Study Design to Investigate and Simulate Agrochemical Movement and Fate inGroundwater Recharge (Chapter 8)

摘要

The vulnerability of aquifers to contamination by agrochemicals is relativelyhigh in the southeastern Coastal Plain. Transport and transformation of agrochemicals in either the root, unsaturated, or saturated zones can be simulated by existing mathematical models. However, a linked mathematical model is needed to simulate the movement and degradation from the point of application through the unsaturated zone, and into groundwater. The United States Geological Survey and Agricultural Research Service initiated a cooperative investigation in 1986. In 1988, the United States Environmental Protection Agency joined the research investigation. The agencies are sharing technical expertise and resources to develop an understanding of physical, chemical, and biological processes and to evaluate their spatial and temporal variability; and to develop and validate linked model(s) that would describe chemical fate. Study sites have been selected in the Fall Line Hills district of the Coastal Plain province. The Claiborne aquifer recharge area is located in the district near Plains, Georgia. Instrumentation to measure water and chemical transport has been installed.