The Arborea plain (Sardinia – Italy) nitrate pollution evaluation

Abstract

In this paper three different methods have been described and applied to evaluate the nitrate contamination from agricultural practices in a study area located in the Nitrate Vulnerable Zone (NVZ) of the Arborea plain (Sardinia - Italy). Potential risk of contamination and concentration of nitrate pollution in groundwater has been estimated by using respectively Parametric and both Numerical and Artificial Neural Networks methods. Parametric methods consider the combination of intrinsic aquifer vulnerability to contamination index (SINTACS) and agricultural nitrates hazard index (IPNOA). The transport numerical model is based on flow model, obtained with Three Dimensional Finite Difference Groundwater Flow Model (MODFLOW), and it is made applying 3D Multi Species Transport Model (MT3D). Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are used for the estimation of the nitrate concentration in monitoring well.