Experimental Hydrological Database for Apennine Basins (DIBA, Database Idrologico Bacini Appenninici)

New monitoring techniques (ground and remote sensing) for key hydrologic variables (rainfall, temperature, soil moisture and river discharge) are of utmost importance for investigating the hydrological cycle in mountain areas. The new technologies (TDR, radar for flow velocity measurement, remote sensing) are attractive for the derivation of spatially distributed hydrological information and they require ground data validation. On this basis, reliable hydro-meteorological networks are essential for the knowledge of runoff generation process and, hence, for both water resources management and hydraulic risk mitigation. The Special Project "Database Idrologico Bacini Appenninici" (DIBA), developed in the NextData CNR program, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, is aimed to develop a hydro-meteorological database as a component of the 'Network of Excellence' for the monitoring of mountains areas and to improve the knowledge of the hydrological cycle. DIBA is intended to provide a useful hydro-meteorological dataset to leverage for analyses concerning the climate and the main hydrological processes in catchments using ground and satellite observations. DIBA is structured as a WEB-GIS platform allowing, on the one hand, a wide sharing and participation of data by WEB and, on the other hand, a better use of data itself by GIS. The latter applies mainly to the identification of temporal-space pattern of hydrological variables and the inventory of thematic maps.