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
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home 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

Title:   Author  item
                                            Alfieri, Josephitem
                                            Gish, Timothyitem
                                            Prueger, Johnitem
                                            Kustas, William

                                                         - *Bill*item
                                            McKee, Lynnitem
                                            Russ, Andrew

                                                         - *Andy*item
                                            Hatfield, Jerry
  Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
                                    Publication Type: Abstract Only
                                    Publication Acceptance Date: 3/12/2012
                                    Publication  Date: 5/29/2012
                                    Citation: Alfieri, J.G., Gish, T.J., Prueger, J.H., Kustas, W.P., Mckee, L.G., Russ, A.L., Hatfield, J.L. 2012. Evaluation of the interrelationship between pesticide and turbulent energy fluxes and the implications for remotely-sensed estimates of pesticide volatilization [abstract]. American Meteorology Society Conference on Agricultural and Forest Meteorology. 2012 CDROM.Interpretive Summary:
                                Technical Abstract: As the primary pathway for loss from agricultural systems, the volatilization of pesticides, such as Metolachlor and Atrazine, can adversely impact the quality of air and water, crop productivity, and public health. Nonetheless, effective methods for modeling volatilization and estimating the pesticide flux on both field and larger spatial scales remains elusive. Extending previous work that demonstrated clear relationships between the magnitude of the pesticide flux and environmental factors, such as soil moisture, this work sought to identify the relationship between pesticide flux and turbulent energy fluxes. The study used data collected over both dry and wet soil conditions at an experimental site near Beltsville, MD during a ten-day period at the beginning of the 2010 growing season. Constraining the analysis to unstable, daytime conditions, the results of this study showed that the volatilization of Metolachlor and Atrazine is strongly influenced by the available water and heat (energy). The results also showed that the magnitude of the pesticide fluxes and turbulent energy fluxes were well correlated. The pesticide and energy fluxes were found to have a sigmoidal relationship with the pesticide flux tending to plateau as the energy flux approached its maximum value. Even so, the turbulent energy fluxes can be used to predict the pesticide flux with reasonable accuracy; RMSE ranged from 0.03 to 0.70 ng m2 s-1. By combining the measurements of both the sensible and latent heat fluxes the predicted pesticide flux can be further enhanced; RMSE of the predicted fluxes of Metolachlor and Atrazine were consistently near 0.05 ng m2 s-1. Although these results represent only a single growing season, they strongly suggest that field and larger scale estimates of pesticide fluxes could be obtained by combining the relationships found here with a remote sensing-based energy balance model such as the two-source energy balance model. Research to further refine the results presented here by considering data collected during additional years is ongoing.


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