Methods for Estimating the Nitrogen Load on a Catchment Scale

JARQ : Japan Agricultural Research Quarterly
ISSN 00213551
書誌レコードID(総合目録DB) AA0068709X
本文フルテキスト
40-02-05.pdf410.85 KB

A Windows-based system for estimating the potential nitrogen (N) outflow in a catchment has been developed. The system includes a conversion method for administrative-based data from national scale statistics, such as the agricultural census, into a catchment-based data by utilizing the geographic information system (GIS). The system calculates N loads based on the pollutant load unit (PLU) method in a catchment and converts them to potential N outflows by introducing the outflow coefficients. For the catchments of tributaries flowing into Lake Kasumigaura in central Japan, where nonpoint sources were predominant, the N loads and the potential N outflows from 1950 to 1995 were estimated. The actual N outflows from the tributaries were also estimated using the water quality monitoring data at the outlet of the tributary catchment and meteorological data. These potential N outflows and actual N outflows were compared. Results obtained were as follows. (i) Some estimates by the present method, such as the drainage area and cultivation areas of various crops in each tributary, well agreed with those estimated by other methods and published data, indicating that this method was capable of estimating catchment-based data from the administrative-based statistics. (ii) Changes in the potential outflows during the period from 1950 to 1995 reflected the changes in livestock production and methods of waste water treatments. (iii) Comparison between the N potential outflows and the actual N outflows suggested that about 47% of the generated N load which leached down to groundwater from the soil surface flowed out and that a time-lag between two outflows appeared. Thus, the developed system offered good possibilities of realistic quantitative analyses on the contribution of non-point sources to water quality on the scale of a catchment.

刊行年月日
作成者 ITAHASHI Sunao KOMADA Michio TAKEUCHI Makoto
著者キーワード

GIS

N outflow coefficient

pollutant load unit

potential N outflow

公開者 Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences
オンライン掲載日
国立情報学研究所メタデータ主題語彙集(資源タイプ) Journal Article
40
2
開始ページ 131
終了ページ 142
DOI 10.6090/jarq.40.131
権利 Japan International Research Center for Agricultural Sciences
言語 eng

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