TITLE:
Modeling of Water Flow and Nitrate Transport to Subsurface Drains
AUTHORS:
Alaa El-Sadek, Mona Radwan
KEYWORDS:
Non-Point Source, Subsurface Drainage, Nitrogen Cycle, Nitrate Leaching, Water Quality
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Agricultural Chemistry and Environment,
Vol.7 No.1,
February
6,
2018
ABSTRACT: In this study,the water flow and nitrate transport to a subsurface drain, using a simplified and detailed model, are simulated for the specific hydro-geological conditions of Elverdinge and Assenede, Belgium. Previously, the DRAINMOD-N model proved to be able to simulate nitrate concentrations and drainage well for anin-situleaching experiment, the“Hooibeekhoeve”in the community of Geel (north-eastern part of Belgium), conducted in 1992-1995. In this study, the calibrated model is used to simulate the nitrate leaching for the winter period 2000-2001 in Elverdinge and Assenede and is compared to a model with a simplified nitrate transport description. The comparative analysis between both model approaches reveals that the simplified model is able to predict sufficiently accurate the observed nitrate leaching. The detailed approach however has the advantage of givinga more accurate estimate of the nitrogen mineralization, N deposition and denitrification, resulting in a more precise modeling of the nitrate leaching to surface waters and groundwater.