Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north Italy
In the present study a specific approach is followed, considering the Pesticide DRASTIC and Susceptibility index (SI) methods and a GIS framework, to assess groundwater vulnerability in the agricultural area of Albenga, in north Italy. The results indicate “high” to “very high” vulnerability to grou...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Information Processing in Agriculture |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214317315000311 |
| _version_ | 1797766600053489664 |
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| author | Georgios Bartzas Federico Tinivella Luca Medini Dimitra Zaharaki Kostas Komnitsas |
| author_facet | Georgios Bartzas Federico Tinivella Luca Medini Dimitra Zaharaki Kostas Komnitsas |
| author_sort | Georgios Bartzas |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the present study a specific approach is followed, considering the Pesticide DRASTIC and Susceptibility index (SI) methods and a GIS framework, to assess groundwater vulnerability in the agricultural area of Albenga, in north Italy. The results indicate “high” to “very high” vulnerability to groundwater contamination along the coastline and the middle part of the Albenga plain, for almost 49% and 56% of the total study area for Pesticide DRASTIC and SI methods, respectively. These sensitive regions depict characteristics such as shallow depth to groundwater, extensive deposits of alluvial silty clays, flat topography and intensive agricultural activities. The distribution of nitrates concentration in groundwater in the study area is slightly better correlated with the SI (0.728) compared to Pesticide DRASTIC (0.693), thus indicating that both methods are characterized by quite good accuracy. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to acknowledge statistical uncertainty in the estimation of each parameter used, assess its impact and thus identify the most critical parameters that require further investigation in the future. Depth to water is the parameter that exhibited the largest impact on the Pesticide DRASTIC vulnerability index followed by the impact of the vadose zone and topography. On the other hand, the SI method is more sensitive to the removal of the topography parameter followed by the aquifer media and the depth to water parameters. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:27:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b68f73f0814549dc8a155aedb4d16355 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2214-3173 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T20:27:35Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Information Processing in Agriculture |
| spelling | doaj.art-b68f73f0814549dc8a155aedb4d163552023-08-02T00:24:27ZengElsevierInformation Processing in Agriculture2214-31732015-09-012210912910.1016/j.inpa.2015.06.004Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north ItalyGeorgios Bartzas0Federico Tinivella1Luca Medini2Dimitra Zaharaki3Kostas Komnitsas4National Technical University of Athens, School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering, 15780 Athens, GreeceCentro di Sperimentazione e Assistenza Agricola, Regione Rollo 98, 17031 Albenga (SV), ItalyLABCAM s.r.l., Regione Rollo 98, 17031 Albenga (SV), ItalyTechnical University Crete, School of Mineral Resources Engineering, 73100 Chania, GreeceTechnical University Crete, School of Mineral Resources Engineering, 73100 Chania, GreeceIn the present study a specific approach is followed, considering the Pesticide DRASTIC and Susceptibility index (SI) methods and a GIS framework, to assess groundwater vulnerability in the agricultural area of Albenga, in north Italy. The results indicate “high” to “very high” vulnerability to groundwater contamination along the coastline and the middle part of the Albenga plain, for almost 49% and 56% of the total study area for Pesticide DRASTIC and SI methods, respectively. These sensitive regions depict characteristics such as shallow depth to groundwater, extensive deposits of alluvial silty clays, flat topography and intensive agricultural activities. The distribution of nitrates concentration in groundwater in the study area is slightly better correlated with the SI (0.728) compared to Pesticide DRASTIC (0.693), thus indicating that both methods are characterized by quite good accuracy. Sensitivity analysis was also performed to acknowledge statistical uncertainty in the estimation of each parameter used, assess its impact and thus identify the most critical parameters that require further investigation in the future. Depth to water is the parameter that exhibited the largest impact on the Pesticide DRASTIC vulnerability index followed by the impact of the vadose zone and topography. On the other hand, the SI method is more sensitive to the removal of the topography parameter followed by the aquifer media and the depth to water parameters.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214317315000311AgricultureAlbengaDRASTICGroundwater vulnerabilityNitrate |
| spellingShingle | Georgios Bartzas Federico Tinivella Luca Medini Dimitra Zaharaki Kostas Komnitsas Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north Italy Information Processing in Agriculture Agriculture Albenga DRASTIC Groundwater vulnerability Nitrate |
| title | Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north Italy |
| title_full | Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north Italy |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north Italy |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north Italy |
| title_short | Assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north Italy |
| title_sort | assessment of groundwater contamination risk in an agricultural area in north italy |
| topic | Agriculture Albenga DRASTIC Groundwater vulnerability Nitrate |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2214317315000311 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT georgiosbartzas assessmentofgroundwatercontaminationriskinanagriculturalareainnorthitaly AT federicotinivella assessmentofgroundwatercontaminationriskinanagriculturalareainnorthitaly AT lucamedini assessmentofgroundwatercontaminationriskinanagriculturalareainnorthitaly AT dimitrazaharaki assessmentofgroundwatercontaminationriskinanagriculturalareainnorthitaly AT kostaskomnitsas assessmentofgroundwatercontaminationriskinanagriculturalareainnorthitaly |