The easy implementation of ecologically-sound remediation measures for the prompt stabilisation of burned areas may be crucial in Mediterranean forest environments. Manual in situ contour redirection of burned felled logs could aid in soil erosion control and facilitate forest self-regeneration. In this study, a plot-scale runoff/sediment yield survey was conducted in Calabria, Italy, within a Mediterranean pine forest that was affected by an extreme wildfire spanning over 15,000 hectares in the summer of 2021. The hydrological response to 24 rainfall events was analysed after one year of monitoring using nine Wischmeier and Smith 20% sloping plots, which were distributed into three plot-blocks representing different conditions (forested, burned with randomly directed fallen logs, and burned with fallen logs manually redirected along contour lines). The post-fire condition (with felled logs in random positions) exhibited a consistent overall increase (approximately four times) in runoff and sediment yield compared to the pre-fire situation. This degradation effect was mitigated by approximately 30% through the manual redirection of burned logs, which promoted early (three to five weeks) vegetation regeneration (including tree emergence) and enhanced coverage as vegetation spread from the log positions. The results obtained so far provide encouraging insights and warrant further research on steeper slopes and complementary aspects (regulatory, biological, mechanical, economic, etc.).
This paper deals with the estimation of set-up due to irregular waves. Following the logic of Barbaro and Martino [1], it is derived the analytical expression of the set-up. The solution is based on the hypotheses of straight, parallel depth contours and constant average flow parameters in the longshore direction. In this context, the corresponding value of the set-up is calculated from a specified off-shore directional spectrum. The effect of the assumed directional spectrum is investigated. In particular, set-up is estimated by considering the following frequency spectra: Pierson-Moskowitz [2], JONSWAP [3] and Ochi-Hubble [4]. Further, influence of the spreading function is investigated by assuming a cosine-power [5] and a hyperbolic spreading function [6]. It is shown that the assumed off-shore spectrum significantly modifies the estimated set-up. It is proposed a practical application. The estimation has been carried out by considering various Italian and American locations. The model is applied from buoy data, that are provided by ISPRA (Istituto Superiore per la Protezione e la Ricerca Ambientale) and by NDBC (National Data Buoy Center).
The analysis of shoreline changes is very important for coastal planning and management. In territories such as Calabria (Italy), characterized by significant anthropogenic pressures and various eroded coasts, the knowledge of the shoreline changes, and the factors that influence them, is necessary for management and planning of coastal areas. In fact, shoreline position is one of the most important indicators of coastal dynamics. From this point of view recent advances in remote sensing and GIS techniques allow to estimate with great precision the shoreline changes over the years. The paper analyzes the shoreline changes near the mouth of the Sant'Agata River (Reggio Calabria, Italy), carried out through the comparison of various cartography data. Furthermore, the paper analyzes the main factors influencing the coastal dynamics in order to identify possible correlation between these factors and the shoreline changes. The analysis of these factors shows that, in this case study, the rainfall regime has a considerable influence on shoreline change. The methodology described in this paper is particularly useful for better understanding the factors that most influence the coastal balance and, therefore, is applicable to many contexts which are similar to the Sant'Agata river mouth.
The wave climate is highly variable temporally and spatially, depending mainly on the atmospheric conditions and on fetch extensions. Wave climate is one of the main causes of coastal erosion processes, together with anthropogenic pressure and with coastal and river sedimentary balance. Therefore, a detailed spatial and temporal knowledge of wave climate is very important in managing coastal areas and in planning coastal defense works. This paper describes an analysis of the wave climate carried out along the Calabrian coasts in over 50 areas, each of them covering an average of 15 km of coastline. For each area, over 40 years of wave data were analyzed to calculate over 20 parameters, representative of annual and seasonal average and maximum wave conditions. The large number of areas is related to the geomorphological and climatic complexity of Calabria. This analysis mainly highlighted that the two Ionian and Tyrrhenian coasts are very different from the wave climate point of view. Indeed, the Ionian coast is heavier in ordinary wave conditions, while the Tyrrhenian coast is heavier in extreme wave conditions.
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