ARS | Publication request: Transport and Fate of Nitrate and Pathogens at a Dairy Lagoon Water Application Site

Submitted to: American Society of Agronomy Meetings
Publication Type: Abstract
Publication Acceptance Date: October 18, 2006
Publication Date: November 12, 2006
Citation: Segal, E., Bradford, S.A., Lazarovitch, N., Shouse, P.J. 2006. Transport and Fate of Nitrate and Pathogens at a Dairy Lagoon Water Application Site. American Society of Agronomy Meetings in Indianapolis, IN Nov 12-16, 2006. CD-ROM.

Technical Abstract: A field study has been initiated to quantify the vadose zone transport and fate of nutrients and indicator microbes at a dairy lagoon water application site. This site has been heavily instrumented with 48 thermometers, 48 tensiometers, 10 neutron access tubes, 8 electrical conductivity gauges, 2 weighing lysimeters and weather station. In addition, a novel drainage collector and flux meter system, and soil solution samplers have been developed and installed to measure microbe and nutrient concentrations in the vadose zone. To minimize the potential for preferential flow, many of these instruments were installed horizontally into the soil profile at various depths (0 to 2m) through 8 (1.21 m diameter) culvert pipes that were installed vertically at the site. This presentation will discuss recent efforts to characterize and instrument this site; including site hydraulic properties and novel instrumentation for microbe sampling. We also intend to show preliminary results from a steady-state tracer experiment that considers bromide and bacteria transport.