Born in 1958. Doctorate in Physics in 1987.
Senior Researcher, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate,
National Research Council, Torino, Italy
Antonello Provenzale
Born in 1958. Doctorate in Physics in 1987.
Senior Researcher, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate,
National Research Council, Torino, Italy
Affiliations:
ISAC: Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate, CNR, Torino,
GFD Core Faculty Group, WHOI http://gfd.whoi.edu/
email: a.provenzale@isac.cnr.it
Research activity:
Earth System processes and climate dynamics
Research activities are devoted to the development and implementation
of conceptual models of Earth System processes, with particular emphasis
on climate dynamics, ecosystem dynamics and climate-biosphere interactions.
Current research topics include:
Climate-biosphere interactions
and simplified models of climate variability
Living organisms are affected by the physical environment and by climate, and, in turn, modify them,
possibly leading to the coevolution of the physical and biotic worlds. Our research activities concern
the role of vegetation and soil moisture in determining evapotranspiration fluxes and mitigating summer
droughts at continental midlatitudes, the dynamics of the soil-vegetation system in arid regions using
both implicit-space and explicit-space approaches, the role of ecosystem engineers, the use of simplified
models of the climate systems (PLASIM, PUMA, LSG) to study basic aspects of climate-biosphere
dynamics, and the development of simple conceptual models of the coevolution of physical environment
and biota.
Part of the work is currently done in the framework of the PRIN project Experimental
measurements of the
atmosphere-vegetation-soil interaction processes and their response to climate
change of the Italian Ministery of University and Research and of projects on the development of
simplified models of climate-biosphere interactions and of ice sheet dynamics with the CMCC –
Euro-Mediterranean Center on Climate Change. We are involved in the European COST Action
ES0805: TERRABITES - The Terrestrial Biosphere in the Earth System.
Impact
of climate variability on the mountain environment
We study the effects of meteo-climatic variability on the dynamics of the alpine environment,
using empirical, data-based approaches and conceptual models. The focus is on the population
dynamics of selected species (mountain ungulates such as ibex and chamois, birds such as the
black grouse), and on mathematical models of simple ecosystems such as those of high-altitude
alpine lakes. We also analyse the response of alpine glaciers to climate change, and the danger
of flooding events associated with instabilities of glacial lakes. Many of these activities are
pursued in the framework of a long-standing research collaboration between ISAC and the
Gran Paradiso National Park (Italy), www.pngp.it . Part of these research activities are
carried on in the framework of the EU FP7 project ACQWA, http://www.acqwa.ch
and of research and application projects funded by the Regione Piemonte.
Interaction
between fluid turbulence and aquatic organisms
We are interested in the effects of large and mesoscale structures, such as coherent vortices, fronts
and basin-scale circulations, on the dynamics of plankton populations and on aquatic ecosystems.
Another research topic concerns the interaction between small-scale three-dimensional turbulence
and individual plankton cells, simulated as non-neutrally buoyant particles.
Geophysical fluid dynamics, coherent structures and pattern formation
In past years, we have studied turbulence and coherent vortices in rotating geophysical flows,
and the effects they have on transport processes. Part of our research activity concerned the study
of pattern-forming mechanisms (i.e., weakly-nonlinear instabilities of an homogeneous equilibrium
state) as well as the generation of strongly-nonlinear coherent structures far from the first bifurcation.
Specific issues included solitary waves and solitons, geomorphological patterns such as aeolian ripples,
vegetation patterns, coherent vortices, convective plumes and structures in self-gravitating media.
Parallel to research activities, this group is involved in dissemination and outreach actions
including writing popular science articles, contributing to public exhibitions and participating
in the realisation of scientific documentaries. The documentary
Going North: Global warming escape route by Eugenio Manghi (2008)
is devoted to the effects of climate change on the distribution of plants and animals and
to the role of biological corridors. A 20-min version of this documentary is available for
CNR-related events. A 12-min documentary on the population dynamics of the
Black grouse in the western Alps is also available. A picture exhibition with 60 images on
biodiversity in alpine prairies in the western Alps is available for display.
Popular articles and a booklet on climate dynamics are available (in Italian).
1994-2008: Coordinator of the international school
on Fundamental processes in geophysical fluid dynamics and the climate system
held every summer in Valsavarenche (Val d Aosta), www.to.isac.cnr.it/aosta
Lecturer in Atmospheric Dynamics,
Laurea Magistrale in Environmental Engineering of the University of Genoa,
Savona Campus.
Lecturer in Physics of Climate, Laurea in Physics, University of Turin.
Member of the Doctorate Program on Fluid Dynamics at the Politecnico di Torino
and of the Doctorate Program on
Environmental Monitoring and Risk Management at the University of Genoa.
Invited professor at the Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel (1996),
JILA-Joint Institute for Laboratory Astrophysics,
University of Colorado, Boulder, MA, USA (1997),
GFD-WHOI principal lecturer, Woods Hole, MA, USA(1998),
Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France (2006), Universite Paris VI (2008, 2009).
Collaborations:
Most of my work is done in collaboration with students, colleagues
and friends in many parts of the world. To all of them I am grateful.
Main collaborations:
Jost von Hardenberg, ISAC-CNR, Lecce, Italy
Neil J. Balmforth, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Bruno Bassano, Achaz von Hardenberg, PNGP, Italy
Giuseppe Bogliani, Univ. di Pavia, Italy
Annalisa Bracco, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA
Fabio D Andrea, LMD, Ecole Normale Superieure, Paris, France
Silvia De Monte, ENS, Paris, France
Ehud Meron, Ben Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel
Claudia Pasquero, University of Irvine, CA, USA
Maurice Rossi, CNRS, Paris, France
Edward A Spiegel, Astronomy Dept., Columbia University, New York, USA
Jeffrey B. Weiss, PAOS, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
Luis Zavala Sanson, CICESE, Encenada, Mexico
Graduate students (updated 2009):
Elisa Casella, University of Genoa
Christian Ronchi, University of Genoa
Roberta Sciascia, Politecnico of Torino
Ramona Viterbi, University of Genoa
Postdoctoral associates (updated 2009):
Mara Baudena, ISAC-CNR, Torino
Ulrika Magnea, ISAC-CNR, Torino
Sabino Metta, ISAC-CNR, Torino
Publications (from 2000):
Books:
J.B. Weiss, A. Provenzale, Editors, Transport and Mixing in Geophysical Flows,
Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer, Berlin, 2008)
N.J. Balmforth, A.
Provenzale, Editors, Geomorphological Fluid Mechanics,
Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer, Berlin, 2001)
Scientific papers:
2008
A.Y. Kletter, J. von Hardenberg, E. Meron, A. Provenzale,
Patterned vegetation and rainfall intermittency
Journal of Theoretical Biology, doi:10.1016/j.jtni.2008.10.020, in press (2008)
M. Baudena, F. D Andrea, A. Provenzale,
A model for soil-vegetation-atmosphere interactions in water-limited ecosystems,
Water Resources Research, in press (2008)
M. Baudena, A. Provenzale
Rainfall intermittency and vegetation feedbacks in drylands,
Hydrology and Earth System Sci., 12, 679-689 (2008)
N.J. Balmforth, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale, R. Zammett
Dam breaking by wave-induced erosional incision,
J. Geophysical Research, 113, 10.1029/2007JF000756 (2008)
J. von Hardenberg, A.Parodi, G. Passoni, A. Provenzale, E.A Spiegel
Large-scale patterns in Rayleigh-Benard convection,
Physics Letters A, 372, 2223-2229 (2008)
E. Brussolo, J. von Hardenberg, L. Ferraris, N. Rebora, A. Provenzale
Verification of quantitative precipitation forecasts via stochastic downscaling,
J. Hydrometeorology, doi:10.1175/2008JHM994.1 (2008)
N. Ciccarelli, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale, C. Ronchi, A. Vargiu, R. Pelosini
Climate variability in north-western Italy during the second half of the 20th century,
Global and Planetary Change, in press – available online (2008)
A. Provenzale, A. Babiano, A. Bracco, C. Pasquero, J.B. Weiss
Coherent vortices and tracer transport,
in Transport and Mixing in Geophysical Flows, J.B. Weiss and A. Provenzale Eds.,
Springer, Berlin (2008)
2007
A. Babiano, A. Provenzale
Coherent vortices and tracer cascades in two-dimensional turbulence,
J. Fluid Mechanics, 574, 429-448 (2007)
Vegetation response to rainfall intermittency in drylands: Results from a simple ecohydrological box model,
Advances in Water Resources, 30, 1320-1328 (2007)
S. Gabellani, G. Boni, L. Ferraris, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale
Propagation of uncertainty from rainfall to runoff: A case study with a stochastic rainfall generator,
Advances in Water Resources, 30, 2061-2071 (2007)
E. Gilad, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale, M. Shachak, E. Meron
A mathematical model of plants as ecosystem engineers,
J. Theoretical Biology, 244, 680-691 (2007)
E. Meron, E. Gilad, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale, M. Shachak
Model studies of ecosystem engineers in plant communities,
in Ecosystem Engineers: Plants to Protists,
K. Cuddington, J.E. Byers, W.G. Wilson and A. Hastings Eds., Academic Press, Amsterdam (2007)
J. von Hardenberg, L. Ferraris, N. Rebora, A. Provenzale
Meteorological uncertainty and rainfall downscaling,
Nonlinear Processes in Geophysics, 14, 193-199 (2007)
I. Koszalka, A. Bracco, C. Pasquero, A. Provenzale
Plankton cycles disguised by turbulent advection,
Theoretical Population Biology, 72, 1-6 (2007)
S. Calmanti, L. Motta, M. Turco, A. Provenzale
Impact of climate variability on Alpine glaciers in northwestern Italy,
International J. Climatology, 27, 2041-2053 (2007)
2006
F. D Andrea, A. Provenzale, R. Vautard, N. de Noblet-Decoudre
Hot and cool summers: Multiple equilibria of the continental water cycle,
Geophysical Research Letters, 33, L24807 (2006)
N. Rebora, L. Ferraris, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale
RainFARM: Rainfall downscaling by a filtered autoregressive model,
J. Hydrometeorology, 7, 724-738 (2006)
N. Rebora, L. Ferraris, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale
Rainfall downscaling and flood forecasting: a case study in the Mediterranean area,
Natural Hazards and Earth System Sci., 6, 611-619 (2006)
2005
D. Elhmaidi, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale
Large-scale dissipation and filament instability in two-dimensional turbulence,
Physical Review Letters, 95, 014503 (2005)
C. Pasquero, A. Bracco, A. Provenzale
Impact of the spatiotemporal variability of the nutrient flux on primary productivity in the ocean,
J. Geophysical Research, 110, C07005 (2005)
2004
A. Bracco, J. von Hardenberg, J.C.
McWilliams, A. Provenzale, J.B. Weiss
Dispersion and mixing in
quasigeostrophic turbulence,
Physical Review Letters, 92, 084501 (2004)
A. Parodi, J. von Hardenberg, G.
Passoni, A. Provenzale, E.A. Spiegel
Clustering of plumes in turbulent
convection,
Physical Review Letters, 92, 194503 (2004)
A.R. Jacobson, A. Provenzale, A. von Hardenberg, B. Bassano, M. Festa-Bianchet
Climate forcing and density dependence in a mountain ungulate population
Ecology, 85, 1598-1610 (2004)
H. Yizhaq, N.J. Balmforth, A. Provenzale
Blown by wind: Nonlinear dynamics of aeolian sand ripples
Physica D, 195, 207-228 (2004)
E. Gilad, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale, M. Shachak, E. Meron
Ecosystem engineers: From pattern formation to habitat creation
Physical Review Letters, 93, 098105 (2004)
D. Elhmaidi, T. Lili, A. Provenzale, A. Babiano
Stability of two-dimensional vorticity filaments
Physics Letters A, 333, 85-90 (2004)
2003
A. Bracco, E.P. Chassignet, Z.D.
Garraffo, A. Provenzale
Lagrangian velocity distribution in
a high-resolution numerical simulation of the North Atlantic
Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology 20, 1212-1220 (2003)
A. Parodi, K.A. Emanuel, A. Provenzale
Plume patterns in
radiative-convective flows
New Journal of Physics 5, 106.1-106.17 (2003)
C. Pasquero, A. Provenzale, E.A. Spiegel
Suspension and fall of heavy
particles in random two-dimensional flow
Physical Review Letters 91, 054502 (2003)
L. Ferraris, S. Gabellani, U. Parodi, N. Rebora, J. von Hardenberg, A. Provenzale
Revisting multifractality in
rainfall fields
Journal of Hydrometeorology 4, 544-551 (2003)
L. Ferraris, S. Gabellani, N. Rebora, A. Provenzale
A comparison of stochastic models
for spatial rainfall downscaling
Water Resources Research, 39, 10.1029/2003WR002504
(2003)
J. von Hardenberg, L. Ferraris, A.
Provenzale
The shape of convective rain cells
Geophysical Research Letters, 30,
10.1029/2003GL018539 (2003)
2002
C. Pasquero, A. Provenzale, J.B. Weiss
Vortex statistics from Eulerian and
Lagrangian time series
Physical Review Letters 89, 284501 (2002)
A.P. Martin, K.J. Richards, A.
Bracco, A. Provenzale
Patchy productivity in the open
ocean
Global Biogeochemical Cycles 16,
1025 (2002)
M. Baer, J. von Hardenberg, E. Meron, A.
Provenzale
Modelling the survival of bacteria
in drylands: The advantage of being dormant
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 269,
937-942 (2002)
C. Toniolo, A. Provenzale, E.A. Spiegel
Signature of on-off intermittency in
measured signals
Physical Review E 66, 066209 (2002)
D. Anfossi, C. Cappa, J. von
Hardenberg, A. Provenzale
Statistical analysis of three series
of daily rainfall in North-Western Italy
Nuovo Cimento 25 C, 99-121 (2002)
N.J. Balmforth, A. Provenzale, R. Sassi
A hierarchy of coupled maps
CHAOS 12,
719-731 (2002)
A. Longhetto, L. Montabone, A. Provenzale, H. Didelle, C. Giraud, D. Bertoni, R. Forza,
B.
Coherent
vortices in rotating flows: A laboratory view
Nuovo Cimento 25 C, 233-249 (2002)
2001
C. Pasquero, A. Provenzale, A. Babiano
Parameterization of dispersion in
two-dimensional turbulence
Journal of Fluid Mechanics 439, 279-303 (2001)
N.J. Balmforth, A. Provenzale, J.A.
Whitehead
The language of pattern and form
in Geomorphological Fluid Mechanics, edited by N.J.Balmforth and A.
Provenzale,
Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer, Berlin, 2001)
N.J. Balmforth, A. Provenzale
Patterns of dirt
in Geomorphological Fluid Mechanics, edited by N.J.Balmforth and A.
Provenzale,
Lecture Notes in Physics (Springer, Berlin, 2001)
2000
A. Babiano, J.H.E. Cartwright, O. Piro, A. Provenzale
Dynamics of a small neutrally
buoyant sphere in a fluid and targeting in Hamiltonian systems,
Physical Review Letters 84, 5764-5767 (2000)
A. Bracco, A. Provenzale, I. Scheuring
Mesoscale vortices and the paradox
of the plankton
Proceedings of the Royal Society B 267,
1795-1800 (2000)
J. von Hardenberg, J.C. McWilliams, A. Provenzale, A. Shchepetkin, J.B. Weiss
Vortex
merging in quasi-geostrophic flows
Journal of Fluid Mechanics 412, 331-353 (2000)
A. Bracco, J. LaCasce, C. Pasquero, A. Provenzale
The velocity distribution of
barotropic turbulence
Physics of Fluids 12, 2478-2488 (2000)
A. Bracco, J.C. McWilliams, G. Murante, A. Provenzale, J.B. Weiss
Revisiting freely-decaying
two-dimensional turbulence at millennial resolution
Physics of Fluids 12, 2931-2941 (2000)
A. Bracco, J. LaCasce, A. Provenzale
Velocity probability density
functions for oceanic floats
Journal of Physical Oceanography 30,
461 (2000)
J. von Hardenberg, K. Fraedrich, F.
Lunkeit, A. Provenzale
Transient chaotic mixing during a
baroclinic life cycle
CHAOS 10, 122-134 (2000)
J. von Hardenberg, R. Thieberger, A.
Provenzale
A box-counting red herring
Physics Letters A 269, 303-308 (2000)
N.J. Balmforth, C. Pasquero, A. Provenzale
The Lorenz-Fermi-Pasta-Ulam experiment
Physica
D 138, 1-43 (2000)