Temperature logs to evaluate groundwater - surface water interaction (Sabato River at Avellino, Campania)

The overall aim of this study is to investigate groundwater and surface water mixing by temperature versus depth logs application in Campania (Southern Italy). The study area is located in Pianodardine (Avellino), on the left side of the Sabato River. Down-hole temperature logs in 9 monitoring wells, referred to two monitoring campaigns carried on in April and October 2016, have been compared. Results coming from these surveys suggest that stream discharge interacts with the groundwater local flow, due to the specific geological setting, which is responsible of temperature anomalies. These waters interaction is related to the seasonal groundwater level variations and it may define, eventually, two mixing processes for groundwater and surface water. The case study shows how temperature logs may give a cheap tool for acquiring fast, reliable data for supporting hydrogeological studies at small sites, with high heterogeneity conditions.