Model-based estimation of pesticides and transformation products and their export pathways in a headwater catchment

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Pesticides applied onto agricultural fields are frequently found in adjacent rivers. To what extent and along which pathways they are transported is influenced by intrinsic pesticide properties such as sorption and degradation. In the environment, incomplete degradation of pesticides leads to the formation of transformation products (TPs), which may differ from the parent compounds regarding their intrinsic fate characteristics. Thus, the export processes of TPs in catchments and streams may also be different. In order to test this hypothesis, we extended a distributed hydrological model by the fate and behaviour of pesticides and transformation products and applied it to a small, well-monitored headwater catchment in Switzerland. The successful model evaluation of three pesticides and their TPs at three sampling locations in the catchment enabled us to estimate the quantity of contributing processes for pollutant export. Since all TPs were more mobile than their parent compounds (PCs), they exhibited larger fractions of export via subsurface pathways. However, besides freshly applied pesticides, subsurface export was found to be influenced by residues of former applications. Export along preferential flow pathways was less dependent on substance fate characteristics than soil matrix export, but total soil water flow to tile drains increased more due to preferential flow for stronger sorbing substances. Our results indicate that runoff generation by matrix flow to tile drains gained importance towards the end of the modelling period whereas the contributions from fast surface runoff and preferential flow decreased. Accordingly, TPs were to a large extent exported under different hydrological conditions than their PCs, due to their delayed formation and longer half-lives. Thus, not only their different intrinsic characteristics but also their delayed formation could be responsible for the fact that TPs generally took different pathways than their PCs. We suggest that these results should be considered in risk assessment for the export of agricultural chemicals to adjacent rivers and that models should be extended to include both PCs and TPs.
Original languageEnglish
JournalHydrology and Earth System Sciences
Volume17
Issue number12
Pages (from-to)5213–5228
Number of pages16
ISSN1027-5606
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 23.12.2013

    Research areas

  • Chemistry - Agricultural fields, Distributed hydrological model, Headwater catchment, Hydrological condition, Intrinsic characteristics, Model-based estimation, Pesticide properties, Transformation products

Documents

DOI

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Christian Pfeifer

Publications

  1. Managing sustainable development with management control systems
  2. Credit constraints and exports
  3. Empathy as a motivator of dyadic helping across group boundaries
  4. Urban Problem Discourses
  5. Using density surface models to assess the ecological effectiveness of a protected area network in Tanzania
  6. Do consumers prefer pasture-raised dual-purpose cattle when considering meat products? A hypothetical discrete choice experiment for the case of minced beef
  7. Vom „rights-based approach" zum "solution-based approach" in der WTO-Streitbeilegung?
  8. Calibrated Passive Sampling - Multi-plot Field Measurements of NH3 Emissions with a Combination of Dynamic Tube Method and Passive Samplers
  9. The Balanced Scorecard and different Business Models in the textile industry
  10. Learning-related emotions in multimedia learning
  11. Cascade MIMO P-PID Controllers Applied in an Over-actuated Quadrotor Tilt-Rotor
  12. Collaborative modelling for active involvement of stakeholders in urban flood risk management
  13. Mechanical properties and microstructures of nano SiC reinforced ZE10 composites prepared with ultrasonic vibration
  14. A cross-scale assessment of productivity–diversity relationships
  15. On the logic of drawing history from symbols, especially from images
  16. Making sense of sustainability transitions locally
  17. Effects of season and man-made changes on baseflow and flow recession
  18. Formative assessment in mathematics
  19. A web- And mobile-based intervention for comorbid, recurrent depression in patients with chronic back pain on sick leave (get.back)
  20. Developing a die casting magnesium alloy with excellent mechanical performance by controlling intermetallic phase
  21. Mechanics of sheet-bulk indentation
  22. Navigating tensions in inclusive conservation
  23. Epistemic Domination by Data Extraction
  24. How work values relate to the intention to work after retirement
  25. Feedforward and repetitive control of a servo piezo-mechanical hydraulic actuator
  26. Sustainable Development and Quality Assurance in Higher Education
  27. Testing for Economies of Scope in European Railways
  28. Model Predictive Control for Energy Optimization in Generators/Motors as Well as Converters and Inverters for Futuristic Integrated Power Networks
  29. CaO dissolution during melting and solidification of a Mg-10 wt.% CaO alloy detected with in situ synchrotron radiation diffraction
  30. Multimodality in Strategy-as-Practice Research
  31. Tree ring isotopic composition, radial increment and height growth reveal provenance-specific reactions of Douglas-fir towards environmental parameters