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Agro-phenological observation is a fundamental activity to obtain a significant and useful description of the seasonal development of crops, which is driven by environmental variables, among which temperature plays a primary role. The aim of this paper is to study the relation between thermal resources and phenological development in the agrophenological station of Cadriano (Bologna) on winter wheat, barley, maize and sorghum. This was achieved a) analysing eleven years (2003-2012) of phenological observations, expressed using the BBCH scale, and b) developing a thermal model based on Normal Heat Hours for phenological development of the four crops in Cadriano. Once the thermal model was calibrated it was used to evaluate the variability of thermal resources on a long time series (1984- 2013) recorded in the same site. The statistical analysis on the observed phenological data shows high stability, apart from the first stages, until the tillering of the winter crops. The phenological model evidences a satisfactory performance, in particular for summer crops, and a good correlation between phenology and thermal resources accumulation. Finally, the long time series analysis evidences an increase in time of thermal resources availability.

Ogni anno l'Associazione Italiana di AgroMeteorologia organizza un convegno in cui vengono trattati i temi più attuali della ricerca e delle applicazioni in ambito agrometeorologico. Questo appuntamento nel corso degli anni è ormai diventato un momento d'incontro molto atteso dalla comunità agrometeorologica italiana. La XIX edizione del Convegno AIAM in programma dal 14 al 16 giugno 2016 a Bologna (BO) è stata intitolata: "Nuove avversità e nuovi servizi per gli Agroecosistemi". Il programma di questa edizione ha previsto due sessioni: Supporti agrometeorologici e nuove avversità Strumenti per la mitigazione e l’adattamento ai cambiamenti climatici

Studio di impatto ambientale di una stazione di stoccaggio ed erogazione di metano in Abruzzo, tramite biomonitoraggio lichenico e misure dirette di concentrazione di sostanze chimiche. La qualità ambientale è stata valutata attraverso due diverse tipologie di monitoraggio: un metodo diretto che ha previsto la misura della concentrazione di ozono, azoto e isoprene in atmosfera e uno indiretto dato da un biomonitoraggio lichenico

Runoff is one of the major causes of soil loss in the hilly areas of Italy. It is possible to successfully prevent the phenomenon by an adequate drainage of water in the agricultural areas, via the modelling of soil surface, and choosing the proper tillage and crop. The best soil management is selected by a deep knowledge of the chemical and physical properties of the soil, of the topography and the land use. In order to study the problem in detail, a field experiment was carried out in the hillside next to Bologna, Italy (Ozzano dell’Emilia, 44°24'N, 11°28' E, 185 m a.s.l.) for a 17-year-long period (1992-2009). In this experiment the effect on runoff of field crops (wheat, sorghum, rye-grass and alfalfa) and orchard (cherry trees), with different slopes and land modelling was evaluated. The crops were cultivated with various field modelling, in 5 plots 1000 m2 large . The soil was sandy-loam and the tillage management was performed as in the common practice of the area. Precipitation was continuously measured thanks to a meteorological station next to the area and each plot was equipped by runoff ditches and measurement gauges. The results show that, between the permanent crops, cherry trees was always more efficient than alfalfa in minimizing runoff, independently from slope and management of the alfalfa. As an average of the entire period, the number of runoff events was the highest in the plots diagonally cultivated and was the lowest in the plot cultivated following the contour lines. The up-and-down modelling gave good results in controlling the runoff. A significant relationship was evidenced between the total amount of rainfall during the farming year and the mean number of runoff events, irrespectively of the crop.

Il progetto nasce dalla collaborazione tra Filiera AQ di Granarolo, che svolge la sua attività industriale nel settore lattiero caseario, e il dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie dell'Università di Bologna allo scopo di reperire e georeferenziare informazioni sul rischio ambientale e creazione di indici di rischio. La ricerca ha messo in evidenza che al momento attuale le aziende produttrici di latte conferenti a Filiera AQ risultano in maggioranza distribuite in aree a riscio potenziale trascurabile o minimo, sufficientemente lontane da importanti agglomerati industriali.

The quality of agricultural products may be influenced by the environmental pollution. The prevention of pollution risk, or at least its knowledge, can be supported by the monitoring of the pollutions sources of potential environmental risk (e.g., incinerators, thermal power plans, highways, industrial plants, etc.) near the agricultural area of production. An instrument to assess this potential risk, related to the presence of pollution sources, may be a “Precaution Index”. This index was developed starting from the inventory and geo-referencing of all pollution sources in the study area, using a GIS software. To take into account the relevance of each source, a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDM), that is ideal to support spatial decision making process, was used. Results are represented in a digital map of “Precaution Index” for the considered regions.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of atmospheric deposition (chemical composition and pH) in two periods 1997-99 and 2007-09, in the province of Bologna (Bologna, urban area and Ozzano, rural area). The results show, between the first and the second three-year period, a decrease of the acid species (sulfate, nitrate and nitrite) and an increase of the basic ones (calcium, sodium and magnesium), with consequently an increase in the pH of the rainwater, that has gone from neutral to alkaline. The annual atmospheric deposition decreased too: in the 1997-99 period in Bologna, the average annual deposition of SO4-2 and NO3- were 37.9 and 27.8 kg ha-1 year-1 and in Ozzano 31.7 and 34.9 kg ha-1 year-1. In the 2007-09 period in Bologna, they were 24.5 and 16.5 kg ha-1 year-1 and 27.8 and 31.3 kg ha-1 year-1 in Ozzano. In addition there are significant neutralization reactions: calcium, derived from calcareous soils and from Sahara desert, is the principal agent neutralizing the acid species.

Il ruscellamento superficiale è una delle principali cause di perdita di suolo nei terreni in pendio. Ruscellamento ed erosione sono processi naturali che possono essere fortemente accelerati nei terreni coltivati. La pendenza, la copertura vegetale e la direzione di lavorazione (che dipende dalla sistemazione agronomica) sono, insieme all’andamento meteorologico, tra i fattori più rilevanti di questi processi (Ampofo et al., 2002; Zhang & Garbrecht, 2002). Scopo di questo studio è stato verificare la relazione tra pioggia e ruscellamento e le caratteristiche del ruscellamento in sei parcelle di diversa sistemazione agronomica e pendenza, coltivate con specie erbacee annuali e poliennali ed arboree. Si tratta di una prova di lunga durata che ha previsto la raccolta e l’elaborazione di quasi un ventennio di dati (1992-2010).

Accelerated erosion in agricultural land determines a redistribution of soil particles in the area interested by the process, contributing to the variability of physical, chemical and biological soil properties and, in some cases, producing significant environmental problems. The aim of this research was threefold: (i) to analyse the quality of collected sediments, (ii) to determine the effect of the crop residues on eroded sediments and (iii) to verify change in textural composition of the original soil due to particles detachment. Sediment samples were collected from a corncultivated sloping plot of 350 m2. Two soil textural analyses were performed for the superficial layer (0-20 cm), the first one in 1991 and the second one in 2005, using the pipette method. Eight sediment samples were used, corresponding to the major runoff events in the fall 2004, and their particlesize distributions (PDS) were measured using a Laser Diffraction device. The results show that, in soils with the silt fraction ranging between 40% and 50%, the PSD can be described by a gaussian function with the mean within the silt fraction, whose values were between 2 and 15 µm. The selectivity of the erosion process can be explained considering that particles with a size higher than 200 µm have a physical mass that limit their movement, while for particles with diameter below 2 µm, cohesive forces impede particle detachment. The mean diameter and its standard deviation are influenced by the presence of soil coverage, plants or crop residues, and by tillage operations. When runoff event occurs on soil surface covered by crop residues both the mean diameter of the eroded sediment and the standard deviation are larger than under tilled and bare soil condition. This can be explain considering that the tillage operated after the corn harvest provokes a mechanical disaggregation, that breaks the compactness and the cohesive forces that impede particle detachment of smaller ones. The soil textural analysis of the superficial soil layer corroborate the sediment quality analysis, showing that the silt fraction is significantly decreased over a period of 15 years. Because of the selective nature of the erosion processes, soil erosion can cause a variety of environmental effects, such as loss of topsoil and soil nutrient that must be addressed, with appropriate cultivation and conservation practices. The information derived from this research can be used for environmental and management decisions faced by farmers and land managers.

Phytodepuration

Climate change has become an important issue for scientific community, for its numerous impacts, especially on agriculture and environment. To shed light on this phenomenon, long data-sets of meteorological data as well as temperature and rainfall extreme events are needed, since they are important climate variability indicators. In a small semi-agricultural catchment of the Italian Apennines, drained by the Centonara Stream, weather data have been monitored for 30 years (1986–2015). Here, their trend was identified with Mann–Kendall test, and the temperature and precipitation extremes were characterized by means of specific indices. Data were analyzed at event, daily, seasonal, and annual bases. In addition, to understand implications of rainfall patterns on catchment hydrological response, a total of 388 rainfall–streamflow events (recorded during 1994–2009) were analyzed. Results showed a significant increase of temperature (minimum (Tn), mean (Tm), and maximum (Tx)), both at annual and seasonal base, except for Winter, with an annual mean increase of 0.08, 0.09, and 0.13 °C year−1 for Tn, Tm, and Tx, respectively. Annual rainfall data showed a positive trend for the number of wet days, but not in the quantity. In Winter, the rainfall amount and the number of wet days increased. The annual number of rainfall extreme events (P > 20.2 mm and D > 18.3 h) significantly increased, especially in spring and autumn. The rainfall–streamflow relationship suggested that the flow response of the Centonara Stream depends mainly on the rainfall amount. So, since the number of extreme events (P > 20.2 mm) is increasing in spring and autumn, an increase of events with high streamflow in these seasons may occur.