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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #107421
Title: USING GLEAMS AND REMM TO ESTIMATE NUTRIENT MOVEMENT FROM A SPRAY FIELD AND THROUGH A RIPARIAN FOREST

Author
item Gerwig, Betsy
item Stone, Kenneth - Ken
item Williams, Randall
item Watts, Donald - Don
item Novak, Jeffrey

Submitted to: American Society of Agricultural Engineers Meetings Papers
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/15/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: With the increase in the number of large animal production facilities in eastern North Carolina, nutrient accumulation is becoming a concern in surface waters and groundwater. To protect these water sources, management practices to reduce nutrient movement or accumulation are being evaluated using computer models. The computer models, Groundwater Loading Effects of fAgricultural Management Systems model (GLEAMS) and a pre-release version o Riparian Ecosystem Management Model (REMM) were used to estimate nitrogen and phosphorus transport of nutrients through a riparian buffer zone from an agricultural field that received swine lagoon effluent. The models simulated annual application rates of effluent equivalent to 560 and 1000 kg N/ha. The GLEAMS model provided the weather data and nutrient concentrations in the soil, sediment, and leachate as input into REMM. GLEAMS monthly average NO3-N leachate concentrations for the 1000 kg N/ha loading rate were within 14% of the observed data, and the REMM model simulated NO3-N in the leachate within 5% of the observed data. Both models provided an adequate estimation of the nitrogen transport through the system. GLEAMS simulations of PO4-P leachate followed the general trend of observed data. However, there was very little difference in PO4-P concentrations between the two loading rates, indicating a problem in the phosphorus calculations in the model. REMM simulated PO4-P leachate was greater than observed concentrations and was affected by the inputs obtained from GLEAMS. The pre-release version of REMM provided good estimates of the nutrient transport, and with a few improvements, official releases of REMM have the potential to provide better estimates of the nutrient movement through the riparian buffer zone.