Integrazione di dati meteorologici, pedologici e telerilevati per la stima del bilancio idrico di aree semi-naturali

The estimation of water balance on a regional scale is a fundamental requirement towards the management of water resources of semi-natural or agricultural areas. Recently the research group of IBIMET-CNR developed an operational method, based on the use of remotely sensed data, to estimate actual evapotranspiration (ETA), one of the major terms of the water balance. These estimates are currently combined with information derived from the Soil Database of Tuscany Region created by the LaMMA Consortium, such as rooting depth, soil water capacity and wilting point, in order to predict soil water content. A preliminary test of the current methodology is performed by comparison with measurements of soil water content collected in an hilly area of Tuscany (Barbialla), covered by a mixed deciduous forest. The first results obtained are promising and encourage the application of the method in other areas.