U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory: Beltsville, MD
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                                    Software
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    CareersSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Northeast Area Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) Beltsville Agricultural Research Center Hydrology and Remote Sensing Laboratory Research Publications at this Location





- ARS National Programs
- Search for a scientific manuscript
- Search for a research project
- ARS Software
- Programs and Projects
- Collaborations
- Subjects of Investigation
- Publications
- People
- Research Sites
- Pesticide Volatilization
- Watershed Modeling
- Climate Change
- Soil Moisture
- Drought and ET
- HRSL Brochure

Title:   Author  item
                                            Gish, Timothyitem
                                            Daughtry, Craigitem
                                            Russ, Andrew

                                                         - *Andy*item
                                            McKee, Lynnitem
                                            Prueger, John
  Submitted to: Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds
                                    Publication Type: Proceedings
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 10/30/2011
                                    Publication  Date: 11/2/2011
                                    Citation: Gish, T.J., Daughtry, C.S., Russ, A.L., McKee, L.G., Prueger, J.H. 2011. Improved nitrogen management utilizing ground-penetrating-radar: A nine-year investigation. In: Fourth Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, September 26-30, 2011, Fairbanks, Alaska. p. 94-99.Interpretive Summary:
                                Technical Abstract: Water availability and efficient use of nitrogen are critical components of a sustainable and profitable agricultural system.  Since nitrogen is typically excessively applied, considerable nitrogen may leach to and move through the subsurface.  Our hypothesis is that knowledge of the subsurface hydrology can be utilized to reduce nitrogen applications by identifying where these water flow pathways serve as a subsurface irrigation system.  This nine year study was conducted at the USDA-ARS Optimizing Production Inputs for Economic Enhancement site (OPE3) in Beltsville, Maryland.  Uniform and precision application of sidedressed N were evaluated on two corn production fields, about 4 ha each.  For the precision N field sidedressing was determined primarily with a knowledge of the subsurface flow pathways identified with ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and digital surface elevation maps.  Field B, received uniform applications of nitrogen with 34 kg N ha-1 applied at planting and then about 134 kg N ha-1 as side-dressing when the corn was about 60 to 80 cm high.  The second field, field D, was under precision management -- receiving 34 kg N ha-1 at planting and then 0 to 134 kg N ha-1 as variable-rate side-dressing.  The precision N site generally received about 34% less nitrogen than the uniform N application site yet there was no significant reduction in yields.  This work demonstrates that knowledge of the subsurface hydrology can improve nitrogen use efficiency and thereby increase farm sustainability.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov