Modeling Links Between Hydrology and Non Point Source Pollution in a Data Scarce Environment, Inner Mongolia, China

HR: 1340h
AN: H33E-1416 [Abstracts]
TI: Modeling Links Between Hydrology and Non Point Source Pollution in a Data Scarce Environment, Inner Mongolia, China
AU: * Runkle, B R
EM: brrunkle@ce.berkeley.edu
AF: UC-Berkeley, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 760 Davis Hall University of California, Berkeley 94720-1710, Berkeley, CA 94710 United States
AU: Liang, X
EM: liang@ce.berkeley.edu
AF: UC-Berkeley, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 760 Davis Hall University of California, Berkeley 94720-1710, Berkeley, CA 94710 United States
AU: Hao, F
EM: fanghua@bnu.edu.cn
AF: College of Environmental Sciences Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, P.R. China, Beijing, 100875 China
AB: Hydrological behavior is a central factor in deciding the fate of agricultural pollutants, yet the exact functions of hydrology and the scales at which they are most important are understudied. A physically based hydrological model was developed to examine the transport of common agricultural pollutants (nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides) and problems of soil salinity. This model looks to uncover the effects of different spatial and temporal scales on the dynamics of non-point source pollution loading, transport, and distribution. The principal geochemical and physical transport mechanisms such as dissolution, adsorption, advection and mass transfer from pore water to overland flow will be characterized as functions of irrigation input and soil moisture. The model is used to examine emergent behaviors at different scales and to determine which hydrological processes and conditions are most sensitive for pollutant transport. The model will be validated by comparison with data in the Inner Mongolia Irrigation District, a 5000 km² region along the north bank of the Yellow River in northern China. The region receives very little (<200 mm) rainfall and relies heavily on irrigation water from the Yellow River and groundwater. Polluted drainage water is threatening the ecology of nearby Wuliangsuhai Lake, a wetlands ecosystem important for bird habitat. This project is supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects (4802, 4902)
DE: 1805 Computational hydrology
DE: 1839 Hydrologic scaling
DE: 1846 Model calibration (3333)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005