Reconstruction of erosivity density in northwest Italy since 1701

• Published in: Hydrological Sciences Journal
• Main Authors: Diodato, Nazzareno, Gómara, Iñigo, Baronetti, Alice, Fratianni, Simona, Bellocchi, Gianni
• Other Authors: Met European Research Observatory (MetEROBS), Universidad Complutense de Madrid = Complutense University of Madrid Madrid (UCM), University of Turin, Unité Mixte de Recherche sur l'Ecosystème Prairial - UMR (UREP), VetAgro Sup - Institut national d'enseignement supérieur et de recherche en alimentation, santé animale, sciences agronomiques et de l'environnement (VAS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2021
• Subjects: erosivity density; long-term reconstruction; parsimonious modelling; extreme precipitation; Piedmont; Italy; [SDE.MCG]Environmental Sciences/Global Changes; North Atlantic; North Atlantic oscillation
• Online Access: https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03263455; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03263455/document; https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03263455/file/Diodato_2021_Hydrological%20Sciences%20Journal.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2021.1918696

International audience Societies can be better prepared to face hydrological extremes (e.g. flash floods) by understanding the trends and variability of rainfall aggressiveness and its derivative, erosivity density (ED). Estimating extended time series of ED is, however, scientifically challenging because of the paucity of long-term high-resolution pluviometric observations. This research presents the longest ED time series reconstruction (1701-2019) in northwest Italy (Piedmont region) to date, which is analysed to identify damaging hydrological periods. With this aim, we developed a model consistent with a sample (1981-2015) of detailed novel Revised Universal Soil Loss Erosion-based high-resolution data and documentary hydrological extreme records. The modelled data show a noticeable rising trend in ED from 1897 onwards, together with an increase of extreme values for return periods of 10 and 50 years, consistent with the Clausius-Clapeyron scaling of extreme rainfall. We also suggest the North Atlantic Oscillation and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation may be associated with rainfall extremes in Piedmont.