In line with the objectives of the PE RETURN program, which aims to improve the understanding of natural hazards by refining methodologies for prevention and monitoring and promoting a more efficient use of data and services, the project proposal “APPARE – Analysis and documentation of flash floods for increased resilience in mountain areas” focuses on the important issue of flash floods in mountain and hilly areas, with the goal of enhancing understanding of these events and improving the resilience of the affected territories.
In particular, the main expected outcome of the project is the refinement of survey and analysis methods for post-event reconstruction of peak discharges based on event evidence and topographic data. This outcome will contribute to improving the accuracy of peak discharge estimates, enabling a more precise reconstruction of the hydrological response to these extreme events. The collection of accurate peak discharge data in mountain and hilly catchments affected by flash floods, together with documentation of geomorphological effects, will allow for a better understanding of flood events and their spatial and temporal scales, contributing to the development of an essential knowledge base for mitigation strategies.
Moreover, the collection of data in small, ungauged mountain and hilly catchments represents a unique and valuable source of information on hydrological and geomorphological responses in contexts that are typically poorly documented. A key project outcome will be the transfer of acquired expertise and the dissemination of results to professionals and staff of agencies involved in the management of watercourses in mountain areas. The dissemination of knowledge will help raise awareness among local communities and managing authorities about best practices for documenting and analyzing flash floods and, consequently, for gaining knowledge to better address similar events in the future, thereby increasing the resilience of the affected areas.
The integration of hydrological data with geomorphological observations and connectivity analyses will enable a more comprehensive understanding of flood events, not only focusing on in-channel effects but also extending to hillslopes. This outcome is also closely aligned with Topic 3 of Annex 2 of the call, which highlights the important role played by the interaction between hillslope and channel morphodynamic processes in small mountain catchments.
Furthermore, the APPARE project will contribute to providing essential hydrological data for the calibration and validation of numerical models in small mountain and hilly catchments, which are generally characterized by a scarcity of such information. The completion of analyses of data collected in recent years in catchments affected by flash floods (e.g., the Ovadese flood in 2019, the Marche flood in 2022), together with the collection of new data from events that may occur during the project, will enrich the databases currently available in the literature and allow comparison of new data with past events across different geo-climatic contexts.
In summary, the expected outcomes of the “APPARE” project aim to improve the understanding of flash floods in mountain and hilly areas by providing essential data and knowledge for the integration and/or development of models. This may lead to increased resilience of these territories through improved risk planning and management, as well as through the sharing of acquired knowledge with stakeholders.
