The wideband [0.001 Hz–100 kHz] interferometry project in Central Italy

We are reporting some results and future planning of the Magnetic and Electric fields Monitoring Project. The principal purpose of the project is to create a network of observatories for monitoring the electromagnetic signals in the 0.001 Hz–100 kHz frequency bands in Central Italy. These bands include both natural and artificial signals. The technological objectives of the project are the development of new instrumentation and the know-how transfer to the industry. These instruments were tested in the Geomagnetic Observatory of L'Aquila, the first station of the network. Here we show some examples of the developed electric and magnetic sensors. These instruments are designed for the automatic long-term recording of the electromagnetic fields in a wide band of frequency. The preliminary results of the first operating station of the network are shown taking into account, in the signal elaboration, the single station approach. Here we are reporting some examples concerning the calculation of the ground electric resistivity profile, the evaluation of the magnetic induction vectors and the study of the magnetic sources by the eigenvectors calculation. When all the stations of the network will be in operation, the use of an innovative technique, the wideband interferometry will be proposed. Combining the simultaneous observations of the electromagnetic field measured in each station, we will be able to obtain detailed information about the investigated electromagnetic sources.     

Bed material transport estimate in large gravel‐bed rivers using the virtual velocity approach

This paper reports on a first attempt of using the virtual velocity approach to assess sediment mobility and transport in two wide and complex gravel‐bed rivers of northern Italy. Displacement length and virtual velocity of spray‐painted tracers were measured in the field. Also, the thickness of the sediment active layer during floods was measured using scour chains and post‐flood morphological changes as documented by repeated survey of channel cross‐sections. The effects of eight and seven floods were studied on the Tagliamento and Brenta Rivers, where 259 and 277 spray‐painted areas were surveyed, respectively. In the Tagliamento River 36% of the spray‐painted areas experienced partial transport, whereas in the Brenta River this accounted for 20%. Whereas, full removal/gravel deposition was observed on 37% and 26% of these areas on the Tagliamento and Brenta Rivers, respectively. The mean displacement length of particles, the thickness of the active layer and the extent of partial transport are well correlated with the dimensionless shear stress. The virtual velocity approach allowed calculation of bed material transport over a wide range of flood magnitudes. Annual coarse sediment transport was calculated up to 150 for the Tagliamento, and 30 × 10³  m³ yr^?1 for the Brenta. The outcomes of this work highlight the relevance of partial transport condition, as it could represent more than 70% of the total bed material transported during low‐magnitude floods, and up to 40% for near‐bankfull events. Results confirm that bed material load tends to be overestimated by traditional formulas. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Genetic heterogeneity in populations of the Mediterranean shore crab, Carcinus aestuarii (Decapoda,Portunidae), from the Venice Lagoon

Heterogeneity in genetic composition among recruits, mostly due to a large variance in reproductive success mediated by oceanographic processes, has been reported for marine species but is less understood in coastal lagoons' organisms. Temporal genetic variation in natural populations of the Mediterranean shore crab Carcinus aestuarii was quantified over a multi-year sample. A total of 486 adult crabs were collected at eight different sites of the Venice Lagoon during the period 2005–2007 and screened for genetic variation using 11 microsatellite loci. Two additional samples (N = 115) from neighbouring sites, located approximately 100 km North and South to the Venice Lagoon, were included for the sake of comparison. Our results show significant differences in allelic frequencies at the micro-geographic scale of the Venice Lagoon, observed between sites of collection, typologies of habitat, and areas with different class of ecological risk or pattern of hemocyanin expression. However, this pattern was not constant between years, with significant differences observed mainly in 2005 and 2006, but not in 2007. Our results indicate significant temporal differences suggesting the existence of dynamic processes that act on the genetic pool of this species. Although natural selection and gene flow might play a role, we suggest that genetic drift linked to large variation in the reproductive success of individuals is the most probable scenario to explain the local genetic patterns of differentiation in the Mediterranean shore crab. Our study, by providing the first evidence for the existence of genetic differences in this species at the micro-geographic scale, suggests that a better comprehension of the link between reproduction, recruitment and oceanography is critical to understand how colonization and maintenance of genetic variation is achieved in ephemeral and vulnerable environments such as coastal lagoons.     

Relationship between heavy metal accumulation and genetic variability decrease in the intertidal crab Pachygrapsus marmoratus (Decapoda; Grapsidae)

The “genetic erosion” hypothesis posits that heavy metal stress is related to a loss of genetic diversity at the population level. The genetic diversity of natural populations can, however, be affected by natural processes as well as by human impact. We studied the relationship between heavy metal bioaccumulation and genetic variability in the intertidal crab Pachygrapsus marmoratus. Tissue samples were collected from 40 individuals inhabiting four polluted and four unpolluted sites along the Tuscan coast (Mediterranean basin), and were examined for four heavy metals (arsenic, As, cadmium, Cd, lead, Pb, and copper, Cu). We also assessed the genetic variability of 235 crabs from the same localities using six microsatellite loci.Our results show that the bioaccumulation levels of these individuals accurately reflect the levels of pollution in their immediate environment, and that heavy metals accumulate more in the hepatopancreas than in the gills. Moreover, populations from polluted sites have significantly less genetic variability, measured as mean standardized d², and a significantly lower percentage of unrelated individuals, than populations from unpolluted sites. This evidence supports the “genetic erosion” hypothesis for metal heavy exposure in natural environments.     

Alternative conceptual models and the robustness of groundwater management scenarios in the multi-aquifer system of the Central Veneto Basin, Italy

A three-dimensional (3D) groundwater flow model of the deep multi-aquifer Quaternary deposits of the Po plain sedimentary basin, within a 3,300-km² area (Veneto, Italy), is developed, tested and applied to aid sustainable large-scale water-resources management. Integrated mathematical modelling proves significantly successful, owing to an unusual wealth of available geological, geophysical, and hydrologic data and to state-of-the-art numerical tools. Of particular interest is the evaluation of the influence of alternative conceptual models; that is, of reconstructed representations of the 3D geological model of the structure of the aquifers. The reference conceptual model is set up by means of extended geological sections and stratigraphic records, and is used to create a large, unstructured 3D finite element grid. By analyzing the effects on piezometric surfaces and on the overall water budget of geometrical perturbations from the reference structure, alternative geo-structural models, obtained by systematically shifting the pinch-out of the aquitards, are compared. Interestingly, the impacts of aquitard pinch-out prove far from negligible. The results suggest the critical importance of reliable geological models even for large, complex 3D models. The good practice of iteratively testing numerically the impact of surprises on the conceptual model, as more field information is collected, is thus supported.     

X‐ray luminosity functions of different morphological and X‐ray type AGN populations

Luminosity functions are one of the most important observational clues when studying galaxy evolution over cosmic time. In this paper we present the X‐ray luminosity functions for X‐ray detected AGN in the SXDS and GWS fields. The limiting fluxes of our samples are 9.0 ×10^–15 and 4.8 ×10^–16 erg cm^–2 s^–1 in the 0.5–7.0 keV band in the two fields, respectively. We carried out analysis in three X‐ray bands and in two redshift intervals up to z ≤ 1.4. Moreover, we derive the luminosity functions for different optical morphologies and X‐ray types. We confirm strong luminosity evolution in all three bands, finding the most luminous objects at higher redshift. However, no signs of density evolution are found in any tested X‐ray band. We obtain similar results for compact and early‐type objects. Finally, we observe the “Steffen effect”, where X‐ray type‐1 sources are more numerous at higher luminosities in comparison with type‐2 sources. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Constraining the relative inclinations of the planets B and C of the millisecond pulsar PSR B1257+12

We investigate on the relative inclination of the planets B and C orbiting the pulsar PSR B1257+12. First, we show that the third Kepler’s law does represent an adequate model for the orbital periods P of the planets, because other Newtonian and Einsteinian corrections are orders of magnitude smaller than the accuracy in measuring P _B/C. Then, on the basis of available timing data, we determine the ratio sin i _C/ sin i _B = 0.92±0.05 of the orbital inclinations i _B and i _C independently of the pulsar’s mass M. It turns out that coplanarity of the orbits of B and C would imply a violation of the equivalence principle. Adopting a pulsar mass range 1 ≲ M ≲ 3, in solar masses (supported by present-day theoretical and observational bounds for pulsar’s masses), both face-on and edge-on orbital configurations for the orbits of the two planets are ruled out; the acceptable inclinations for B span the range 36 deg ≲ i _B ≲ 66 deg, with a corresponding relative inclination range 6 deg ≲ (i _C − i _B) ≲ 13 deg.     

Analysis of disturbances in the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer through numerical modeling

Fourier transform spectrometers are instruments with high sensitivity to many kinds of disturbances. This study started from the analysis of the disturbances related to mechanical vibrations on the PFS FTIR spectrometer to show how the measured spectra can differ from the actual ones. The complete study, more in general, accounts for the characteristics of a real instrument and its operating environment to show, which can be the effects of many sources of disturbances on realistic measurements. The analysis is especially relevant when the spectra are used for the determination of parameters through “best fitting techniques” by matching with synthetic ones because it shows how spectral features used in these studies can be modified by disturbances. A previous work addressed the theoretical treatment of vibrations borne effects on FTIR spectrometers and is the ground work for the present; however, that study, being based on an analytical approach could only show examples of single effects on simplified input signals such as emission lines. This study conversely is based on a numerical model, developed in order to include altogether the effects addressed in the theoretical work to show combined effects on complex spectra like those expected from Mars. This allows not only to evaluate the linked effects of many kinds of disturbances but also to account for the real spectrometer characteristics. The use of synthetic spectra as input allows the comparison between expected spectra and measured ones. The simulation is tailored on the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS), onboard the ESA Mars Express spacecraft, from 2003 orbiting around Mars and in particular on its short wavelength (SW) channel, where many disturbances are more evident.     

Midlatitude storms in a moister world: lessons from idealized baroclinic life cycle experiments

The response of midlatitude storms to global warming remains uncertain. This is due, in part, to the competing effects of a weaker meridional surface temperature gradient and a higher low-level moisture content, both of which are projected to occur as a consequence of increasing greenhouse gases. Here we address the latter of these two effects, and try to elucidate the effect of increased moisture on the development and evolution of midlatitude storms. We do this with a set of highly controlled, baroclinic lifecycle experiments, in which atmospheric moisture is progressively increased. To assess the robustness of the results, the moisture content is changed in two different ways: first by using different initial relative humidity, and second by varying a parameter that we insert into the Clausius-Clapeyron equation. The latter method allows us to artificially increase the moisture content above current levels while keeping the relative humidity constant. Irrespective of how moisture is altered, we find that nearly all important measures of storm strength increase as the moisture content rises. Specifically, we examine the storm’s central pressure minimum, the strongest surface winds, and both extreme and accumulated precipitation rates. For all these metrics, increased moisture yields a stronger storm. Interestingly, we also find that when moisture is increased beyond current levels, the resulting storm has a reduced horizontal scale while its vertical extent increases. Finally, we note that for moisture increases comparable to those projected to occur by the end of the twentyfirst century, the actual amplitude of the increases in storm strength is relatively modest, irrespective of the specific measure one uses.