Climatic and soil-landscape variations in relation to modelling pesticide fate in hummocky terrains

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Pesticide fate models can be used to predict the fate of pesticides and estrogens in soil. When used at the large scale, one of the main sources of uncertainty surrounding the application of pesticide fate models is insufficient knowledge of the spatial variability of pesticide/estrogen sorption and degradation input parameters. Therefore, the proposed research will examine the spatial variability of pesticide/estrogen sorption and degradation in two hummocky terrains and, based on this knowledge, utilize digital terrain models to develop an improved approach to stochastic pesticide fate modelling at the large scale. The Prairie Pothole Region (770,000 km2) has millions of wetlands associated with agricultural land. For example, the two hummocky terrains central to this research each have about 200 wetlands on site. Water levels in prairie wetlands are sensitive to climate variability, but this information has not been integrated into estimates of pesticide concentrations in wetland water. Therefore, through the use of digital elevation models derived for four prairie wetlands, the proposed research will refine existing hydrological models to provide the means of modelling the impact of climate variability on concentrations of pesticides in prairie wetlands.