Special Session 6

SPECIAL SESSION #6

Lorenzo Vergni

University of Perugia, Italy

• lorenzo.vergni@unipg.it

Vincenzo Pampalone

University of Palermo, Italy

• vincenzo.pampalone@unipa.it

Giovanni Francesco Ricci

University of Bari, Italy

• giovanni.ricci@uniba.it

The European Union in its recent communications, which overall define the concept of the European Green Deal, identifies land degradation as one of the main priorities to be considered in the European and National environmental programs in the upcoming years. Accelerated soil erosion by water is often considered the main threat of land degradation since it can cause many environmental damages, e.g. thinning and crusting of topsoil, loss of nutrients, pollution and reduction of reservoir storage volume, and channels’ aggradations which increase flood risk. Therefore, soil conservation is a key issue in maintaining the balance of natural and agricultural ecosystems, especially considering the increasing anthropic pressure on soils and adverse climate change. In this context, there is a need for in-depth research to understand soil erosion processes and develop field and modeling activities from plot to basin scale. Current research benefits from accurate measurement methods and cutting-edge technologies and tools and is pivotal for identifying effective and sustainable soil conservation measures. Nature Based Solutions such as cover crops, no-tillage, or soil bioengineering techniques, can also be implemented to counteract soil erosion. At the same time, it is useful to continue research into identifying techniques and procedures that enable rapid and accurate mapping of erosion-prone areas to plan timely and targeted mitigation measures.

Contributions are expected to focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• Rainfall simulation in laboratory and field studies on erosion processes;
• Instruments and technologies to measure rainfall energy characteristics;
• Proximal and remote sensing tools and methods for measuring sheet and channelized (rill and gully) erosion;
• Instruments and methods for measuring and monitoring bed and suspended sediment load at basin scale;
• Soil conservation measures, including Nature Based Solutions for erosion control;
• Analysis and mapping of water erosion at basin scale;
• Remote sensing for water erosion risk mapping.

Lorenzo Vergni, is an Associated Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences of the University of Perugia and has a Ph.D. in Sustainable Rural Development. His research mainly focuses on measuring and modelling soil erosion at plot and basin scales and on developing agro-hydrological models for agricultural drought monitoring and irrigation planning and management. He is the author of several papers in scientific journals with impact factor and conference proceedings with international diffusion.

Vincenzo Pampalone, is an Associated Professor at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences of the University of Palermo and has a Ph.D. in Environmental Hydronomy. His research activity mainly focuses on measuring and modeling soil erosion and sediment yield, overland and rill flow resistance laws, and open-channel flows (hydraulic jump, stream restoration works, outflow processes, and flow measurement). He is the author of several papers published in journals with impact factor and international conference proceedings. He is the inventor, with other colleagues, of the Italian patent “Device and method for measuring the rainfall kinetic power”.

Giovanni Francesco Ricci, is a Researcher at the Department of Soil, Plant and Food Sciences, Bari, Italy, and has a Ph.D. in Biodiversity, Agriculture and Environment. His research mainly focuses on modeling soil erosion and sediment transport and field activities aimed at measuring streamflow and sediment transport at the basin scale. He also investigates the effect of watershed management policies and the implementation of Nature Based Solutions on soil erosion. He is the author of several papers published in journals with impact factor and conference proceedings most of which focused on soil erosion.