Available services and models
Climate-Lab offers a number of services in several field of climate, and water science, and possesses a number of physically based models.
Services offered from Climate-Lab
Climate-lab possesses and is purchasing a network of instruments, some located in Politecnico di Milano (permanent test sites) and others with temporary location in relevant case study sites (temporary test sites). All instruments will be connected in network and data gathered in a proper HUB. In resume available tools are:
1) Tools for non conventional measurements of variables of interest in the field of climate change.
2) Fine resolution measurements of precipitation, stream flows, and sediment transport, and temperatures, ice and snow cover dynamics in the mountains.
3) Measurement tools (optical bands, mm) for atmospheric components measurements (gas and precipitation)
4) Radiometric instruments to evaluate optical-radiative properties of urban and building surfaces.
5) Micro-climatic analysis of green covers in urban environment.
6) Mobile analysers to survey pollutants emissions and concentration.
Services offered from Climate-Lab include
1) Downscaling, and operation of climate scenarios.
2) Assistance for climate based due diligence.
3) Hydro-climatic modeling, and flood assessment also under climate change.
4) Erosion, and sediment transport measuring, and modeling under climate change.
5) Simulation of avalanche dynamics, and avalanche hazard zoning.
Available models for water systems
Politecnico di Milano possesses a suite of proprietary, internally developed models, POLI-SUITE, usable for hydrological modeling in high altitude catchments, reservoirs’ multipurpose management, weather projections/forecast downscaling. The main model is POLI-HYDRO, including several sub-models, namely
POLI-HYDRO. A tool usable for catchment based, spatially distributed hydrological modeling, and stream-flow projections/forecast, and lake/reservoirs’ management. It includes sub-models as
Poli-Snow. A tool for snowpack, and snow melt evaluation in high altitude catchments.
Poli-Ice. A tool able to simulate ice melt, accumulation, and gravity driven flow, in glacierized catchments.
Poli-Power. A tool able to simulate multi-purpose reservoirs’ management.
Poli-Price. A tool able to simulate time/weather dependent evolution of energy/water price in support of optimal operation.
Poli-Downscale. A tool able to downscale locally projections/forecast of climate, in support of hydrological projections/forecast.
Poli-DRusle. A tool able to implement (dynamic) RUSLE equation for distributed erosion potential assessment.
Poli-Aval. A 1-2D simulator for spatially distributed avalanche dynamics, including along-track snow entrainment, soil erosion, wood entrainment.
Poli-Glide. A 1-D simulator of snow gliding.
Poli-Crop. A tool usable for catchment scale. spatially distributed modeling of crop (wheat, maize, rice, etc..) growth, and yield simulation.
Poli-Pasture. A tool usable for catchment scale, spatially distributed modeling of pasture grass growth, and yield simulation.
Poli-Wat.Temp. A tool usable at catchment scale, spatially distributed modeling of water temperature in regulated, and natural rivers.
Poli-HE. An energy and hydro balance model, usable for assessment of thermal and hydrologic conditions ad the urban scale
The POLI-HYDRO model, and sub-models thereby run in MATLAB environment, are intended for use of Polimi, and Climate-Lab personnel, and can only be shared upon proper agreement, in the form of routines in a MATLAB environment.
The POLI-HYDRO model, and sub-models thereby are referenced and adopted in a number of studies, reported in several peer reviewed papers, e.g.
1) Bombelli, G., Soncini, A., Bianchi, A., Bocchiola, D. Potentially modified hydropower production under climate change in the Italian Alps, Hydrol. Proc., 33(17), 2355-2372, https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/hyp.13473.
2) Bombelli, G.M., Soncini, A., Bianchi, A., Bocchiola, D., Influence of climate change scenarios on energy price in the 21st century: a case study in Italy. Climate, 7(10), 121, 2019. doi:10.3390/cli7100121.
3) Duratorre, T., Bombelli, G.M., Menduni, G., Bocchiola, D. Hydropower Potential in the Alps under Climate Change Scenarios. The Chavonne Plant, Val D'Aosta. Water, 12, 2011, 2020.
4) Groppelli, B., Bocchiola, D., Rosso, R., Spatial downscaling of precipitation from GCMs for climate change projections using random cascades: A case study in Italy, Water Resour. Res., 47, W03519, doi:10.1029/2010WR009437, 2011
5) Maruffi,L., Stucchi, L., Casale, F., Bocchiola, D., Soil erosion and sediment transport under climate change for Mera River, in Italian Alps of Valchiavenna, Science of The Total Environment, 806(2), 150651.
6) Bombelli,G.M., Confortola, G., Maggioni, M., Freppaz, M., Bocchiola, D., Modeling of Snow Gliding: A Case Study in the NW Italian Alps, Climate 9(12):171, 2021.
7) Confortola, G., Maggioni, M., Freppaz, M., Bocchiola, D., Modelling soil removal from snow avalanches: A case study in the North-Western Italian Alps, Cold Regions Science and Technology, 70, 43-52, 2012.
Examples of applications of Poli-Suite models