HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Figures Only Full Text Free Full Text (PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Kohler, A. Articles by Schulin, R. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Kohler, A. Articles by Schulin, R. GeoRef GeoRef Citation Agricola Articles by Kohler, A. Articles by Schulin, R. Related Collections Other Environmental Contamination Soil Systems Preferential Flow

Using Simple Bucket Models to Analyze Solute Export to Subsurface Drains by Preferential Flow

^a Federal Office for Water and Geology, Hydrological Survey, 3003 Bern, Switzerland
^b Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland
^c Partners GmbH, Blaufahnenstrasse 14, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
^d Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Department of Soil Protection, Grabenstrasse 3, 8952 Schlieren, Switzerland
^* Corresponding author (andreas.kohler{at}bwg.admin.ch)

Received 23 April 2002.

ABSTRACT

Leaching of fertilizer and pesticide compounds from agricultural lands into ground and surface waters is a major environmental problem. To study this phenomenon, a bromide tracer experiment was performed on a 1.6-ha area of a tile-drained arable field to determine the contribution of preferential flow to solute leaching, and to investigate the factors triggering the onset of such events. During the 2 yr following the application of Br^-, concentration of the drainage effluent exhibited a pattern of peaks coinciding with the discharge peaks. The concentration peaks, on top of a smooth base flow, were interpreted as being the contribution of preferential flow. The separation of peak and base flow indicated that 73% of the Br^- leached during the 2 yr of study was exported through preferential flow. A simple leaching bucket model was able to accurately predict the occurrence of solute peaks in the drain discharge. The analyses indicated that preferential flow originated primarily at the boundary between top- and subsoil as soon as the topsoil became sufficiently saturated. Thus, low intensity, high duration events could also trigger preferential flow.

Abbreviations: EAPV, equilibrium above-drain pore-water volume

This article has been cited by other articles:

				H. H. Gerke, J. Dusek, T. Vogel, and J. M. Kohne Two-Dimensional Dual-Permeability Analyses of a Bromide Tracer Experiment on a Tile-Drained Field Vadose Zone J., August 23, 2007; 6(3): 651 - 667. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Boivin, J. Simunek, M. Schiavon, and M. Th. van Genuchten Comparison of Pesticide Transport Processes in Three Tile-Drained Field Soils Using HYDRUS-2D Vadose Zone J., June 21, 2006; 5(3): 838 - 849. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. Gaur, R. Horton, D. B. Jaynes, and J. L. Baker Measured and Predicted Solute Transport in a Tile Drained Field Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., April 19, 2006; 70(3): 872 - 881. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]