The
Department of Land and Agroforest Environments at the University of
Padova, through its Water Resources Division, develops education and
research activities in the field of forest hydraulic, watershed management,
hydrology and water resources. Forest hydraulic and watershed management
research areas include sediment transport and debris flow analysis
and modelling, extreme flood analysis, fluvial geomorphology and risk-based
decision analysis, stabilization, rehabilitation and restoration of
torrents disturbed by debris flow and channel incision. Field work
in experimental and instrumented basins (Rio Cordon and Chiesa, Veneto
Region; Rio Maso di Calamento, Trento Province), GIS and remote sensing
technology, data assimilation, and hydraulic modelling are used for
monitoring variability and change of erosion processes and mass movements.
The Department carries out fundamental and applied researches into
the physical processes governing the dynamics of water and sediment
in the alpine environment. The initiation and the behaviour of debris
flow propagation at steep slopes, and the debris flow hazard in urban
areas are subjects of investigations . The assessment and prediction
of volume, run-out , and deposition of mass movements in small basins
of the northeastern Italian Alps (< 10 km2 ) are examined.
With the support of mountain torrent control agencies (Veneto Region
and Trento Province) the design, construction and monitoring of experimental
grading control structures are conducted. The Department, through
its Water Resources Division, has been involved in several EC funded
RTD projects, such as "Instability, erosion and solid transport
on steep mountain slopes", EROSLOPE I project; "Dynamics
of water and sediment in alpine catchments: processes and prediction",
EROSLOPE II project, (ENVIRONMENT Programme); "Ricerca integrata
sulla degradazione dei versanti in territori montani", R.I.V.E.T.
project (EPOCH program); ‘Weather radar and flood and storm hazard’
(EPOCH programme), ‘Storms, floods and radar hydrology’ (ENVIRONMENT
programme), and EUROTAS (Fourth Framework Programme).
