ARS | Publication request: DISTRIBUTION OF EVENT MEAN CONCENTRATION (EMC) OF NITROGEN AND PHOSPHOROUS FROM A COMBINED DAIRY AND CROP FARMING WATERSHED

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: July 5, 2006
Publication Date: July 14, 2006
Citation: Yoon, K.S., Shirmohammadi, A., Montas, H., Sadeghi, A.M. 2006. Distribution of Event Mean Concentration (EMC) of nitrogen and phosphorous from a combined dairy and crop farming watershed. In: Proceedings of the ASABE Annual International Meeting. Paper No. 062006.

Technical Abstract: Event mean concentration (EMC) of Nitrogen (N) and Phosphorus (P) is primary information for non-point source pollution assessment of a watershed. EMCs for various types of agriculture such as dairy, row crop farming under different climate and geologic conditions are not fully developed, yet. An agricultural watershed in Piedmont region in Maryland has been monitored for 10 years as a section 319 national monitoring program. Dairy manure was the main source of fertilizer for crop farming in this watershed. Observed mean concentrations of N and P for each event were analyzed. Distribution of EMCs for N and P showed wide range of variations. Representative EMCs of T-N and NO3-N from combined dairy and crop farming tend to be higher than those reported for agricultural watershed. This study confirmed that site-specific EMC information for various agricultural practices is required for better assessment of non-point source pollution using EMC method.