• 054157 - HYDROGEOLOGICAL RISKS IN MOUNTAIN AREA [2ND MOD.]

The second module of this course aims at presenting several aspects of hydraulic hazard and risk in mountain environments. River hydrodynamics is coupled with river morphology, that is largely induced by hydrogeological processes taking place in any mountain catchments. The final purpose is that the students achieve a solid theoretical knowledge and the capability to perform hydro-morphologic risk assessment. This objective requires the ability to conceptually transfer natural processes into a variety of models that come from different disciplines and often lack a straightforward sequential application, challenging critical interpretation of the results towards the obtainment of relevant conclusions for any investigated case of study.

Knowledge and understanding

After successfully taking the exam, the student:

• knows the theory of river hydrodynamics
• has a deep knowledge of river sediment transport and morphology, as well as of the principles based on which a river’s shape may be controlled
• knows the processes involved in urban flooding

Applying knowledge and understanding

After successfully taking the exam, the student is able to:

• construct and run a river hydro-morphologic, one-dimensional model
• construct and run a two-dimensional model for urban flooding
• preliminarily design a river control structure

Making judgements

After successfully taking the exam, the student has gained the ability to:

• critically and autonomously parameterize models
• evaluate a posteriori the goodness of the work done, identifying the critical points of a hydrogeologic-territorial model and proposing improvements

Communication skills

After successfully taking the exam, the student has proven the ability to:

• interact with peers for the development of a project
• clearly convey to any audience the conclusions of a hydrogeological risk study with appropriate motivation

• River morphology: modelling. Basics of river sediment transport: sediment properties, bed load and suspended load. Threshold conditions for sediment transport; sediment transport capacity and sediment transport rate. System of the Saint-Venant and Exner equation for one-dimensional hydro-morphologic modelling. Parameterization. Tools for numerical modelling.
• River morphology: control. Design of transverse control structures.
• Urban floods. Refresh of two-dimensional river modelling by the shallow-water equations; parameterization, boundary and initial conditions. Considerations on model application to urban areas. Tools for numerical modelling.
• Conceptualization of mountain hazard scenarios. Different hydrogeological scenarios for a mountain town prone to inundation as a consequence of hydro-geological processes (landslide + dam breaching and/or flash flood). Conceptual separation of processes, parameter transfer from one model to another, requirements for modelling.

The theoretical contents are applied to develop the analysis of a case-study, with strong interaction between group mates and the instructor.

Fundamentals of open-channel flow, one-dimensional and two-dimensional river modelling. These topics are taught in the course of River Hydraulics for Flood Risk Evaluation on the first year of the CERM program.

The student may sit for the exam at any call, provided that a report of the work done during the application classes has been sent in advance for preliminary evaluation. During the application classes, in fact, students are asked to solve exercises and to produce a model quantifying a hazard scenario for a mountain town. Preparation of the report, that is undertaken in groups, is a first step thanks to which the student can do a self-evaluation in terms of acquired knowledge and applicative ability. The report is also a basis for evaluating the students' ability to convey their results in written form.

The exam is oral and involves both theoretical questions and a discussion of the results for the case-study analysis (presented in the report). Thanks to the theoretical questions, the examiner verifies that the requested knowledge has been acquired. The student presents the computations included in the report for an assessment of judgement and communications skills.