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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #62209
Title: LOCALIZED COMPACTION AND DOMING TO REDUCE NITRATE N LEACHING: EXPERIMENTALAND NUMERICAL

Author
item RESSLER, DANIEL - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item HORTON, ROBERT - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Kaspar, Thomas
item BAKER, JAMES - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/3/1995
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Surface topography and soil density can be used to influence soil-water flow pathways. Percolating water that passes through banded nitrogen fertilizer in agricultural fields can cause nitrate-nitrogen leaching. Soil modifications, such as areas of localized compaction and soil domes over fertilizer bands, can be used to disrupt the water flow path through fertilizer bands. Reduced water flow through fertilizer bands reduces the potential for leaching. Simple implements were used to effect these soil modifications in a central Iowa field. Observations in the field showed that nitrate-nitrogen movement through the soil profile can be restricted. In addition to field observations, numerical modeling was used to predict the effectiveness of the said modifications under different soil and climatic conditions. The finite element model SWMS-2D was used to simulate a range of possible field situations. Selected calculations were compared with the Iowa field observations.