlands) and contiguous areas in northeast Belgium. In those places where silicification occurred during early diagenesis, even completely silicified and three-dimensionally preserved stems and roots can be found, mostly of Thalassocharis bosquetii, in association with fully marine molluscs such as dentaliid scaphopods and a range of larger foraminifera, bivalves, gastropods and ammonites. Such occurrences are best kno…

Beaches in Valencian Coast

2018

The main factors that determined the Valencian beaches characteristics are the configuration of relief structures; fluvial sediment supply; low tidal range; the predominance of low energy waves; scarcity of big storms; longshore littoral drift; and human action. There is a significant prevalence of sandy beaches. Nevertheless, both at the northern part of the Gulf of Valencia and in the structural segment, between the Cape Sant Antoni and Alicante city, pebble and gravel beaches are predominant. Most of the Valencian beaches have experienced significant morphological changes during the last decades due to the human interventions -voluntary or involuntary- in the coastal system. The implemen…

Analysis of tide measurements in a Sicilian harbour

2011

Designing of ports and coastal protection works as well as planning of coastal human activities require knowledge of tidal oscillations. The latter vary noticeably from site to site and present an “astronomic” component, which is roughly periodic, and a “meteorological” component which is usually considered as random. In this paper, the tidal oscillations observed in a Sicilian harbour in the period 1999-2009 are analysed statistically, in order to recognize a probability distribution which allows one to predict the highest tidal levels. First, the measurements are used to obtain, for each year, the astronomic tide by the harmonic analysis by the software package T_TIDE. The difference betw…

Separate and combined sewer systems: a long-term modelling approach

2009

Sewer systems convey mostly dry weather flow, coming from domestic and industrial sanitary sewage as well as infiltration flow, and stormwater due to meteoric precipitations. Traditionally, in urban drainage two types of sewer systems are adopted: separate and combined sewers. The former convey dry and wet weather flow separately into two different networks, while the latter convey dry and wet weather flow together. Which is the best solution in terms of cost-benefit analysis still remains a controversial subject. The present study was aimed at comparing the pollution loads discharged to receiving bodies by Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) for different ki…

Observations of Kinematics and Thermodynamic Structure Surrounding a Convective Storm Cluster over a Low Mountain Range

2009

Abstract Measurements of a convective storm cluster in the northern Black Forest in southwest Germany have revealed the development of a warm and dry downdraft under its anvil cloud that had an inhibiting effect on the subsequent development of convection. These measurements were made on 12 July 2006 as part of the field campaign Prediction, Identification and Tracking of Convective Cells (PRINCE) during which a number of new measurement strategies were deployed. These included the collocation of a rotational Raman lidar and a Doppler lidar on the summit of the highest mountain in the region (1164 m MSL) as well as the deployment of teams carrying radiosondes to be released in the vicinity …