Marina Baldi

Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Institute of Biometeorology, Faculty Member

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Marina Baldi, after her university degree in physics (University "La Sapienza" – Rome), specialized in atmospheric dynamics and climatology. Since 1988 she is scientist at the National Research Council in the Institute for BioEconomy, since 2006 responsible for the Rome office of CNR-IBE.Member of professional associations (AMS, AGU, EGU, EMS), past President of the Italian Association of Geophysics, since 2018 she is Member of the Accademia dei Georgofili. Main field of expertise is climate change, climate variability and impacts in the Euro-Mediterranean region and Africa. Scientific coordinator for National and International Projects, she has a wide experience in international Institutions and Universities. Since 2014 she coordinates the training activities of the WMO Regional Training Centre in Italy.Since 2005 she is national delegate in the WMO-Commission of Climatology and member of WMO panels and expert teams.University lecturer of meteorology and climatology, reviewer for scientific journals and for IPCC reports, author of numerous articles published on peer reviewed journals, and of presentations and invited lectures in conferences and workshops.Since 2004 she is working also in communication of science for different audiences, and she always attentive to provide sound comments to the media in case of extreme climate events or when new concepts or results about climate change are publicly debated.

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Papers by Marina Baldi

Linear impact of thermal inhomogeneities on mesoscale atmospheric flow with zero synoptic wind

ABSTRACT An analytical evaluation of the perturbations to mesoscale atmospheric flows induced by ... more ABSTRACT An analytical evaluation of the perturbations to mesoscale atmospheric flows induced by thermal inhomogeneities in the convective boundary layer is presented. The time evolution of these perturbations as a function of the intensity and of the horizontal and vertical scales of the diabatic forcing is studied. The problem is approached using Laplace transform theory for the time behavior and Green function theory for the spatial structure. Results show that the growth of the atmospheric perturbations closely follows the growth of the convective boundary layer; the transient being characterized by a number of inertia-gravity oscillations of decreasing intensity. The vertical scale is determined by the depth of the convective boundary layer; and the horizontal scale is determined by the local Rossby deformation radius. Sinusoidally periodic thermal forcing induce periodic atmospheric cells of the same horizontal scale. The intensity of mesoscale cells increases for increasing values of the wave number, reaches its maximum value when the wavelength of the forcing is of the order of the local Rossby radius, and then decreases as the wavelength of the forcing decreases.

The role of the jetstream on the extreme precipitation in the Euro-Mediterranean region: the 2009-2010 case study

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A hydrological onset and withdrawal index for the West African monsoon

Theoretical and Applied Climatology, 2009

We have developed a hydrological prognostic index, HOWI (hydrological onset and withdrawal index)... more We have developed a hydrological prognostic index, HOWI (hydrological onset and withdrawal index), for the onset and the withdrawal of the West African monsoon (WAM), based on the vertically integrated moisture transport ( VIMT). The regions of West Africa with the same climatological onset (withdrawal) date are characterized by a large change of the VIMT around the onset (withdrawal) date. By analyzing the variability of the VIMT, we determine the extension and the geographical position of these regions, which we take sufficiently large to filter out the fast weather variability. It turns out that the regions with the same climatological onset date do not usually coincide with the regions with the same climatological withdrawal date, the areas with the maximum variability of the VIMT during the onset phase are usually a fraction of the area where the variability of the VIMT is large during the withdrawal phase. This is because the onset has active phases and pauses in time and it is fragmented in space, while the withdrawal is rather rapid and almost uniformly distributed through the entire monsoonal region. When the monsoon moves inland, the rainfall slightly trails behind the arrival of the moisture, and, when the monsoon moves back towards the gulf of Guinea, the moisture slightly precedes the retreating rainfall. In a specific region, we say that the onset (withdrawal) of the monsoon occurs when the moisture reaches (declines to) half of its climatological value. The level of the moisture relatively to its climatological value is evaluated through the HOWI, i.e., at the onset (withdrawal) the HOWI is zero with a positive (negative) tendency. We find that the dates of the onset of the monsoon determined using the HOWI, computed in the region where the VIMT has its maximum variability during the onset phase of WAM, well agree with the dates of the sudden transition of the ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone) from 5 to 10°N. The uncertainty on the onset date is of the order of 2 pentads, which is comparable to the uncertainty on the date of the sudden transition of the ITCZ. We, then, use the HOWI to determine the onset and the withdrawal dates of the monsoon for the period 1979-2004, finding that an early (late) onset usually preludes to a longer (shorter) monsoonal season with more (less) cumulated rain. Finally, we compare the onset dates in the Sahelian region, for the period 1979-2004, with those determined using methods based on rainfall.

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Homogeneous regions in Italy: an analysis of the mean and extreme climate characteristics and their impact on agriculture

Adverse environmental conditions, lasting for several days in a row, can cause stress over ecosys... more Adverse environmental conditions, lasting for several days in a row, can cause stress over ecosystems, humans and animals with a negative impact on crop yield, human health, and on animal production and reproduction, to name few aspects, and therefore leading to severe economic losses. Namely, in the last decades, the enhanced frequency and intensity of summer heat waves in Italy have increased the importance of assessing the damages they cause. Another example is the occurrence of late spring frost causing damages not only to subsistence crops, but moreover for the so-called cash-crops. An example is the kiwifruit production in Italy specifically grown to fulfil the global demand, more than the national market, being the Italian production out of phase with the other major producers, such as New Zealand and South America. Using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) applied to daily maximum and minimum temperature and precipitation and then a hierarchical cluster analysis, based on Ward's method, on a set of 100 stations covering the period 1971-2006, we divided the 100 sites into 8 homogeneous classes. For each cluster the climate characteristics have been analyzed, in order to have a description of the mean climate of the cluster. In addition, we analyzed the occurrence of the extreme events in each cluster, their duration and intensity, and their trend over the last decades. Focusing on the kiwifruit production regions in Italy a first attempt is presented to compare actual/suitable production regions in Italy and similar regions in New Zealand from the point of view of their respective climate trends and variability. Long term trends in agroclimatic indices and results of comparison analysis will be discussed for regions in the two Countries. The study has been partly supported by the Short term mobility programme of the Italian National Research Council, under the sponsorship of the CNR-Agrofood Department.

Mitigation and Recovery of Semi-Arid and Arid Provinces in China

V International Walnut Symposium, 2005

Nonlinear dynamics of density currents in an f-plane, two-layer model with a rigid lid

We study the nonlinear dynamics of a density current generated by a diabatic source in a rotating... more We study the nonlinear dynamics of a density current generated by a diabatic source in a rotating and in a non-rotating system, in the presence and in the absence of frictional losses, using a steady state hydrostatic shallow water model. We produce explicit solutions, analyzing the dynamics as a function of the Coriolis parameter, the Rayleigh friction coefficient, and of the relative depth of the two layers. Results show that the runout length of a frictionless density current in a rotating system equals its propagation speed in a non-rotating system multiplied by the inertia period, and that, in the presence of friction, this length is largest when the inertia frequency is comparable to the Rayleigh friction coefficient, and smallest when the two layers have a comparable depth.

Planetary wave vacillations and storms in the Southern Hemisphere

The planetary flow in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) is more zonally symmetric than the correspondi... more The planetary flow in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) is more zonally symmetric than the corresponding flow in the Northern Hemisphere (NH). In the upper troposphere, the wind is largest in the subtropical jet at 30°S stretching across Australia, and in the mid-latitude jet across the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean at 50°S. The sub-tropical jet weakens in the mid-troposphere, and it is absent in the lower troposphere. In the lower troposphere the annual average westerly wind is confined in a relatively narrow latitudinal band around 50°S (Lorenz and Hartmann, 2001). The zonal symmetric mode (ZW0) dominates the seasonal variance. The mode zero is modulated by two standing modes ZW1 and ZW3, which are excited by the continental topographic features and by the heat diabatic fluxes related to the SST gradients and to seasonal sea-land thermal contrast. Even if these modes are relatively weak (van Loon and Jenne, 1972, Hobbs and Raphael, 2007), they are important, since they dominate the s...

Natural hazards and their Impacts: Auckalnd Region

Heat and momentum fluxes induced by thermawql inhomogeneities

Precipitation in the Mediterranean basin as seen from the 2000-2010 TRMM-3B42-v6 database

This work presents a detailed analysis of 11 yrs of the version 6 of the TRMM-3B42 multi-sensor p... more This work presents a detailed analysis of 11 yrs of the version 6 of the TRMM-3B42 multi-sensor precipitation product (3-h and 0.25° resolution) from March 2000 to February 2011 over the whole Mediterranean basin and surrounding areas including the Black Sea (25°N-50°N, 10°W-43°E). We first discuss some issues in the data set regarding spatial and temporal discontinuities in coastal areas, and further illustrate a critical underestimation of light rains at latitudes higher than 36-37° that somewhat improves from 2007 on and is associated to the absence of coverage by the Precipitation Radar. North of the radar field of view, it seems that the marine coastal band is subject to a significant under detection of precipitation, whereas, on the opposite, the terrestrial coastal band south of 35°N in North Africa and the Near East shows unrealistic over detection of precipitation. We then evaluate the product against rain gauges with a focus on the western Mediterranean basin and the Adria...

Seasonal differences in climate in the Chianti region of Tuscany and the relationship to vintage wine quality

International Journal of Biometeorology, 2015

Climatic factors and weather type frequencies affecting Tuscany are examined to discriminate betw... more Climatic factors and weather type frequencies affecting Tuscany are examined to discriminate between vintages ranked into the upper- and lower-quartile years as a consensus from six rating sources of Chianti wine during the period 1980 to 2011. These rankings represent a considerable improvement on any individual publisher ranking, displaying an overall good consensus for the best and worst vintage years. Climate variables are calculated and weather type frequencies are matched between the eight highest and the eight lowest ranked vintages in the main phenological phases of Sangiovese grapevine. Results show that higher heat units; mean, maximum and minimum temperature; and more days with temperature above 35 °C were the most important discriminators between good- and poor-quality vintages in the spring and summer growth phases, with heat units important during ripening. Precipitation influences on vintage quality are significant only during veraison where low precipitation amounts and precipitation days are important for better quality vintages. In agreement with these findings, weather type analysis shows good vintages are favoured by weather type 4 (more anticyclones over central Mediterranean Europe (CME)), giving warm dry growing season conditions. Poor vintages all relate to higher frequencies of either weather type 3, which, by producing perturbation crossing CME, favours cooler and wetter conditions, and/or weather type 7 which favours cold dry continental air masses from the east and north east over CME. This approach shows there are important weather type frequency differences between good- and poor-quality vintages. Trend analysis shows that changes in weather type frequencies are more important than any due to global warming.

Mediterranean climate and its connections to regional and global processes

1. Publishable Executive Summary

Climate extreme and variability related to forestry land-cover and agriculture land-use changes

Climate Extremes in Urban Area and Human Health: Thesummer Heat Waves

Chernobylsk accident: radioactivity measurement of airborn particulate in the AM/CNR network

The Chernobyl accident

Aerosol Optical Depth in Antartica: The Rayleigh Scattering Contribution in the Uv

Behavior of the Atmospheric Outflow in the Near Coastal Regions of Antarctica on a Climatological Scale

Winter ocean vortex off the Pacific coast of Mexico, satellite observed behavior and theoretical interpretation

Linear impact of thermal inhomogeneities on mesoscale atmospheric flow with zero synoptic wind