SOURCE: a semi-automatic tool for spring-monitoring data analysis and aquifer characterisation

It has become increasingly necessary to optimise mountain groundwater resource management and comprehend resourcerecharging systems from a hydrogeological perspective to formulate adequate resource protection strategies. Analysing mountain spring behaviour and aquifer characteristics can be time-consuming, so new automated techniques and software tools are needed to estimate hydrogeological parameters and understand the exhaustion dynamics of groundwater resources. This paper introduces SOURCE, a new semi-automatic tool that automates the hydrogeological characterisation of water springs and provides proper estimations of the vulnerability index, as well as autocorrelation and cross-correlation statistical coefficients. SOURCE rapidly processed input data from the Mascognaz 1 spring (Aosta Valley) water probes and meteorological station to provide graphical outputs and values for the main hydrodynamic parameters. Having a single software package that contains all the main methods of water spring analysis could potentially reduce analysis times from a few days to a few hours.