STORM3: a new flood forecast management and monitoring system in accordance with the recent Italian national directive
Abstract. The effectiveness of alert systems for civil protection purposes, defined as the ability to minimize the level of risk in a region subjected to an imminent flood event, strongly depends on availability and exploitability of information. It also depends on technical expertise and the ability to easily manage the civil protection actions through the organization into standardized procedures.
Hydro-geologic and hydraulic risk estimation, based on the combination of different technical issues (in this case meteorological, hydro-geological, hydraulic matters), but also socio-economic ones, requires the integration between quasi-static and time-varying information within the same operative platform. Beside the real-time data exchange, a Decision Support System must provide tools which enable knowledge sharing among the civil protection centres. Moreover, due to the amount and heterogeneity of information, quality procedures become necessary to handle all forecasting and monitoring routines within operative centres, according to the latest national directive.
In Italy procedures on the civil protection matter have been condensed into the Prime Minister's Directive (27 February 2004.
STORM3, an innovative management and monitoring System for real-time flood forecasting and warning, takes in the Directive, supporting the operator step by step within the different phases of civil protection activities.
