The strip of dunes on the coast of Pisa is home to a major aquifer which helps to limit the intrusion of sea water, thus preventing its spread inland. In the last decade, due to a decrease in meteoric precipitation as well as the reckless increase in the exploitation of surface water resources, this barrier has been significantly reduced, with subsequent repercussions on the environment and on local activities. The salinization of coastal aquifers along the Pisa coastline is related to the procession of the salt wedge (i.e., salt degradation). The problem is serious. It renders groundwater unusable for drinking, unless expensive desalination plants are used. Salt water also hampers agriculture, leading to the loss of profitable crops that are poorly resistant to salinity, to be replaced by less profitable but more resistant ones. This thus results in ecological and environmental problems due to the degradation to coastal pinewoods. Given the potential harm involved, a monitoring network of the aquifer water table was set up by the Department for Environment of the Municipality of Pisa, in order to monitor its evolution. To provide a framework for more detailed knowledge of the phenomenon, and to be made available to users and local authorities, the databases derived from the various monitoring activities need to be univocally and correctly georeferenced. We present some of the issues related to saltwater intrusion, how it can be monitored, as well as the methodologies—Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), LIght Detection And Ranging (LiDAR), and traditional approaches—used to define the elevation of the wells. We assess the level of precision that could be obtained and the requirements in terms of time, personnel, and equipment.

Geomatics monitoring and models of the insalination of the freshwaters phenomenon along the Pisan coastline

CAROTI, GABRIELLA;PIEMONTE, ANDREA;
2015-01-01

Abstract

The strip of dunes on the coast of Pisa is home to a major aquifer which helps to limit the intrusion of sea water, thus preventing its spread inland. In the last decade, due to a decrease in meteoric precipitation as well as the reckless increase in the exploitation of surface water resources, this barrier has been significantly reduced, with subsequent repercussions on the environment and on local activities. The salinization of coastal aquifers along the Pisa coastline is related to the procession of the salt wedge (i.e., salt degradation). The problem is serious. It renders groundwater unusable for drinking, unless expensive desalination plants are used. Salt water also hampers agriculture, leading to the loss of profitable crops that are poorly resistant to salinity, to be replaced by less profitable but more resistant ones. This thus results in ecological and environmental problems due to the degradation to coastal pinewoods. Given the potential harm involved, a monitoring network of the aquifer water table was set up by the Department for Environment of the Municipality of Pisa, in order to monitor its evolution. To provide a framework for more detailed knowledge of the phenomenon, and to be made available to users and local authorities, the databases derived from the various monitoring activities need to be univocally and correctly georeferenced. We present some of the issues related to saltwater intrusion, how it can be monitored, as well as the methodologies—Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), LIght Detection And Ranging (LiDAR), and traditional approaches—used to define the elevation of the wells. We assess the level of precision that could be obtained and the requirements in terms of time, personnel, and equipment.
2015
Caroti, Gabriella; Piemonte, Andrea; Redini, Marco
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11568/759761
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