Abstract
In mountain drainage basins, channel morphology and fluvial dynamics are heavily controlled by landslide sediment supply and local transport capacity. Although the importance of hillslope-channel coupling has long been acknowledged, the downstream effect of landslide activity on fluvial sediment transport is largely unknown. This is a critical gap for evaluating hillslope-channel feedback mechanisms and contemporary sediment budgets, as well as for addressing issues of sediment management in compliance with EU Water Frame (2000/60/EC) and Floods (2007/60/EC) Directives. This project aims to: (1) provide a methodological framework for estimating landslide-related sediment transfer across a range of representative settings in the Northern Apennines, with a focus on sediment supply to the fluvial drainage network; (2) evaluate geomorphic changes along mountain streams of the Northern Apennines, at the decadal and the event scale, particularly in relation to the extreme floods experienced by Romagna rivers in 2023 and 2024; (3) produce guided workflows for assessing sediment dynamics and potential response at the basin scale. Methods include (1) combinations of field, proximal, and remote sensing techniques for compiling landslide inventories, through which evaluate rates of sediment supply to the drainage network (WP1); (2) field, proximal and remotely-based monitoring of landslide-related geomorphic change and sediment transfer on hillslopes and along channels (WP2); (3) spatially-distributed modelling of sediment transport and connectivity for assessing fluvial response scenarios to varying rates of landslide sediment supply, hence propose sediment management strategies (WP3). WP4 will undertake dissemination towards the scientific community and relevant stakeholders. LASST will exploit opportunities offered by emerging technologies, such as UAV and airborne LiDAR-derived high-resolution topography. It will adopt state-of-art tools for computing geomorphic change detection to quantify fluvial sediment budgets. The range of expertise in the LASST working group ensures that the project will be at the forefront of the current technological transition, but yet grounded on empirical data. LASST devotes specific efforts to generalize models and tools developed for the proposed case studies. Overall, LASST will complement national initiatives that characterize the hydro-morphological conditions of Italian fluvial systems (IDRAIM and IRIS), by focusing on intermontane fluvial systems of the Northern Apennines. In these settings, where inherited effects of past anthropogenic disturbance have led to dramatic channel bed incision and reduced sediment export to the sea, LASST will address how landslide sediment supply and enhancement of fluvial continuity can mitigate the existing sedimentary disequilibrium.
Project details
Unibo Team Leader: Francesco Brardinoni
Unibo involved Department/s:
Dipartimento di Scienze Biologiche, Geologiche e Ambientali
Coordinator:
CNR - Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche(Italy)
Total Unibo Contribution: Euro (EUR) 63.920,00
Project Duration in months: 24
Start Date:
28/09/2023
End Date:
28/02/2026
