Soil erosion under extreme rainfall events:  detecting and modelling using a radar-runoff-nowcasting-system
Soil erosion by water is one of the most widespread forms of soil degradation in Europe which annual cost for agricultural productivity loss is estimated to be around €295 million. 
Under global change soil erosion due to rainfall is dramatically increasing, for the most part because of an increasing of the frequency of extreme, localised events.
This project aims to understand and quantify this effect using ground-radar rainfall monitoring and hydrological modelling at regional scale (Tuscany region, Centre Italy). 
In hydrological phenomena, such as intense surface runoff, flooding, and soil erosion, the spatiotemporal extent plays a crucial role in the development of the processes. This component defines the impact and the evolution of the phenomenon, especially in extreme rainfall events. 
Therefore, an approach directed to refine as much as possible the knowledge of these dynamics is recommended both for monitoring and modelling level.
Using an approach based on statistical analysis of ground-radar rainfall data and modelling, this project aims to: 1) quantify on historical data the spatiotemporal distribution of extreme rainfalls / runoff and soil erosion over the last 10 years, 2) build a platform to model runoff and soil erosion in the extreme events in real-time, 3) acquire data for calibration/validation of the model and implement new methods for monitoring, 4) simulate in real-time runoff and soil erosion issue of extreme rainfalls integrating the current regional-warning-system for extreme climatic events.