Hydroclimatic interconnection between the Alps and the Italian agriculture

 

Mountain regions play a major role in the hydrological cycle and in sustaining downstream water resources. The link between mountain regions and lowland areas, however, is not limited to the supply of seasonal meltwater but expands to atmospheric moisture exchanges that contribute to local precipitation.

While the connection between the Alps and downstream agricultural land has been widely studied from the riverine perspective, studies on the atmospheric interconnection are still few. This study addresses this knowledge gap by investigating the bidirectional moisture exchange between the Alps and the agricultural areas of the Pianura Padana. In doing so we pay particular attention to the geographical distribution of sources and sinks highlighting the locally unbalanced water supply, giving rise to a “moisture-hopping” mechanism and potential pathway for drought propagation.

Moisture fluxes are quantified using the water vapor tracking model UTrack applied to a climatological mean year for the period 2008–2017. Due to the spatial variability and the critical role of local factors in shaping ET within the alpine environment, we coupled UTrack with the high-resolution ERA5-Land dataset. This combined framework allows for a detailed assessment of atmospheric moisture pathways and estimates the hydrological interdependencies between alpine regions and downstream agricultural systems.