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Pitout, Cedric 
  
DATABASE AND GIS MANAGEMENT FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF HEAVY POLLUTED 
INDUSTRIAL SITES 
Cédric PITOUT', Claude KERGOMARD" 
"National Research Center for Contaminated Sites and Soils (CNRSSP), France 
pitout@cnrssp.org 
"" Sciences and Technology University of Lille, France 
Laboratoire de Géographie des Milieux Anthropisés 
Claude.Kergomard(guniv-lille].fr 
Working Group IV/ 3 
KEY WORDS: Geographical Information System (GIS), Database, Geo-referencing, Aerial Photograph, Industrial 
Contaminated Site. 
ABSTRACT 
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are commonly used for territorial and environmental management. Recently, 
they have been applied to the topic of polluted industrial sites. Specific difficulties directly related to industrial site 
characteristics (heterogeneity, lack of data, confidentiality, ...) make it difficult for use and especially for analysing 
results. Based on our experience in the treatment of data from two sites located in northern France, three main concepts 
are to be taken into account for improvement in this framework: 
- Database architecture : data structure and organisation has to be coherent by taking into account all aspects 
of site description and physico-chemical analysis, but has also to remain open by allowing to append new 
fields at any time. A particular attention has to be paid: non-redundancy of the records, classification in 
regards to the concerned medium (soil, water, air...), and structuring of data groups in a hierarchical 
system. 
- Data geo-referencing : precise data geo-referencing appears essential for integrating field measurements, 
maps and older data within a GIS. Presently easy to use and not much expensive, the DGPS (Differential 
Global Positioning System) is a good way to resolve the question of geo-referencing. DGPS is particularly 
useful for comparison and overlay different kinds of maps, drawn at different times, etc. It gives, in 
common use, a metric to sub-metric precision (x, y, z), enough for our purpose. 
- Aerial photographs : the study of site history is achieved with the treatment and the interpretation of aerial 
photographs. General site evolution during time can be assessed using a set of views since the oldest to the 
more recent one. Better still, it permits to visualise the soil movements and/or the waste zone location. 
Therefore, the aerial photograph collection constitutes an interesting support to locate primary pollution 
sources. 
As a conclusion, this study should allow industrial site owners and administrators to better define investigation 
techniques and environmental management tools. 
1 INTRODUCTION 
Since a few years in France, there is an increasing awareness of the necessity of contaminated sites management and 
rehabilitation. Simultaneously, there is an increase in environmental GIS applications and needs. It thus appears 
necessary to adapt GIS for managing data specifics to industrial sites. After a short presentation of the data model in a 
cartographic database, we shall stress two major points that are necessary for a correct GIS utilization : data precise 
geo-referencing and sites historical reconstitution. These points have been assessed from two cases-studies of former 
industrial sites in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region (northern France). The first site is a former coke plant with main 
pollution by coal tar, the second one is a former ore treatment factory with a pollution by heavy metals. All the figures 
presented in this paper correspond to the coke plant. 
  
International Archives of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. Vol. XXXIII, Part B7. Amsterdam 2000. 1155