Articles | Volume 26, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1527-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-1527-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
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22 Mar 2022
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 22 Mar 2022
| 22 Mar 2022
Evaporation enhancement drives the European water-budget deficit during multi-year droughts
Christian Massari
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
National Research Council (CNR), Research Institute for
Geo-Hydrological Protection, Perugia, 06126, Italy
Francesco Avanzi
CIMA Research Foundation, Via Armando Magliotto 2, 17100, Savona, Italy
Giulia Bruno
CIMA Research Foundation, Via Armando Magliotto 2, 17100, Savona, Italy
University of Genoa, Dipartimento di Informatica, Bioingegneria, Robotica e Ingegneria dei Sistemi, Viale Causa, 13 – 16145, Genova, Italy
Simone Gabellani
CIMA Research Foundation, Via Armando Magliotto 2, 17100, Savona, Italy
Daniele Penna
Department of Agriculture, Food, Environment and Forestry (DAGRI)
University of Florence, via San Bonaventura 13, 50145, Florence-Firenze, Italy
Stefania Camici
National Research Council (CNR), Research Institute for
Geo-Hydrological Protection, Perugia, 06126, Italy
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Even ground-based precipitation observations, often considered the most reliable, can introduce substantial uncertainty into snow modeling due to sparse gauge coverage at high elevations in mountainous catchments.This challenge motivates the present study, in which we propose a data assimilation framework that integrates satellite-based snow depth into a hydrological model to correct snowfall estimates over the Italian Alps, with implications for water management in data-scarce mountain regions.
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Lorenzo Alfieri, Francesco Avanzi, Fabio Delogu, Simone Gabellani, Giulia Bruno, Lorenzo Campo, Andrea Libertino, Christian Massari, Angelica Tarpanelli, Dominik Rains, Diego G. Miralles, Raphael Quast, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Huan Wu, and Luca Brocca
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3921–3939, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3921-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3921-2022, 2022
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This work shows advances in high-resolution satellite data for hydrology. We performed hydrological simulations for the Po River basin using various satellite products, including precipitation, evaporation, soil moisture, and snow depth. Evaporation and snow depth improved a simulation based on high-quality ground observations. Interestingly, a model calibration relying on satellite data skillfully reproduces observed discharges, paving the way to satellite-driven hydrological applications.
Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Alexander Gruber, Hans Lievens, Angelica Tarpanelli, Renato Morbidelli, and Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 6283–6307, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6283-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6283-2021, 2021
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Worldwide, the amount of water used for agricultural purposes is rising and the quantification of irrigation is becoming a crucial topic. Land surface models are not able to correctly simulate irrigation. Remote sensing observations offer an opportunity to fill this gap as they are directly affected by irrigation. We equipped a land surface model with an observation operator able to transform Sentinel-1 backscatter observations into realistic vegetation and soil states via data assimilation.
Daniele Masseroni, Stefania Camici, Alessio Cislaghi, Giorgio Vacchiano, Christian Massari, and Luca Brocca
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5589–5601, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5589-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5589-2021, 2021
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Ather Abbas, Yuan Yang, Ming Pan, Yves Tramblay, Chaopeng Shen, Haoyu Ji, Solomon H. Gebrechorkos, Florian Pappenberger, JongCheol Pyo, Dapeng Feng, George Huffman, Phu Nguyen, Christian Massari, Luca Brocca, Jackson Tan, and Hylke E. Beck
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 3399–3423, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3399-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-3399-2026, 2026
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Our study evaluated 24 precipitation datasets using a hydrological model at global scale to assess their suitability and accuracy. We found that MSWEP (Multi-Source Weighted-Ensemble Precipitation) V2.8 excels due to its ability to integrate data from multiple sources, while others, such as IMERG (Integrated Multi-satellitE Retrievals for Global Precipitation Mission) and GDAS (Global Data Assimilation System), demonstrated strong regional performances. This research assists in selecting the appropriate dataset for applications in water resource management, hazard assessment, agriculture, and environmental monitoring.
Gökhan Sarigil, Mattia Neri, Francesco Avanzi, and Elena Toth
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2484, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-2484, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
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The study evaluates Snow Water Equivalent estimates from three large-scale land-surface products against a national reference dataset in Italy. Highlighting the performances of the products over the different regions and relating them to the biases in the meteorological forcing, the results provide insights for using SWE estimates in long-term hydro-climatological assessments in Italy and for data selection when evaluating snow dynamics in mountainous regions lacking high-quality benchmark data.
Süleyman Selim Çallı, Kübra Özdemir Çallı, Brahim Akdim, Bruno Arfib, Aleksey Benderev, Sandra Beranger, Avi Burg, Onur Can, Jean-Baptiste Charlier, Mehmet Çelik, Arda Melih Çetin, Fehdi Chemseddine, Miroslava Deliyska, Lucio Di Matteo, Marco Dionigi, Romeo Eftimi, Jutta Eybl, Davide Fronzi, Nico Goldscheider, Ergin Gökkaya, Jorge Jodar, Herve Jourde, Eva Kaminsky, Konstantina Katsanou, Alireza Kavousi, Melike Kaya, David Labat, Tanja Liesch, Peter Malik, Christian Massari, Cyril Mayaud, Naomi Mazzilli, Pavel Pracny, Natasa Ravbar, Nathan Rispal, Simon Seelig, Vianney Sivelle, Marc Steinmann, Daniela Valigi, Gerfried Winkler, Ahmet Kemal Yahşi, and Andreas Hartmann
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-281, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2026-281, 2026
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Karst groundwater systems are vital but highly sensitive to climate change. Their complex underground flow makes them hard to manage without good data, so we gathered 118 high-quality records of spring discharge across Mediterranean mountain ranges. With an average of 19 years of data – including one nearly century-long record – this collection provides the detailed information needed to better predict water availability and protect these vulnerable groundwater sources.
Louise Busschaert, Michel Bechtold, Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Dirk Raes, Sujay V. Kumar, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
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Two models, AquaCrop (crop model) and Noah-MP (land surface model), were compared estimating irrigation in Italy's Po Valley. Noah-MP simulated higher water use (434 mm/yr) than AquaCrop (268 mm/yr), mainly due to extra water losses like runoff. Once losses were accounted for, both aligned with basin-scale reports of around 500 to 600 mm/yr. The study highlights how complex irrigation modeling is, and the need for better observational data to validate results.
Han Fu, Ming Gao, Huijie Li, Daniele Penna, Junming Liu, Bingcheng Si, and Wenxiu Zou
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 1951–1968, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-1951-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-1951-2026, 2026
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We present ISONEVA, a new isotope-based framework for estimating soil water evaporation that explicitly accounts for dynamic soil water storage and non-evaporative fluxes. Numerical and field validations demonstrate that ISONEVA substantially improves evaporation estimates compared to traditional steady-state and non-steady-state approaches, and provides a robust basis for assessing long-term average evaporation to precipitation (E/P) ratios.
Oscar M. Baez-Villanueva, Alfredo Crespo-Otero, Sara Modanesi, Pierre Laluet, Sergio Vicente-Serrano, Jaap Schellekens, Jacopo Dari, Hylke E. Beck, Wouter Dorigo, Christian Massari, Chiara Corbari, Joppe Massant, Kwint Delbare, Olivier Bonte, Aaron Boone, Diego Fernández-Prieto, and Diego G. Miralles
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1856, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1856, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS).
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a new method to estimate daily land evaporation at high resolution across the Iberian Peninsula, explicitly accounting for irrigation. By combining satellite and meteorological data, we show that irrigation can strongly increase evaporation in agricultural areas. The results better match ground observations and improve understanding of water use. This approach can support farming decisions and water management at the regional scale, and will be extended to global applications.
Sofia Ortenzi, Lucio Di Matteo, Daniela Valigi, Marco Donnini, Marco Dionigi, Davide Fronzi, Josie Geris, Fabio Guadagnano, Ivan Marchesini, Paolo Filippucci, Francesco Avanzi, Daniele Penna, and Christian Massari
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 30, 1755–1778, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-1755-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-30-1755-2026, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
The study presents an integrated approach to analyze groundwater–surface water interactions in a Central Italy catchment, combining hydrological, hydrochemical–isotopic, thermal drone, and satellite data. Results indicate that fractured limestone aquifers sustain streamflow, with snowmelt accounting for about 18 % of recharge. The workflow is transferable and suitable for similar data-scarce Mediterranean basins.
Shima Azimi, Manuela Girotto, Riccardo Rigon, Gaia Roati, Silvia Barbetta, and Christian Massari
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-793, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-793, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for The Cryosphere (TC).
Short summary
Short summary
Even ground-based precipitation observations, often considered the most reliable, can introduce substantial uncertainty into snow modeling due to sparse gauge coverage at high elevations in mountainous catchments.This challenge motivates the present study, in which we propose a data assimilation framework that integrates satellite-based snow depth into a hydrological model to correct snowfall estimates over the Italian Alps, with implications for water management in data-scarce mountain regions.
Francesco Avanzi, Stefano Terzi, Mariapina Castelli, Francesca Munerol, Margherita Andreaggi, Marta Galvagno, Andrea Galletti, Tessa Maurer, Christian Massari, Grace Carlson, Manuela Girotto, Giacomo Bertoldi, Edoardo Cremonese, Simone Gabellani, Umberto Morra di Cella, Marco Altamura, Lauro Rossi, and Luca Ferraris
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176055865.50800695/v2, https://doi.org/10.22541/au.176055865.50800695/v2, 2026
Short summary
Short summary
Snow droughts are periods with below-average snow accumulation and are becoming more frequent in a warming climate, yet their ecosystem and societal impacts remain poorly known. Using 13 years of data from 38 Italian catchments, we show that snow droughts reduced snow duration by ~50 %, doubled winter melt-out events, and cut summer runoff by ~50 %. Photosynthesis increased by up to 10 % due to earlier meltout. These events also caused widespread water-supply reductions, especially in foothills.
Domenico De Santis, Silvia Barbetta, Sumit Sen, Viviana Maggioni, Farhad Bahmanpouri, Ashutosh Sharma, Ankit Agarwal, Sagar Gupta, Francesco Avanzi, and Christian Massari
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1075–1104, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1075-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1075-2026, 2026
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Senna Bouabdelli, Martin Morlot, Christian Massari, and Giuseppe Formetta
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-464, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-464, 2026
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Drought is becoming more common in the Alps as warmer winters reduce snow and alter river flow. We used hydrological model simulations in the Adige basin to understand when and why droughts occur. Results show that droughts are happening earlier, becoming more intense, and increasingly driven by lack of rain instead of melting snow at high elevations. This shift toward lower-elevation river behaviour calls for new strategies to manage water for hydropower, agriculture, and tourism.
Pierre Laluet, Jacopo Dari, Louise Busschaert, Zdenko Heyvaert, Gabrielle De Lannoy, Pia Langhans, Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Luca Brocca, Carla Saltalippi, Renato Morbidelli, Clément Albergel, and Wouter Dorigo
Earth Syst. Sci. Data Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-737, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-2025-737, 2026
Revised manuscript under review for ESSD
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We developed a long-term dataset collection of irrigation water use based on about two decades of satellite observations, three distinct approaches, and many input datasets. The collection provides monthly estimates for major agricultural regions and helps describe how irrigation varies across locations, seasons, and years. It offers a foundation for improving how irrigation is quantified, compared across methods, and integrated into large-scale hydrological and climate studies.
Marco M. Lehmann, Josie Geris, Ilja van Meerveld, Daniele Penna, Youri Rothfuss, Matteo Verdone, Pertti Ala-Aho, Matyas Arvai, Alise Babre, Philippe Balandier, Fabian Bernhard, Lukrecija Butorac, Simon D. Carrière, Natalie C. Ceperley, Zuosinan Chen, Alicia Correa, Haoyu Diao, David Dubbert, Maren Dubbert, Fabio Ercoli, Marius G. Floriancic, Alligin Ghazoul, Teresa E. Gimeno, Damien Gounelle, Frank Hagedorn, Christophe Hissler, Frédéric Huneau, Alberto Iraheta, Tamara Jakovljević, Nerantzis Kazakis, Zoltan Kern, Laura Kinzinger, Karl Knaebel, Johannes Kobler, Jiri Kocum, Charlotte Koeber, Gerbrand Koren, Angelika Kübert, Dawid Kupka, Samuel Le Gall, Aleksi Lehtonen, Thomas Leydier, Philippe Malagoli, Francesca Sofia Manca di Villahermosa, Chiara Marchina, Núria Martínez-Carreras, Nicolas Martin-StPaul, Hannu Marttila, Aline Meyer Oliveira, Gael Monvoisin, Natalie Orlowski, Kadi Palmik-Das, Aurel Persoiu, Andrei Popa, Egor Prikaziuk, Cécile Quantin, Katja T. Rinne-Garmston, Clara Rohde, Martin Sanda, Matthias Saurer, Daniel Schulz, Michael P. Stockinger, Christine Stumpp, Jean-Stéphane Vénisse, Lukas Vlcek, Stylianos Voudouris, Björn Weeser, Mark E. Wilkinson, Giulia Zuecco, and Katrin Meusburger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 6129–6147, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6129-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-6129-2025, 2025
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This study describes a unique large-scale isotope dataset to study water dynamics in European forests. Researchers collected data from 40 beech and spruce forest sites in spring and summer 2023, using a standardized method to ensure consistency. The results show that water sources for trees change between seasons and vary by tree species. This large dataset offers valuable information for understanding plant water use, improving ecohydrological models, and mapping water cycles across Europe.
Giulia Blandini, Francesco Avanzi, Lorenzo Campo, Simone Gabellani, Kristoffer Aalstad, Manuela Girotto, Satoru Yamaguchi, Hiroyuki Hirashima, and Luca Ferraris
The Cryosphere, 19, 4759–4783, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4759-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-19-4759-2025, 2025
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Reliable snow water equivalent and snow depth estimates are key for water management in snow regions. To tackle computational challenges in data assimilation, we propose a Long Short-Term Memory neural network for operational use in snow hydrology. Once trained, it reduces computational cost by 70 percent compared to the Ensemble Kalman Filter, with a slight decrease in performances. This deep learning approach provides a scalable, efficient, and cost-effective modeling solution for hydrology.
Paolo Filippucci, Luca Brocca, Luca Ciabatta, Hamidreza Mosaffa, Francesco Avanzi, and Christian Massari
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 17, 5221–5258, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5221-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-17-5221-2025, 2025
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Accurate rainfall data is essential, yet measuring daily precipitation worldwide is challenging. This research presents HYdroclimatic PERformance-enhanced Precipitation (HYPER-P), a dataset combining satellite, ground, and reanalysis data to estimate precipitation at a 1 km scale from 2000 to 2022. HYPER-P improves accuracy, especially in areas with few rain gauges. This dataset supports scientists and decision-makers in understanding and managing water resources more effectively.
Martina Leone, Francesco Avanzi, Umberto Morra Di Cella, Simone Gabellani, Edoardo Cremonese, Michel Isabellon, Paolo Pogliotti, Riccardo Scotti, Andrea Monti, Luca Ferraris, and Roberto Colombo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3705, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3705, 2025
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We investigated how glaciers helped sustain summer river flow during the severe snow shortages of 2022 and 2023 in the Italian Alps. Using high-resolution modeling and long-term data, we found that glacier melt contributed up to three times more than in average years. This enhanced melt partly compensated for low snow and precipitation, showing the critical role of glaciers in supporting water resources during droughts.
Xiangmei Liu, Peng Shen, Jiaqi Chen, David Andrew Barry, Christian Massari, Jiansheng Chen, Mingming Feng, Xi Zhang, Fenyan Ma, Fei Yang, and Haixia Jin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4263, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4263, 2025
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Our research in the Songnen Basin of Northeast China has revealed why numerous lakes remain unfrozen during winter. By studying Lake Chagan, we discovered that deep groundwater sustains these lakes, likely flowing through subterranean channels from the Tibetan Plateau. When earthquakes disrupt these conduits, water rises along fault lines to replenish the lakes. This finding challenges the theory that graben lakes primarily depend on local precipitation.
Giulia Bruno, Laurent Strohmenger, and Doris Duethmann
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 29, 4473–4489, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4473-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-29-4473-2025, 2025
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Decreases in streamflow during dry periods threaten ecosystems and society, and increases in evapotranspiration may contribute to them. From data for small catchments in Germany, summer low flows decreased over 1970–2019, and evapotranspiration increases significantly contributed to that. Lower-than-expected annual streamflow occurred during the 1989–1993 drought in catchments with increases in evapotranspiration. Changes in evapotranspiration need full consideration for streamflow prediction.
Louise Busschaert, Michel Bechtold, Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Dirk Raes, Sujay V. Kumar, and Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4974019, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4974019, 2024
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This study estimates irrigation in the Po Valley using AquaCrop and Noah-MP models with sprinkler irrigation. Noah-MP shows higher annual rates than AquaCrop due to more water losses. After adjusting, both align with reported irrigation ranges (500–600 mm/yr). Soil moisture estimates from both models match satellite data, though both have limitations in vegetation and evapotranspiration modeling. The study emphasizes the need for observations to improve irrigation estimates.
Ginevra Fabiani, Julian Klaus, and Daniele Penna
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 2683–2703, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2683-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-2683-2024, 2024
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There is a limited understanding of the role that topography and climate play in tree water use. Through a cross-site comparison in Luxembourg and Italy, we investigated beech water use along slopes in different climates. Our findings indicate that in landscapes characterized by stronger hydraulic and climatic gradients there is greater spatial variation in tree physiological responses. This highlights how differing growing conditions across landscapes can lead to contrasting tree performances.
Søren Julsgaard Kragh, Jacopo Dari, Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Luca Brocca, Rasmus Fensholt, Simon Stisen, and Julian Koch
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 441–457, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-441-2024, 2024
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This study provides a comparison of methodologies to quantify irrigation to enhance regional irrigation estimates. To evaluate the methodologies, we compared various approaches to quantify irrigation using soil moisture, evapotranspiration, or both within a novel baseline framework, together with irrigation estimates from other studies. We show that the synergy from using two equally important components in a joint approach within a baseline framework yields better irrigation estimates.
Lorenzo Alfieri, Andrea Libertino, Lorenzo Campo, Francesco Dottori, Simone Gabellani, Tatiana Ghizzoni, Alessandro Masoero, Lauro Rossi, Roberto Rudari, Nicola Testa, Eva Trasforini, Ahmed Amdihun, Jully Ouma, Luca Rossi, Yves Tramblay, Huan Wu, and Marco Massabò
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 199–224, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-199-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-199-2024, 2024
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This work describes Flood-PROOFS East Africa, an impact-based flood forecasting system for the Greater Horn of Africa. It is based on hydrological simulations, inundation mapping, and estimation of population and assets exposed to upcoming river floods. The system supports duty officers in African institutions in the daily monitoring of hydro-meteorological disasters. A first evaluation shows the system performance for the catastrophic floods in the Nile River basin in summer 2020.
Francesca Munerol, Francesco Avanzi, Eleonora Panizza, Marco Altamura, Simone Gabellani, Lara Polo, Marina Mantini, Barbara Alessandri, and Luca Ferraris
Geosci. Commun., 7, 1–15, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-7-1-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gc-7-1-2024, 2024
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To contribute to advancing education in a warming climate and prepare the next generations to play their role in future societies, we designed “Water and Us”, a three-module initiative focusing on the natural and anthropogenic water cycle, climate change, and conflicts. This study aims to introduce the initiative's educational objectives, methods, and early results.
Shima Azimi, Christian Massari, Giuseppe Formetta, Silvia Barbetta, Alberto Tazioli, Davide Fronzi, Sara Modanesi, Angelica Tarpanelli, and Riccardo Rigon
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 27, 4485–4503, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4485-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-4485-2023, 2023
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We analyzed the water budget of nested karst catchments using simple methods and modeling. By utilizing the available data on precipitation and discharge, we were able to determine the response lag-time by adopting new techniques. Additionally, we modeled snow cover dynamics and evapotranspiration with the use of Earth observations, providing a concise overview of the water budget for the basin and its subbasins. We have made the data, models, and workflows accessible for further study.
Giulia Blandini, Francesco Avanzi, Simone Gabellani, Denise Ponziani, Hervé Stevenin, Sara Ratto, Luca Ferraris, and Alberto Viglione
The Cryosphere, 17, 5317–5333, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5317-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-5317-2023, 2023
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Automatic snow depth data are a valuable source of information for hydrologists, but they also tend to be noisy. To maximize the value of these measurements for real-world applications, we developed an automatic procedure to differentiate snow cover from grass or bare ground data, as well as to detect random errors. This procedure can enhance snow data quality, thus providing more reliable data for snow models.
Jacopo Dari, Luca Brocca, Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Angelica Tarpanelli, Silvia Barbetta, Raphael Quast, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Vahid Freeman, Anaïs Barella-Ortiz, Pere Quintana-Seguí, David Bretreger, and Espen Volden
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1555–1575, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1555-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1555-2023, 2023
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Irrigation is the main source of global freshwater consumption. Despite this, a detailed knowledge of irrigation dynamics (i.e., timing, extent of irrigated areas, and amounts of water used) are generally lacking worldwide. Satellites represent a useful tool to fill this knowledge gap and monitor irrigation water from space. In this study, three regional-scale and high-resolution (1 and 6 km) products of irrigation amounts estimated by inverting the satellite soil moisture signals are presented.
Francesco Avanzi, Simone Gabellani, Fabio Delogu, Francesco Silvestro, Flavio Pignone, Giulia Bruno, Luca Pulvirenti, Giuseppe Squicciarino, Elisabetta Fiori, Lauro Rossi, Silvia Puca, Alexander Toniazzo, Pietro Giordano, Marco Falzacappa, Sara Ratto, Hervè Stevenin, Antonio Cardillo, Matteo Fioletti, Orietta Cazzuli, Edoardo Cremonese, Umberto Morra di Cella, and Luca Ferraris
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 639–660, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-639-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-639-2023, 2023
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Snow cover has profound implications for worldwide water supply and security, but knowledge of its amount and distribution across the landscape is still elusive. We present IT-SNOW, a reanalysis comprising daily maps of snow amount and distribution across Italy for 11 snow seasons from September 2010 to August 2021. The reanalysis was validated using satellite images and snow measurements and will provide highly needed data to manage snow water resources in a warming climate.
Giulia Bruno, Doris Duethmann, Francesco Avanzi, Lorenzo Alfieri, Andrea Libertino, and Simone Gabellani
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-416, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-2022-416, 2022
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Hydrological models often have issues during droughts. We used the distributed Continuum model over the Po river basin and independent datasets of streamflow (Q), evapotranspiration (ET), and storage. Continuum simulated Q well during wet years and moderate droughts. Performances declined for a severe drought and we explained this drop with an increased uncertainty in ET anomalies in human-affected croplands. These findings provide guidelines for assessments of model robustness during droughts.
Andrea Taramelli, Margherita Righini, Emiliana Valentini, Lorenzo Alfieri, Ignacio Gatti, and Simone Gabellani
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 3543–3569, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3543-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-3543-2022, 2022
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This work aims to support decision-making processes to prioritize effective interventions for flood risk reduction and mitigation for the implementation of flood risk management concepts in urban areas. Our findings provide new insights into vulnerability spatialization of urban flood events for the residential sector, demonstrating that the nature of flood pathways varies spatially and is influenced by landscape characteristics, as well as building features.
Riccardo Rigon, Giuseppe Formetta, Marialaura Bancheri, Niccolò Tubini, Concetta D'Amato, Olaf David, and Christian Massari
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4773–4800, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4773-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4773-2022, 2022
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Digital Earth(DE) metaphor is very useful for both end users and hydrological modelers. We analyse different categories of models, with the view of making them part of a Digital eARth Twin Hydrology system (called DARTH). We also stress the idea that DARTHs are not models in and of themselves, rather they need to be built on an appropriate information technology infrastructure. It is remarked that DARTHs have to, by construction, support the open-science movement and its ideas.
Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Michel Bechtold, Hans Lievens, Angelica Tarpanelli, Luca Brocca, Luca Zappa, and Gabriëlle J. M. De Lannoy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 4685–4706, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4685-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-4685-2022, 2022
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Given the crucial impact of irrigation practices on the water cycle, this study aims at estimating irrigation through the development of an innovative data assimilation system able to ingest high-resolution Sentinel-1 radar observations into the Noah-MP land surface model. The developed methodology has important implications for global water resource management and the comprehension of human impacts on the water cycle and identifies main challenges and outlooks for future research.
Stefania Camici, Gabriele Giuliani, Luca Brocca, Christian Massari, Angelica Tarpanelli, Hassan Hashemi Farahani, Nico Sneeuw, Marco Restano, and Jérôme Benveniste
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 6935–6956, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6935-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-6935-2022, 2022
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This paper presents an innovative approach, STREAM (SaTellite-based Runoff Evaluation And Mapping), to derive daily river discharge and runoff estimates from satellite observations of soil moisture, precipitation, and terrestrial total water storage anomalies. Potentially useful for multiple operational and scientific applications, the added value of the STREAM approach is the ability to increase knowledge on the natural processes, human activities, and their interactions on the land.
Angelica Tarpanelli, Alessandro C. Mondini, and Stefania Camici
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2473–2489, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2473-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2473-2022, 2022
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We analysed 10 years of river discharge data from almost 2000 sites in Europe, and we extracted flood events, as proxies of flood inundations, based on the overpasses of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 satellites to derive the percentage of potential inundation events that they were able to observe. Results show that on average 58 % of flood events are potentially observable by Sentinel-1 and only 28 % by Sentinel-2 due to the obstacle of cloud coverage.
Lorenzo Alfieri, Francesco Avanzi, Fabio Delogu, Simone Gabellani, Giulia Bruno, Lorenzo Campo, Andrea Libertino, Christian Massari, Angelica Tarpanelli, Dominik Rains, Diego G. Miralles, Raphael Quast, Mariette Vreugdenhil, Huan Wu, and Luca Brocca
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3921–3939, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3921-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3921-2022, 2022
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This work shows advances in high-resolution satellite data for hydrology. We performed hydrological simulations for the Po River basin using various satellite products, including precipitation, evaporation, soil moisture, and snow depth. Evaporation and snow depth improved a simulation based on high-quality ground observations. Interestingly, a model calibration relying on satellite data skillfully reproduces observed discharges, paving the way to satellite-driven hydrological applications.
Giulia Zuecco, Anam Amin, Jay Frentress, Michael Engel, Chiara Marchina, Tommaso Anfodillo, Marco Borga, Vinicio Carraro, Francesca Scandellari, Massimo Tagliavini, Damiano Zanotelli, Francesco Comiti, and Daniele Penna
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 3673–3689, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3673-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-3673-2022, 2022
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We analyzed the variability in the isotopic composition of plant water extracted by two different methods, i.e., cryogenic vacuum distillation (CVD) and Scholander-type pressure chamber (SPC). Our results indicated that the isotopic composition of plant water extracted by CVD and SPC was significantly different. We concluded that plant water extraction by SPC is not an alternative for CVD as SPC mostly extracts the mobile plant water whereas CVD retrieves all water stored in the sampled tissue.
Francesco Avanzi, Simone Gabellani, Fabio Delogu, Francesco Silvestro, Edoardo Cremonese, Umberto Morra di Cella, Sara Ratto, and Hervé Stevenin
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 4853–4879, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4853-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4853-2022, 2022
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Knowing in real time how much snow and glacier ice has accumulated across the landscape has significant implications for water-resource management and flood control. This paper presents a computer model – S3M – allowing scientists and decision makers to predict snow and ice accumulation during winter and the subsequent melt during spring and summer. S3M has been employed for real-world flood forecasting since the early 2000s but is here being made open source for the first time.
Tessa Maurer, Francesco Avanzi, Steven D. Glaser, and Roger C. Bales
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 589–607, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-589-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-26-589-2022, 2022
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Predicting how much water will end up in rivers is more difficult during droughts because the relationship between precipitation and streamflow can change in unexpected ways. We differentiate between changes that are predictable based on the weather patterns and those harder to predict because they depend on the land and vegetation of a particular region. This work helps clarify why models are less accurate during droughts and helps predict how much water will be available for human use.
Sara Modanesi, Christian Massari, Alexander Gruber, Hans Lievens, Angelica Tarpanelli, Renato Morbidelli, and Gabrielle J. M. De Lannoy
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 6283–6307, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6283-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-6283-2021, 2021
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Worldwide, the amount of water used for agricultural purposes is rising and the quantification of irrigation is becoming a crucial topic. Land surface models are not able to correctly simulate irrigation. Remote sensing observations offer an opportunity to fill this gap as they are directly affected by irrigation. We equipped a land surface model with an observation operator able to transform Sentinel-1 backscatter observations into realistic vegetation and soil states via data assimilation.
Daniele Masseroni, Stefania Camici, Alessio Cislaghi, Giorgio Vacchiano, Christian Massari, and Luca Brocca
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 5589–5601, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5589-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-5589-2021, 2021
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We evaluate 63 years of changes in annual streamflow volume across Europe, using a data set of more than 3000 stations, with a special focus on the Mediterranean basin. The results show decreasing (increasing) volumes in the southern (northern) regions. These trends are strongly consistent with the changes in temperature and precipitation.
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Short summary
Droughts are a creeping disaster, meaning that their onset, duration and recovery are challenging to monitor and forecast. Here, we provide further evidence of an additional challenge of droughts, i.e. the fact that the deficit in water supply during droughts is generally much more than expected based on the observed decline in precipitation. At a European scale we explain this with enhanced evapotranspiration, sustained by higher atmospheric demand for moisture during such dry periods.
Droughts are a creeping disaster, meaning that their onset, duration and recovery are...
