Abstract:
Leaching of agricultural chemicals from the root and vadose zones into groundwater is an important environmental concern. To procure a better understanding of the movement and transport of agricultural chemicals through the soil profile, a field research study was conducted to estimate bromide leaching losses under saturated conditions where preferential flow is occurring. The field data were then used to evaluate the LEACHM model. Eighteen double-ring infiltrometers were used to apply a pulse (100 mm depth) of bromide tracer on two previously saturated soils located in a karst region of southeastern Pennsylvania. Internal drainage over the next seven days resulted in nearly 51 % of the applied Br- being leached to a depth below 0.80 m. The LEACHM model was used to simulate the amount of bromide leached in each infiltrometer. The model predicted, accurately, an average of 46% of the applied Br- leached below the 0.80 m depth. Mcan values of bromide concentration in the soil profile were predicted within two standard deviations of the measured mean for all depths except for the 0.20-0.40 m depth increment where the model overpredicted the bromide concentration. The model predictions of Br- leached were tested against field measurements using several statistical tests. The LEACHM model performed adequately under preferential flow conditions, perhaps because the infiltration rate at each site was used as a model input. This, actually, is some measure of the macropore flow process and suggests that simple models such as LEACHM can be used in the field, as long as a distribution of infiltration rates is used as an input