Hydro-stratigraphic datasets for the reconstruction of a large scale 3D FEM numerical model in the Milan metropolitan area (northern Italy)

Abstract

One of the objectives of groundwater numerical modeling is to accurately reproduce the flow velocity field and the flow and transport pathways. In this article the hydro-stratigraphic dataset, used in the co-submitted article “Modeling the interference of underground structures with groundwater flow and remedial solutions in Milan” (De Caro et al., 2020) [1] , is presented. The work aims to reconstruct the spatial variability of the hydraulic parameters in the shallow aquifers of the Milan City area (northern Italy) and to integrate them in a groundwater flow 3D finite element method (FEM) numerical model. This objective is achieved by converting qualitative borehole logs stratigraphic information into hydrogeological parameters (e.g. hydraulic conductivity and porosity) and by interpolating these parameters over the finite element mesh nodes by means of 3D kriging techniques. The modeling domain and the mesh nodes, the boundary surfaces between the aquifers as well as some of the piezometric data used to calibrate the model are presented to make the numerical experiment reproducible.