Analysis of lateral sediment connectivity and its connection to debris flow intensity patterns at different return periods in the Fella River system in northeastern Italy.

A wide variety of issues are now being addressed using the concept of connectivity, which has initiated the development of various methods to assess a river's relationship to its catchment. This study tests two well-established methods, the Effective Catchment Area (ECA) and the Index of Connectivity (IC) in the study area of the Fella River in northeastern Italy, to gain an idea of their potentials, limitations and ability to represent connectivity patterns observable in the field. The results show that both methods provide largely agreeing outputs, which widely match field observations.