A Geographical Information System (GIS) for geological and environmental planning of the Province of Benevento (Southern Italy): an example to approach

ABSTRACT This paper summarises a Geographical Information System carried out by means of the ESRI ArcView software which is aimed at the representation of the general characteristics of the geological and environmental planning of the Province of Benevento. lt represents a way of making the data immediately useable set on physical characteristics of the given territory. That is in order to faci litate a rapid reference on the territorial planning themes optimising the information contained in the database and furthermore the possibility of exploiting the mapping relative to specific themes in the service of planning. The database has been created both by data collecting exiting about on geological and geomorphological characteristics of the examined territory and by the updating of the same (where there are deficiencies) or the re-gathering ex-novo data. Finally, lt a new data set regarding the physical aspects of the territory has been created (e.g. digital elevation models- DEM -, map of acclivities, etc.). The core themes which from GIS are: the geological structure, the springs and hydrographical network, the population and urban sites with a main street network, old and recent landslides deduced from historical data, photo-interpretation and direct surveys, the land use, topographical mappings, the seismicity data set. From these themes, other derivatives were obtained: e.g. DEM, map of the acclivities, map of the protected area, map of lithology, map of slopes orientation and exposure. Altogether, the data gathered from the analysis and the elaboration of the themes by means of the information system, allow us to carry out and up to date maps integrating the geological and environmental characteristics of the territory of the Province of Benevento.