3.8 The SETTING entity
|
A setting is
|
A description of the landscape surrounding a groundwater_feature is data that is useful in hydrogeological studies. For example, land use descriptions may give insights in issues such as potential hazard for groundwater contamination (eg. proximity to heavy manufacturing industry, intensive agriculture). The landscape position of a piezometer in the local catchment (eg. ridge, mid-slope, lowland) is typically noted in dryland salinity studies. The slope around the site can indicate the level of accessibility to the groundwater_feature. A description of the surrounding vegetation and soil type is particularly useful in recharge studies.
Table 3.9 Attributes of the setting entity
|
Name |
Data Type |
Description |
|
feature_ identifier |
character |
unique identifier for groundwater_feature |
|
setting_number |
integer |
sequence number in combination with feature_identifier uniquely defines the setting for the groundwater_feature |
|
code |
the type of feature in the surrounding landscape that is described eg. land use |
|
|
category |
code |
the category of landscape feature eg. horticulture, grazing |
|
code |
proportion of landscape in which category occurs eg. dominant |
|
|
nominal_ radius |
number |
nominal radius around site of groundwater_feature to which description of setting applies, km |
|
organisation |
character |
organisation that described setting |
|
setting_date |
date |
date/time that setting was described or assigned |
|
code |
reliability attached to date/time when setting was described |
|
|
comments |
character |
comments about setting |
A groundwater_feature can have many settings, each uniquely defined by the combination of feature_identifier and setting_number. Many different types of features of the landscape around a site can be described, including parameters such as slope, landform or vegetation. The setting is described in terms of the proportion of the landscape that is made up of a particular category of a setting type found surrounding the site (eg. the very gentle category forms the major proportion of the slope type of setting). Wherever possible, national standard conventions should be used when describing these settings. Standard domains for slope, landform and vegetation are available in the data standards. The nominal_radius defines a horizontal circle around the site within which the description of the setting applies.
The organisation and setting_date defines who described the setting and when the setting around the groundwater_feature was described.
3.8.1 Examples of settings
A groundwater_feature may have a setting where:
- the major land use is grazing for 10km around the site;
- the minor land use is cereal cropping for 10km around site;
- the dominant vegetation is mallee for 1km around site;
- minor soil type is red vertosol for 1km around site;
- the slope is dominantly gently inclined for 100m around the site; or
- the dominant landform is alluvial fan for 100m around the site.
|
