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Badlands can be defined as complex and peculiar types of erosional formations that develop in clayey environments and are mainly favoured by lithological and topographic features, as well as by markedly seasonal climate. This work aims at assessing badland susceptibility in Volterra municipality located in Tuscany region (Italy) by means of bivariate statistical analysis implemented in a geographic information system. The Volterra municipality is affected by intense soil erosion processes, including rill and gully erosion usually turned out as badland forms, mostly occurring on Pliocene--Pleistocene clayey sediments. Firstly, an inventory of 234 badland areas was produced on the basis of an available pre-existing database, integrated with the interpretation of aerial photographs and supported by a field survey. Badlands were distinguished in type A and type B, according to different evolutional stage, vegetation presence and consequently different landforms. Then, nine geoenvironmental factors supposed to be predisposing for badland occurrence were chosen and combined with the spatial frequency of badland areas derived from the inventory, through Information Value Statistic approach. The result was a badland susceptibility map that highlights a strong control of lithology, slope gradient and land use in conditioning badland development in the investigated area. The effectiveness of the performed model was demonstrated by a validation test computed through a receiver operating characteristics analysis. The outcomes of this work provide an updated badland database that is useful for soil erosion management and further land-use planning within the Volterra municipality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A relevant change in the use of SAR interferometry for risk management and reduction has been marked by the launch of the S-1 A and S-1 B, in 2014 and 2016 respectively, which ensure a SAR acquisition every 6 days above the entire Earth and make images available few hours after the acquisition without costs and limitations. S-1 represents a reliable and low cost tool for remote monitoring at both local and national-scale, which can potentially be exploited by administrative entities and Civil Protection authorities involved in risk management activities. "U-Geohaz, Geohazard impact assessment for urban areas" is a two-year project, started the 1st of January 2018, co-funded by the European Commission, Directorate-General Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO). The main aim of the project is to develop a methodology based on the SAR images acquired by Sentinel-1 (S-1) constellation to assess continuously the potential impact of geohazards on urban areas and critical infrastructures. Starting from the experience and the results obtained in the previous ECHO project SAFETY (2016-2017), the aim is to make a step forward, from periodically updated maps to a near-real time geohazards mapping and monitoring. U-Geohaz will provide tools to exploit the 6-days repeatability of S1 to support early warning systems for landslide and volcanic geohazards and to evaluate the expected damage. The consortium of U-Geohaz is composed of 18 partners, from 11 European countries, including 12 Geological Surveys and 3 Civil Protection Authorities that will support the implementation of tools to be operationally useful in risk management. The use of all the developed products will be implemented in the activities of the Civil Protection Authorities involved in the project. All the implemented procedure and tools are tested and will be demonstrated on the real test scenarios of Canary Island (Gran Canaria, Tenerife and El Hierro islands, Spain) and Valle d'Aosta (Italy). The main results achieved over the two test-sites and the future steps of the project will be presented and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]