Hydrodynamic modeling of the final reach of the Misa River (Senigallia, Italy): model setup and calibration

This thesis is devoted to the implementation and the subsequent calibration of a hydraulic model concerning the last stretch of the Misa River through the use of the HEC-RAS software. Firstly, by means of cross-section data coming from the Civil Protection of the Marche Region survey made in 2001, a preliminary steady simulation aimed at verifying the correctness of the model has been performed. In order to increase the reliability of the model, updated cross-sections relative to Bellolelle and Ponte Garibaldi derived from the Civil Protection 2019 survey, along with flow data retrieved by the use of Bettolelle rating curves and the tidal data, have been used to carry out different unsteady simulations for selected time periods. Afterwards, through the use of digital terrain models coming from the Ministero dell’Ambiente e della Tutela del Territorio e del Mare Lidar surveys, a bi-dimensional model of the Misa River has been constructed, being the data belonging to the DTMs more recent and more detailed if compared to those coming from the Civil Protection 2001 survey. The model calibration has been carried out by acting on different parameters, among which the Manning coefficients, the contraction/expansion coefficients in correspondence of bridges and the setting of both the levees and the main channel banks. Finally, the results of simulated events relevant to different years coming from the calibrated model, have been compared with the data measured by the Civil Protection instrumentation for both the Bettolelle and Ponte Garibaldi cross-sections.