Perona, Paolo, Dr.

Personal research interests

Paolo Perona’s research interests concern the dynamic of complex systems e.g., as geophysical ones or involving non Newtonian fluids, and related engineering applications. His background is in fluid mechanics, rheology and time series analysis. His recent studies address the dynamics of river and riparian vegetation, and the hydrology of alpine systems in order to investigate the impact of climate changes on the long term availability and sustainable management of water.

In particular:

i) River and riparian vegetation interactions

ii) Dynamics of alpine basins at inter-and intra- annual scales

iii) Surface water hydrology

iv) Optimization of water resources management problems

v) Mechanics of food and bio fluids in pipes and channels

The aim is to extract the either stochastic or deterministic footprint that characterizes the dynamics by means of both direct (e.g. analytical and numerical modelling) and inverse (e.g. linear and nonlinear data analysis) approaches.

Short Curriculum Vitae

• Master on Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Italy, February 1997.
• State examination for the qualification to the profession of Engineer, Politecnico di Torino, Italy, May 1997.
• Philosophical doctoral degree (Ph.D.) on hydraulic engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Italy, March 2001.
• Research Assistant in hydraulic and fluid mechanics, Politecnico di Torino, Italy, December 2000 – November 2003.
• Academic guest at the Institute of Hydromechanics and Water Resources Management (IHW), ETH – Hönggerberg, Zürich, CH, June – July 2003.
• Post-doctorate researcher, Institute of Hydromechanics and Water Resources Management (IHW), ETH – Hönggerberg, Zürich, CH, October 2003 - December 2005.
• Senior Research Associate, Institute of Environmental Engineering (IfU), ETH Zurich, Zürich, CH, present position.

Paolo Perona is member of the American Society of Rheology (S.o.R.), the European Geosciences Union (EGU) and registered at the Italian Society of Engineers (Albo Nazionale Ingegneri).

Teaching

• Water Resources Management (ETH Zurich, Master in Civil and Environmental Engineering)
• Wasserhaushalt (ETH Zurich, Bachelor in Civil and Environmental Engineering)
• ComputerLab in Water Resources MAnagement (ETH Zurich, Master in Civil and Environmental Engineering)
• Complements of Fluid Mechanics (Politecnico di Torino, Master in Mechanical Engineering)

Research Projects

• ADAMANT: Alpine environmental Dynamics And the sustainable MAnagement of Non-Traditional water uses, Professorship program funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and sponsoring the new Research Group AHEAD ( Open positions);
• ROOTEDNESS: ROOT Erosion Dynamics and the Nonlinear Effect of Strengthening of river alluvial Sediments, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation ( SNF );
• RECORD: REstored COrridor Dynamics, funded by the Competence Center for the Environment and Sustainability ( CCES );
• RIVERINE: RIver – VEgetation interactions and Reproduction of Island Nuclei formation and Evolution, funded by the european framework program ( Hydralab III );
• WARECALC: WAter REsources vulnerability to Climate and Anthopogenic Landscape Changes, funded by the EU program FP7-PEOPLE-IRSES-2008;

Publications

International Journals

• Schneider, P., Vogt, T., Schirmer, M., Doetsch, J. A., Linde, N., Pasquale, N., Perona, P. & O. A. Cirpkae. Instrumentation Strategy for the Assessment of River-Groundwater Interactions in the Context of River Restoration. J. of Hydrol., Submitted
• Molnar, P., Perona, P., Jang, Z., Camporeale, C., Perucca, E., Francis, R. & A. Gurnell. An explorative flume experiment for investigating flow sediment-vegetation interactions. ESPL, Submitted
• Zolezzi, G., Siviglia, A., Maiolini, B., Bruno, C., Burlando, P. & Perona, P. A modelling perspective on hydroecological effects of flow regime alteration in Alpine river systems. Aquatic Sciences, Submitted
• Schäppi, B., Perona, P., Schneider, P. & Burlando, P. Integrating river cross section measurements with Digital Terrain Models for improved water surface modelling applications. Computers & Geosciences, in press
• Perona, P., Camporeale, C., Perucca, E., Savina, M., Molnar, P., Burlando, P. & Ridolfi, L. (2009) Modelling river and riparian vegetation interactions and related importance for sustainable ecosystem management. Aquatic Sciences, 71: 266-278;
• Jiang, Z., Perona, P., Molnar, P., Francis, R. & Burlando, P. (2009) An experimental comparison of silica gel and quartz sand grains as sediment media for growing vegetation at the laboratory scale. Aquatic Sciences, 71: 350-355;
• Perona, P., Molnar, P., Savina, M. & Burlando, P. (2009) An observation-based stochastic model for sediment and vegetation dynamics in the floodplain of an Alpine braided river. Water Resour. Res. , 45, W09418, doi:10.1029/2008WR007550;
• Perona, P., Molnar, P., Savina, M. & Burlando, P. (2008) Stochastic sediment-vegetation dynamics in an Alpine braided river. IAHS Red Books, 325: 266-274;
• Perona, P. & Burlando, P. (2008) Mechanistic interpretation of Alpine glacierized environments: Part 1. Model formulation and related dynamical properties. Advances in Water Resources, 31 (7): 937-947;
• Perona, P., N. Pasquale & Molnar, D. (2008) Mechanistic interpretation of Alpine glacierized environments: Part 2. Hydrologic interpretation and model coefficients identification on case study. Advances in Water Resources, 31 (7): 948-961;
• Molnar, P., Favre, V., Perona, P., Burlando, P. & Ruf, W. (2008) Floodplain forest dynamics in a hydrologically altered mountain river. Peckiana, 5:17-24;
• Ruf, W., Foglia, L., Perona, P., Molnar, P., Faeh, R. & Burlando, P. (2008) Modeling the interaction between groundwater and river flow in an active alpine floodplain ecosystem. Peckiana, 5:6-16;
• Foglia, L., Mehl, S.W., Hill, M.C., Perona, P. & Burlando, P. (2007). Testing alternative groundwater models using crossvalidation and other methods. Ground Water, 45 (5):627-641;
• Perona, P., Castellino, L., and Sordo, S. (2007). Influence of the dehydration-rehydration process on the rheological properties of liquid fruit foods. J. Cen. Sth. Univ. Tech., 14 (1): 488-492;
• Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. (2007) A stochastic process for the interannual snow storage and melting dynamics. Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmosphere, 112, D08107, doi:10.129/2006JD007798;
• Camporeale, C., Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. (2007) Hierarchy of linear models for meandering rivers and related morphodynamic processes. Reviews of Geophysics, 45, RG1001 doi:10.129/2005RG000185;
• Balmforth, N. J., Craster, R., Perona, P., Rush, A. & Sassi, R. (2007) Viscoplastic dam-break and the Bostwick consistometer. Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics, 142, 63-78;
• Alfieri, L., Perona, P. & Burlando, P. (2006) Optimal water allocation for an alpine hydropower system under changing scenarios. Water Resources Management, 20, 761-778;
• Perona, P. (2005) Bostwick degree and rheological properties: an up-to-date viewpoint. Applied Rheology, 15 (4), 218-229;
• Camporeale, C., Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. (2005) On the long-term behaviour of meandering rivers. Water Resources Research, 41, W12403, doi:10.1029/2005WR004109;
• Perona, P. (2003) An experimental investigation of laminar-turbulent transition in complex fluids. Journal of Food Engineering, 60 (2), 137-145;
• Perona, P., Conti, R. & Sordo, S. (2002) Influence of turbulent motion on structural degradation of fruit purees. Journal of Food Engineering, 52 (4), 397-403;
• Yeow, Y. L., Perona, P. & Leong, Y. K. (2002) A reliable method of extracting the rheological properties of fruit purees from flow loop data. Journal of Food Science, 67 (4), 1407-1411;
• Perona, P., D’Odorico, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. (2001) Reconstructing the temporal dynamics of snow cover from observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 28 (15), 2975-2979;
• Perona, P., Porporato, P. & Ridolfi, L. (2000) On the trajectory method for the reconstruction of differential equation from time series. Nonlinear Dynamics, 23 (1), 13-33;
• Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. (1998) A simple experimental equation for the bursting cycle. Physics of Fluids, 10 (11), 3023-3026;

Book Chapters

• Camporeale, C., Perona, P. & Ridolfi, L. Hydrological and geomorphological significance of riparian vegetation in arid regions, in Dryland Ecohydrology, edited by P. D’Odorico and A. Porporato, Springer, 2006.

National and International Conference Proceedings (not updated)

• Perona, P. & Burlando, P. (2006), Reconstructing mechanistic models for alpine basin hydro-climatic dynamics from observed data. Hydrology Days, Fort Collins, Colorado
• Ruf, W., Perona P. & Burlando, P. (2006). Kopplung eines hydrodynamischen Strömunsgmodells und eines Grundwassermodells. Conference on Hydraulics Engineering, Dresden, Germany;
• Perona, P. & Sordo, S. (2006). In-line extraction of rheological flow curves at constant production rate. ISFRS 2006, Zurich, CH;
• Molnar, P., Birsan, M.V., Perona, P., Burlando, P. & Favre, V. Floodplain forest dynamics in a hydrologically altered mountain river. Proceedings of the International Symposium Floodplains: Hydrology, Soil, Fauna. Görlitz, Germany, September 2005;
• Ruf, W., Foglia, L., Perona, P., Molnar, P., Faeh, R. & Burlando, P. Modeling the interaction between groundwater and river flow in an active alpine floodplain ecosystem. Proceedings of the International Symposium Floodplains: Hydrology, Soil, Fauna. Görlitz, Germany, September 2005
• Perona, P., Castellino, L. & Sordo, S. Some consideration on the rheological properties of rehydrated liquid fruit foods. 4° Pacific Rim Conference on Rheology, Shangai, China, August 2005.
• Camporeale, C., Perona, P., Porporato, A., Ridolfi, L. & Sordo, S. Analisi di modelli lineari della morfodinamica fluviale. Proceeding of the 29th Convegno di Idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche, Trento, Italy, September 2004.
• Camporeale, C., Perona, P., Porporato, A & Ridolfi, L. Sul comportamento a lungo termine di fiumi meandriformi. Proceeding of the 29th Convegno di Idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche, Trento, Italy, September 2004.
• Perona, P. & Sordo, S. Sulla correlazione esistente tra le proprietà reologiche e la consistenza Bostwick dei derivati fluidi della frutta. Proceeding of the 29th Convegno di Idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche, Trento, Italy, September 2004.
• Perona, P. & Camporeale, C. Effects of geometrical constraints on the evolution of meandering rivers. River Flow 2004 IAHR International Conference on fluvial hydraulics, Naples, Italy, June 2004.
• Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. River dynamics after cutoff: a discussion of different approaches, Proceedings of River Flow 2002 IAHR International Conference on fluvial hydraulics, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, September 4 - 6, 2002
• Perona, P., Yeow, L. Y. & Sordo, S. Laminar, transitional and turbulent motion of fruit purees within circular pipes, Proceeding of the A.S.M.E. Congress on ‘Rheology and fluid mechanics of nonlinear materials’, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2002
• Perona, P. & Sordo, S. Proprieta’ reologiche e leggi di resistenza di alcuni fluidi alimentari, Proceeding of the 28th Convegno di Idraulica e Costruzioni Idrauliche, Potenza, Italia, 16-19, September 2002 (In Italian)
• Perona, P., Leong, Y. K.& Yeow, Y.L. A new method of processing the viscometry data of liquid foods, Proceeding of the AIChE2001 Annual Meeting, 7th Conference of Food Engineering Rheology of Foods and Biological Materials, Reno, Nevada, November 2001.

National and International Conference Abstracts (not updated)

• Perona, P. A useful correlation for the Bostwick degree and the rheological properties of yield stress food fluids, Annual meeting of the Swiss Group of Rheology, Zurich 2005.
• Alfieri, L., Perona, P. & Burlando, P. Water allocation in basins with multiple interconnected hydropower plants, EGU General Assembly, Wien 2005.
• Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. Stochastic model for the inter-annual dynamic of the snow storage-melting process, EGU General Assembly, Wien 2005.
• Foglia, L., Ruf, W., Perona, P., Faeh, R., Molnar, P. & Burlando, P. Improved hydrodynamic modelling tools for river-groundwater interaction, EGU General Assembly, Wien 2005.
• Foglia, L., Hill, M.C., Mehl, S. W., Perona, P. & Burlando, P. Evaluation of simulated river-aquifer interactions using sensitivity and cross-validation methods. 32nd International Geological Congress, Florence, 2004.
• Foglia, L., Hill, M.C., Mehl, S. W., Perona, P., Birsan, M. & Burlando, P. A Modelling framework to simulate the dynamics of the groundwater, hydrologic, and ecologic system in an alpine floodplain. Presented at AGU General Assembly, San Francisco, USA, 2004.
• Burlando, P, Molnar, P, Ruf, W, Foglia, L & Perona, P. A modelling framework to assess the impact of streamflow regulation on floodplain vegetation ecosystem. Presented at the EUG General Assembly, Nice 2004.
• Camporeale, C., Perona, P., Perucca, E., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. On the geometry of meandering rivers. Presented at the EUG General Assembly, Nice 2004.
• Camporeale, C., Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. Some statistical quantities for the long-term dynamics of meandering rivers, Presented at the Nonlinear Processes session of the EUG General Assembly, Nice 2003.
• Perona, P. On the correlation between the bostwick degree and rheological properties of fruit purees. Presented at the A.S.M.E. Congress on ‘Advances in materials processing science’, New Orleans, Louisiana, November 2002.
• Perona, P. & Sordo, S. Experimental investigation of laminar-turbulent transition in pipe flow for fruit purees. Presented al 72-nd Annual Meeting of the American Society of Rheology, Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, February 2001.
• Perona, P. & Sordo, S. Effects of turbulent motion on breakdown processes of natural fibers. Presented to the 3rd International Meeting of the Hellenic Society of Rheology, dedicated to Professor Andreas Acrivos on the occasion of his retirement, Patras, Greece, June 2001.
• Perona, P., Porporato, A. & Ridolfi, L. Differential models for the link between precipitation, temperature and streamflow for a glacio-nival basin. Presented at the XXV° General Assembly of the European Geophysical Society, Nice, April 2000.

Technical Relations

• Tournon, G., Butera, L. & Perona, P. Physical model of the water discharging infrastructures of the Combanera dam, Technical report developed for S.M.A.T. and Regione Piemonte, Torino, Italy, October 2002. (In Italian).

Lecture notes, Thesis and Dissertations

• Perona, P., “Lecture notes on water conveyance techniques”, lectures prepared for HYDROAID – Water for Development Management Institute (in collaboration with U.N.O.), Torino, Italy, March 2002.
• Perona, P. “Rheology and fluid dynamics of fruit purees within circolar pipes”, Ph.D. dissertation on Hydraulics Engineering discussed at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, March 2001. (In italian)
• Perona, P. “Reconstruction of differential equations from time series”, Master Thesi, Politecnico di Torino, Italy, February 1997. (In italian)

External links to the IfU

Dr. Edoardo Daly

Prof. Luca Ridolfi

Prof. Amilcare Porporato

Dr. Davide Poggi

Prof. Paolo D’Odorico

Prof. Neil Balmforth

Dr. Peter Fischer

Dr. Y. Leong Yeow

L. Cibrario,mountain hut

Wedding Anna & Paolo, September the 25th 2004