Drought is a normal and recurrent climate feature, but one of the most important climate hazards that can produce negative effects on natural and socioeconomic systems. The northern part of Italy is historically rich in water resources and a very fertile and productive area. Recently, however, drought events increased their influence on the hydrological behaviour of the main rivers in this region. In this work, we analyse the spatial distribution of drought events and their effects on vegetation greenness in northern Italy during the 2000–2020 period, using MODIS images at 1 km spatial resolution. Correlation maps between fields of bi‐weekly vegetation indices (normalized difference vegetation index [NDVI] and enhanced vegetation index [EVI]) and drought indices (standardized precipitation index [SPI] and standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index [SPEI]) were estimated. To generate the SPEI index, 150 daily precipitation and temperature ground station series were collected, aggregated at bi‐weekly scale, reconstructed, homogenized and spatialized at 1 km resolution by mean of Universal Kriging with auxiliary variables. The NDVI and EVI indices (MOD13A2) and the land surface temperature (LST; MOD11A2) were collected from MODIS images and quality checked, removing pixels with clouds and low‐quality data. Drought events were detected by means of the SPEI and SPI at medium (12‐months) and long (24 and 36 months) timescales. The events were characterized by drought intensity, duration and percentage of affected area. For each pixel, the Pearson's correlation between NDVI/EVI and SPEI/SPI at different timescales was estimated. On the basis of the correlation maps and the CORINE Land Cover 2020 (MCD12Q1), we estimated the drought impact on different vegetation types as the percentage of vegetation undergoing drought stress. The investigation on drought indices has revealed nine main summer and spring events in the study period. The events of summer 2003 and 2017 were especially remarkable, with respectively 50% and 40% of the total area under drought according to the SPEI index at 12 months. The correlation between drought and vegetation indices revealed that in the Po Valley and Tuscan hills, the vegetation communities perturbed by agriculture are those that are most affected by droughts, with 13% of vegetation under drought on long timescales. This study also indicated that in the last two decades, the main trigger of droughts in northern Italy was the lack of precipitation rather than pure temperature increase.

A multidisciplinary integrated approach was used to study the\ud structural architecture influencing the circulation pattern of geother -\ud mal fluids in the Equi Terme area (NW Alpi Apuane, Tuscany). Geological-\ud structural surveys were carried out to define the structural\ud setting of the area and to characterize geometries and kinematics of\ud fault systems. Chemical (major components) and isotopic analyses\ud (δ18O‰, δ2H‰, 3H, δ13C‰[DIC], δ34S‰[SO4]) were performed on\ud thermal water and cold springs. A geophysical survey was also conducted\ud by means of both Magnetotelluric and Electrical Resistivity\ud Tomography methodologies, in order to gain insight into the\ud resistivity distribution at depth and to indirectly image the subsurface\ud structure. This multidisciplinary approach proved to be a\ud powerful tool, since it unravels the complexity of this natural\ud geothermal system and provides useful suggestion for reconstructing\ud the fluid circulation outflowing at the Equi Terme thermal spring.\ud Results pointed out how the E-W oriented fault system (the Equi\ud Terme Fault) play a key role in controlling the thermal groundwater\ud outflow, and the chemical-physical features of this resource. This\ud structural lineament separates high permeability carbonate complexes\ud (footwall), in which both shallow and deep flow paths\ud develop, from a medium-low permeability succession (hangingwall)\ud that contains evaporitic formations from which thermal water\ud acquires a high salinity and a composition of the Na-Cl (Ca-SO4)\ud type. During the uprising along the fault system, the thermal water is\ud also affected by a mixing with shallow fresh-cold waters that lead to\ud a strong seasonal variation in the chemical-physical properties of the\ud thermal springs

Over the last decades, groundwater resources at global level have suffered a significant deterioration due to nitrate pollution, mainly related to the input of agricultural fertilizers, manure, sewage, and untreated urban and industrial effluents. The most impacted waters are those forming surface and shallow reservoirs, which usually play a key role in supplying waters to civil, agricultural, and industrial activities. The terminal portion of the Metauro River plain, located in central Italy along the Adriatic Sea coastline, hosts a strategic phreatic aquifer that, along with the surface water of the Metauro River, supplies water to the local population (i.e., about 60,000 people). This shallow coastal aquifer experiences a long-lasting story of nitrate contamination since the 1970s when the increase in the use of agricultural fertilizers contributed to very high levels of pollution (NO₃⁻ > 100 mg/L). This fact prompted the local authorities to carry out remediation actions that involve a pumping system to inject the NO₃⁻-poor waters from the Metauro River course directly into the shallow aquifer. The present work was aimed at defining the contamination of nitrates in this important water resource. The main geochemical characteristics and the temporal evolution of NO₃⁻ concentrations (between 2009 and 2020), in the shallow coastal aquifer of the Metauro River plain, were analyzed by means of classical geochemical analyses and multivariate methods accounting for the compositional nature of the data, to assess the efficiency of the in-situ remediation over time.

This study investigates the salinization processes affecting the coastal aquifer within the Torre Guaceto State Nature Reserve, a Mediterranean coastal area characterized by a unique ecological value of a brackish wetland threatened by water-intensive agricultural activities. Groundwater salinization threatens biodiversity, agriculture, and water resource sustainability. This work integrates hydrogeological monitoring, geochemical and isotopic analyses, and geophysical surveys to understand salinity dynamics and identify key drivers, such as seawater intrusion, irrigation practices, and climate change. Data collected during monitoring campaigns from 2022 to 2024 reveal significant seasonal and spatial variations in groundwater salinity influenced by natural and human-induced factors. The results indicate that salt recycling from irrigation and marine spray deposition are important local contributors to groundwater salinity, in addition to seawater intrusion. These findings highlight the urgent need for integrated groundwater management approaches considering the combined effects of agricultural practices, irrigation water quality, and climate variability tailored to Mediterranean coastal ecosystems.