Management of coastal hydrosystems through the application of free and open source software tool FREEWAT

FREEWAT is an open source and public domain GIS integrated modelling environment for the simulation of water quantity and quality in surface water and groundwater with an integrated water management and planning module. It involves the integration of: (i) Observation-Analysis Tool (OAT) that combines a number of time-series processing functionalities for statistical analysis of observations and help prepare model input data; (ii) AkvaGIS that involves hydrochemical and hydrogeological Analysis Tools and (iii) Groundwater Flow (MODFLOW-2005) and Transport modeling modules. FREEWAT platform will be applied in a typical Mediterranean environment that hosts a naturally occurring –and today degraded– coastal wetland with the characteristics of a distinct ecosystem linked to a typical coastal hydrogeological system of a semi-arid region; and therefore can serve as a model for similar systems worldwide. The geo-hydrological setting of the area involves a multi-layer aquifer system consisting of (i) an upper unconsolidated formation of depositional unit dominated mostly by fluvial sediments and (ii) the surrounding and underlying karstified marbles; both being linked to the investigated wetland and also subjected to seawater encroachment.