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Microscale Variability of Atrazine and Chloride Leaching Under Field Conditions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 June 2017

Guy A. Chammas
Affiliation:
Department of Soil, Crop, and Atmospheric Sciences, Bradfield and Emerson Halls, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Department of Soil, Water, and Environmental Science, 429 Shantz Building #38, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721
John L. Hutson
Affiliation:
Department of Soil, Crop, and Atmospheric Sciences, Bradfield and Emerson Halls, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Jonathan J. Hart
Affiliation:
Department of Soil, Crop, and Atmospheric Sciences, Bradfield and Emerson Halls, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USDA-ARS, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
Joseph M. DiTomaso
Affiliation:
Department of Soil, Crop, and Atmospheric Sciences, Bradfield and Emerson Halls, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 Weed Science Program, Robbins Hall, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA 95616

Abstract

Pesticide leaching experiments using widely spaced sampling sites may not adequately characterize chemical leaching behavior such as nonuniform flow between sampling points. We conducted this study to determine the three-dimensional variability of atrazine and chloride movement within a small volume of soil (2,700 cm1) under field conditions. A 1-m2area of Williamson silt loam (coarse-silty, mixed, mesic, Typic Fragiochrept) was sprayed uniformly with atrazine (1.1 kg ai/ha) and chloride (80 kg/ha). We used the Leaching Estimation and Chemistry Model (LEACHM) to simulate chemical movement. After 6.5 cm of rainfall during a 29-d period, we sampled 36 squares (5 by 5 cm) in the central 30- by 30-cm portion of the treated area at six depth increments (0 to 2, 2 to 5, 5 to 10, 10 to 15, 15 to 21, and 21 to 30 cm) and determined atrazine and Clconcentrations. We recovered 26% of the applied atrazine and 138% of the applied chloride. Low atrazine recovery may have been due to leaching beyond 30 cm and/or degradation while excess chloride recovery is attributed to high background concentrations. Coefficients of variation (CVs) for atrazine significantly increased with depth and ranged from 26 to 353%, while CVs for Clwere independent of depth and ranged from 32 to 66%. Derived atrazine concentration isograms illustrated highly nonuniform herbicide transport. Although LEACHM overestimated atrazine movement in the upper 15 cm, it was fairly accurate in the lower 15 cm. The overall trend in Clflow was adequately predicted, even though the predicted Clconcentrations were underestimated. LEACHM could not accurately predict nonuniform flow or the variability in solute concentrations between points. However, its prediction of the atrazine center of mass (about 4.7 cm) agreed well with the derived isograms. These findings demonstrate that localized nonideal solute transport may be missed in larger sampling schemes and in simulation models.

Type
Research
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 by the Weed Science Society of America 

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