Modeling the recharge-discharge processes of the Caposele karst spring (Cervialto massif, southern Apennine)

Guido Leone¹, Hervé Jourde², Michele Ginolfi¹, Libera Esposito¹, Gerardo Ventafridda³ & Francesco Fiorillo^1
1Department of Sciences and Technologies, University of Sannio, 82100 Benevento, Italy.
²HydroSciences Montpellier (HSM), Université de Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, 34090 Montpellier, France.
³Acquedotto Pugliese S.p.A., 70121 Bari, Italy.
Corresponding author e-mail: guleone@outlook.com

The Cervialto massif hosts one of the main karst aquifers of the southern Apennine (Italy). It feeds the Caposele spring, supplying drinking water to Apulia region. This basal spring is characterised by a dumped response to rainfall and snowmelt. Specifically, no discharge peaks following rainfall (or snowmelt events) are observable in the daily hydrograph, which exhibits smooth seasonal fluctuations during normal/wet years and remains almost flat during droughts. Such a response to meteorological forcings is uncommon for a karst hydro system and has been poorly discussed in the literature. This study focuses on the modeling of the recharge-discharge process of the Cervialto aquifer using a lumped model. The KarstMod modeling platform was employed to predict the spring response to precipitation and temperature. Meteorological data were pre-processed using a dedicated snow routine. The study shows a simple approach for calibrating snow routine parameters based on the analysis of multi-temporal satellite images. The hydrological model accurately replicates the main hydrological features of the Caposele spring, providing a valuable tool for evaluating the impacts of climate change on spring discharge.

lumped model, diffuse-flow, karst spring discharge, climate, snow modeling.