Field Installations Italy

During a field visit in September 2018 it was recognized that new measurement installations were required in the Capodifume Karst Catchment, close to Salerno.

Installations were completed during a field campaign in March 2019, in conjunction with project partners from the University of Naples Federico II. Two weather stations, five rain gauges and three soil moisture sensors were installed across the karstified recharge area, which spans approximately 85 km2. A multi-parameter sensor, measuring temperature, turbidity, pH value, pressure and electrical conductivity, was installed in the Capodifume Spring, which is the main discharge of the aquifer. Thus the response of the karst catchment discharge to recharge events can be observed. Characteristics of surface runoff will also be monitored in a number of valleys in the catchment using combined electrical conductivity, temperature, and depth sensors. Readings from the continuously recording dataloggers described above will be complemented by regular manual discharge measurements at a weir downstream of the Capodifume Spring.

The data collected will be used to classify the karst catchment and gain knowledge of the aquifer behaviour. The transfer of the results from the study side in Israel to other catchments and the Mediterranean area will be validated using these data.

Field Investigation

In September 2018 a group of project partners from TU Berlin and the University of Goettingen visited the Alento River Catchment field site in Italy, close to Salerno. The Alento Catchment is one of the areas that will be used as transfer region – the findings of the Western Mountain Aquifer will be transferred to these regions, and vice versa.

Together with the project partners from the University of Naples Federico II, the catchment was reinspected and its applicability for the current study was reviewed. It was noted that in the existing observation zones in the catchment, recharge is captured exclusively through flysch soils.

In order to augment the characterization of the area, it was new instrumentation will be installed in a karstified carbonate ridge nearby. A further field investigation has been planned for October, during which the first instrumentation in the new observation area will be installed. By instrumenting the carbonate aquifer a comprehensive set of field data will be collected, allowing interpretation of the response of different hydrogeological systems within the Alento Area to meteorological events.