XIII Plinus conference on Mediterranean storms: Disasters and climate change - know to adapt

Since its first edition, in 1999, the Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms has provided a crucial interdisciplinary contribution for improving our understanding of hazardous weather-related storms of over the Mediterranean basin.

The objective of the 2011 edition of the Conference, the 13th of the series, is to provide an interdisciplinary forum for presentations and discussions of our current state of knowledge, as well as motivating new research and applications within the variety of disciplines related to Mediterranean storms and their impacts on people.

Over these last 13 years, the scientific community that contributes to the conference has achieved enormous success in the understanding of many of the scientific aspects of Mediterranean storms. The conference has undoubtedly helped to increase the knowledge about the causes, to improve the modeling and prediction capabilities, to identify the sources of uncertainty, to improve the observation and management of weather-related disasters in the Mediterranean area. This achievement was undoubtedly due to the inter-disciplinary nature of the conference.

We strongly encourage and support then the participation of experts in different disciplines, including: meteorology, climatology, oceanography, hydrology, geology, sociology, economics,ICT (Information Community Technology), decision-making.

Experts from these disciplines will be able to present their own unique perspectives on how to understand and manage storm-related disasters across the Mediterranean basin.

The conference will cover a wide range of topics related to extreme events in the Mediterranean, including: (i) the causes and physics of extreme events; (ii) the possible changes in behavior of extremes resulting from climate change; (iii) advanced techniques of observation; (iv) modeling and forecasting techniques; (v) social impact, information dissemination, sustainable development and emergency management.

Issues to be addressed by the 13th Plinius Conference on Mediterranean Storms will generally fit within one of the following topic areas:

Topic 1: Societal impacts of Mediterranean Storms
Conveners: M.C. Llasat , L. Ferraris , N. Lomarda

Topic 2: Monitoring of Mediterranean Storms
Conveners: E.A. Smith , D. Cripe , A. Mugnai

Topic 3: Diagnosis and Forecasting of Mediterranean Storms
Conveners: E. Foufoula , S. Davolio , K. Lagouvardos

Topic 4: Hydrometeorology and hydrology of Mediterranean Storms
Conveners: F. Castelli , L. Garrote

Topic 5: Landslides, coastal erosion and tsunamis in the Mediterranean
Conveners: F. Ardizzone , S. Lorito

Topic 6: Wind, waves and other Mediterranean storms of oceanic origin
Conveners: L. Bertotti , J. Salat

Along with the conference meetings of international projects focused on topics related to the objectives of the conference will be organized, in order to give opportunity for wider audience to get in touch with the scientific communities that manage these projects.