FOREST HYDROLOGY AND EROSION CONTROL

Held by prof. Marco Borga: part A
1 ECTS: Hydrologic systems. Hydrologic systems and the conservation equations. Climate and hydrologic cycle at the global scale. Energy budget and distribution over the globe as drivers of the hydro-meteorological variability. Climate and vegetation. Water balance and the drainage watershed.
1 ECTS: Watershed geomorphology: river network and its spatial organization; erosive forms of the landscape; use of GIS in hydrology.
1 ECTS Main hydrologic processes. Precipitation and rainfall kinetic energy; Discharge; Evaporation and transpiration; Precipitation and vegetation. Role of vegetation in the hydrological cycle. Forest resources management and their effects on the hydrologic cycle.
1 ECTS: Water in soils and runoff generation. Water in soils, infiltration and redistribution. Hydraulic properties of soils and water conditions in natural soils. Pore pressure. Infiltration: measurements and quantitative modelling. Runoff generation. Land use change and its impact on flood formation.
1 ECTS Runoff propagation and basic hydraulics. Principles of hydraulics: hillslope and channel flow. Sediment transport. Flood modelling.
1 ECTS Flood hazard and risk. Hydrologic statistics. Flood risk management.

Held by prof. Vincenzo D’Agostino: part B
1 ECTS Sediment sources: sheet and rill erosion. The Universal Soil Loss Equation: USLE, use and applications. Gully erosion.
1 ECTS Sediment in the hydrologic cycle. Sediment sources. Erosion mechanisms and their linkages with catchment morphology and environmental conditions. Hillslope stability and shallow landslides: landslide classification. Infinite slope analysis and the role of vegetation on hillslope stability.
1 ECTS – Channel erosion and sediment transport. Incipient motion of sediments. Sediment transport capacity. Lane’s balance.
1 ECTS - Erosion control on hilly and mountain slopes: drainages and soil bioengineering techniques, root contribution, use of geo-textiles, bench terraces.
1 ECTS – Sustainable erosion control and bed stabilization in rivers and mountain streams.