La diminuzione del trasporto torbido nei fiumi italiani tra il periodo prebellico e quello attuale

The decrease of suspended loads in Italian rivers, between pre-war period and the present one

Abstract

An introduction about the decrease of rainfall and runoff of italian rivers and the possibility to apply the Fournier’s method to find the unit river transport sediments in suspension in Italy have been debated. Many pluviometrical stations, set out uniformly in Italy, were used to apply the Fournier’s pluviometrical coefficient (p²/P). The linear correlation between p^2/P and t/km² for the river transport sediment in suspension stations, present in Italy until 1944, has been also computed and applied to the pluviometrical stations. So a map which illustrates the classes of river transport sediment in suspension has been constructed and, with a planimeter, the total one calculated, so the average erosion index has been also estimated. The same procedure has been applied to the post-war period, until 1973, and a considerable decrease (about 40%) of the total river transport sediment in suspension has been remarked.