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Dr. Loris Colombo
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, 20133 Milano, Italy

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Research Keywords & Expertise

0 Cluster Analysis
0 MODFLOW
0 Multivariate Analysis
0 Groundwater Modelling
0 stochastic modelling

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MODFLOW
stochastic modelling
Transport model of contaminant
Multivariate Analysis
Cluster Analysis
Groundwater Modelling
Modpath

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Journal article
Published: 14 May 2021 in Water Research
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In heavily urbanised areas, groundwater diffuse pollution is recognised as one of the most insidious threats to groundwater quality. Diffuse pollution originates from multiple small sources releasing a low contaminant mass over a relatively large area; the lack of a defined plume in groundwater, the limited leaked mass, and the fact that leakage may have occurred in the past and be now ceased, make these sources difficult to locate and characterise. In addressing this environmental issue, an inverse approach based on the Null space Monte Carlo stochastic method has been applied in the framework of an innovative methodology with the aim to locate potential source areas distributed in a large (120 km2) urban area. To simplify the problem and better understand the limitations and effectiveness of the proposed methodology, the analysis has been performed using a groundwater model with fixed (i.e., determined by a previous calibration) hydraulic conductivity and flow boundary conditions. The only source of uncertainty considered in the study is the PCE mass discharge from all model cells of the topmost layer. After implementing and calibrating a deterministic solute transport model, multiple random realisations of mass discharge fields were generated, all of which are history-match constrained and hydrogeologically plausible. The obtained stochastic parameter sets were used to investigate the statistical distribution of the solute mass discharge and map the areas that are more likely to host unknown sources of PCE. Although the application of the NSMC stochastic method on the synthetic case study has provided promising results, it has also highlighted that multiple sources of uncertainty (e.g., continuity and duration of each source, attenuation processes) could adversely affect the reliability of the results in a real-world context, in which the effect of other uncertain parameters (hydraulic conductivity amongst all) would need to be considered in addition. This study offers new insights to the problem of aquifer diffuse pollution by providing key information on the potential source zones and on the areas that urgently need to be prioritised for further investigations.

ACS Style

Licia C. Pollicino; Loris Colombo; Giovanni Formentin; Luca Alberti. Stochastic modelling of solute mass discharge to identify potential source zones of groundwater diffuse pollution. Water Research 2021, 200, 117240 .

AMA Style

Licia C. Pollicino, Loris Colombo, Giovanni Formentin, Luca Alberti. Stochastic modelling of solute mass discharge to identify potential source zones of groundwater diffuse pollution. Water Research. 2021; 200 ():117240.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Licia C. Pollicino; Loris Colombo; Giovanni Formentin; Luca Alberti. 2021. "Stochastic modelling of solute mass discharge to identify potential source zones of groundwater diffuse pollution." Water Research 200, no. : 117240.

Original research article
Published: 16 October 2020 in Frontiers in Environmental Science
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The Milano Metropolitan Area [named FUA (functional urban area)] has a history of heavy industrialization causing a large portion of area being affected by significant diffuse contaminations of soil and groundwater. Among the various contaminants, chlorinated solvents (e.g., tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene) are the most used in industrial processes and represent the major cause of groundwater pollution within the FUA. The background diffuse contamination generated by these pollutants is so persistent and widely spread that makes it extremely challenging to identify the sources responsible for their release. Such background contamination originates from the overlapping of both known sources (point sources), associated to specific high release of contamination, and unknown small sources (multiple point sources), clustered within a large area, whose release is low but persistent. The aim of this article is to present the methodology, developed within the framework of the AMIIGA Project (Interreg Central Europe Grant N° CE32), which combines multivariate statistical analysis and groundwater numerical modeling in order to separate the point sources contribution from the background diffuse contamination, and supporting public authorities in the management of groundwater remediation. A methodological workflow is proposed guiding local and regional institutions to use the methodology (i.e., exploratory analysis of big dataset, simulation of groundwater flow and transport, multivariate and geostatistical analysis) to assess diffuse pollution background levels in large urbanized areas.

ACS Style

Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Arianna Azzellino; Marina Bellotti. Multi-Methodological Integrated Approach for the Assessment of Diffuse Pollution Background Levels (DPBLs) in Functional Urban Areas: The PCE Case in Milano NW Sector. Frontiers in Environmental Science 2020, 8, 1 .

AMA Style

Loris Colombo, Luca Alberti, Arianna Azzellino, Marina Bellotti. Multi-Methodological Integrated Approach for the Assessment of Diffuse Pollution Background Levels (DPBLs) in Functional Urban Areas: The PCE Case in Milano NW Sector. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 2020; 8 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Arianna Azzellino; Marina Bellotti. 2020. "Multi-Methodological Integrated Approach for the Assessment of Diffuse Pollution Background Levels (DPBLs) in Functional Urban Areas: The PCE Case in Milano NW Sector." Frontiers in Environmental Science 8, no. : 1.

Original research article
Published: 25 September 2020 in Frontiers in Environmental Science
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Groundwater in most urban areas around the globe is often contaminated by toxic substances. Among the various sources of contamination, industries cause the heaviest impact when toxic compounds are released underground, mainly through leaking tanks or pipelines. Some contaminants (typically chlorinated hydrocarbons) tend to persist within the underground and are hard to biodegrade. As a result, substances that leaked decades ago are still impacting groundwater. Milano and its surroundings (Functional Urban Area) is a good example of an area that has been hosting industries of all dimensions for over a century, many of them contributing to groundwater contamination from chlorinated hydrocarbons. While the position of the biggest industrial facilities is well-known, many smaller sources are hard to identify in many cases where direct surveys have not been undertaken. Furthermore, the overlapping effects of big, small, known, and unknown sources of groundwater contamination make it challenging to identify the contribution of each. In order to identify the contribution of several point sources responsible for tetrachloroethylene contamination in public water supply wells, a numerical model (MODFLOW-2005) has been implemented and calibrated using PEST in the northwestern portion of the Milano Functional Urban Area. In contaminant transport modeling, the deterministic approach is still favored over the stochastic approach because of the simplicity of its application. Nevertheless, the latter is considered by the authors as the most suitable for dealing with problems characterized by high uncertainty, such as hydrogeological parameter distributions. Adopting a Null-Space Monte Carlo analysis, 400 different sets of hydraulic conductivity fields were randomly generated of which only 336 were selected using an objective function threshold. Subsequently, particle backtracking was performed for each of the accepted hydraulic conductivity fields, by placing particles in a contaminated well. The number of particle passages is considered as being proportional to the contribution of each unknown point source to the tetrachloroethylene contamination identified in the target well. The study provides a methodology to help public authorities to locate the “more probable than not” area responsible for the tetrachloroethylene contamination detected in groundwater and to focus environmental investigations in specific sectors of Milano.

ACS Style

Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Pietro Mazzon; Matteo Antelmi. Null-Space Monte Carlo Particle Backtracking to Identify Groundwater Tetrachloroethylene Sources. Frontiers in Environmental Science 2020, 8, 1 .

AMA Style

Loris Colombo, Luca Alberti, Pietro Mazzon, Matteo Antelmi. Null-Space Monte Carlo Particle Backtracking to Identify Groundwater Tetrachloroethylene Sources. Frontiers in Environmental Science. 2020; 8 ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Pietro Mazzon; Matteo Antelmi. 2020. "Null-Space Monte Carlo Particle Backtracking to Identify Groundwater Tetrachloroethylene Sources." Frontiers in Environmental Science 8, no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 15 September 2020 in Science of The Total Environment
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To meet the continuous growth of urbanised areas with the ever-increasing demand for safe water supplies, the implementation of new scientifically based methodologies can represent a key support for preventing groundwater quality deterioration. In this study, a new combined approach based on the application of the Weights of Evidence and the Null-Space Monte Carlo particle back-tracking methods was set up to assess tetrachloroethylene (PCE) contamination due to Point Sources in the densely urbanised north-eastern sector of the Milano FUA (Functional Urban Area). This combined approach offers the advantage of further enhancing the power of each individual technique by integrating both the advective transport mechanism, neglected by the Weights of Evidence, and the influence of specific factors, such as the land use variation, not considered by the Null-Space Monte Carlo particle tracking. To accurately test and explore the performance of this new approach, the analysis was carried out based on the simulation of synthetic PCE plumes using a groundwater numerical model already implemented in a previous study. The Weights of Evidence method revealed that the areas characterised by a groundwater depth lower than 17 m, a groundwater velocity higher than 2.6×10−6 m/s, a recharge higher than 0.26 m/y and a significant variation of the industrial activities extent are the most susceptible to groundwater pollution. The Null-Space Monte Carlo particle back-tracking has proved to be effective in delineating the potential source zones and contaminant travel path. The proposed approach can offer additional insights for the protection of groundwater resource. The end-product provides crucial information on the zones that require to be prioritised for investigations and can be easily understood by non-expert decision-makers constituting an advanced tool for enhancing groundwater protection strategies.

ACS Style

Licia C. Pollicino; Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Marco Masetti. PCE point source apportionment using a GIS-based statistical technique combined with stochastic modelling. Science of The Total Environment 2020, 750, 142366 .

AMA Style

Licia C. Pollicino, Loris Colombo, Luca Alberti, Marco Masetti. PCE point source apportionment using a GIS-based statistical technique combined with stochastic modelling. Science of The Total Environment. 2020; 750 ():142366.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Licia C. Pollicino; Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Marco Masetti. 2020. "PCE point source apportionment using a GIS-based statistical technique combined with stochastic modelling." Science of The Total Environment 750, no. : 142366.

Journal article
Published: 13 September 2020 in Energy Conversion and Management
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In this paper for the first time the Moving Line Source (MLS) model is combined with a depth-resolved Thermal Response Test (TRT). The latter was performed in a heterogeneous and groundwater rich subsoil, composed by a layering of silty sand, medium-fine sand and coarse-medium sand, with a layer of clayey silt separating a shallow aquifer from a deep one. The temperature evolution in the ground along the vertical axis was analysed with both the standard Infinite Line Source (ILS) and the MLS. The two models lead to similar estimates of the thermal conductivity in those regions of the subsoil where conduction prevails, while the MLS performs better where a significant groundwater velocity is expected. In these layers, the MLS analysis allows to derive both the thermal conductivity and the Darcy velocity. The MLS results were validated by comparison with a numerical simulation on a multiple-layers ground model developed in MODFLOW/MT3DMS using a constant energy boundary condition. The combined depth-resolved TRT/MLS approach represents an important method for an accurate design of the Ground Heat Exchangers under the presence of groundwater flow.

ACS Style

Matteo Antelmi; Luca Alberti; Adriana Angelotti; Sara Curnis; Andrea Zille; Loris Colombo. Thermal and hydrogeological aquifers characterization by coupling depth-resolved thermal response test with moving line source analysis. Energy Conversion and Management 2020, 225, 113400 .

AMA Style

Matteo Antelmi, Luca Alberti, Adriana Angelotti, Sara Curnis, Andrea Zille, Loris Colombo. Thermal and hydrogeological aquifers characterization by coupling depth-resolved thermal response test with moving line source analysis. Energy Conversion and Management. 2020; 225 ():113400.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Matteo Antelmi; Luca Alberti; Adriana Angelotti; Sara Curnis; Andrea Zille; Loris Colombo. 2020. "Thermal and hydrogeological aquifers characterization by coupling depth-resolved thermal response test with moving line source analysis." Energy Conversion and Management 225, no. : 113400.

Journal article
Published: 03 August 2020 in Water
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The area of Bagnoli (Gulf of Naples, central Tyrrhenian Sea) has been heavily exposed to pollution for over a century due to the presence of industrial sites along its coastline. The aim of this study is to analyze contaminant concentrations (i.e., heavy metals and hydrocarbons) in seabed sediments through a statistical multivariate approach. Multivariate methods permit us to describe the pollution dynamics affecting the area and distinguish between anthropogenic and natural pollution sources. Additionally, the association between contamination patterns and the wave climate characteristics of the gulf (i.e., wave period, direction, height, power, and energy) is investigated. The study confirms that the main contamination source in the Bagnoli bay is anthropogenic activities (i.e., former steel plant and sewage discharges) for the majority of investigated pollutants. It also provides evidence, however, for the potential co-existence of multiple anthropogenic and geogenic sources of arsenic and other metals that may be originating also from the water-rock interaction and submarine volcanic emissions in the Phlegraean area.

ACS Style

Sara Giglioli; Loris Colombo; Pasquale Contestabile; Luigi Musco; Giovanna Armiento; Renato Somma; Diego Vicinanza; Arianna Azzellino. Source Apportionment Assessment of Marine Sediment Contamination in a Post-Industrial Area (Bagnoli, Naples). Water 2020, 12, 2181 .

AMA Style

Sara Giglioli, Loris Colombo, Pasquale Contestabile, Luigi Musco, Giovanna Armiento, Renato Somma, Diego Vicinanza, Arianna Azzellino. Source Apportionment Assessment of Marine Sediment Contamination in a Post-Industrial Area (Bagnoli, Naples). Water. 2020; 12 (8):2181.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sara Giglioli; Loris Colombo; Pasquale Contestabile; Luigi Musco; Giovanna Armiento; Renato Somma; Diego Vicinanza; Arianna Azzellino. 2020. "Source Apportionment Assessment of Marine Sediment Contamination in a Post-Industrial Area (Bagnoli, Naples)." Water 12, no. 8: 2181.

Journal article
Published: 22 August 2019 in Water
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Legislative Decree 152/2006 requires Public Authorities to identify the subjects who are responsible for soil and groundwater contamination. In highly urbanized areas with a long industrial history and an elevated number of potential contaminant sources, as in N-W Milano Functional Urban Area (FUA), their identification can be difficult. Since the groundwater flow has showed consistent changes in the last 30 years as in Milan, the problem became even more complicate. The Public Authorities put in charge by the law, i.e., Regione Lombardia and Città Metropolitana Milanese, need new methodologies to assist them in finding the source locations and implementing remediation actions. The aim of this study is, coupling unsteady flow with fate and transport model of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons, to reconstruct the potential impact of a former chemical plant on public wells in the N-W area of Milano. The proposed methodology consists in (a) reconstruction of the piezometric trend over time (1980–2018) by means of a transient flow model (MODFLOW2005 + Parameter Estimation - PEST) and (b) simulation of transport as a function of the flow variations in time. The obtained results were compared with the previous ones obtained with a quasi-steady model (no changes in time-dependent parameters). Finally, a predictive scenario was performed to assess the potential evolution of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) in groundwater; on this frame, strategies to monitor and remediate the contamination were proposed.

ACS Style

Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Pietro Mazzon; Giovanni Formentin. Transient Flow and Transport Modelling of an Historical CHC Source in North-West Milano. Water 2019, 11, 1745 .

AMA Style

Loris Colombo, Luca Alberti, Pietro Mazzon, Giovanni Formentin. Transient Flow and Transport Modelling of an Historical CHC Source in North-West Milano. Water. 2019; 11 (9):1745.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti; Pietro Mazzon; Giovanni Formentin. 2019. "Transient Flow and Transport Modelling of an Historical CHC Source in North-West Milano." Water 11, no. 9: 1745.

Journal article
Published: 10 June 2019 in Water
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Contamination by chlorinated solvents is typically associated with point sources, which are able to release high concentrations and to generate well defined plumes. Nevertheless, in urban settings (especially in functional urban areas—FUAs), multiple-point sources are frequently present, consisting of a series of unidentifiable small sources clustered within large areas, generating a diffuse, anthropogenic contamination. This situation results in the coexistence of single plumes with higher contaminant concentrations, and larger areas where the concentration is lower but still higher than the maximum admissible concentration limits. This paper proposes a methodology devised to cope with the diffuse contamination by chlorinated solvents within shallow aquifers due to multiple-point sources in FUAs. The approach is based on a Bayesian model that helps to spatially evaluate the likelihood of having active multiple-point sources, and to relate their impact on the shallow aquifer to the hydrogeological features of the area. Moreover, the approach allows testing of the efficiency of the monitoring network to properly characterize the contamination in the aquifer. The consistency of the results of the analysis was also checked for the Milan FUA (Italy) by a comparison to a previous study, performed through an inverse numerical modelling approach within a Monte Carlo statistical framework to identify the areas with the highest likelihood to host potential multiple-point sources.

ACS Style

Licia C. Pollicino; Marco Masetti; Stefania Stevenazzi; Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti. Spatial Statistical Assessment of Groundwater PCE (Tetrachloroethylene) Diffuse Contamination in Urban Areas. Water 2019, 11, 1211 .

AMA Style

Licia C. Pollicino, Marco Masetti, Stefania Stevenazzi, Loris Colombo, Luca Alberti. Spatial Statistical Assessment of Groundwater PCE (Tetrachloroethylene) Diffuse Contamination in Urban Areas. Water. 2019; 11 (6):1211.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Licia C. Pollicino; Marco Masetti; Stefania Stevenazzi; Loris Colombo; Luca Alberti. 2019. "Spatial Statistical Assessment of Groundwater PCE (Tetrachloroethylene) Diffuse Contamination in Urban Areas." Water 11, no. 6: 1211.

Journal article
Published: 30 November 2018 in Science of The Total Environment
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Groundwater status in highly urbanized areas is particularly affected by anthropogenic influence due to diffuse pollution deriving from many sources. This makes very often challenging to determine whether the observed groundwater conditions are the result of localized pollutant sources (PS-Point Sources). In the EU legislative framework it is accepted that, when Natural Background Levels (NBLs) of undesirable elements are proven to be higher than specific Groundwater Quality Standards (GQSs), NBLs should be assumed as GQSs. No procedure is instead defined when anthropogenic Diffuse Pollution Background levels (DBPLs) are higher than GQSs and make unfeasible any remediation strategy. Among the many contaminants affecting groundwater, the chlorinated solvents, tetrachloroethylene (PCE), trichloroethylene (TCE) and trichloromethane (TCM) among the organics and hexavalent chromium, among the inorganics, having been widely used in several industries all over Europe, are very often the most prevalent contaminants in soil and groundwater. Aim of this paper is to discuss a multivariate statistical approach to address the issue of identification of anthropogenic Diffuse Pollution Background Levels. With such aim, an area of about 1600 km2, including the Functional Urban Area of Milan, was considered and 10 independent geochemical datasets, provided by local and regional agencies, and covering the period 2003–2014 were merged into a single database after homogenization and multiple quality checks. A total of 618,258 chemical analyses from 3477 sampling wells were considered, being all samples collected and analyzed through internally consistent protocols. The analysis enabled to identify five main clusters, having specific hydrogeological characteristics, different temporal profiles and pollutant background concentration levels, which were also found to respond differently to meteo-climatic changes. This study offers a robust knowledge basis for drafting a diffuse pollution management plan of the area.

ACS Style

Arianna Azzellino; Loris Colombo; Silvia Lombi; Valeria Marchesi; Alessandra Piana; Merri Andrea; Luca Alberti. Groundwater diffuse pollution in functional urban areas: The need to define anthropogenic diffuse pollution background levels. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 656, 1207 -1222.

AMA Style

Arianna Azzellino, Loris Colombo, Silvia Lombi, Valeria Marchesi, Alessandra Piana, Merri Andrea, Luca Alberti. Groundwater diffuse pollution in functional urban areas: The need to define anthropogenic diffuse pollution background levels. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 656 ():1207-1222.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Arianna Azzellino; Loris Colombo; Silvia Lombi; Valeria Marchesi; Alessandra Piana; Merri Andrea; Luca Alberti. 2018. "Groundwater diffuse pollution in functional urban areas: The need to define anthropogenic diffuse pollution background levels." Science of The Total Environment 656, no. : 1207-1222.

Journal article
Published: 01 November 2018 in Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana
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Water resources sustainable management will be one of the major issues that need to be attempted globally in the next decades.Especially south of the Alps, climate projections suggest a strong impact on water resources availability and distribution in space and time. Agriculture would be the most sensitive sector to changing water availability: under warmer climate, crops would be more water-demanding to sustain the evapotranspiration during the growing season. The integrated use of ground- and surface water resources will have a key role in mitigating climate change impact.With the final aim of exploring such possibility, an irrigation-system model (IdrAgra) was coupled with a groundwater flow model (MODFLOW2000), applying it to an area including a portion of the Muzza-Bassa Lodigiana irrigation district in Lombardy. Downscaled projected meteorological data (2080-2099) were applied to the coupled model to estimate changes in the resource availability under climatechange scenarios. Results would represent the starting point for the implementation of alternative integrated water resource management policies in agricultural environment.

ACS Style

Gabriele Oberto; Yu Li; Luca Alberti; Rodolfo Soncini-Sessa; Loris Colombo. Coupled irrigation-system/groundwater flow modelling for groundwater resource assessment in agricultural areas: a case study in northern Italy. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 2018, 46, 94 -100.

AMA Style

Gabriele Oberto, Yu Li, Luca Alberti, Rodolfo Soncini-Sessa, Loris Colombo. Coupled irrigation-system/groundwater flow modelling for groundwater resource assessment in agricultural areas: a case study in northern Italy. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana. 2018; 46 ():94-100.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gabriele Oberto; Yu Li; Luca Alberti; Rodolfo Soncini-Sessa; Loris Colombo. 2018. "Coupled irrigation-system/groundwater flow modelling for groundwater resource assessment in agricultural areas: a case study in northern Italy." Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 46, no. : 94-100.

Journal article
Published: 01 September 2018 in Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology
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ACS Style

Loris Colombo; P. Gattinoni; L. Scesi. Stochastic modelling of groundwater flow for hazard assessment along the underground infrastructures in Milan (northern Italy). Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 2018, 79, 110 -120.

AMA Style

Loris Colombo, P. Gattinoni, L. Scesi. Stochastic modelling of groundwater flow for hazard assessment along the underground infrastructures in Milan (northern Italy). Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology. 2018; 79 ():110-120.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo; P. Gattinoni; L. Scesi. 2018. "Stochastic modelling of groundwater flow for hazard assessment along the underground infrastructures in Milan (northern Italy)." Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology 79, no. : 110-120.

Journal article
Published: 24 August 2018 in Applied Sciences
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On November 2014, the Municipality of Grandate, near Lake Como, had to deal with a great emergency that was caused by the flooding of factory undergrounds. The authors realized a hydrogeological study to understand the causes of groundwater flooding and to prepare a pre-feasibility study concerning possible actions for groundwater control. The hydrogeological structure is rather complex and required time-consuming reconstruction of the conceptual site model. A transient numerical model was developed to analyse the system behaviour in different scenarios. The flow model was calibrated in a steady and unsteady-state using the automatic calibration code Model-Independent Parameter Estimation (PEST). The study demonstrated that the reason for floods was mainly due to the concurrence of three causes: (1) the hydrogeological structure of the area was recognized as a stagnation zone, (2) groundwater rising, and (3) extremely heavy rainfall in 2014. Through the PEST RandPar function, 100 random rainfall scenarios were generated starting from rainfall data for the last 20 years. The model was used to run 100 1-year long simulations considering the probability distribution of recharge related to the 100 randomly generated rainfall scenarios. Through collecting the piezometric heads that resulted from the simulations, monthly probability curves of groundwater exceeding a threshold level were obtained. The results provided an occurrence probability of groundwater level exceeding the underground structures level between 12% and 15%.

ACS Style

Ivana La Licata; Loris Colombo; Vincenzo Francani; Luca Alberti. Hydrogeological Study of the Glacial—Fluvioglacial Territory of Grandate (Como, Italy) and Stochastical Modeling of Groundwater Rising. Applied Sciences 2018, 8, 1456 .

AMA Style

Ivana La Licata, Loris Colombo, Vincenzo Francani, Luca Alberti. Hydrogeological Study of the Glacial—Fluvioglacial Territory of Grandate (Como, Italy) and Stochastical Modeling of Groundwater Rising. Applied Sciences. 2018; 8 (9):1456.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Ivana La Licata; Loris Colombo; Vincenzo Francani; Luca Alberti. 2018. "Hydrogeological Study of the Glacial—Fluvioglacial Territory of Grandate (Como, Italy) and Stochastical Modeling of Groundwater Rising." Applied Sciences 8, no. 9: 1456.

Journal article
Published: 01 April 2018 in Science of The Total Environment
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The Lombardy Region in Italy is one of the most urbanized and industrialized areas in Europe. The presence of countless sources of groundwater pollution is therefore a matter of environmental concern. The sources of groundwater contamination can be classified into two different categories: 1) Point Sources (PS), which correspond to areas releasing plumes of high concentrations (i.e. hot-spots) and 2) Multiple-Point Sources (MPS) consisting in a series of unidentifiable small sources clustered within large areas, generating an anthropogenic diffuse contamination. The latter category frequently predominates in European Functional Urban Areas (FUA) and cannot be managed through standard remediation techniques, mainly because detecting the many different source areas releasing small contaminant mass in groundwater is unfeasible. A specific legislative action has been recently enacted at Regional level (DGR IX/3510-2012), in order to identify areas prone to anthropogenic diffuse pollution and their level of contamination. With a view to defining a management plan, it is necessary to find where MPS are most likely positioned. This paper describes a methodology devised to identify the areas with the highest likelihood to host potential MPS. A groundwater flow model was implemented for a pilot area located in the Milan FUA and through the PEST code, a Null-Space Monte Carlo method was applied in order to generate a suite of several hundred hydraulic conductivity field realizations, each maintaining the model in a calibrated state and each consistent with the modelers' expert-knowledge. Thereafter, the MODPATH code was applied to generate back-traced advective flowpaths for each of the models built using the conductivity field realizations. Maps were then created displaying the number of backtracked particles that crossed each model cell in each stochastic calibrated model. The result is considered to be representative of the FUAs areas with the highest likelihood to host MPS responsible for diffuse contamination.

ACS Style

Luca Alberti; Loris Colombo; Giovanni Formentin. Null-space Monte Carlo particle tracking to assess groundwater PCE (Tetrachloroethene) diffuse pollution in north-eastern Milan functional urban area. Science of The Total Environment 2018, 621, 326 -339.

AMA Style

Luca Alberti, Loris Colombo, Giovanni Formentin. Null-space Monte Carlo particle tracking to assess groundwater PCE (Tetrachloroethene) diffuse pollution in north-eastern Milan functional urban area. Science of The Total Environment. 2018; 621 ():326-339.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Alberti; Loris Colombo; Giovanni Formentin. 2018. "Null-space Monte Carlo particle tracking to assess groundwater PCE (Tetrachloroethene) diffuse pollution in north-eastern Milan functional urban area." Science of The Total Environment 621, no. : 326-339.

Journal article
Published: 15 December 2017 in Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater
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The Italian law 152/2006 adopted the EU Water Framework Directive principles and delegated to the Regions the task of identifying areas subject to groundwater diffuse pollution. In the Lombardy Plain, the qualitative groundwater conditions are affected mainly by the presence of industries and anthropic activities. The aim of this work was to assess tetrachloroethylene (PCE) diffuse pollution in the Milan Functional Urban Area (FUA), where chlorinated solvents are the main groundwater contaminants and the results of monitoring campaigns for the years 2003-2014 were collected in a dataset. For this purpose, a new methodology was implemented both in a deterministic and stochastic process. At first, hotspots were identified through Cluster Analysis (CA) applied to concentration values collected in unconfined/confined aquifers (2003-14). Then, a numerical transport model was implemented to study the hotspot plume extension in reason to identify monitoring wells not affected by diffuse pollution but related to specific hotspot sources. Consequently, it was possible to erase these data from the whole initial dataset in order to have a new one containing only diffuse concentrations. Interpolating them through ordinary kriging, PCE iso-concentrations maps identified areas where values are over the Maximum Contaminant Level (1.1 μg/l, Italian Law 152/06). Considering descriptive statistics and iso-PCE concentration maps, a median PCE value estimation (10 μg/l) was find as representative of PCE diffuse contamination Milan city. Moreover, a stochastic methodology was used in order to consider uncertainties due to unknown multiple-sources and environmental heterogeneity. The innovative approach gave some interesting solutions to point out areas where the contaminant mass release is higher and where high probability unknown sources can be found.

ACS Style

Loris Colombo. Statistical methods and transport modeling to assess PCE hotspots and diffuse pollution in groundwater (Milan FUA). Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater 2017, 6, 1 .

AMA Style

Loris Colombo. Statistical methods and transport modeling to assess PCE hotspots and diffuse pollution in groundwater (Milan FUA). Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater. 2017; 6 (4):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo. 2017. "Statistical methods and transport modeling to assess PCE hotspots and diffuse pollution in groundwater (Milan FUA)." Acque Sotterranee - Italian Journal of Groundwater 6, no. 4: 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2017 in Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana
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Water Framework Directive and Groundwater Directive (2006/118/CE) represent the main European regulations on water resources quality, requiring the identification and management of contamination sources threatening the achievement of acceptable groundwater quality status. The sources of groundwater contamination can be classified into two different categories: 1) point sources (PS), which are identified areas releasing plumes of high/very high concentrations (i.e. hot-spots) and 2) multiple-point sources (MPS) constituted by a series of unidentifiable small sources clustered in a large area, generating a diffuse contamination. The latter category predominates in European Functional Urban Areas and cannot be managed with the usual remediation techniques such as those conceived for large/medium contaminated sites, mainly because of the difficulty to identify the many different source areas releasing small contaminant mass. Consequently, the usual remediation procedures are not economically sustainable and often fail to provide results in an acceptable time frame. A powerful tool in this context is transport modeling, as it can be used in combination with statistical methods to assess MPS groundwater contamination even in a highly undetermined setting. Due to the uncertainty related to the exact position and intensity of MPS, a numerical model (MODFLOW/MT3DMS) was implemented in a pilot area in the North-Eastern sector of the Milano FUA. Using the inverse calibration code PEST, a model was calibrated representing the diffuse PCE source field (Italian Law limit is within 1.1 mg/l). This was then used as input to a statistical process based on the Null-Space Monte Carlo (NSMC) method, which allows to generate unlimited sets of sources, all respecting the measured concentrations. 99 different realisations were thus obtained, each attributing a contaminant inflow (with varying concentrations) to every cell of the model top layer. The model minimizing the objective function (composed by the diffuse concentration targets in monitoring wells), gives useful information to assess the overall contaminant sources distribution and to identify the probability of each domain sector to contribute to the contaminant mass inflow

ACS Style

Luca Alberti; Loris Colombo; Giovanni Formentin; Gabriele Oberto. Assessment of sources of PCE contamination in groundwater using a Monte Carlo method in the Functional Urban Area of Milano. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 2017, 42, 62 -65.

AMA Style

Luca Alberti, Loris Colombo, Giovanni Formentin, Gabriele Oberto. Assessment of sources of PCE contamination in groundwater using a Monte Carlo method in the Functional Urban Area of Milano. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana. 2017; 42 ():62-65.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Alberti; Loris Colombo; Giovanni Formentin; Gabriele Oberto. 2017. "Assessment of sources of PCE contamination in groundwater using a Monte Carlo method in the Functional Urban Area of Milano." Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 42, no. : 62-65.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2017 in International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning
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Loris Colombo; P. Gattinoni; L. Scesi. Influence of underground structures and infrastructures on the groundwater level in the urban area of milan, italy. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning 2017, 12, 1 .

AMA Style

Loris Colombo, P. Gattinoni, L. Scesi. Influence of underground structures and infrastructures on the groundwater level in the urban area of milan, italy. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning. 2017; 12 (1):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo; P. Gattinoni; L. Scesi. 2017. "Influence of underground structures and infrastructures on the groundwater level in the urban area of milan, italy." International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning 12, no. 1: 1.

Journal article
Published: 31 December 2016
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Luca Alberti; Loris Colombo; Vincenzo Francani. A METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING AND PREVENTING THE DIVING PLUMES IN ALLUVIAL AQUIFERS. 2016, 41 -50.

AMA Style

Luca Alberti, Loris Colombo, Vincenzo Francani. A METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING AND PREVENTING THE DIVING PLUMES IN ALLUVIAL AQUIFERS. . 2016; (2):41-50.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Alberti; Loris Colombo; Vincenzo Francani. 2016. "A METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING AND PREVENTING THE DIVING PLUMES IN ALLUVIAL AQUIFERS." , no. 2: 41-50.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2016 in Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana
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In the coming decades, the effects of expected climate change will affect key aspects of our society including quantity and quality of available water resources. It is believed that water resources will play a growing important role in Europe and in particular in the countries south of the Alps, where climate change could hit harder (EEA, 2014). Without appropriate interventions, water will turn from a good hearty undervalued to a scarce and precious resource, whose distribution will be less and less equitable, resulting in growing conflicts for its use. As already recognized by the European directives (2000/60/EC and 2006/118/EC), the theme of quantitative management of water resources is therefore a strategic issue that can allow the reduction of the risks and costs associated with climate change. Integrated management of both surface and groundwater for sustainable use nowadays represents more and more a key concern in environmental policies and water management. The goal of this work is to assess the effects on groundwater storage of a new management of irrigation waters. The highly variable availability of water resources during the hydrological season could be particularly troublesome in the management of irrigation systems, since they need water in seasons (spring-summer) when usually its availability has a depletion. Storage of groundwater in aquifers in colder seasons could be used to soften irrigation systems water deficit in drier ones. Specifically, the practice of "winter irrigation", i.e. the use of the main irrigation channels to recharge aquifers during the colder seasons, could increase water resource availability for irrigation during the drier growing seasons. A pilot groundwater flow transient model (MODFLOW2000, Harbaugh et al., 2000) with a domain of about 255 km2 was implemented in the north zone of Lodi Province, including a large part of the Consorzio Muzza irrigation district. The model was then run to estimate change in groundwater resource availability in two main scenarios: in the first scenario the storage in the shallow aquifer was computed in the colder period (October–March), when irrigation is not occurring; for this case, it was used measured monthly rainfall, average temperature for the period 2004-2013 (representing actual climate conditions) and an estimations of water volume used for irrigation. In the second scenario, an integrated management approach of irrigation and groundwater was tested, adopting "winter irrigation". Both scenarios want to assess if water storage in aquifers in colder periods could represent an additional water volume useful to mitigate possible climate changes effects on crops

ACS Style

Luca Alberti; Martino Cantone; Loris Colombo; Gabriele Oberto; Ivana La Licata. Assessment of aquifers groundwater storage for the mitigation of climate change effects. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 2016, 39, 89 -92.

AMA Style

Luca Alberti, Martino Cantone, Loris Colombo, Gabriele Oberto, Ivana La Licata. Assessment of aquifers groundwater storage for the mitigation of climate change effects. Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana. 2016; 39 ():89-92.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Luca Alberti; Martino Cantone; Loris Colombo; Gabriele Oberto; Ivana La Licata. 2016. "Assessment of aquifers groundwater storage for the mitigation of climate change effects." Rendiconti Online della Società Geologica Italiana 39, no. : 89-92.

Conference paper
Published: 20 June 2014 in 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING
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Loris Colombo. SUFFOSION HAZARD FOR BUILDING AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE HIGH LOMBARDY PLAIN (NORTHERN ITALY). 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING 2014, 1 .

AMA Style

Loris Colombo. SUFFOSION HAZARD FOR BUILDING AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE HIGH LOMBARDY PLAIN (NORTHERN ITALY). 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING. 2014; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo. 2014. "SUFFOSION HAZARD FOR BUILDING AND INFRASTRUCTURE IN THE HIGH LOMBARDY PLAIN (NORTHERN ITALY)." 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING , no. : 1.

Conference paper
Published: 20 June 2014 in 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING
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ACS Style

Loris Colombo. CONTROL OF SUFFOSION ALONG RIVERBANKS: THE CASE OF THE OLONA RIVER (ITALY). 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING 2014, 1 .

AMA Style

Loris Colombo. CONTROL OF SUFFOSION ALONG RIVERBANKS: THE CASE OF THE OLONA RIVER (ITALY). 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING. 2014; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Loris Colombo. 2014. "CONTROL OF SUFFOSION ALONG RIVERBANKS: THE CASE OF THE OLONA RIVER (ITALY)." 14th SGEM GeoConference on SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGIES IN GEOLOGY, EXPLORATION AND MINING , no. : 1.