Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
The significance of the differences in soil phosphorus representation and transport procedures in the SWAT and HSPF models and a comparison of their performance in estimating phosphorus loss from an agriculture catchment in IrelandPhosphorus transported from agriculture land has been identified as a major source of water pollution in a large number of Irish catchments. Models of this process are required in order to design and assess management measures. This paper reports on the comparison and assessment of two of the most promising physically-based distributed models, SWAT and HSPF, with particular emphasis on their suitability for Irish conditions. The representation of the overall soil phosphorus cycle is similar in both models but there is a significant difference in the level of detail in describing the chemical and biochemical processes in each model. Also there are differences in modeling the mechanisms by which phosphorus is removed from the soil column and either transported in dissolved form with the runoff water or in particulate form attached to eroded or detached sediment. These differences could have a significant influence on performance when using either of the models to simulate phosphorus loss from any catchment. Both models are applied to estimating the phosphorus concentration at the outlet of the Clarianna catchment in north Tiperrary (Ireland). This catchment is small (23km2) and the landuse is mainly pasture on grey brown podozilic soils. The results of model calibration are presented along with an assessment of the usefulness of the model outputs as a water quality management tool.
-
Developing an independent, generic, phosphorus modelling component for use with grid-oriented, physically-based distributed catchment modelsGrid-oriented, physically based catchment models calculate fields of various hydrological variables relevant to phosphorous detachment and transport. These include (i) for surface transport: overland flow depth and flow in the coordinate directions, sediment load, and sediment concentration and (ii) for subsurface transport: soil moisture and hydraulic head at various depths in the soil. These variables can be considered as decoupled from any chemical phosphorous model since phosphorous concentrations, either as dissolved or particulate, do not influence the model calculations of the hydrological fields. Thus the phosphorous concentration calculations can be carried out independently from and after the hydrological calculations. This makes it possible to produce a separate phosphorous modelling component which takes as input the hydrological fields produced by the catchment model and which calculates, at each step the phosphorous concentrations in the flows. This paper summarise the equations and structure of Grid Oriented Phosphorous Component (GOPC) developed for simulating the phosphorus concentrations and loads using the outputs of a fully distributed physical based hydrological model. Also the GOPC performance is illustrated by am example of an experimental catchment (created by the author) subjected to some ideal conditions.
-
Farm-gate phosphorus balances and soil phosphorus concentrations on intensive dairy farms in the south-west of IrelandPhosphorus (P) loss to water is a significant threat to water quality in Ireland. Agriculture is an important source of this P. There is concern about balancing agronomic requirements and environmental protection in regulations prescribing P management on farms. This study examined farm-gate (P) balances and soil test P (STP) concentrations on 21 dairy farms in the south west of Ireland over four years, from 2003 to 2006 inclusive. Stocking density on the farms averaged 2.4 (s.d. = 0.4) livestock units (LU) per ha. Annual mean import of P onto farms was 21.6 (1.9) kg P/ha. Fertilizer P accounted for 47% (0.041), concentrates 35% (0.060) and organic manures 18% (0.034) of imported P. The mean annual P balance per farm was 9.4 (1.2) kg/ha, ranging from –3 to 47 kg/ha and mean P use efficiency was 0.71 (0.05) ranging from 0.24 to 1.37. The mean STP per farm following extraction using Morgan’s solution was 8.15 (2.9) mg/L of soil and ranged from 4.4 (2.2) to 14.7 (6.4) mg/L. There was a positive relationship (R2 = 0.34; P < 0.01) between STP and P balance; farms with a deficit of P tended to have agronomically sub-optimal STP and vice versa. The high between- and withinfarm variation in STP indicates that farmers were either unaware or were not making efficient use of STP results, and consequently there was agronomically sub-optimal soil P status in some fields and potentially environmentally damaging excesses on others (often within one farm). There was considerable potential to improve P management practices on these farms with clear agronomic and environmental benefits.
