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The development of the Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework for assessing the catchment-coastal zone interaction for the Po River-North Adriatic Coastal Zone system was performed in the framework of the EUROCAT project which is a 3-year project funded by the European Commission as part of the FP5. The overall goal was to develop a methodology for relating the concept of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) with that of Integrated River Basin Management (IRBM) by combining biogeochemical models with socio-economic models. The main issue for the Po Catchment-Adriatic Coastal Zone system is the eutrophication of the north Adriatic coastal zone, therefore a great effort has been addressed to identify major socio-economic Drivers and Pressures that affect the water quality and the eutrophication phenomenon and thus the interaction between the river catchment area and the coastal waters in terms of nutrient fluxes. In order to identify possible management strategies aimed to achieve the targets of the WFD in terms of water quality objectives (WQOs) and sustainable development, the Business as Usual (BAU) and Policy Target (POT) scenarios were analysed. Socio-economic information concerning Driving forces i.e. Agriculture, Livestock and Industrial sectors, population growth, were collected and analysed in order to identify the socio-economic evolution of the Po area, meanwhile a detailed description of legislative framework in relation to the implementation of WFD was made in order to identify the link between legislative targets (WOSs, reduction of nutrients release) and environmental response (pollution reduction). The socio-economic analysis, performed for the last 20 year, was used as background input in formulating coherent hypothesis (story- lines) of socio-economic evolution of the Po Catchment-Adriatic CZ area in terms of future projections of major Driving forces. The Story-Lines coupled with a set of Policy Options were combined in order to formulate Policy Packages for each scenario. Data sets representative for each BAU and POT scenario hypothesis were interfaced with ecological (MONERIS, WASP) and socio-economic (DEFINITE) models.

Water policy in the European Union includes the implementation of the EU-Water Framework Directive (WFD) 60/2000 that defines a set of Water Quality Objectives (WQO) for all water-bodies. River basin management is a target of the WFD and includes the evaluation of different management strategies in order to reach the WQO. The achievement of this objectives is related to the capability to make coherent prevision about future fluxes of contaminants discharged into the catchment and the response of the coastal zone. Therefore the analysis of different socio-economic scenarios (story-line) developed in the DPSIR framework allows to identify optimal strategies for achieving the WQOs. This paper presents the preliminary results obtained for the Po Catchment-Coastal Zone continuum in the framework of the EUROCAT project. Evaluation of socio-economic activities carried out in the Po Basin during the last 20 years and the assessment of Drivers and Pressure factors that have determined the deterioration of the State in terms of water quality (surface and groundwater) is a critical step in the application of the DPSIR concept to a complex environmental system like the Po Catchment-Adriatic Sea CZ continuum. Different scenarios (story lines) have been analysed as part of the Business As Usual (BAU) and Policy Target (POT) scenarios. The Business As Usual is the baseline scenario, it included the EU pre-WFD legislation implemented in Italy to control and reduce the eutrophication level. The Policy Target scenarios is regarded as the best possible combination between the Italian policy framework, European legislation and the Regional Environmental Protection programmes implemented by the Bo River Basin Authority in cooperation with Regional Environmental Protection Agencies.

Dissolved gaseous mercury (DGM) was measured in coastal Atlantic seawater and in the Mediterranean Sea. The Atlantic measurements were performed during September 1999 at the Mace Head Atmospheric Research Station, situated on the Irish west coast. The measurements in the Mediterranean Sea were made along a 6000 km cruise path from 14 July to 9 August 2000 in the framework of the Med-Oceanor project. Total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations in air were continuously measured with a 5 min time resolution using an automated mercury analyser (Tekran 2537A) during both expeditions. Paired TGM and DGM samples from all campaigns showed that the surface water was supersaturated with elemental mercury. The mercury evasion was estimated using a gas exchange model (J. Geophys. Res. 97 (1992) 7373), which uses salinity, wind speed and water temperature as independent parameters. The predicted average mercury evasion from the coastal Atlantic water was 2.7 ng m-2 h-1 implying that the concentration of TGM in the Atlantic air is enhanced by mercury evasion from the sea. Measurements in different regions of the Mediterranean Sea showed spatial variations in DGM concentrations. The highest DGM concentration (~90 pg l-1) was observed at a location in the Strait of Sicily (37°16N 11°52E). The mercury evasion in the eastern sector of the Mediterranean Sea (area: 32–36°N, 17–28°E) was generally higher (7.9 ng m-2 h-1) than that observed in the Tyrrhenian Sea (4.2 ng m-2 h-1) or in the western sector (2.5 ng m-2 h-1) (areas: 38–42°N, 8–13°E and 38–41°N, 7–8°E, respectively). Estimations of mercury evasion were also made at Mediterranean coastal sites using a dynamic chamber technique. In addition, a newly developed method making continuous in situ DGM measurements possible was tested.

The Mediterranean Atmospheric Mercury Cycle System (MAMCS) project was performed between 1998 and 2000 and involved the collaboration of universities and research institutes from Europe, Israel and Turkey. The main goal of MAMCS was to investigate dynamic processes affecting the cycle of mercury in the Mediterranean atmosphere by combining ad hoc field measurements and modelling tasks. To study the fate of Hg in the Mediterranean Basin an updated emission inventory was compiled for Europe and the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Models were developed to describe the individual atmospheric processes which influence the chemical and physical characteristics of atmospheric Hg, and these were coupled to meteorological models to examine the dispersion and deposition of Hg species in the Mediterranean Basin. One intercomparison and four two-week measurement campaigns were carried out over a three-year period. The work presented here describes the results in general terms but focuses on the areas where definite conclusions were unforthcoming and thus highlights those aspects where, in spite of advances made in the understanding of Hg cycling, further work is necessary in order to be able to predict confidently Hg and Hg compound concentration fields and deposition patterns. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Within EUROCAT a large database that includes temporal trends of physical, ecological and socio-economic data was developed in order to support the nutrient fluxes modeling for different socio-economic scenarios at catchment and coastal zone level of the Po Basin with reference to Water Quality Objectives (WQOs) reported in the Framework Water Directive and Italian legislation as well. Emission data derived from different sources at national, regional and local levels are referred to point and non-point sources. While non-point (diffuse) sources are simply integrated into nutrient flux model, point sources are irregularly distributed. Moreover the intensive farming activities in the Po valley is one of the main Pressure factor Driving the groundwater pollution in the catchment, therefore understanding the spatial and temporal variability of groundwater nitrate concentrations is a critical issue to be considered in developing a Water Quality Management Plan. Therefore in order to use the point sources data as input in our biogeochemical and transport models the data have been spatially interpolated by using geostatistical techniques. This study reports on spatial analysis of groundwater nitrate concentrations and discusses the uncertainty associated by using a probabilistic approach. Our approach is based on geostatistic technique used to yield a series of stochastic images characterised by equal probable spatial distributions of the nitrate concentration across the area. Post-processing of many simulations allowed the mapping of contaminated and uncontaminated areas and assessing the uncertainty in nitrate concentrations.

A short description of the main mechanisms controlling the mercury cycle in the European environment have been discussed giving special emphasis to the marine ecosystems and its effects on human health; meanwhile, existing gaps in our understanding of the quantitative and qualitative relationship between emissions to the atmosphere, deposition to sensitive ecosystems and accumulation in the food-chain have been highlighted. The paper concludes presenting the recommendations forwarded to the European Commission by the European Working Group on Mercury which are aimed to support the development of a new European policy for the reduction of the risk for human health and the environment associated to mercury exposure.

With the purpose of establishing an European legislation aimed to protect inland surface waters, transitional waters, coastal waters and groundwater the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union adopted the Water Framework Directive 2000/60/EC (WFD). The holistic approach of the WFD for the management of waters have been adopted to protect water bodies considered as an interlinked system from the spring to the sea. Having the above in mind, two years ago was started the EUROCAT project funded by the European Commission as part of the FP5 which is aimed to define for different catchment-coastal zone continuums in Europe a possible policy responses to mitigate environmental pressures driven by main economic activities existing in the area. In order to account for different aspects related to spatial interactions between the watershed and coastal zone, the Drivers-Pressures-State-Impact-Response (DPSIR) framework was developed for the Po Catchment-Adriatic Coastal Zone continuum and applied as policy tool to evaluate important aspects to be considered during the implementation of the WFD. The DPSIR includes ecological as well as socio-economic indicators that represent the Drivers that create Pressures which are gradually integrated as the Status of the system is assessed. Evaluation of the Impact for different Drivers and Pressure factors allows to identify the optimal strategy(- ies) for achieving the objectives and goals of the WFD. The aim of this paper is to discuss and present the complex database that includes socio-economic, physical and ecological indicators for both the catchment and the coastal zone that have been used to run different biogeochemical and socio-economic models including the one for assessing nutrient fluxes in the catchment (MONERIS, Behrendt, 1996), the nutrient cycle in surface and deep seawaters of the Adriatic Sea (WASP model) and socio-economic models (i.e., DEFINITE) for different socioeconomic and environmental scenarios including the Business As Usual (BAU) and Policy Target (POT) scenarios.

The Mediterranean Atmospheric Mercury Cycle System (MAMCS) project was performed between 1998 and 2000 and involved the collaboration of universities and research institutes from Europe, Israel and Turkey. The main goal of MAMCS was to investigate dynamic processes affecting the cycle of mercury in the Mediterranean atmosphere by combining ad hoc field measurements and modelling tasks. To study the fate of Hg in the Mediterranean Basin an updated emission inventory was compiled for Europe and the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Models were developed to describe the individual atmospheric processes which influence the chemical and physical characteristics of atmospheric Hg, and these were coupled to meteorological models to examine the dispersion and deposition of Hg species in the Mediterranean Basin. One intercomparison and four two-week measurement campaigns were carried out over a three-year period. The work presented here describes the results in general terms but focuses on the areas where definite conclusions were unforthcoming and thus highlights those aspects where, in spite of advances made in the understanding of Hg cycling, further work is necessary in order to be able to predict confidently Hg and Hg compound concentration fields and deposition patterns.

MONERIS model (Modelling Nutrient Emission in River Systems) was developed in order to estimate the nutrient fluxes present into the river basins deriving from point emission sources and various diffuse pathways. The nutrient fluxes are emitted from both point emission sources (i.e., waste water treatment plants, industrial discharge which directly flowing into the rivers) and diffuse emission sources, these ones represented by the sum of different pathways (atm dep, erosion, tile drainage, surface runoff, groundwater and paved urban areas) of the nutrient fluxes. Along the pathway from the source of the emission into the river substances are governed by different processes of transformations, retention and loss. Knowledge of these processes is necessary in order to quantify the nutrient emissions into the rivers. These processes are influences from different chemical and physical parameters analysed in the sensitivity analysis conducted in the present study. In particular, the overall goal of the MONERIS sensitivity analysis is to study the outcome of the model with changing of the parameters which influence the assess of the nutrient fluxes into different pathways, highlighting those more sensitivity from the others. Moreover, the variations of these parameters on the different processes of transformation, retention and loss connected each others, determine a variation on specific pathway and/or global amount of the nutrient fluxes. The intercomparison of the experimental data with the sensitivity analysis of the model is necessary in order to predict future scenarios of the nutrient emissions.

Past and recent studies show that increased loads of nutrients and heavy metals, the discharge of xenobiotic compounds (i.e., pesticides, endocrine disrupters) and the alteration of river flow regimes and sediment discharges are primarily due to land-based activities located throughout river catchments. The external forcing of the continuum catchment-coast by its biophysical properties and its socio-economic drivers vary across Europe because of differences in geography as well as in economic conditions. Hence, the costs of abatement, their temporal delays in impact and spatial distribution will differ at the European scale. The Po catchment, covering an area of approximately 71000 km²- corresponding to 24% of the total Italian territory - is the most urbanised and productive area of Italy, representing therefore the most important basin in the country. Due to the high levels of urbanisation, industrial, agriculture and livestock activities, the area is characterised by significant anthropic pressures that are responsible for water quality impairment. Water quality decline is evident not only along the river, but also in the Adriatic Sea, with the phenomenon of eutrophication affecting all the Northwestern coast. Therefore the development and operation of optimal environmental protection and strategies to reduce or/and control the load of a harmful substance have to be on the same spatial scale. Integrated catchment analysis and management strategies is needed in order to support the implementation of European environmental policies. The aim of this paper is to present the preliminary results obtained for the Po catchment-Adriatic Sea continuum in the framework of the EUROCAT project.

The European Water Framework Directive has set the Water Quality Objectives (WQOs) and each member state must accomplish the WQOs within 2027. In order to achieve these objectives is important to identify the major sources of pollution at catchment scale. Having in mind the targets of WFD the assessment of the nutrient fluxes discharged to the Po river by different type of emission sources (diffuse and point) is the first step for identifying the Drive- Pressure relationship causing the eutrophication and the deterioration of the WQ of the North Adriatic CZ. The main emission sources of nutrients are point sources (i.e., industry and waste water treatment plants) and diffuse sources (i.e., agriculture, surface runoff). The nutrient fluxes discharged to the Po river were estimated by using the MONERIS (MOdelling Nutrient Emissions in RIver Systems) model. MONERIS uses a number of input datasets including information of the study area i.e., river flows, water quality parameters, statistical data of nutrient discharged into the catchment, and major driving forces i.e., industry and waste water treatment plant's. The modeling of processes affecting the transport of pollutants to the catchment and CZ accounts for major pathways of pollutant transport from the emission sources to the receptor area which includes atmospheric deposition, erosion, surface runoff, groundwater, tile drainage, waste water treatment plants (WWTP) and runoff for paved urban areas. The correctness in nutrient fluxes estimation was reached by a wise calibration phase used to adapt the model to our catchment. Moreover a preliminary sensitivity analysis was made before the application of the model to identify some key parameters helpful in the calibration phase. The catchment was analyzed by a 24 sub-basin division (ABPO 1997) considering both physic data and transformed socio-economic data that were originally set at municipality level. The evaluation of spatial and temporal distributions of nutrient fluxes and pathways highlights the changes of the water quality in the different periods. The estimate of nutrient emission for both periods 1990-1995 and 1995-2000 agree with those obtained from measured data at the sampling stations. The groundwater is the main pathway that contribute to Nitrogen emission (>50%) while the WWTP pathway has a great impact on Phosphorus emission (>35%). Finally the model was used to assess scenario analysis for the estimation of nutrient emissions having in mind the WQOs of WFD.

In their recent New Directions article Lee et al.(Atmospheric Environment 35, 5855–5857, 2001) propose the "deposition target loading formulated along the critical loads effects-based approach" as the parameter to be regulated by the future European Directive, considering as they do the Air Quality Daughter Directive an inappropriate tool, in fact rather a "blunt instrument" for limiting the impact on human health and the environment of this highly toxic contaminant. The Working Group (WG) that prepared the Position Paper on Mercury (PP) has extensively discussed during its meetings whether to employ the deposition approach and considered it as not presently applicable on the basis of our current knowledge of different aspects of the biogeochemical cycle of mercury in the environment. Instead, the WG proposed an action plan starting with monitoring of emissions, ambient air concentrations and deposition as well as assessment of potential for emission reductions in the Member States. Here, we briefly outline the thoughts that have inspired the recommendations that the WG forwarded to the European Commission.

Mercury species in air have been measured at five sites in Northwest Europe and at five coastal sites in the Mediterranean region during measurements at four seasons. Observed concentrations of total gaseous mercury (TGM),total particulate mercury (TPM) and reactive gaseous mercury (RGM) were generally slightly higher in the Mediterranean region than in Northwest Europe. Incoming clean Atlantic air seems to be enriched in TGM incomparison to air in Scandinavia. Trajectory analysis of events where high concentrations of TPM simultaneously were observed at sites in North Europe indicate source areas in Central Europe and provide evidence of transport of mercuryon particles on a regional scale.

European Land-Ocean Interaction Studies (ELOISE)is an action (called "Thematic Network or Project Cluster") where coastal zone research projects in the European Commission are combined, with additional support, to focus on the important question of how the land-ocean interaction operates and on how this is infuenced by human activities. As an outcome of the third ELOISE conference held in Northwijkerhout, the Netherlands from 1 to 4 December 1999, selected technical papers that focus on different aspects of pollutants dynamics between atmospheric, water and soil ecosystems in coastal zones and open sea are being published in a Special Issue. The aim of these special issues is to provide an overview of the major achievements of research projects undertaken in the framework of ELOISE, as well as the most highlighting recent research results of some of the on-going activities. This special issue of Atmospheric Environment contains 10 submitted technical papers which were accepted after the normal rigorous peer review process of the journal.