GISCorps Volunteer will conduct a GIS Needs Assessment for Phreatic

Phreatic is a not-for-profit organization based in Cala Gonone (Sardinia, Italy), founded by a group of extreme environment explorers, scientists and researchers. They started their operations in 2014 in the Supramonte plateau and the Gulf of Orosei. Phreatic is mainly active in the Mediterranean basin and their projects cover an ever-growing spectrum of scientific subjects, such as environmental processes, geology, speleology, marine biology and conservation of delicate ecosystems, including hypogene environments, groundwater resources, marine caves and their integration with coastal environment. In short, Phreatic exists to advance knowledge about groundwater resources and marine caves, and to insure their protection and conservation.

The Gulf of Orosei coastline is characterized by hundreds of caverns and caves (both dry and flooded), with some of the longest anchialine underwater cave systems of Europe. These springs are fresh water rivers with intrusion of saltwater from the sea. Multiple decorations and speleothems testify to the varying water levels during different ice ages and prove such environments were once dry; multiple branching passages, sumps and long shallow galleries make these caves one of the premiere cave diving destinations in Europe and a maze still to be discovered and explored.

Phreatic projects are focused on bridging the information and knowledge gap in the Gulf of Orosei region by conducting a comprehensive survey of the caves and establishing a robust Geographic Information System (GIS) to effectively manage and share invaluable data with their audiences. To kickstart this initiative, Phreatic would like to use the expertise of a GISCorps volunteer to carry out an in-depth GIS Needs Assessment, with the goal of utilizing the Esri Suite of products to build their GIS infrastructure from the ground up. The volunteer demonstrates the environmental analysis capabilities of ArcGIS Online (AGO) and provide training materials to equip Phreatic with the necessary skills for ongoing success.

Dawn Abercrombie, a seasoned GISCorps volunteer from Georgia, USA, will be assisting Phreatic with conducting a comprehensive GIS Needs Assessment. She will evaluate the current state of Phreatic’s GIS data and infrastructure and then provide strategic recommendations to guide them toward achieving optimal performance.

Recruitment complete, project in progress.