INTRINSINC VULNERABILITY OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS TO WATER AND NITROGEN LOSSES.

The aim of the study is to propose an integrated approach for vulnerability assessment combining the LOS indices and other indices (AVI, SINTACS) of low data requirements, which can describe the vulnerability to pollution from conservative pollutants and nitrogen species for a) the topsoil, b) the unsaturated zone and c) the aquifer system. The separate analysis and combination of the 3 compartments can provide a more robust and detailed description of the response of hydrogeological systems to pollution. This attempt aims to change the current perspective of the vulnerability maps from two-dimensional (latitude, longitude) to four-dimensional visualization by adding the dimensions of depth and time. This study is an integration of the methods developed in the context of the EU.WATER project (http://www.euwater. eu). The Sarigkiol Basin in Greece, is presented here as case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]