International Mountain Conference (Innsbruck, 14-18 Settembre 2025)
Oral presentation on “Implementation of the Drought Scan framework in mountain basins to disentangle snow-rainfall dynamics of droughts“
Mountain areas are a fragile and crucial environment. In Europe, some of the main rivers originate from the Alps, and several socio-economical activities are strictly water-dependent. However, increasing temperature and intensification of droughts are altering the hydrological cycle. This can lead to decreasing streamflow, groundwater recharge, and reservoir storage, extending the impacts on water availability over time and space, with a lagged effect that is difficult to quantify. Moreover, in mountain basins, drought is related not only to rainfall but also snow. Amount, duration and early snowmelt are key factors, and being able to distinguish liquid and solid precipitation trends could allow for better water management. In this context, the Drought Scan can help to disentangle the snow-rainfall dynamics of drought. Drought Scan is a framework developed to tackle the inherent complexity of drought dynamics through a multi-scale approach. A quantitative assessment of the basin’s water conditions at any given moment is made by three pillars: a ‘heatmap’ of continuous multi-scales SPI-like index for understanding single or cumulative drought shots and propagation along time; a SPI1 Cumulative Deviation from Normal curve for analysing the memory and restoration capacity of the system; a new Standardized Integrated Drought Index to monitor in real-time the severe phase occurrence/ending of a drought. The framework enhances the understanding of drought triggers and propagation, improves monitoring capabilities, and supports water resources management. This study examines several basins of different sizes selected in the Alps and Apennines. Rainfall (SPI), water discharge (SQI), and snow (SWE and snowmelt) trends were analysed using the Drought Scan framework to characterise each basin and to understand if there are common patterns between the hydro-climatic parameters or if one is undergoing more intense variations. The results can help not only for the quantitative aspects of water management, but also in preparing adaptation plans for mountain areas that encourage transboundary cooperation.
Magno R.(1), Di Paola A.(1), Avanzi F.(2), Pasqui M.(1), Cremonese E.(2), Di Giuseppe E.(1), Leone M.(2), Maurer T.(2), Quaresima S.(1), Rocchi L.(1)
(1) IBE – CNR (Institute of BioEconomy of the National Research Council).
(2) CIMA Research Foundation
