Adige Valley Target Area

Operated by the University of Trento and the Environmental Protection Agency of the Autonomous Province of Trento, this site is located about 20 km north of Trento in the Adige Valley in a vineyard. This site includes an eddy-covariance tower, soil sensors (soil temperature and moisture and ground heat flux) and an air quality station (PM10, NO₂, O₃). The eddy covariance tower is equipped with two 3-D sonic anemometers (5 and 10 m agl), one fast gas analyzer (5 m agl), two 2-D sonic anemometers (3 and 7 m agl), four thermohygrometers (3, 5, 7 and 10 m agl) and one 4-channel net radiometer (12 m agl).

The Free University of Bolzano operates the sloping Renon forest station, north of the Adige Valley and the sloping vineyard station at Caldaro, south of Bolzano. The Edmund Mach Foundation operates two flux stations at Monte Bondone (one on peatland and one on grassland) and another at Lavarone (grassland), located either side of the Adige Valley. Northwest of the AVTA are the flux stations in the Matsch/Mazia Valley LTER study area.

A ceilometer Jenoptik (CMH15k) is owned by the Environmental Protection Agency of the Province of Bolzano (the device is presently going to be repaired and upgraded).

The Meteorological Office of the Autonomous Province of Trento (Meteotrentino) and the Hydrographic Office of the Autonomous Province of Bolzano operate a dual-polarisation Doppler C-band radar at Monte Macaion (presently being upgraded, expected to be operational by the beginning of 2024).

A target area on the east-facing side of Monte Baldo will be equipped with instruments to characterize the development of thermally driven slope winds, including turbulence properties, and their connections with the initiation of orographic convection.
Contacts: Dino Zardi (University of Trento).

Investigating the surface energy balance over mountain areas is a collaborative research project between the University of Trento, the University of Innsbruck, and EURAC Research. It aims at evaluating the uncertainties connected to the measurement of the surface energy balance at different sites in the Alpine environment, where processes related to the lack of closure of the surface energy balance are expected to be particularly significant. The main objectives of the project can be summarized in the following points: (i) quantify the imbalance of the surface energy balance at several Alpine sites characterized by different topographic and land cover features, in different seasons and under different meteorological conditions, (ii) determine a relation between the imbalance of the surface energy balance and the topographic and land cover characteristics of the sites, (iii) quantify the role of the advection due to local and mesoscale circulations in the non-closure of the surface energy balance at several Alpine sites, (iv) develop and test an UAV platform for spatially-distributed environmental measurements.
Funding: EGTC European Region Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino - IPN 187.
PIs: Lorenzo Giovannini (University of Trento), Mathias Rotach (University of Innsbruck), Stefano Tondini (EURAC).

Atmospheric boundary-layer modeling over complex terrain is a collaborative research project between the University of Innsbruck, the University of Trento, and the University of Bolzano. The objective is to evaluate the performance of turbulence and land-surface parameterizations in a numerical weather prediction model over complex Alpine terrain and to quantify the model’s sensitivity to potential errors in these parameterizations. Simulations are performed and analyzed for the IVTA and AVTA.
Funding: EGTC European Region Tyrol-South Tyrol-Trentino - IPN 101.
PIs: Manuela Lehner (University of Innsbruck), Lorenzo Giovannini (University of Trento), Leonardo Montagnani (University of Bolzano).