Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Monthly Erosive Storm Hazard Within River Basins of the Campania Region, Southern Italy

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Storminess and Environmental Change

Part of the book series: Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research ((NTHR,volume 39))

Abstract

Based on a parsimonious interpretation of rainstorm processes, the SISEM model – comparable with the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation – was developed in this work to generate erosivity mean values at different time-aggregation scales (monthly, seasonal and yearly). Following this idea, erosive rainfalls are eligible to be grouped in some vulnerable periods of the year (e.g., cropping months or seasons), or for some particularly stormy interdecadal periods. The test area was conducted for the Campania Region and surrounding Italian areas, where 110 digital stations with sufficient data derived from Department of Civil Protection of Campania Region. The model was evaluated against (R)USLE estimates both on calibration and validation datasets using a range of R modules–based performance statistics. Results show that highly hazardous rainfall erosivity is expected in autumn season, with a more random occurrence in other periods of the year. Taking SISEM model very few and easy retrievable data into account, it is desirable to extend its use of sites without any pluviograph data for time and spatial interpolation purposes over peninsular Central and Southern Italy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Agnese C, Bagarello V, Corraro C, D’Agostino L, D’Asaro F (2006) Influence of the rainfall measurement interval on the erosivity determinations in the Mediterranean area. J Hydrol 329:39–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barnett V (2004) Environmental statistics: methods and applications. Wiley, Chichester, 293 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Bonaccorso B, Cancelliere A, Rossi G (2005) Detecting trends of extreme rainfall series in Sicily. Adv Geosci 2:7–11

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Braca G, Mazzarella A, Tranfaglia G (2002) Il nubifragio del 15 settembre 2001 su Napoli e dintorni. Quaderni di Geologia Applicata 9:107–118 (in Italian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Brunetti M, Caloiero T, Coscarelli T, Gullà G, Nanni T, Simolo C (2012) Precipitation variability and change in the Calabria region (Italy) from a high resolution daily dataset. Int J Climatol 32:57–73

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chirico GB, De Falco M, Diodato N, Romano N, Santini A (2011) Mapping monthly rainfall erosivity in Campania Region (Southern Italy) from daily precipitation records. In: Proceeding of the “Convegno di medio termine dell’Associazione Italiana di Ingegneria Agraria”, 22–24 Sept 2011, Belgirate, Italy

    Google Scholar 

  • Clarke ML, Rendel HM (2007) Climate, extreme events and land degradation. In: Sivakumar MVK, Ndiang’ui N (eds) Climate and land degradation. Springer, Berlin, pp 137–152

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • D’Odorico P, Yoo J, Over TM (2001) An assessment of ENSO-induced patterns of rainfall erosivity in the Southwestern United States. J Clim 14:4230–4242

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davison P, Hutchins MG, Anthony SG, Betson M, Johnson M, Lord EI (2005) The relationship between potentially erosive storm energy and daily rainfall quantity in England and Wales. Sci Total Environ 344:15–25

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • De Falco M (2011) Approcci innovativi per l’identificazione del degrado per erosione idrica in ambienti agro-forestali mediterranei. PhD thesis, University of Naples, Italy, 294 p (in Italian)

    Google Scholar 

  • Diodato N (2004) Estimating RUSLE’s rainfall factor in the part of Italy with a Mediterranean rainfall regime. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 8:103–107

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diodato N (2005) Predicting RUSLE (Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation) monthly erosivity index from readily available rainfall data in Mediterranean area. Environmentalist 25:63–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Diodato N (2006) Spatial uncertainty modeling of climate processes for extreme hydrogeomorphological events hazard monitoring. J Environ Eng 132:1530–1538

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diodato N, Bellocchi G (2007) Estimating monthly (R)USLE climate input in a Mediterranean region using limited data. J Hydrol 345:224–236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diodato N, Ceccarelli M, Bellocchi G (2008) Decadal and century-long changes in the reconstruction of erosive rainfall anomalies at a Mediterranean fluvial basin. Earth Surf Process Landf 33:2078–2093

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dünkeloh A, Jacobeit J (2003) Circulation dynamics of Mediterranean precipitation variability 1948–1998. Int J Climatol 23:1843–1866

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fernandez J, Saez J, Zorita E (2003) Analysis of wintertime atmospheric moisture transport and its variability over the Mediterranean basin in the NCEP-Reanalyses. Clim Res 23:195–215

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • García-Oliva F, Maass JM, Galicia L (1995) Rainstorm analysis and rainfall erosivity of a seasonal tropical region with a strong cyclonic influence on the Pacific Coast of Mexico. J Appl Meteorol 34:2491–2498

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hrissanthou V (2005) Estimate of sediment yield in a basin without sediment data. Catena 64:333–347

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ijiri Y (1971) Fundamental queries in aggregation theory. J Am Stat Assoc 66:766–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jentsch A, Kreyling J, Beierkuhnlein C (2007) A new generation of climate-change experiments: events, not trends. Front Ecol Environ 5:365–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirkby MJ, Abrahart R, McMahon MD, Shao J, Thornes JB (1998) MEDALUS soil erosion models for global change. Geomorphology 24:35–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • López-Vicente M, Navas A, Machin J (2007) Identifying erosive periods by using RUSLE factors in mountainous fields of the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci 4:2111–2142

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loureiro NS, Couthino MA (2001) A new procedure to estimate the RUSLE EI30 index, based on monthly rainfall data and applied to the Algarve region, Portugal. J Hydrol 250:12–18

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mannaerts CM, Gabriels D (2000) Rainfall erosivity in Cape Verde. Soil Tillage Res 55:207–212

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maselli F (2004) Monitoring forest conditions in a protected Mediterranean coastal area by the analysis of multiyear NDVI data. Remote Sens Environ 89:423–433

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mazzarella A (1999) Multifractal dynamic rainfall processes in Italy. Theor Appl Climatol 63:73–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikoš M, Jošt D, Petrovšek G (2006) Rainfall and runoff erosivity in the alpine climate of north Slovenia: a comparison of different estimation methods. Hydrol Sci J 51:115–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molnar P, Burlando P, Ruf W (2002) Integrated catchment assessment of riverine landscape dynamics. Aquat Sci 64:129–140

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mutua BM, Klik A, Loiskandl W (2006) Modelling soil erosion and sediment yield at a catchment scale: the case of Masinga Catchment, Kenya. Land Degrad Dev 17:557–570

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nash JE, Sutcliffe JV (1970) River flow forecasting through conceptual models Part I—A discussion of principles. J Hydrol 10:282–290. doi:dx.doi.org/10.1016/0022-1694(70)90255-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Gorman PA, Schneider T (2009) The physical basis for increases in precipitation extremes in simulations of 21st-century climate change. Proc Natl Acad Sci 106:14773–14777

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Petrovšek G, Mikoš M (2004) Estimating the R factor from daily rainfall data in the sub-Mediterranean climate of southwest Slovenia. Hydrol Sci J 49:869–877

    Google Scholar 

  • Porfido S, Esposito E, Alaia F, Molisso F, Sacchi M (2009) The use of documentary sources for reconstructing floods chronology on the Amalfi rocky coast (southern Italy). In: Violante C (ed) Geohazard in rocky coastal areas. The geological society, Special publication 322. Geological Society, London, pp 173–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson CW, Foster GR, Wright DA (1983) Estimation of erosion index from daily rainfall amount. Trans ASAE 26:153–160

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salles C, Poesen J, Sempere-Torres D (2002) Kinetic energy of rain and its functional relationship with intensity. J Hydrol 257:256–270

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Salvati P, Guzzetti F, Reichenbach P, Cardinali M, Stark CP (2004) Map of sites affected by landslides and floods with human consequences in Italy. Geophys Res Abstr 6:02745

    Google Scholar 

  • Strangeways I (2007) Precipitation: theory, measurement and distribution. Cambridge University Press, New York, 290 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Verheijen FGA, Jones RJA, Rickson RJ, Smith CJ (2009) Tolerable versus actual soil erosion rates in Europe. Earth Sci Rev 94:23–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Viles HA, Goudie AS (2003) Interannual, decadal and multidecadal scale climatic variability and geomorphology. Earth Sci Rev 61:105–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ward AD, Trimble SW (2004) Environmental hydrology. Lewis Publisher/CRC Press, Boca Raton, 475 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilk J, Wittgren HB (2009) Adapting water management to climate change, Swedish water house policy brief 7 SIWI. Center for Climate Science and Policy Research, Norrköping, 24 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Yu B, Hashim GM, Eusof Z (2001) Estimating the r-factor with limited rainfall data: a case study from peninsular Malaysia. J Soil Water Conserv 56:101–105

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

All staff with its director (Mauro Biafore) of Hydrometeorological Monitoring Functional Center of Campania Region are gratefully acknowledged for facilitating the collection and pre-elaboration of the weather data used in this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Met European Research Observatory, Benevento, Italy

    Nazzareno Diodato

  2. Department of Agricultural Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, Via UniversitÁ 100, Portici, Naples, 80055, Italy

    Giovanni Battista Chirico

  3. Department of Agricultural Engineering and Agronomy, University of Naples Federico II, Portici, NA, Italy

    Nunzio Romano

Authors
  1. Nazzareno Diodato
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Giovanni Battista Chirico
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Nunzio Romano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nazzareno Diodato .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. HyMex Network, Met European Research Observatory, Benevento, Italy

    Nazzareno Diodato

  2. Grassland Ecosystem Research Unit, French National Institute of Agricultural Research, Clermont-Ferrand, France

    Gianni Bellocchi

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Diodato, N., Chirico, G.B., Romano, N. (2014). Monthly Erosive Storm Hazard Within River Basins of the Campania Region, Southern Italy. In: Diodato, N., Bellocchi, G. (eds) Storminess and Environmental Change. Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research, vol 39. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7948-8_8

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation