Integration of geomatic, geophysical and chemical data in a GIS environment for monitoring contaminated soils

This paper presents a GIS-based integration of a multidisciplinary dataset concerning a heavy metal contaminated soil. The case study is an area extending for about half a hectare where nearly 600 young trees have been planted to carry out a phytostabilization treatment. Three different plant species have been used for the experiment, lentisk, poplar and oleander, with different characteristics in terms of foliage and mean heights. The area has been monitored by exploiting geomatics, geophysical and chemical techniques, to acquire a comprehensive dataset able to describe the vegetation health status and the soil pollution levels. Low-cost UAV flights, GNSS surveys, and geophysical and chemical investigations have been performed in the area at four different epochs. The different acquisitions were elaborated resulting in specific products (point clouds, DSMs, specific maps) and the related quantitative and qualitative parameters. All the available data have been managed in a GIS project to provide a broad description of the site and to ease the understanding of complex dynamics. The presented analysis belongs to a wider project, aiming at defining monitoring procedures for soils contaminated by heavy metals, using a combination of geomatics, geophysical, and chemical derived parameters. The final purpose will be the definition of algorithms implemented in the GIS environment, specific for different soils, plant species and microbial populations allowing the identification of the optimal conditions for the contaminated site’s restoration.