Antonio Piersanti

• Biodiversity Journal, 15 (2): 159-162 - MONOGRAPH

  Ettore Petralia, Teresa La Torretta, Milena Stracquadanio, Antonella Malaguti, Giuseppe Cremona, Giancarlo Papitto, Cristiana Cocciufa, Maurizio Gualtieri & Antonio Piersanti
  “Visibility” at Italian natural parks: preliminary data from the first-ever pilot project by ENEA and CUFAA
  https://doi.org/10.31396/Biodiv.Jour.2024.15.2.159.162

  ABSTRACT
  “Visibility” is meant as the greatest distance at which an observer can see a distant object in contrast with the horizon and, when referred to a landscape, it depends on the optical characteristics of the atmosphere, somehow linked to the presence of air pollutants. Visibility can hence become a useful indicator of air quality and the project Visibility, representing the first case of visibility monitoring in Europe, aims to apply this approach within the Italian National Parks as natural areas with a significant fruition vocation. The goal is to test the U.S. National Park Service protocol I.M.PRO.V.E. (Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environment) for the quantification of a coefficient that describes the light extinction (Bext) as a function of different chemical-physical parameters associated with molecules dispersed in the air, and the Circeo National Park (LT) was selected for the “pilot” action, with the positioning of the measuring instruments for atmospheric pollution evaluation at the Lago dei Monaci site. 24-hours samplings were performed in spring-summer 2021 and winter 2021/2022, to measure the air concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 particulate matter, sulfates and nitrates, elemental carbon and organic carbon, metals and trace elements and the gaseous species nitrogen dioxide, with the consequential calculation of the Bext. The visual detection of the degree of air transparency was performed by a panoramic camera pointed in the direction of the “landmark” Monte Circeo, taken as a reference for the definition of long-distance visibility.

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