Daniele Bocchiola

Daniele Bocchiola
Politecnico di Milano | Polimi · Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering

PhD, Water Engineering
Studying water wise impacts of climate change

About

176
Publications
40,307
Reads
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4,278
Citations
Introduction
Associate Professor (Habil Full Professor, ASN 2016) in Hydrology, MS in Envir. Eng. (1998), PhD Hydrology (2003), part. fulfil. at MIT. I have ca. 150 pubs., ca. 100 on peer reviewed journals. I am Associate to EVK2CNR of Italy, member of IGS, EGU, AIGEO, CGI, IGU, IACS. Member of Panta Rhei initiative. Ed. of several journals. Coordinator of Climate-Lab, the 1st Lab on Climate Change at Politecnico di Milano. H-index: 31 (ISI), 32 (SCOPUS), 38 (G-Scholar).
Additional affiliations
May 2016 - August 2019
Politecnico di Milano
Position
  • Professor (Associate)
January 2003 - March 2005
Politecnico di Milano
Position
  • PostDoc Position
Description
  • Post-Doc Scientist
June 2005 - May 2016
Politecnico di Milano
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)
Education
September 1991 - July 1998
Politecnico di Milano
Field of study
  • Environmental Engineering

Publications

Publications (176)
Article
Full-text available
This study compares the ability of two degree-day models (Poli-Hydro and a hybrid degree-day implementation of Alpine3D) and one full energy-balance melt model (Alpine3D) to predict the discharge on two partly glacierized Alpine catchments of different size and intensity of exploitation, under present conditions and climate change as projected at t...
Article
Shallow landslides (SLs) are rapid debris flows slides, typically occurring in the mountain areas, involving the most superficial soil layers up to 5 to 10 m in depth. Damages, and casualties due to shallow landslides are recorded globally, and in literature a variety of models to study landslides have been implemented hitherto. Often times, shallo...
Article
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In this study, we assessed the potential effects of climate change upon the productivity of mountain pastures in the Valtellina valley of Italy. Two species, Trisetum flavescens and Nardus stricta, among the most abundant in Italian pastures, were chosen for the simulation of low- and high-altitude pastures, respectively. We introduced some agrocli...
Article
Habitat quality of alpine river is largely affected by human activity. The exploitation for hydropower, combined with anthropogenic climate change, can alter mountain riverine ecosystems, leading to less suitable hydro-thermal regimes for the fish. Here, we present a new methodology to assess water temperature within a river featuring water exploit...
Article
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Study region Lake Como watershed, between Northern Italy and Switzerland (Europe). Study focus We analyse the potential vulnerabilities of existing water management practice in sub-alpine regulated lakes. We comparatively explore a wide range of inflow scenarios using a bottom-up approach, relying on synthetic alteration of observed climate driver...
Article
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According to recent studies, the past decade was the hottest on record, and climate change is accelerating. As part of the Yangtze River Basin, the largest river basin in China, the Upper Yangtze River Basin (UYRB) plays a crucial role as the primary source of hydropower. However, the UYRB is also one of the most climate-sensitive regions within th...
Book
Protesa tra due continenti, circondata dal mare, attraversata dalle catene montuose delle Alpi, di cui possiede l’intero versante meridionale, e dagli Appennini, l’Italia ha tra i suoi elementi di forza l’unicità derivante dalla varietà di ambienti e luoghi, dalla ricchezza in biodiversità e dalla pluralità culturale, potenziali asset strategici pe...
Preprint
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We develop, and test an energy/water balance model, Poli-HE, to compute surface energy, and mass fluxes between soil surfaces, and shallow atmospheric layers. The case study is the city of Milano, Italy, where we assess Urban Heat Island (UHI). We calculate land surface temperature (LST) under given climate conditions, including different UHI in pa...
Article
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Environmental Flow Assessment is crucial, when assessing the impact of water withdrawal on riverine habitat. Still, standard methods to tackle such exercise are not available hitherto, while several techniques were developed generally to be tailored ad hoc for the considered case study. Here, we propose a multi-criteria approach, usable to quantify...
Article
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Near-surface wind speed is a key climatic variable, affecting many sectors, such as energy production, air pollution, and natural hazard. Lombardy region of Italy is among the European areas with lowest average wind speed, leading generally to low air quality and wind energy potential. However, it is also one of the most affected area by tornadoes...
Article
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This paper presents a validation of outputs from some GCMs of the CMIP6 project when used to assess climate projection and hydrological flows at a catchment scale for the case study area of the Lombardy region (Northern Italy). The modeling chain consists of (i) a choice of climatic scenarios from 10 GCMs of the CMIP6, (ii) the application of a sto...
Article
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The spatiotemporal distribution of snow affects hydrological and climatological processes at different scales. Accordingly, quantifying geometric features of snow-cover patterns is important, providing a valuable complement for snow water equivalent (SWE) modelling. This study on satellite-based morphological analysis originally uses two types of g...
Article
Water withdrawal from rivers is a key resource for agriculture, industry, and power generation. However, in order to maintain riverine ecosystem, withdrawal should not exceed certain thresholds, and normally a requirement is made that a certain amount of water be left in the river, to be assessed via Environmental Flow Assessment (EFA) procedure. I...
Article
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In this paper, we study centennial trends of climate and snow cover within the Ossola valley, in the Western Italian Alps. We pursue different tests (Mann Kendall MK, bulk, and sequential/progressive MKprog, Linear Regression, also with change point detection, and moving window average MW) on two datasets, namely (i) dataset1, daily temperature, pr...
Article
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We mapped flow velocity and calving rates of the iconic Perito Moreno Glacier (PMG), belonging to the Southern Patagonian Icefield (SPI) in the Argentinian Patagonia. We tracked PMG from 2001 to 2017, focusing mostly upon the latest images from 2016–2017. PMG delivers about ca. 106 m3 day^-1 of ice in the Lago Argentino, and its front periodically...
Preprint
Full-text available
This study compares the ability of two degree-day models (Poli-Hydro and a degree-day implementation of Alpine3D) and one full energy-balance melt model (Alpine3D) to predict the discharge on two partly glacierized Alpine catchments of different size and intensity of exploitation, under present conditions and climate change as projected at the end...
Article
Full-text available
Snow gliding, a slow movement downhill of snow cover, is complex to forecast and model and yet is extremely important, because it drives snowpack dynamics in the pre-avalanching phase. Despite recent interest in this process and the development of some studies therein, this phenomenon is poorly understood and represents a major point of uncertainty...
Article
Erosion is a main form of soil degradation, with severe consequences on slope stability and productivity, and erosion studies are required to predict possible variations of such phenomena, also under climate change scenarios. Here we estimated distributed soil erosion within Valchiavenna valley in the Rhaetian Alps, drained by Mera river, and cover...
Chapter
Nowadays, novel water resources management strategies have been developed and applied by borrowing new concepts to overcome the water shortage crisis and balance the distribution of water resources. Therefore, this book has been categorized in four main sections as follows. It should be added that all of these concepts have been integrated into thi...
Article
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Ethiopia is growing fast, and the country has a dire need of energy. To avoid environmental damages, however, Ethiopia is looking for green energy polices, including hydropower exploitation, with large water availability (i.e., the Blue Nile, the greatest tributary of Nile river). Besides other dams on the Omo river, the GIBE family, Ethiopia is no...
Article
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Il calcolo dinamico delle valanghe per assegnati periodi di ritorno richiede come input la defini-zione dell'altezza al distacco. Tale valore viene solitamente valutato utilizzando una distribuzione statistica dei valori estremi, la cui definizione richiede la conoscenza dei valori massimi di altezza di neve per diversi anni. Data la scarsezza dei...
Article
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Si presenta uno studio preliminare condotto allo scopo di valutare alcune proprietà geometriche caratteristiche delle valanghe, tramite lo studio di dati relativi ad eventi osservati. Lo studio riguarda l'area del Bormiese, dove si considerano sei siti valanga di particolare rilievo. Tramite una raccolta di dati derivanti dagli archivi AINEVA e del...
Article
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This work illustrates the contribution of flood risk assessment and adaptation to set up a conservation management plan for a masterpiece of 20th-century architecture. Case study is the iconic complex, internationally known as the National Art Schools of Cuba. It consists of five buildings built in the early 1960s within a park of Habana next to th...
Article
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We present an assessment of climate change impact on the hydrology of the Lago di Como lake catchment of Italy. On one side, the lake provides water for irrigation of the Po valley during summer, and on the other side its regulation is crucial to prevent flood risk, especially in fall and winter. The dynamics of lake Como are linked to the complex...
Chapter
Life on earth descends from water, and water is the lifeblood of our planet. Existence, and prosperity of the mankind depends on access to safe water, and access to water has been the key of any sustainable civilization. All great civilizations have grown up, and thrived around water. Not only water is necessary for drinking and hygiene, indeed it...
Article
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Dissipation basins are usually constructed downstream of spillways to dissipate energy, causing large pressure fluctuations underneath hydraulic jumps. Little systematic experimental investigation seems available for the pressure parameters on the bed of the US Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) Type II dissipation basins in t...
Article
Large amounts of dissolved organic matter (DOM) are stored in mountain glaciers. However, few researches have analysed the optical characteristics of DOM in surface waters fed by mountain glaciers and their seasonal variations. In a pond fed by a glacier we observed simultaneous decreases in the dissolved organic carbon, and increases in both absor...
Article
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In spite of the very large hydropower potential given from the melting snow and ice of Himalayas, Nepal's population has little hydropower production. The high use of fossil fuels and biomasses results in measurable air pollution, even in the mountain areas. Hydropower planning and implementation, in the face of the changing climate, is therefore p...
Article
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Present and prospective climate change will likely affect the hydrological cycle in sensitive areas, such as the Alps, thus impacting water-based activities. A most representative example is hydropower production, i.e., exploitation of water to produce energy. In the Italian Alps hydropower is strictly dependent upon water from snow and ice melt, a...
Conference Paper
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Keeping ISA Modern is a project of Fondazione Politecnico di Milano and other partners aimed at planning the conservation of some of the buildings (Schools) of the University of Arts (ISA) of Cuba, built over a former country club, designed by eminent architects of the time (Vittorio Garatti, Roberto Gottardi and Ricardo Porro), and bestowed with t...
Article
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Pressure fluctuations beneath hydraulic jumps potentially endanger the stability of stilling basins. This paper deals with the mathematical modeling of the results of laboratory-scale experiments to estimate the extreme pressures. Experiments were carried out on a smooth stilling basin underneath free hydraulic jumps downstream of an Ogee spillway....
Article
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Erosion is one of the major threats listed in the Soil Thematic Strategy of the European Commission and the Alps are one of the most vulnerable ecosystems, with one of the highest erosion rates of the whole European Union. This is the first study investigating the future scenarios of soil erosion in Val Camonica and Lake Iseo, which is one of the l...
Article
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The depiction of glaciers' dynamics in the high altitudes of Himalaya and the hydrological fluxes therein is often limited. Although sparse seasonal (snow/ice) melt data may be available, dense precipitation networks are not available everywhere, and especially in the highest area, and the assessment of accumulation processes and mass balance may b...
Article
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Global policies for mitigation of global warming GW will require countries to rely as possible upon renewable, clean energy sources. This includes developing countries, in need to foster suitable life conditions under population growth. Hydropower can deliver such renewable energy, pending water availability and proper management. In central Asia,...
Article
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Pressure fluctuations beneath hydraulic jumps downstream of Ogee spillways potentially damage stilling basin beds. This paper deals with the extreme pressures underneath free hydraulic jumps along a smooth stilling basin. The experiments were conducted in a laboratory flume. From the probability distribution of measured instantaneous pressures, the...
Chapter
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Green roofs are a resource for the city: they mitigate pollution, decrease the urban heat island effect (UHI), and regulate storm runoff. Within a climate change scenario, green roofs might instead become an issue, and in particular, in mitigating UHI at mesoscale level. The aim of the contribution is to define the water balance and thus the water...
Chapter
La fusione e il regresso dei ghiacciai influenzano la quantità e la qualità delle acque alle alte quote. Tuttavia, poche sono le ricerche che hanno indagato tali processi alle altitudini più elevate alpine. Il ghiacciaio di Indren ha subito un forte regresso nell'ultimo secolo, con la conseguente formazione di sistemi idrologici e laghi proglaciali...
Article
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The assessment of the effect of the electricity price on energy production is important when studying the profitability and benefits of energy systems. The demand and price of electricity depends upon societal and economic development, but it is subject to a seasonal, weather-dependent variability, and possibly to long-term variation under climate...
Article
Mountain glaciers can export large amounts of nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) to downstream aquatic ecosystems. To date, however, the number of studies that analysed concentrations and fluxes of N forms and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) from glaciers in the European Alps and worldwide is limited, given the high complexity of data gathering in harsh hi...
Article
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Soil erosion is addressed as one of the main hydrogeological risks in the European Union. Since the average annual soil loss rate exceeds the annual average formation rate, soil is considered as a non-renewable resource. Besides, human activities, human-induced forces and climate change have further accelerated the erosion processes. Therefore, und...
Article
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Greenhouse gas reduction policies will have to rely as much as possible upon renewable, clean energy sources. Hydropower is a very good candidate, since it is the only renewable energy source whose production can be adapted to demand, and still has a large exploitation margin, especially in developing countries. However, in Europe the contribution...
Article
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We here investigated the recent (1976–2014) evolution of the Ararat mountain glaciers, paradigmatic of the evolution of ice bodies in Western Asia and the Caucasus. We gathered ice cover maps, including debris cover from different sources, to depict glaciers’ extension, and its variation under recent climate patterns. We then gathered data of (dail...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Soil erosion is a naturally dynamic phenomenon, but human activities, human-induced forces and climate change have further accelerated this process. As a consequence, the mean annual soil loss rate in Europe exceeds the average soil formation rate. That means soil can be actually considered as a non-renewable resource. Therefore, understanding spat...
Article
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We present an assessment of the potential impacts of climate change on hydropower production within a paradigmatic, very highly exploited cryospheric area of upper Valtellina valley in the Italian Alps. Based on dependable and unique hydrological measures from our high altitude hydrometric network Idrostelvio during 2006‐2015, we set up the Poly‐Hy...
Article
The paradigmatic Dudh Koshi basin laid at the toe of Mt. Everest is largely visited by tourists every year, and yet agricultural productivity and food security therein are at stake under climate change. Agricultural yield in the area recently decreased, and the question arose whether cropping at higher altitudes may help adaptation. We investigated...
Article
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Assessment of the future water resources in the Italian Alps under climate change is required, but the hydrological cycle of the high-altitude catchments therein is poorly studied and little understood. Hydrological monitoring and modeling in the Alps is difficult, given the lack of first hand, site specific data. Here, we present a method to model...
Chapter
This chapter explores the complexity of hydrological processes in the upper Indus basin UIB, where much of the water resources of the Pakistani Indus river are produced from seasonal snow and ice melt, and attempts at providing a picture of the future water resources dynamics, under the control of climate, and cryospheric changes. First, based upon...
Conference Paper
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The recent intensification of climate change, highlighted in the IPCC reports suggests that the latter is likely to have a significant impact on the hydrological dynamics, especially within high-altitude areas, where the coverage of permanent glacial areas will shrink worldwide. In particular, Alpine glaciers are subject lately to rapid down wastin...
Conference Paper
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We propose an experimental setup to measure soil erosion and related it with sediment transport using rainfall simulator on a large plots experimental area. Experiments were carried out in fulfilment of the HERASE project, aimed at investigating the seasonal variations of soil erosion in the Oglio basin, an Alpine and Pre-alpine watershed with an a...
Article
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Hazard mapping is carried out in Italy according to the AINEVA guidelines, which require (i) data driven avalanche dynamic modelling to assess end mark and pressure, and (ii) assessment of maximum yearly three-day snow depth increase h72 for 30 to 300 years return period. When no historical avalanche data are present, model tuning and data based as...
Conference Paper
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Questo lavoro si inserisce nell'ambito del progetto Hydrogeological modeling for Erosion Risk Assessment from SpacE (HERASE) finanziato da Fondazione Cariplo (Grant Nr.2016-0768) e che ha l'obiettivo di mettere a punto un modello per la stima dell'erosione dei suoli nel bacino alpino del fiume Oglio (~1800 km 2). La metodologia di analisi è basata...
Article
We present a case study of a long-term integrated monitoring of a flood event which affected part of the Strymonas dammed river basin, a transboundary river with source in Bulgaria, which flows then through Greece to the Aegean Sea. The event, which affected the floodplain downstream the Kerkini dam, started at the beginning of April 2015, due to h...
Article
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1. INTRODUZIONE La presente memoria, costituisce una rassegna dei risultati salienti del progetto IDROSTELVIO Un network i-drometrico per il Parco dello Stelvio Lombardo allo stato attuale. Il progetto, avviato nel 2010 e giunto ora all'ot-tavo anno di attività, nasce da una collaborazione tra il Consorzio del Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio, l'Unive...
Article
We assess the effects of prospective climate change until 2100 on water management of two major reservoirs of Iran, namely Dez (3.34x10⁹ m³), and Alavian (6x10⁷ m³). We tune the Poly‐Hydro model suited for simulation of hydrological cycle in high altitude snow fed catchments. We assess optimal operation rules (ORs) for the reservoirs using three al...
Article
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We used the Poly-Hydro model to assess the main hydrological components of the snow-ice melt driven Maipo River in Chile, and glaciers' retreat under climate change therein until 2100. We used field data of ice ablation, ice thickness, weather and hydrological data, and precipitation from TRMM. Snow cover and temperature were taken from MODIS. We f...
Article
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La dinamica del Ghiacciaio dei Forni, il più grande ghiacciaio vallivo italiano situato all'interno del Parco Nazionale dello Stelvio (Gruppo Ortles-Cevedale, Alta Valtellina), è stata simulata attraverso un modello di flusso monodimensionale tempo dipendente, che descrive le variazioni di spessore del ghiaccio lungo la linea di flusso centrale. Il...
Article
We computed and analysed the geometry changes affecting an Italian glacierized sector (the Sondrio Province, Adda River Basin). This zone was chosen because i) there is a relative abundance of high resolution remote sensing data covering the last thirty years, ii) it represents an important sector of the glacierized areas of Italy, and iii) it is f...
Conference Paper
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In Italia ci sono circa 4 milioni di ettari di terreno agricolo e forestale a rischio di erosione o frana e recenti stime del Ministero dell'Ambiente (2013) indicano che sarebbero necessari 40 miliardi di Euro per ridurre il rischio dovuto alla perdita di suolo sul territorio nazionale. Il progetto Hydrogeological modeling for Erosion Risk Assessme...
Article
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Water allocation along the Syr Darya River may be affected by climate change. Here we statistically model cooperation strategies, country profits, and sensitivity of cooperation, showing that the hydrological regime affects transboundary cooperation. Climate change in the twenty-first century may reduce glacial cover, and reducing stream flows, dec...