Return to HydroWeb Homepage
Electronic journal of the International Association
for Environmental Hydrology
On the World Wide Web at http://www.hydroweb.com
JEH Volume 9 (2001), Paper 11, May 2001
Posted May 31, 2001
AQUIFER VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT: IMPROVEMENT OF THE NEW PARAMETRIC
MODEL W.A.T.ER.
R. Spandre
Earth Science Department, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
B. Marcolongo
IRPI-CNR (National Research Council of Italy), Padova, Italy
M. Ceragioli
M. Giovannetti
A. Spinicci
Geoidee S.r.l., Camaiore (Lucca), Italy
ABSTRACT
An improvement is proposed for the W.A.T.ER. model, a parametric
model for the assessment of aquifer vulnerability to pollution developed
within the National Group for Hydrogeological Hazard Prevention of the
National Research Council of Italy. The original methodology has been modified
to evaluate separately the ihintrinsic vulnerabilityl of every permeable
layer, which provides a more reliable representation for a complex aquifer.
Insertion of data into a Geographical Information System has made possible
a finer calibration of the weight of the different parameters, through
several simulations and critical analysis of the results. In particular,
the number and distribution density of wells is the most important parameter
in the evaluation of aquifer vulnerability. The modeling time has been
drastically reduced, and more precise answers are given to the public institutions
managing groundwater resources and, broadly speaking, the environment.
Reference: Spandre, R., B. Marcolongo, M. Ceragioli,
M. Giovannetti and A. Spinicci; Aquifer Vulnerability Assessment: Improvement
of the New Parametric Model W.A.T.ER., Journal of Environmental Hydrology,
Vol. 9, Paper 11, May 2001.
CONTACT:
Roberto Spandre
Earth Science Department
University of Pisa
Via Santa Maria, 53
56126 Pisa
Italy
E-mail: spandre@dst.unipi.it