Italian journal of engineering geology and environment

Anniversaries and remembrance

2026-07-21T13:38:04+00:00

Earth Sciences and Engineering Techniques for the development of Southern Italy – Vincenzo Cotecchia’s methodological approach

2026-07-21T13:44:05+00:00

Empirical modeling of salinity intrusion length in alluvial estuaries at high water slack: a regression-based approach using global datasets

2026-07-21T13:46:40+00:00

Salinity intrusion in alluvial estuaries poses increasing threats to water quality, ecosystems, and coastal livelihoods under climate change and anthropogenic pressures. This study develops an empirical predictive model for salinity intrusion length at high water slack (HWS). The proposed model uses regression analysis on 42 observations from 22 global estuaries, including the Limpopo, Maputo, Mekong, and Thames systems. Four regression models (two dimensional and two dimensionless) were derived by correlating intrusion length with tidal range, freshwater discharge, estuary geometry, and density gradients. The optimal dimensionless model, excluding average depth to reduce input uncertainty, achieved a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.9864, root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.5 km, and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of 4.3%, outperforming established benchmarks by 75-94% in relative error. Sensitivity analysis identified width convergence length (Sobol index S₁= 0.62) and relative tidal range (S₁=0.28) as dominant controls, with roughness exerting negligible influence. The model’s unitindependent formulation enables rapid, accurate assessments in data-scarce regions, supporting adaptive water management amid projected 15% to 50% intrusion increases by 2050. This work provides a robust, parsimonious tool for estuary managers and a benchmark for integrating empirical and hydrodynamic modeling in dynamic coastal systems.

Application of water quality index methods for the assessment of water quality in Kosovo, review

2026-07-21T14:05:47+00:00

At a global level, there is concern about the quality of water used for drinking, food preparation, irrigation, aquatic fauna and other components related to the life cycle, public health and aquatic ecosystems, while efforts to keep its quality under control continue. The European Parliament established a framework for action in the field of water policy, known as the Water Framework Directive 2000/60 EC. This directive emphasizes the need for an integrated approach to the conservation, improvement and sustainable use of water resources. A method for assessing water quality, called the Water Quality Index (WQI), was firstly applied in 1965, and it was then modified by other authors over decades. Other methods for calculating the WQI were developed and advanced, and today they have reached up to 20 WQI methods. These methods have today found widespread use throughout the scientific community worldwide to assess the quality of surface and groundwater. This review presents the findings gained by the use of water quality index methods on the quality of surface waters in different parts of the territory of the Republic of Kosovo. Both natural and human factors affected the quality of surface waters in the territory of Kosovo, which is characterized by Continental and Modified Mediterranean Climate, whith average precipitations ranging from 595.2 mm to 809.1 mm. Besides the precipitations, the hydraulic balance of the country is also impacted by the geological formation that outcrop which belong to an time interval that extends from Proterozoic to Quaternary. The highest (0.5 to 0.8) infiltration rate belong to the carbonate rocks (limestone, dolomite, marbled limestone) which represent the most important aquifer type. This paper aims to bring a systematic review of the written and electronic literature which was collected from a wide range of reliable scientific databases and through an analysis of the WQI methods applied for water quality assessment and the WQI data obtained, tried to present a complete view of the surface water quality in the hydrographic network of the Republic of Kosovo. Apart from differences in water quality classifying ranges of the used WQI methods (NSFWQI, CCME-WQI and WA-WQI), they were successfully applied for the evaluation of the water quality in Kosovo and revealed that the worse quality waters (low WQI values) belong to the Lepenc River Basin, while good quality waters (high WQI) to the Ibër River Basin.

Long-term soil moisture dynamics in a mining region: temporal trends and spatial patterns from GLDAS Noah data

2026-07-21T14:13:09+00:00

This study examines long-term spatiotemporal trends of soil moisture in a mining region using monthly surface soil moisture (0-10 cm) data from the GLDAS Noah Land Surface Model for the period 2000-2024. Temporal trends were analyzed using the non-parametric Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator, while seasonal spatial patterns and soil moisture anomalies were used to assess long-term changes. In addition, the Hurst index was applied to evaluate the long-term memory of soil moisture variability. The results indicate a consistent declining trend in soil moisture across all months during the study period. The strongest decreases occur in late autumn and early winter, with November and December showing statistically significant downward trends. Spatial analysis reveals widespread soil moisture reductions across all seasons when comparing conditions in 2000 and 2024. Hurst index results show persistent behavior mainly in autumn and early winter months, indicating strong long-term memory and a tendency for soil moisture deficits during these periods to persist over time. In contrast, spring and summer months exhibit mainly anti-persistent or near-random behavior, reflecting greater short-term variability. Overall, the findings suggest that soil moisture drying in the study area is cumulative and longlasting. This study demonstrates the usefulness of integrating land surface model data with trend and persistence analyses to better understand soil moisture dynamics in mining-affected regions and to support environmental management and land rehabilitation under changing mining conditions.

Monitoring and spatiotemporal pattern analysis of natural resource carbon sinks at county scale coupled with remote sensing correction

2026-07-21T14:22:39+00:00

Taking a county in Jiangsu Province as a case study, this paper proposes a monitoring method for natural resource carbon sinks that integrates remote sensing inversion factors. By incorporating multi-source remote sensing datasets (including Sentinel-2, Landsat and MODIS series from 2008 to 2023) to calibrate carbon sequestration rates, we achieved the quantitative estimation of carbon storage in forests, grasslands, croplands, wetlands, and other terrestrial ecosystems. Spatial autocorrelation analysis was applied to characterize the spatiotemporal evolution patterns of regional carbon sinks. The results indicate that over the past 15 years (2008-2023), the net carbon storage of natural resources in the study area has increased significantly, exhibiting a distinct spatial pattern of “higher in the west and lower in the east, higher in rural areas and lower in urban areas, and higher on the periphery and lower in the center.” This spatial pattern is highly consistent with the implementation effects of local ecological restoration projects. The technical system proposed and applied in this study features both high accuracy and cost-effectiveness, effectively enriching the meso-scale carbon sink monitoring data products. It thereby provides a robust scientific decision-making basis for regional achievement of the “dual carbon” goals (carbon peaking and carbon neutrality) and the advancement of ecological civilization construction.