Nature-based solutions (NBS) for hydro-meteorological risks (HMRs) reduction and management are becoming increasingly popular, but challenges such as the lack of well-recognised standard methodologies to evaluate their performance and upscale their implementation remain. We systematically evaluate the current state-of-the art on the models and tools that are utilised for the optimum allocation, design and efficiency evaluation of NBS for five HMRs (flooding, droughts, heatwaves, landslides, and storm surges and coastal erosion). We found that methods to assess the complex issue of NBS efficiency and cost-benefits analysis are still in the development stage and they have only been implemented through the methodologies developed for other purposes such as fluid dynamics models in micro and catchment scale contexts. Of the reviewed numerical models and tools MIKE-SHE, SWMM (for floods), ParFlow-TREES, ACRU, SIMGRO (for droughts), WRF, ENVI-met (for heatwaves), FUNWAVE-TVD, BROOK90 (for landslides), TELEMAC and ADCIRC (for storm surges) are more flexible to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of specific NBS such as wetlands, ponds, trees, parks, grass, green roof/walls, tree roots, vegetations, coral reefs, mangroves, sea grasses, oyster reefs, sea salt marshes, sandy beaches and dunes. We conclude that the models and tools that are capable of assessing the multiple benefits, particularly the performance and cost-effectiveness of NBS for HMR reduction and management are not readily available. Thus, our synthesis of modelling methods can facilitate their selection that can maximise opportunities and refute the current political hesitation of NBS deployment compared with grey solutions for HMR management but also for the provision of a wide range of social and economic co-benefits. However, there is still a need for bespoke modelling tools that can holistically assess the various components of NBS from an HMR reduction and management perspective. Such tools can facilitate impact assessment modelling under different NBS scenarios to build a solid evidence base for upscaling and replicating the implementation of NBS.
We investigate wind‐driven circulation in a peri‐alpine lake (Lake Ledro ‐ Italy) using LES‐COAST. Lake Ledro is interesting because its own dimensions are suited for LES and it is surrounded by complex orography, affecting wind distribution. We consider the winter condition when stratification is nearly absent. Two types of time‐varying wind stress are used: spatially homogeneous and spatially inhomogeneous respectively. The analysis of the eddy viscosities shows substantial differences with respect to the ocean case characterized by absence of coastal boundaries and homogeneous, steady wind. The quantities exhibit a noticeable inhomogeneous behavior: the horizontal eddy viscosity is larger in the water body far from the boundaries, whereas the vertical one is larger close to the lateral boundaries due to the presence of a boundary layer. The energetic bottom boundary layer, typically occurring in lakes, is not present. This because of the intrinsic unsteadiness of the thermal wind blowing over the lake and due to the absence of large amplitude internal waves, the latter present only in case of stable stratification. In the inhomogeneous wind case, up‐welling and down‐welling areas are not confined along the shoreline only, but are also generated in the water body due to substantial horizontal velocity divergence, and turbulent mixing, quantified by eddy viscosities, TKE and its dissipation rate, appears enhanced with respect to the homogeneous wind case. Finally, downwelling/upwelling areas along the windward/leeward coastline respectively were observed, whose quantitative estimation may give explanation for the bloom of cyanobacteria at the lake surface observed in winter.
The Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon is associated to a cascade of effects on citizens' health, energy consumptions and air quality. Accurate local scale UHI numerical predictions are particularly relevant for the achievement of a sustainable urban planning. In this paper, we evaluate the performance of two different modelling techniques to predict temperature distribution within the urban environment. The diagnostic integral-semi-Gaussian model ADMS-Temperature and Humidity Model and the prognostic Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) based model ENVI-met were used and results were validated against field measurements collected during summer 2012 in four different neighbourhoods of Lecce, an Italian medium size city. Results suggested that even if the entire building morphometry and green areas were carefully reproduced within the CFD-based model and only parameterized within the integral model, the level of complications appeared to be not essential in temperature predictions. As a consequence the integral model resulted to be more effective for a fast and accurate assessment of air temperature distribution within the city.
The adoption of Nature-Based Solutions (NBSs) represents a novel means to mitigate natural hazards. In the framework of the OPERANDUM project, this study introduces a methodology to assess the efficiency of the NBSs and a series of Open-Air Laboratories (OALs) regarded as a proof-of-concept for the wider uptake of NBSs. The OALs are located in Finland, Greece, UK, Italy, and Ireland. The methodology is based on a wide modeling activity, incorporated in the context of future climate scenarios. Herein, we present a series of models’ chains able to estimate the efficiency of the NBSs. While the presented models are mainly well-established, their coupling represents a first fundamental step in the study of the long-term efficacy and impact of the NBSs. In the selected sites, NBSs are utilized to cope with distinct natural hazards: floods, droughts, landslides, salt intrusion, and nutrient and sediment loading. The study of the efficacy of NBSs to mitigate these hazards belongs to a series of works devoted to the implementation of NBSs for environmental purposes. Our findings prove that land management plays a crucial role in the process. Specifically, the selected NBSs include intensive forestry; the conversion of urban areas to grassland; dunes; marine seagrass; water retention ponds; live cribwalls; and high-density plantations of woody vegetation and deep-rooted herbaceous vegetation. The management of natural resources should eventually consider the effect of NBSs on urban and rural areas, as their employment is becoming widespread.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.