Implementation of the European Water Framework Directive: Natural variability associated with the CARLIT method on the rocky shores of the Ligurian Sea (Italy)

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) 2000/60/EC, adopted by the European Community in 2000 with the goal of maintaining and improving the aquatic environments, requires that member states achieve and maintain a good ecological status of all water bodies by 2015. In the marine context, the ecological status has to be quantified applying indexes based on appropriate key biological elements, which allow the categorization of water bodies into five Ecological Status (ES) classes. The CARLIT index is a cartographic monitoring tool enabling the Ecological Quality Ratio (EQR) to be calculated using macroalgae in coastal hard bottoms as a key biological element; at present it is being applied in Spain, France and Italy. To detect actual changes of water quality and, consequently, rely on the application of indexes for the assessment of the ecological status in the marine environment, it is necessary to evaluate their sensitivity to natural variability at different temporal and spatial scales. In this study we present a first quantification of natural (spatial and temporal) variability of EQR‐CARLIT quality assessment in 2006 and 2007 along the Ligurian coast (North‐Western Mediterranean, Italy). The EQR‐CARLIT values recorded along the Ligurian coastline show that natural variability of EQR‐CARLIT is low and that it does not affect the attribution of a given stretch of coast to a particular ES class, in agreement with the major human pressures acting in the area (urbanization, river load, sea‐farming). A small‐scale variability was detected, strengthening the use of cartography of the whole rocky shore, whenever possible, or, alternatively, the assessment of the ecological status for long stretches of coast, to encompass the small‐scale variability due to local factors.     

Preliminary results of seismic hazard assessment in the Sannio-Matese area of Southern Italy

The seismic hazard in the Sannio-Matese area has been worked out by a modification of the McGuire (1976) computing programme, taking into account the influence of nine potential seismic source zones.The method uses truncated-quadratic intensity-frequency distribution and azimuth-dependent intensity attenuation derived from isoseismal maps for each of the seismogenetic sources. A new modification has been introduced to take into account different decay of the intensity in the near (to VIII degree) and far (from VIII degree) field.Different assumptions about maximum possible intensities and truncation of intensity-frequency laws are used to evaluate the effects of the uncertainties on the computed hazard at high intensities. Intensities associated with different level of annual probability are computed for five test sites in the considered area. Maps displaying the expected intensity for a mean return period of 500 years (pa 0.002) are presented and compared with observed intensities.Presented at the XXIst General Assembly of the European Seismological Commission, Symposium on Methods of Seismic Hazard Assessment in Europe, Sofia, 23–27 August 1988.     

Seismic hazard computations for regions with low earthquake activity — A case study for the Belgium,The Netherlands and NW Germany area

The algorithms to evaluate seismic hazard, used and/or developed by five teams participating in the TERESA project, applied to the low seismicity area Belgium, The Netherlands and NW Germany are compared. The main differences in the results can be explained by the majority criterion of Egozcue et al. (1989), the differences in the upper bound and zonification and, in some cases, by a higher attenuation.     

Ephemeris errors of GPS satellites

Ephemeris errors are supposed to be a major factor limiting the usefulness ofGPS in high precision geodesy. Considerations of orbital mechanics suggest that, regardless of their complexity, the uncertainties in the solar radiation pressure model, the gravity field model, and the estimated initial state, may have simple effects on the ephemeris. This possibility has been tested by fitting linear combinations of simple functions—chosen on theoretical grounds—to simulated errors of three-day ephemerides. With a set of five functions for the across-track component, six for the radial, and seven for the along-track, it has been possible to fit the position errors to better than 1% of theirr.m.s values, in all the caces studied. The simulations included —besides solar radiation pressure errors—gravity field model and initial state uncertainties, as well as an unknown constant force along the axis of the solar panels. The solar radiation force was calculated taking into account the shape, orientation, and physical properties (reflectivity and specularity) of the main parts of the spacecraft, under various conditions of illumination (continuous sunlight, eclipses, etc.).     

Secular resonance,solar spin down,and the orbit of Mercury

A mechanism capable of accounting for the large mean eccentricity (0.175) and inclination (7°.2) of Mercury is discussed. Provided the gravitational field of the rapidly rotating primordial Sun had a sufficiently large second degree harmonic (i.e., J₂ ? order 10^?3), subsequent solar spin down would drive the orbit of Mercury through two secular resonances with Venus, one involving the precession of the line of apsides, the other one involving the regression of the nodal line. Resonance passage generates contributions to the eccentricity and inclination that are proportional to the square root of the characteristic solar spin down time. We find that an initial solar rotation l period of $\text{P ? 5}\text{1}\text{2}\text{hr}$ guarantees passage through resonance and that a spin down time of $\text{τ = Ω|dΩ/dt|}{}^{\mathrm{?1}}$ of order 10⁶ years could have produced the observed eccentricity and inclination. Such a primordial rotation rate is comparable to the measured rotations of very young stars and the spin down time appears consistent with the time scale derived for magnetic braking of the Sun's rotation by an intense solar wind during a T-Tauri stage of solar evolution.     

Study of temperature and precipitation variations in Italy based on surface instrumental observations

In this paper we present a study concerning the climatic behaviour of two principal observables, temperature and precipitation as obtained from the measurements carried out at 50 Italian meteorological stations, since 1961. Analyses of WMO Climate Normals (CliNo) from 1961 to 1990 have been performed dividing the 50 Italian stations in three different classes: mountain (11 stations), continental (17) and coastal areas (21).The comparison of the CliNo 1961–1990 with the trend of temperature and precipitation for the period 1991–2000 showed a sharp significant increase of summer temperatures over Italy starting from 1980. This phenomenon was particularly evident for mountain stations, where a significant temperature increase has been recorded also during the autumn. Moreover, the analysis of precipitation data permitted to point out that, starting from 1980, mountain stations have been affected by a significant increase of precipitation events during autumn and winter, while for the rest of the Italian territory a reduction of precipitations has been recorded during early spring.     

A systematic cross-search for radio/infrared counterparts of XMM-<Emphasis Type="Italic">Newton</Emphasis> sources

We present a catalog of cross-correlated radio, infrared and X-ray sources using a very restrictive selection criteria with an IDL-based code developed by us. The significance of the observed coincidences was evaluated through Monte Carlo simulations of synthetic sources following a well-tested protocol. We found 3320 coincident radio/X-ray sources with a high statistical significance characterized by the sum of error-weighted coordinate differences. For 997 of them, 2MASS counterparts were found. The percentage of chance coincidences is less than 1%. X-ray hardness ratios of well-known populations of objects were used to provide a crude representation of their X-ray spectrum and to make a preliminary diagnosis of the possible nature of unidentified X-ray sources. The results support the fact that the X-ray sky is largely dominated by Active Galactic Nuclei at high galactic latitudes (|b|≥10°). At low galactic latitudes (|b|≤10°) most of unidentified X-ray sources (∼94%) lie at |b|≤2°. This result suggests that most of the unidentified sources found toward the Milky Way plane are galactic objects. Well-known and unidentified sources were classified in different tables with their corresponding radio/infrared and X-ray properties. These tables are intended as a useful tool for researchers interested in particular identifications.