GIS-based hydrogeochemical analysis tools (QUIMET)

Abstract

A software platform (QUIMET) was developed to improve the sorting, analysis, calculations, visualizations, and interpretations of hydrogeochemical data in a GIS environment. QUIMET is composed of a geospatial database plus a set of tools specially designed for graphical and statistical analysis of hydrogeochemical data. The geospatial database has been designed to include organic and inorganic chemical records, as well as relevant physical parameters (temperature, Eh, electrical conductivity). The instruments for analysis cover a wide range of methodologies for querying, interpreting, and comparing groundwater quality data. They include, among others, chemical time-series analysis, ionic balance calculations, correlation of chemical parameters, and calculation of various common hydrogeochemical diagrams (Salinity, Schöeller–Berkaloff, Piper, and Stiff). The GIS platform allows the generation of maps of the spatial distribution of parameters and diagrams. Moreover, it allows performing a complete statistical analysis of the data including descriptive statistic univariate and bivariate analysis, the latter including generation of correlation matrices and graphics. Finally, QUIMET offers interoperability with other external platforms. The platform is illustrated with a geochemical data set from the city of Badalona, located on the Mediterranean coast in NE Spain.