Seminars

SEE on YOUTUBE

Abstract

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into the atmosphere by natural and anthropogenic sources play a key role in atmospheric processes. They can react with atmospheric oxidants leading to secondary organic aerosols and tropospheric ozone, with effects on human health and climate.

With this seminar, I would like to show you the current understanding on VOC composition and their reactivity using some of the results I obtained from ~10 years of field research in different outdoor and indoor environments. Particularly, I will show you the reactive VOC influencing the air chemistry in sites having different characteristics such as the Mediterranean basin, the Amazonian rainforest, and the occupied indoor environment. Finally, I will present some preliminary results from my current work at CNR-ISAC within ITINERIS/PNRR about the VOC characterizing the urban air of Milan.

Short bio

Dr Nora Zannoni is a research scientist at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISAC). She was awarded her PhD in Atmospheric Chemistry at the University of Paris XI, with a thesis on field observations of OH reactivity with mass spectrometry in the Mediterranean region. She worked as a post-doc at the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry where she joined the Amazonian Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) project conducting field research on volatile organic compounds emissions from the Amazonian rainforest. She also applied her knowledge in atmospheric chemistry to study how people influence the air chemistry in occupied indoor environments. More recently she became member of the Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure (ACTRIS) for which she investigates the precursors of aerosols in the polluted area of the Italian Po Valley -Monte Cimone. Her research interest is to understand the sources and sinks of volatile organic compounds (VOC) through field work in diverse environments, including forests, polluted areas and the indoor environment.

Link

https://meet.goto.com/535045589

SEE on YOUTUBE channel

Abstract

Carbonaceous aerosols have drawn increasing attention in scientific research because of their effects on both climate and human health. In particular, Black carbon (BC) is currently an issue, both at local and global scale; despite being a minor particulate mass fraction only, it has the second largest positive radiative forcing after CO2; it is a primary pollutant, emitted mainly from anthropogenic combustion sources (industrial emissions, road transport, domestic heating). Organic carbon (OC) predominantly contributes to particulate matter mass concentrations; it has both primary and secondary origin, coming from anthropogenic (combustion processes) and natural (sea-spray, biogenic emissions) sources. Recently, the scientific community has addressed Brown Carbon (BrC), which is a light-absorbing organic compound, of which the characteristics are still largely unknown. Understanding properties of different carbonaceous fractions, quantify relative natural and anthropogenic source contributions, harmonize measurements methods needs extensive research. 

Long-term measurements at ECO site allowed: trend analysis of carbonaceous fractions (EC, OC, eBC) at the same site; an extensive inter-comparison study comparing two filter-based methods, that provide EC mass defined through the EUSAAR2 thermal-optical protocol and eBC (from MAAP) and, recently, also with online data from AE33 Aethalometer and TCA data.

During the seminar, the main results of studies focused on carbonaceous aerosol characterization and comparability of different measurement techniques will be presented, as well as future works to be conducted in the framework of the ITINERIS project.

Short bio

Eva Merico is a research scientist at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate of the Italian National Research Council (CNR-ISAC), in Lecce. Since her PhD, her research interests have been focused on chemical and physical characterization of atmospheric aerosol, applying different methods and statistical approaches, to investigate aspects related to air quality and evaluation of source contribution. In detail, the main experimental activities included: data acquisition of gaseous pollutants and particulate matter in various field campaigns, thermo-optical determination of elemental and organic carbon (EC and OC), metal content analysis by XRF technique. Recently, ongoing work consists in investigation of comparability and harmonization of offline and online carbonaceous aerosol measurements, from different instruments operating at ECO site in Lecce.
E. Merico co-authored 24 publications (indexed SCOPUS and/or Web of Science) and almost 40 abstracts in national and international conferences.

Link

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/932307501

Abstract

The webinar is focused on economic and ethical sustainability of scientific communication in the scholarly context. 
Current research assessment systems risk to be an obstacle to open access by default at more than 20 years after Berlin Declaration.

The goal is provide researchers with the tools to:

- responsibly manage the results of their research,
- recognize different venues of publishing avoiding predatory journals,
- act open science practices as an antidote to bad science.

Short bio

Librarian at University of Parma since 2001, istitutional repository manager, her activities deal with university's research monitoring and bibliometric consulting, training in courses on scholarly communication and open access. 

Link

https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/932307501

Abstract

I will present a new method for predicting future sub-hourly precipitation extremes based on our physical understanding of the processes. After a background on the measures of extreme precipitation required by hydrologists and decision makers, I will present the TEmperature-dependent Non-Asymptotic statistical model for eXtreme return levels (TENAX). I will discuss the theory behind the model and show that it can reproduce extremes with the same accuracy as the benchmark statistical methods. I will show that the model reproduces known properties of the extreme precipitation-temperature scaling relation for which it was not explicitly designed. In hindcast, I will demonstrate that TENAX can predict “future” unseen sub-hourly precipitation extremes only based on projections of daily temperatures. I will close showing example applications of the model to real study cases.
The seminar aims at fostering the discussion with the experts of atmospheric sciences in the institute, with the idea of improving the TENAX model (or disproving it and move toward new perspectives) and potentially establishing new collaborations.

Short bio
Dr. Francesco Marra graduated in Physics at the University of Bologna and got his PhD in Hydrology at the University of Padova. He was Postdoc and Research Associate at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel) and then Researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate (CNR). He is now Assistant Professor of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Padova.
His scientific contributions lie in the interface of atmospheric physics, hydrology, geomorphology, climatology and climate change, with special focus on hydrometeorological extremes and related hazards. He is currently interested in the statistical description of extreme precipitation and in its relation with the underlying physical processes.

Link
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/932307501

WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE (ITALIAN)

Abstract

An overview is made of the sea level rise and the flooding storm surges, named ‘acqua alta’ (AA) that occurred in Venice over the last seven centuries. Since 1871, the sea level and surge data are provided by tide gauges. In the previous period, documentary and proxy data are used, i.e.: (i) manuscripts and other written sources; (ii) visual arts, i.e. accurate paintings made by Canaletto and Bellotto (18th century) with the help of the ‘camera obscura’, which report a biological indicator of the high tide level, i.e. the belt of green algae, named ‘comune marino’ (CM); a similar painting by Veronese, dating 1571; (iii) measuring the submersion depth of the lowest step of water stairs that was originally conceived to be above the CM level, to allow people to use it when they got off the boat. The historical AA are also analyzed, and the 1966 depth was frequently reached. The record shows that the frequency and depth of the AA are related to the exchange of water between the lagoon and the sea, occurring across the lagoon inlets.

Suggested literature

• Camuffo D., Sturaro G., (2003). Sixty-cm submersion of Venice discovered thanks to Canaletto’s paintings. Climatic Change, 58, 333-343. DOI: 10.1023/A:1023902120717
• Camuffo D., Bertolin C., Schenal P., (2017). A novel Proxy and the Sea Level Rise in Venice, Italy, from 1350 to 2014, Climatic Change 143(1), 73-86. DOI 10.1007/s10584-017-1991-3
• Camuffo D., (2021). Four centuries of documentary sources concerning the sea level rise in Venice. Climatic Change 167, 54, 1-16 DOI: 10.1007/s10584-021-03196-9
• Camuffo D., (2022) A discussion on sea level rise, rate ad acceleration. Venice as a case study. Environmental Earth Sciences 81(349), 1-13. DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-1073418/v1
• Camuffo D., (2023). The ‘Treatise on Waters’ by Cornaro (1560) and a quantitative assessment of the historical sea surges ‘Acqua Alta’ in Venice. Climatic Change, 176(18), 1-20. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-023-03492-6
• Camuffo D., (2023).  The Gondola: a boat to respond to the history and the morpho-dynamics of the Venice Lagoon. Méditerranée, Varia,1-77. DOI: 10.4000/mediterranee.14364

During my studies in chemistry at the University of Pavia, I have shown interest in the role of anthropogenic pollutants in the environment. Since then, this interest evolved and brought me to undertake a PhD on the role of black carbon in the climatic system between the University of Grenoble in France and the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. With various postdoctoral experiences between France and Germany, I investigated the presence of black carbon particles in the Arctic, and its interaction with radiation and clouds, making use of ground and airborne observations (Alfred Wegener Institute, DE) and chamber simulations (Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques, FR; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, DE). Recently the ITINERIS project gave me the chance to explore the relationship between black carbon particles and atmospheric dynamics, using long-term observations conducted at the Monte Cimone. In the frame of the ITINERIS seminars, I will present my past work and discuss my current research activities at the Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate in Bologna.

https://www.isac.cnr.it/en/users/marco-zanatta

Collegamento per partecipazione online
https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/932307501

Giovedì 12 gennaio 2023, a partire dalle 10, si terrà il webinar "Inquinanti emergenti: il black carbon e i rischi per la salute" organizzato dal Centro regionale qualità dell'aria dell'ARPA Lazio

Gli interventi tecnici, tenutoi da esperti dell'ARPA, del DEP Lazio (Dipartimento di Epidemiologia del Servizio sanitario regionale del Lazio) e del CNR (Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche) affronteranno il tema sia dal punto di vista ambientale (in particolare per quanto riguarda le modalità di monitoraggio) che da quello sanitario.

La partecipazione è libera e gratuita, ma per iscriversi è necessario registrarsi attraverso la piattaforma Eventbrite a questo indirizzo: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/biglietti-inquinanti-emergenti-il-black-carbon-e-i-rischi-per-la-salute-webinar-500029641117

Di seguito il programma dell'evento 

10:00

Saluti introduttivi

10:15 - 11:30: Interventi tecnici

• "Il monitoraggio del Black carbon"
• Donatella Occhiuto (ARPA Lazio)
• "Black carbon ed effetti sulla salute" Manuela Desario (DEP Lazio)
• "Nuove metriche per il materiale particolato: il Black carbon a Roma” F. Costabile, L. Marinelli, G. Di lulio (CNR)

11.30-12:00:

Discussione e conclusioni

Abstract . Societies are still vulnerable to severe weather and related consequences such as flooding, landslides or wildfires. Thunderstorms represent one of meteorological hazards and despite the fact that a lot of researchers’ attention is paid to them for tens of years, the knowledge has not been completed yet.
Our team tries to better understand the processes related to cloud electrification using tools of numerical modeling and observations. The numerical modeling aims at explicit modeling of cloud electrification and lightning in the frame of a research cloud model WISCDYMM-II. Most of the observations we use for our investigations come from our observatory Milešovka, which is located at a hill in northern part of Czechia in Central Europe (837 m ASL). In addition to standard meteorological data, the observatory is equipped with two radars: (i) Ka-band cloud profiler and (ii) X-band weather radar.

remote link: https://global.gotomeeting.com/join/932307501

Part 1: Microscopic observations of core‐shell particle structure and implications for atmospheric aerosol remote sensing.

This work is dedicated to (i) study of physicochemical properties and mixing state of individual particles (with particularity on coated particles) by means of analytical scanning and transmission electron microscopy for aerosols collected during episodes of elevated aerosol loading; (ii) analysis of the effect of microphysical properties on optical characteristics as measured and retrieved by remote sensing; and (iii) investigation of possible parameterization of aerosol composition and structure in remote sensing algorithms.

Part 2: On-line detection of non-anthropogenic air pollution

The spectral absorption of mineral dust is analyzed by a novel method, consisting of two on-line 7-wavelengths Aetohalometer (AE33; Aerosol d.o.o., Slovenia), one measuring with a PM1 inlet for the aerosol fine fraction and a second one equipped with a high-volume virtual impactor (VI) to concentrate the aerosol coarse fraction. By subtracting the PM1 contribution from the VI measurements and normalizing to the enhancement factor, one can get the optical absorption of mineral dust. The Absorption Angstrom Exponent of coarse particles varies as a function of their source region and shows a strong spectral dependency for African and Middle East mineral dust. Analysis of the data set includes comparisons with off-line filter-based chemical analysis, showing a good correlation with the novel method results.

Part 3: Mapping the spatial variability of aerosol properties by means of mobile systems.

The majority of ground-based aerosols observations are limited to fixed locations, narrowing the knowledge of their spatial variability. In order to overcome this issue, several systems have been developed to explore the aerosol vertical and spatial variability. These systems can perform on-road mobile measurements, by means of vehicles, UAVs, and research vessels boarding scientific instruments.

Unga Florin's CV: https://www.isac.cnr.it/sites/default/files/curricula/FlorinUnga_CV_2022_0.pdf

SEE IT ON YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/qsNXgxZK1iw

Nel seminario verrà fornita un'overview sul podcast come strumento di comunicazione della scienza, con un'ottica rivolta in particolare agli istituti di ricerca. Verranno illustrate anche una serie di case histories e best practices per fornire elementi concreti e di discussione al termine dell'evento.

CV Sara Moraca: https://www.isac.cnr.it/en/users/sara-moraca

RIVEDI su YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/mcUg6qOtRgE