Within ARISTOTLE-ENHSP Project, researchers of CIMA Research Foundation were in charge for global hydrological risk
The first operative services turn of CIMA Research Foundation within the ARISTOTLE-ENHSP project finished last week. For five days, from Monday to Friday, our researchers made the hydrological forecasts at global level. From the Operations Room, the eye of monitoring and forecasting tool was extended to the entire world.
The ARISTOTLE-ENHSP project aims to support the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), the coordination centre of the European civil protection, providing a system of services about natural phenomena deriving risks. The scientific partners are therefore alternately in charge of the meteorological, hydrological and -since May 2020- monitoring and forecasting. Next to these predictable risks, there is the monitoring for the non-predictable risks, such as eruptions, tsunamis and earthquakes.
“We contribute for the hydrology and in particular for floods at different spatial-temporal scales, from large rivers to flash floods”, says Luca Molini, head of the Operations Room “Franco Siccardi” of CIMA Research Foundation. In these rooms, researchers and technicians analyse data coming from forecast models and impact scenarios for flood risk assessment.
“This process allows ERCC to pre-activate national civil protection authorities for countries which ask for it, in order to understand what kind of contribution they can give in case of a particularly strong event”, says Molini. “Of course, these kinds of processes do not substitute the national civil protection authorities. Instead, they allow the creation of an informative system at the European level, so that information can be as updated and precise as possible”.
During the summer, a monitoring and forecasting phase for fire risk at pan-European level took place. Now the hydrological turns have started. Besides CIMA Research Foundation, the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecast, Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute(Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut – SMHI) and Slovenský hydrometeorologický ústav (SHMÚ, the Slovakian Hydrometeorology Institute) are involved. Each one not only needs to make the forecasts and provide a periodic bulletin, but also care for emergency at the European level. “If a strong event occurs or is forecasted, the body in charge for that week has to monitor the situation real time and in the following days, provide ERCC with emergency reports”, says Molini. “Luckily, these five days lacked extreme events; the worst forecasts are those for the week-end”.