Stima della Vulnerabilità intrinseca di un acquifero: automazione del metodo SINTACS con strumenti software GIS

Luisa Vernacchia (1), Enrico Guastaldi (2), Simone Febo (1) & Francesco Petrolo (3)
(1) Centro di Geotecnologie dell'Università di Siena,via Vetri Vecchi 34 - 52027 - San Giovanni Valdarno (AR) (2) GeoExplorer Impresa Sociale S.r.l., Via Strasburgo 7, Zona industriale di Bomba - 52022 - Cavriglia (AR) (3) LEM S.r.l., Via Leo Valiani 55/59 - 52025 - Levane Bucine (AR). Corresponding author e-mail: luisa.vernacchia@cgt-spinoff.it

Groundwater protection is always a prior environmental concern about water management; for this reason, several evaluation methods can be used to identify areas where an aquifer could be damaged by pollution. In this paper, the assessment of groundwater pollution vulnerability is realized using SINTACS method that was automated with the aid of ESRI Model Builder in ArcGIS software. SINTACS Method evaluates the intrinsic vulnerability using seven parameters: depth to groundwater (S), recharge action (I), attenuation capacity of the vadose zone (N), attenuation capacity of the soil (T), hydrogeologic characteristics of the aquifer media (A), hydraulic conductivity (C), and topographic slope (S). These parameters are adapted to five different weight classes depending on the hydrogeological features (porous, fissured or karstified media) and on impact condition (uncontaminated or urbanized environment). Actually, the real purpose of this project was to accelerate the application of the SINTACS method by creating an automatic model, which every user can set according to his own needs. Model Builder is an application for building workflows, that are sequences of geoprocessing tools, feeding the output of one tool into another tool as input. In details, two tools are developed: a main model called SINTACS Model, realized with ESRI Model Builder (version 10.3.1) and an optional script tool called SINTACS Model – Scenari, created by using Python language and the ArcPy site-package. SINTACS Model produces all the outputs required from SINTACS method, while SINTACS Model – Scenari is able to identify the hydrological features and impact conditions in a specific area. The alluvial plan in Laterina (AR), an italian small country in Tuscany land, was selected as testsite: the results show that data has been correctly processed, filling in a reliable way all the information gaps.

groundwater protection, water managment, GIS, Tuscany.