title: A client-server software for the identification of groundwater vulnerability to pesticides at regional level.
abstract: The groundwater VULnerability to PESticide software system (VULPES) is a user-friendly, GIS-based and client-server software developed to identify vulnerable areas to pesticides at regional level making use of pesticide fate models. It is a Decision Support System aimed to assist the public policy makers to investigate areas sensitive to specific substances and to propose limitations of use or mitigation measures. VULPES identify the so-called Uniform Geographical Unit (UGU) which are areas characterised by the same agro-environmental conditions. In each UGU it applies the PELMO model obtaining the 80th percentile of the substance concentration at 1 metre depth; then VULPES creates a vulnerability map in shapefile format which classifies the outputs comparing them with the lower threshold set to the legal limit concentration in groundwater (0.1 μg/l). This paper describes the software structure in details and a case study with the application of the terbuthylazine herbicide on the Lombardy region territory. Three zones with different degrees of vulnerabilities has been identified and described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, piazza della Scienza, n. 1, 20126 Milano, Italy; Informatica ambientale, via Pacini 62, 20131 Milano, Italy. Electronic address: a.diguardo@campus.unimib.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Di Guardo
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (DISAT), Università degli studi di Milano-Bicocca, piazza della Scienza, n. 1, 20126 Milano, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Finizio
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D060587:Groundwater / Q000737:chemistry*; D010575:Pesticides / Q000032:analysis*; D012984:Software; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical / Q000032:analysis*; D014877:Water Pollution, Chemical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides; D014874:Water Pollutants, Chemical
keywords: Client server software; GIS; Groundwater vulnerability; Pesticide fate; Pesticide modelling; Spatial modelling