Simulating lightning into the RAMS model: implementation and preliminary results

Abstract. This paper shows the results of a tailored version of a previously published methodology, designed to simulate lightning activity, implemented into the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). The method gives the flash density at the resolution of the RAMS grid-scale allowing for a detailed analysis of the evolution of simulated lightning activity. The system is applied in detail to two case studies occurred over the Lazio Region, in Central Italy. Simulations are compared with the lightning activity detected by the LINET network. The cases refer to two thunderstorms of different intensity. Results show that the model predicts reasonably well both cases and that the lightning activity is well reproduced especially for the most intense case. However, there are errors in timing and positioning of the convection, whose magnitude depends on the case study, which mirrors in timing and positioning errors of the lightning distribution. To assess objectively the performance of the methodology, standard scores are presented for four additional case studies. Scores show the ability of the methodology to simulate the daily lightning activity for different spatial scales and for two different minimum thresholds of flash number density. The performance decreases at finer spatial scales and for higher thresholds. The comparison of simulated and observed lighting activity is an immediate and powerful tool to assess the model ability to reproduce the intensity and the evolution of the convection. This shows the importance of the use of computationally efficient lightning schemes, such as the one described in this paper, in forecast models.

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Simulating lightning into the RAMS model: implementation and preliminary results

Natural Hazards and Earth System Science ◽

10.5194/nhess-14-2933-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 14 (11) ◽

pp. 2933-2950 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

S. Federico ◽

E. Avolio ◽

M. Petracca ◽

G. Panegrossi ◽

P. Sanò ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Central Italy ◽

Atmospheric Modeling ◽

Lightning Activity ◽

Spatial Error ◽

Lazio Region ◽

Positioning Errors ◽

First Case

Abstract. This paper shows the results of a tailored version of a previously published methodology, designed to simulate lightning activity, implemented into the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). The method gives the flash density at the resolution of the RAMS grid scale allowing for a detailed analysis of the evolution of simulated lightning activity. The system is applied in detail to two case studies occurred over the Lazio Region, in Central Italy. Simulations are compared with the lightning activity detected by the LINET network. The cases refer to two thunderstorms of different intensity which occurred, respectively, on 20 October 2011 and on 15 October 2012. The number of flashes simulated (observed) over Lazio is 19435 (16231) for the first case and 7012 (4820) for the second case, and the model correctly reproduces the larger number of flashes that characterized the 20 October 2011 event compared to the 15 October 2012 event. There are, however, errors in timing and positioning of the convection, whose magnitude depends on the case study, which mirrors in timing and positioning errors of the lightning distribution. For the 20 October 2011 case study, spatial errors are of the order of a few tens of kilometres and the timing of the event is correctly simulated. For the 15 October 2012 case study, the spatial error in the positioning of the convection is of the order of 100 km and the event has a longer duration in the simulation than in the reality. To assess objectively the performance of the methodology, standard scores are presented for four additional case studies. Scores show the ability of the methodology to simulate the daily lightning activity for different spatial scales and for two different minimum thresholds of flash number density. The performance decreases at finer spatial scales and for higher thresholds. The comparison of simulated and observed lighting activity is an immediate and powerful tool to assess the model ability to reproduce the intensity and the evolution of the convection. This shows the importance of using computationally efficient lightning schemes, such as the one described in this paper, in forecast models.

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Coupling between Large-Scale Atmospheric Processes and Mesoscale Land–Atmosphere Interactions in the U.S. Southern Great Plains during Summer. Part II: Mean Impacts of the Mesoscale

Journal of Hydrometeorology ◽

10.1175/jhm-397.1 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 5 (6) ◽

pp. 1247-1258 ◽

Cited By ~ 21

Author(s):

Christopher P. Weaver

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Time Scales ◽

Great Plains ◽

Large Scale ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Surface Heterogeneity ◽

Atmospheric Modeling ◽

Mesoscale Circulations ◽

Southern Great Plains ◽

Atmospheric Processes

Abstract This is Part II of a two-part study of mesoscale land–atmosphere interactions in the summertime U.S. Southern Great Plains. Part I focused on case studies drawn from monthlong (July 1995–97), high-resolution Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) simulations carried out to investigate these interactions. These case studies were chosen to highlight key features of the lower-tropospheric mesoscale circulations that frequently arise in this region and season due to mesoscale heterogeneity in the surface fluxes. In this paper, Part II, the RAMS-simulated mesoscale dynamical processes described in the Part I case studies are examined from a domain-averaged perspective to assess their importance in the overall regional hydrometeorology. The spatial statistics of key simulated mesoscale variables—for example, vertical velocity and the vertical flux of water vapor—are quantified here. Composite averages of the mesoscale and large-scale-mean variables over different meteorological or dynamical regimes are also calculated. The main finding is that, during dry periods, or similarly, during periods characterized by large-scale-mean subsidence, the characteristic signature of surface-heterogeneity-forced mesoscale circulations, including enhanced vertical motion variability and enhanced mesoscale fluxes in the lowest few kilometers of the atmosphere, consistently emerges. Furthermore, the impact of these mesoscale circulations is nonnegligible compared to the large-scale dynamics at domain-averaged (200 km × 200 km) spatial scales and weekly to monthly time scales. These findings support the hypothesis that the land– atmosphere interactions associated with mesoscale surface heterogeneity can provide pathways whereby diurnal, mesoscale atmospheric processes can scale up to have more general impacts at larger spatial scales and over longer time scales.

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Multi-sensor analysis of convective activity in central Italy during the HyMeX SOP 1.1

Atmospheric Measurement Techniques ◽

10.5194/amt-9-535-2016 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 535-552 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

N. Roberto ◽

E. Adirosi ◽

L. Baldini ◽

D. Casella ◽

S. Dietrich ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Hydrological Cycle ◽

Central Italy ◽

Lightning Activity ◽

Convective Precipitation ◽

Coefficient Of Determination ◽

Dual Polarization ◽

Radar Measurements ◽

Sensor Analysis ◽

Raindrop Size

Abstract. A multi-sensor analysis of convective precipitation events that occurred in central Italy in autumn 2012 during the HyMeX (Hydrological cycle in the Mediterranean experiment) Special Observation Period (SOP) 1.1 is presented. Various microphysical properties of liquid and solid hydrometeors are examined to assess their relationship with lightning activity. The instrumentation used consisted of a C-band dual-polarization weather radar, a 2-D video disdrometer, and the LINET lightning network. Results of T-matrix simulation for graupel were used to (i) tune a fuzzy logic hydrometeor classification algorithm based on Liu and Chandrasekar (2000) for the detection of graupel from C-band dual-polarization radar measurements and (ii) to retrieve graupel ice water content. Graupel mass from radar measurements was related to lightning activity. Three significant case studies were analyzed and linear relations between the total mass of graupel and number of LINET strokes were found with different slopes depending on the nature of the convective event (such as updraft strength and freezing level height) and the radar observational geometry. A high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.856) and a slope in agreement with satellite measurements and model results for one of the case studies (15 October 2012) were found. Results confirm that one of the key features in the electrical charging of convective clouds is the ice content, although it is not the only one. Parameters of the gamma raindrop size distribution measured by a 2-D video disdrometer revealed the transition from a convective to a stratiform regime. The raindrop size spectra measured by a 2-D video disdrometer were used to partition rain into stratiform and convective classes. These results are further analyzed in relation to radar measurements and to the number of strokes. Lightning activity was not always recorded when the precipitation regime was classified as convective rain. High statistical scores were found for relationships relating lightning activity to graupel aloft.

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Landslide hazard in the Abruzzo area (Central Italy): case studies of different types of landslides in different environments and morphostructural domains.

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-15993 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Giorgio Paglia ◽

Cristiano Carabella ◽

Carmela Epifani ◽

Gianluca Esposito ◽

Massimiliano Fazzini ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Large Scale ◽

Climatic Factors ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Central Italy ◽

Laboratory Data ◽

Coastal Areas ◽

Landslide Hazard ◽

Precipitation Event ◽

Different Types

The Abruzzo Region (Central Italy) is largely affected by landslide phenomena, widespread from the mountainous to the coastal areas. The area is located in the central-eastern part of the Italian peninsula and it is framed in a complex geological and geomorphological framework, closely connected to the combination of endogenous (morphotectonics) and exogenous processes (slope, fluvial, karst and glacial processes). Landslide phenomena are linked to the interaction of geological, geomorphological, and climatic factors (instability factors) in response to trigger mechanisms, mostly represented by heavy rainfall events, seismicity, or human action. This work illustrates the results of multidisciplinary analyses carried out in the Abruzzo area in recent years, in different physiographic and geomorphological-structural contexts (chain, foothills, fluvial, and coastal areas). These analyses are based on the combination of classic and advanced methods, including morphometric analysis of the topography and hydrography, detailed geological and geomorphological field mapping, geostructural analysis, photogeological analysis, supported by stability analysis and 2D/3D numerical modeling. Five case studies are representative of the main active geomorphological processes affecting different environments and morphostructural domains, with reference to the predisposing and/or triggering factors. The main landslide cases analyzed and discussed in this work consist of: debris flow and rockfalls in a mountain area, widely altered by wildfire events (Montagna del Morrone case); complex landslides systems in the foothills, characterized by a very rough topography documenting the activity of long-term landslide processes (Ponzano and San Martino sulla Marrucina cases); sliding and complex landslides (topples and rockfalls) in fluvial and coastal areas, following a heavy snow precipitation event and a moderate seismic sequence (Castelnuovo di Campli case) and induced by episodic and localized cliff recession processes combined with wave-cut and gravity-induced slope processes (Abruzzo rock coast cases). The work outlines the importance of combining geological and geomorphological approaches with integrated detailed analysis of field and laboratory data to characterize morphology, bedrock features, structural features and jointing, superficial continental deposits, and landforms distribution. This allows supporting large-scale analyzes to evaluate hazard and risk posed by different types of landslides with different magnitudes in different environments. This work could represent an effective integrated approach in geomorphological studies for landslide hazard modeling at different spatial scales, readily available to interested stakeholders. &#160;Furthermore, it could provide a scientific basis for the implementation of sustainable territorial planning, emergency management, and loss-reduction measures.

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Democracy and Political Culture

10.1093/oso/9780198834205.001.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Ross McKibbin

Keyword(s):

Political Culture ◽

Case Studies ◽

Social System ◽

Political System ◽

Democratic Politics ◽

Social Structures ◽

The Political ◽

The Subject ◽

The One ◽

Definition Of

This book is an examination of Britain as a democratic society; what it means to describe it as such; and how we can attempt such an examination. The book does this via a number of ‘case-studies’ which approach the subject in different ways: J.M. Keynes and his analysis of British social structures; the political career of Harold Nicolson and his understanding of democratic politics; the novels of A.J. Cronin, especially The Citadel, and what they tell us about the definition of democracy in the interwar years. The book also investigates the evolution of the British party political system until the present day and attempts to suggest why it has become so apparently unstable. There are also two chapters on sport as representative of the British social system as a whole as well as the ways in which the British influenced the sporting systems of other countries. The book has a marked comparative theme, including one chapter which compares British and Australian political cultures and which shows British democracy in a somewhat different light from the one usually shone on it. The concluding chapter brings together the overall argument.

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Failure Analysis of Apennine Masonry Churches Severely Damaged during the 2016 Central Italy Seismic Sequence

Buildings ◽

10.3390/buildings11020058 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 58 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Francesco Clementi

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Central Italy ◽

Numerical Data ◽

Sensitivity Study ◽

Nonlinear Material ◽

Seismic Sequence ◽

Nonlinear Approach ◽

Nonlinear Static ◽

Masonry Churches ◽

Global And Local

This paper presents a detailed study of the damages and collapses suffered by various masonry churches in the aftermath of the seismic sequence of Central Italy in 2016. The damages will first be analyzed and then compared with the numerical data obtained through 3D simulations with eigenfrequency and then nonlinear static analyses (i.e., pushover). The main purposes of this study are: (i) to create an adequately consistent sensitivity study on several definite case studies to obtain an insight into the role played by geometry—which is always unique when referred to churches—and by irregularities; (ii) validate or address the applicability limits of the more widespread nonlinear approach, widely recommended by the Italian Technical Regulations. Pushover analyses are conducted assuming that the masonry behaves as a nonlinear material with different tensile and compressive strengths. The consistent number of case studies investigated will show how conventional static approaches can identify, albeit in a qualitative way, the most critical macro-elements that usually trigger both global and local collapses, underlining once again how the phenomena are affected by the geometry of stones and bricks, the texture of the wall face, and irregularities in the plan and elevation and in addition to hypotheses made on the continuity between orthogonal walls.

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Imaging Spectroscopy for Conservation Applications

Remote Sensing ◽

10.3390/rs13020292 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 292

Author(s):

Megan Seeley ◽

Gregory P. Asner

Keyword(s):

Remote Sensing ◽

Decision Making ◽

Case Studies ◽

Spatial Scales ◽

Imaging Spectroscopy ◽

Remote Sensing Data ◽

Decision Makers ◽

High Spectral Resolution ◽

Conservation Areas ◽

Broad Array

As humans continue to alter Earth systems, conservationists look to remote sensing to monitor, inventory, and understand ecosystems and ecosystem processes at large spatial scales. Multispectral remote sensing data are commonly integrated into conservation decision-making frameworks, yet imaging spectroscopy, or hyperspectral remote sensing, is underutilized in conservation. The high spectral resolution of imaging spectrometers captures the chemistry of Earth surfaces, whereas multispectral satellites indirectly represent such surfaces through band ratios. Here, we present case studies wherein imaging spectroscopy was used to inform and improve conservation decision-making and discuss potential future applications. These case studies include a broad array of conservation areas, including forest, dryland, and marine ecosystems, as well as urban applications and methane monitoring. Imaging spectroscopy technology is rapidly developing, especially with regard to satellite-based spectrometers. Improving on and expanding existing applications of imaging spectroscopy to conservation, developing imaging spectroscopy data products for use by other researchers and decision-makers, and pioneering novel uses of imaging spectroscopy will greatly expand the toolset for conservation decision-makers.

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Assessing Environmental Factors within the One Health Approach

Medicina ◽

10.3390/medicina57030240 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

pp. 240

Author(s):

Sarah Humboldt-Dachroeden ◽

Alberto Mantovani

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

One Health ◽

Animal Health ◽

Grey Literature ◽

Aflatoxin M1 ◽

First Case ◽

Italian Regions ◽

Environmental Component ◽

Environmental Considerations ◽

The One

Background: One Health is a comprehensive and multisectoral approach to assess and examine the health of animals, humans and the environment. However, while the One Health approach gains increasing momentum, its practical application meets hindrances. This paper investigates the environmental pillar of the One Health approach, using two case studies to highlight the integration of environmental considerations. The first case study pertains to the Danish monitoring and surveillance programme for antimicrobial resistance, DANMAP. The second case illustrates the occurrence of aflatoxin M1 (AFM1) in milk in dairy-producing ruminants in Italian regions. Method: A scientific literature search was conducted in PubMed and Web of Science to locate articles informing the two cases. Grey literature was gathered to describe the cases as well as their contexts. Results: 19 articles and 10 reports were reviewed and informed the two cases. The cases show how the environmental component influences the apparent impacts for human and animal health. The DANMAP highlights the two approaches One Health and farm to fork. The literature provides information on the comprehensiveness of the DANMAP, but highlights some shortcomings in terms of environmental considerations. The AFM1 case, the milk metabolite of the carcinogenic mycotoxin aflatoxin B1, shows that dairy products are heavily impacted by changes of the climate as well as by economic drivers. Conclusions: The two cases show that environmental conditions directly influence the onset and diffusion of hazardous factors. Climate change, treatment of soils, water and standards in slaughterhouses as well as farms can have a great impact on the health of animals, humans and the environment. Hence, it is important to include environmental considerations, for example, via engaging environmental experts and sharing data. Further case studies will help to better define the roles of environment in One Health scenarios.

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Ethnic Hatred and Universal Benevolence: Ethnicity and Loyalty in Precolonial Myanmar, and Britain

Comparative Studies in Society and History ◽

10.1017/s0010417521000062 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 63 (2) ◽

pp. 310-338

Author(s):

Victor Lieberman

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Political Thought ◽

Western Europe ◽

Popular Sovereignty ◽

The Other ◽

Social Pressures ◽

Legal Equality ◽

The One

AbstractInsisting on a radical divide between post-1750 ideologies in Europe and earlier political thought in both Europe and Asia, modernist scholars of nationalism have called attention, quite justifiably, to European nationalisms’ unique focus on popular sovereignty, legal equality, territorial fixity, and the primacy of secular over universal religious loyalties. Yet this essay argues that nationalism also shared basic developmental and expressive features with political thought in pre-1750 Europe as well as in rimland—that is to say outlying—sectors of Asia. Polities in Western Europe and rimland Asia were all protected against Inner Asian occupation, all enjoyed relatively cohesive local geographies, and all experienced economic and social pressures to integration that were not only sustained but surprisingly synchronized throughout the second millennium. In Western Europe and rimland Asia each major state came to identify with a named ethnicity, specific artifacts became badges of inclusion, and central ethnicity expanded and grew more standardized. Using Myanmar and pre-1750 England/Britain as case studies, this essay reconstructs these centuries-long similarities in process and form between “political ethnicity,” on the one hand, and modern nationalism, on the other. Finally, however, this essay explores cultural and material answers to the obvious question: if political ethnicities in Myanmar and pre-1750 England/Britain were indeed comparable, why did the latter realm alone generate recognizable expressions of nationalism? As such, this essay both strengthens and weakens claims for European exceptionalism.

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Prostate Cancer: Population-Based Survival Rates in Central Italy

Tumori Journal ◽

10.1177/030089169508100202 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 81 (2) ◽

pp. 81-85 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Emanuele Crocetti ◽

Eva Buiatti ◽

Andrea Amorosi

Keyword(s):

Prostate Cancer ◽

Central Italy ◽

Survival Rates ◽

Relative Survival ◽

Tumor Grade ◽

Population Based ◽

Prognostic Effect ◽

Disease Extension ◽

The One ◽

Histological Verification

Aims To evaluate survival in prostate cancer patients in the Province of Florence where the Tuscany Cancer Registry is active. Methods The survival of 777 patients with prostate cancer diagnosed in the period 1985-87 was evaluated. The observed and relative survival rates 1, 3 and 5 years after diagnosis were computed. Also the prognostic effect of age, disease extension, tumor grade, histological verification, place of residence and year of diagnosis were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analysis. Results The observed survival was 73.4% 1 year, 42.5% 3 years and 29.2% 5 years after diagnosis. The relative survival was respectively 78.7%, 53.0% and 43.0%. Significant independent risks were evident when the disease was extended out of the prostate, for patients older than 80 years, for high grade tumors and for patients without histological verification. Conclusion The 5-year relative survival rate in the province of Florence is similar to those from other European Registries and the Latina Registry, but much lower than the one reported by the SEER program in the US. Data on histological verification percentage, availability of information on disease extension, and tumor grade are discussed as indicators of the quality of the diagnostic approach in comparison with other registries.

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