Comparison of models of simazine transport and fate in the subsurface environment in a citrus farm

    Authors

    N. B. Chang; K. R. Sirilakshmi;G. Parvathinathan

    Comments

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    Abbreviated Journal Title

    J. Environ. Manage.

    Keywords

    pesticides; groundwater modeling; model selection; FUZZY multicriteria; decision making; environmental impact assessment; citrus grove; CRITERIA DECISION-MAKING; PESTICIDE; MANAGEMENT; LOCATION; SOIL; SIMULATION; SYSTEM; Environmental Sciences

    Abstract

    Contamination of groundwater by agrochemicals is now widely recognized as an extremely important environmental problem. Modern agricultural practices involve the combined use of irrigation with the application of large amounts of agrochemicals to maximize crop yield. Due to flood irrigation and natural runoff, agricultural activities might generate soil, surface water and groundwater contamination problems and leaching of pesticides. Modeling of the transport and fate of pesticides, such as simazine, may help understand the long-term potential risk to the subsurface environment. This paper illustrates a comparative study via the use of three different pesticide transport simulation models and the applicability of those models in determining the groundwater vulnerability to pesticides contamination in a citrus orchard located at the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). The three models used in the study are the pesticide root zone model-3 (PRZM-3), the pesticide analytical model (PESTAN) and integrated pesticide transport modeling (IPTM). The concentration values obtained from all three models are in agreement, and they show a decreasing trend from the surface through the vadose zone. The problem is how to use this information and, specifically, how to combine the testimony of a number of experts into a single useful judgment. With the aid of the fuzzy multiattribute decision making method, PRZM-3 is deemed as the most promising one for such precision farming applications. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

    Journal Title

    Journal of Environmental Management

    Volume

    86

    Issue/Number

    1

    Publication Date

    1-1-2008

    Document Type

    Article

    Language

    English

    First Page

    27

    Last Page

    43

    WOS Identifier

    WOS:000251315300003

    ISSN

    0301-4797

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