The ISES Project subsidence monitoring of the catchment basin
south of the Venice Lagoon (Italy)
L. Tosi, L. Carbognin Istituto per lo Studio della Dinamica delle Grandi Masse, CNR, Venezia,
Italy
P. Teatini Dept. Mathematical Methods and Models for Scientific
Applications, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
R. Rosselli Consorzio Venezia Nuova – Servizio Informativo, Venezia, Italy
G. Gasparetto Stori Consorzio di Bonifica Adige Bacchiglione, Padova, Italy
ABSTRACT
The catchment located south of the Venice Lagoon experienced during the last
century a general land settlement owing to groundwater pumping, oxidation of
organically rich soils enhanced by agricultural activities, and natural sediment
compaction. High land subsidence rates (2-4 cm/year) have been estimated in the
area comprised between the lagoon edge and the Adige River and located between
two leveling lines of the Italian national network (IGM lines n. 7 and n. 19).
Only a partial knowledge on the behavior of land elevation is available in this
region. To overcome this lack of information, a new fine leveling and GPS network
has been established in the area within the ISES Project funded by National/Local
water and administrative Authorities. The first field measurement carried out in
1999 have produced as a major result an accurate knowledge of the geoid height
in this part of the Po River plain and has pointed out the stability of the area
located along the lagoon boundaries during the six-year period from 1993 to now.
Location of the area of interest in the Eastern Po plain with a vertical
cross section showing the elevation above the mean sea level.