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Aerosol particles in coastal areas result from a complex mixing between sea spray aerosols locally generated at the sea surface by the wind-waves interaction processes and a continental component resulting from natural and/or anthropogenic sources. This paper presents a physical and chemical analysis of the aerosol data acquired from May to September 2014 in the Adriatic Sea. Aerosol distributions were measured on the Acqua Alta platform located 15 km off the coast of Venice using two Particle Measuring System probes and a chemical characterization was made using an Ion Chromatography analysis (IC). Our aim is to study both the sea-spray contribution and the anthropogenic influence in the coastal aerosol of this Mediterranean region. To this end, we focus on a comparison between the present data and the aerosol size distributions measured south of the French Mediterranean coast. For air masses of marine origin transported by southern winds on the French coast and by the Sirocco in the Adriatic, we note a good agreement between the concentrations of super-micrometer aerosols measured in the two locations. This indicates a similar sea surface production of sea-spray aerosols formed by bubble bursting processes in the two locations. In contrast, the results show larger concentrations of submicron particles in the North-Western Mediterranean compared to the Adriatic, which result probably from a larger anthropogenic background for marine conditions. In contrast, for a coastal influence, the chemical analysis presented in the present paper seems to indicate a larger importance of the anthropogenic impact in the Northern Adriatic compared to the North-Western Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the data processing that led to the definition of ecological classification criteria for the Biological Quality Element (BQE) phytoplankton in the coastal waters (CW) of the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas, according to the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC). The chosen metric was the annual geometric mean of chlorophyll a concentrations owing to the log-normal nature of chlorophyll a distribution. The sensitivity of this metric to the gradient of pressures was tested by adopting an empirical statistical approach. The dilution factor (F_dil), which is the share of freshwater in a sample of seawater, was introduced as a rough, but realistic proxy of nutrient loads from the continent. Correlations between F_dil and trophic indicators (i.e. nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations in seawater and the respective N:P ratio) were then evaluated. The F_dil approach was also used to derive reference conditions for each typology of coastal waters. Functional relationships between chlorophyll a , as phytoplankton biomass indicator, and nutrient concentrations, as pressure indicators, were computed by means of regression techniques. The classification scale for the BQE phytoplankton was based on the TRIX scale of water quality conditions. Reference conditions, pressure/impact relationships, boundary setting and classification criterion definition were treated separately and discussed for each of the CW Types: Type I, Type II A Adriatic, Type II A Tyrrhenian and Type III W for both the Adriatic and Tyrrhenian seas. Due to the lack of a functional relationship between the gradient of pressures and chlorophyll a , and a narrow range of annual chlorophyll a concentrations, only one threshold value was set for Type III W instead of the whole classification scale. Specific topics dealing with the log-normal model adopted for chlorophyll a data and the adequacy of classification criteria are discussed in the Appendix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the construction industry has been comprehensively focusing on energy performance of buildings and on achieving higher standards of living comfort. One of the most sophisticated ways to attain both at the same time is (re)achieving building’s climate balance by using bioclimatic design. Therefore, the main goal of this paper was to present a bioclimatic potential prognosis and to show its application on an example of the Alpine-Adriatic region. The bioclimatic potential prognosis was made for 21 characteristic locations. For this purpose, bioclimatic chart plots were made using elementary weather data and additionally, the actually received solar irradiance was precisely considered at every location. The latter was shown to have a large influence on the analysis results. Furthermore, an evaluation of performed bioclimatic potential prognosis was made with simulations of a generic building model using Energy Plus. The generic building model was tested in five selected locations and the heating and cooling demand results were compared with the bioclimatic potential analysis. The results showed that the application of the presented method can indicate which passive solutions should be applied in building design at a specific location in order to facilitate smaller energy usage and consequential higher indoor comfort. In addition, the presented approach can be used in order to incorporate the latest or predicted climate data into bioclimatic potential analysis. The latter has a significant influence on the design of buildings of the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Adriatic Sea countries face significant problems regarding cross-border water resources management. DRINKADRIA project aims at developing a common methodological framework, for efficient and effective cross border water supply and resources management, taking into consideration different resources types (surface and ground water) emphasizing in drinking water supply intake. The common methodology is based in four pillars: climate characteristics and the climate change, water resources availability, water resources quality and finally water resources management. The present paper assesses both present and future vulnerability of water resources based on a common methodology and estimates the integrated vulnerability index for the Adriatic Sea region and the Corfu test area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of offshore wind power is becoming increasingly important towards a sustainable growth worldwide. In Italy, as well as in other countries where wind energy is provided only by onshore plants, the interest in the deployment of offshore wind resources is rapidly growing, despite relatively modest average wind speeds, compared to typical wind conditions in the North Sea. Research efforts have, so far, addressed the exploration of the most promising locations, based on wind characteristics; however, more extended evidence of technical and economic feasibility is now needed to raise awareness in the decision makers and secure to this source of renewable energy a proper role in the future energy policies. Within such a context, the paper presents the first feasibility study for the development of an offshore wind farm off the coast of Rimini, in the Northern Adriatic Sea. The study is based on an anemometric campaign started at the site in 2008 to provide a statistical assessment of the wind characteristics and the related wind energy potential, and on a 10-year wave measurement record next to the area, together with a thorough analysis of the site geological and environmental characteristics. Environmental data are interpreted with a proper consideration of the extreme events distribution and relevant results are used to select the most appropriate commercially available wind turbine and to design the site-specific support structure. A comprehensive evaluation of the investment costs and revenues is then carried out with reference to two wind farm layouts (a first smaller, constituted of 15 elements, and another one, featuring up to 60 elements) and in relation to two different scenarios, conservative and comparatively more realistic. Results of the study clearly show that the Northern Adriatic Sea is potentially suitable for the development of a large wind farm and should encourage investments on more advanced experimental campaigns and related studies in order to prove the feasibility of innovative technological solutions that would substantially increase the profitability of such installation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Adriatic Sea, a semi-enclosed sea extending about 900 km by 200 km and entirely surrounded by mountain chains, is subjected to high water levels produced essentially by the wind blowing along its major axis (sirocco). The operational storm surge models use the forecast fields produced by ECMWF atmospheric model as meteorological forcing. Recent works showed that in small basins surrounded by steep orography the ECMWF model underestimates the wind. This may introduce inaccuracies in forecasting the water level. Experiments conducted in the framework of the “Storm Surge for Venice” (eSurge-Venice) project, funded by the European Space Agency Data User Element program, were aimed to improve the operational forecasting of storm surge in the Northern Adriatic Sea by using satellite observations. The paper presents a methodology aimed to mitigate the ECMWF model underestimate of the sea surface wind by a tuning procedure based on the scatterometer-model wind speed and direction biases. The mitigation takes into account the spatial characteristics of the biases and is time dependent. This method globally reduces the model underestimate of the surface wind, handling the different areas of the basin differently, according to the spatial structure of the bias. The methodology is applied and verified over thirty-three test cases. It may be considered a tool to improve the present high water level forecast, waiting for the advent of convincing methodologies for scatterometer wind assimilation into the regional atmospheric models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-resolution multibeam morpho-bathymetric maps and a dense grid of seismic reflection profiles show relict and palimpsest geomorphologic features along the Montenegro/Northern Albanian Continental Margin. This sector of the Eastern Adriatic shelf, at the external front of the Dinarides Chain, is characterized by highly variable seafloor patterns and depositional styles, and shows a peculiar alternation of large-scale troughs and ridges, probably caused by tectonic compressive deformations. These tectonically controlled morphologies are overprinted by the result of sedimentary processes, such as progradation at river outflows, erosion, and reworking of sediments by longshore currents, as well as gravity-driven process caused by sediment loading and seismic shaking. Physiographic domains along this shelf–slope margin include (i) an inner and an outer shelf, separated by two major topographic highs, the Kotor and the Bar ridges; (ii) a drowned lobate delta formed during the last phase of sea level fall, likely fed by the Buna/Bojana drainage basin; and (iii) a continental slope affected by gravity-driven faulting and mass-wasting processes. Seafloor reflectivity maps, ground-truthed by grain-size analysis of bottom sediments, reveal that fine-grained deposits accumulate in the inner shelf, while other sectors appear starved. The effects of the last sea-level rise is testified by the presence of seabed forms diagnostic of erosion or depositional processes, such us large dunes, sediment ridges and sediment waves, which were studied to infer the effect of bottom currents under the present-day oceanographic regime and in the recent past. This paper presents a first description of geomorphologic features observed along the Montenegro/Northern Albanian Continental Margin, in the context of Late Quaternary sea-level changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show in this paper that the dynamics of an Aurelia aurita polyps population can be modeled by the basic density-dependent logistic, or Verhulst, ordinary differential equation. A laboratory experiment was conducted on polyps of A. aurita attached to oyster shells collected in 2013 from the Port of Koper, Slovenia (North Adriatic Sea). The purpose of the present work is twofold: to study how the substrate availability may affect the growth of the polyps (and consequently of the jellyfish) population, and to propose an example for the classic logistic equation, both in high density (over the equilibrium) and in low density (under the equilibrium). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Aim of this paper is to develop simple tools for mapping — at regional and local scale — coastal areas exposed at flooding risk. A two-step simplified procedure for coastal management purposes is presented and is applied to Emilia Romagna (Italy), whose low and sandy coast faces the relatively mild Northern Adriatic Sea. The procedure is composed by a 1D conceptual model to determine flooding probability along wide coastal stretches and by a more detailed 2D Level II reliability method, that provides local quantitative statistical maps of inland flooding propagation. Qualitative maps obtained by literature approaches and quantitative results of flooding probability along the littoral show a good agreement. A coastal flood state indicator is proposed to rapidly assess coastal hazard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we propose a discrete-time dynamic model for studying the time evolution of fish stocks in an aquatic environment divided into two adjacent patches, one characterized by an imposed constant fishing effort and another one where fishermen are free to decide the quantity to harvest according to oligopolistic competition taking into account economic and biologic externalities. Given the total number of fishermen, we propose an evolutionary switching mechanism, based on imitation dynamics, that endogenously regulates the fraction of fishermen that, at each time period, decide to operate in one of the two regions on the basis of observed past profits. Numerical simulations provide some insights into the role of the main parameters. This model has been motivated by a project for the creation of a marine protected area (MPA) in the Adriatic sea. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Climate changes and sea-level rise are important issues, especially for deltas such as the Po Delta, Italy. The evolution of the Po Delta shows a succession in space and a superposition in time of complex environmental natural processes. During the last few centuries, anthropogenic action has played a major role. The formation of the Po Delta began about 2000 years ago and has undergone many phases of development. Between 1500 AD and 1600 AD, the Venetian technicians diverted the Po river course. With these interventions, the “Renaissance delta” was cut off from the hydraulic network and the “modern delta” began to form. Until the middle of the 20th century, progradation of the delta was noticeable due to the abundant sediment supply. In the following decades coastal erosion occurred, this was caused by the reduction of the solid supply of the Po, due to dam and barrier construction and to river bed excavation. These and other interventions (e.g. reclamation, methane extractions from superficial ground water table) have deeply modified the physical and ecological characteristics of the Po Delta. The morphological characteristics of the Po Delta make the largest Italian wetland particularly unstable and very fragile when subjected to human pressure. Furthermore, the delta evidences multiple threats that will probably be exacerbated in the following decades by the effects of expected climatic changes. Only the application of careful policies concerning coastal defence, flood mitigation, anthropogenic subsidence reduction and salt wedge intrusion control will allow reduction of the present or predicted negative effects. This paper reviews how natural and human factors have controlled the Po Delta through time and discusses management strategies taking into account the importance of the human factor and the potential effects of climatic changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]