Surface water-groundwater exchange in transitional coastal environments
by airborne electromagnetics: The Venice Lagoon example
A. Viezzoli
Aarhus Geophysics APS, Aarhus, Denmark
L. Tosi
Istituto di Scienze Marine, CNR, Venezia,
Italy
P. Teatini
Dept. Mathematical Methods and Models for Scientific
Applications, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
S. Silvestri
MARTE Srl, Venice, Italy
ABSTRACT
A comprehensive investigation of the mixing between
salt/fresh surficial water and groundwater in transitional
environments is an issue of paramount importance
considering the ecological, cultural, and socio-economic
relevance of coastal zones. Acquiring information, which
can improve the process understanding, is often logistically
challenging, and generally expensive and slow in these areas.
Here we investigate the capability of airborne electromagnetics
(AEM) at the margin of theVenice Lagoon, Italy. The quasi-3D
interpretation of the AEM outcome by the spatially
constrained inversion (SCI) methodology allows us to
accurately distinguish several hydrogeological features down
to a depth of about 200 m. For example, the extent of the
saltwater intrusion in coastal aquifers and the transition
between the upper salt saturated and the underlying fresher
sediments below the lagoon bottom are detected. The research
highlights the AEM capability to improve the hydrogeological
characterization of subsurface processes in worldwide lagoons,
wetlands, deltas.
