Third SCALE project meeting in Rome, Italy
Our third in-person project meeting took place in Rome, Italy from 23-26th May 2023.
The meeting was productive with presentations of results and discussions of the work plan. Several partners held talks on their connectivity modelling work for the synthesis in WP4. The topics included connectivity in process-based models, exploring RUSLE-based sediment connectivity approaches for agricultural erosion management, and erosion and sediment transport modelling at catchment and regional level for evaluation and installation of mitigation measures.
Our Italian hosts from CREA arranged a field trip through the landscape of Northern Latium and to the basin of the Marta River, to see how arable land is often separated by dis-connective elements such as hedges. Further, we visited the valley of the badlands (Valle dei Calanchi), which morphology shows obvious signs of erosion and landslides. Two rock formations are predominantly present in the area: the oldest one is constituted by white clay of marine origin, which forms the base layer which is especially subject to erosion. The top layers are made up of red tuffs and lava. The fast mean erosion rate of 7 cm year-1 is due to running water, atmospheric agents but also deforestation. In the midst of the badlands the town of Civita di Bagnoregio is situated on top of an unstable volcanic plateau, which edges are in constant danger to collapse due to erosion and hence it is also known as “the dying city”.
We thank all project partners for the successful meeting and look forward to the next one!
