Development, data modelling of environmental geochemical monitoring of fluvial (suspended, river bottom, floodplain) sediments using unique automated and passive sampling for the contamination risk assessment according to the EU WFD in the Danube Basin

Abstract

This study reports on the unique results of the recently concluded Sediment-quality Information, Monitoring and Assessment System to Support Transnational Cooperation for Joint Danube Basin Water Management (SIMONA) project, the largest of its kind in Europe, which was carried out in 2018-2022 as a project of the EU DTP aiming at delivering a ready-to-deploy sediment-quality monitoring system for the effective and comparable measurements and assessment of sediment quality in surface waters in the Danube River Basin in accordance with the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The project has developed, tested, demonstrated an innovative environmental geochemical monitoring platform of fluvial (suspended, river bottom and floodplain) sediments using state-of-the-art automated and passive sampling technology for the contamination risk assessment according to the EU WFD in the Danube Basin. Time series analysis and signal processing of one year multi-variate and multi-matrice monitoring data could be used to identify the geochemical background, temporal trends, periodicities and contamination events in the studied EU-defined Hazardous Substances. Since the applied technology, methods and data interpretation is fully consistent with EU legislation risk assessment, results may provide a ‘best solution’ for the spatial and temporal discrimination of contamination. Results of biological contamination assessment of sediments using microbial tests are also presented.Keywords: data analysis, geochemistry, mobility, speciation, enrichment, time series analysis