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storm Pattern Effect on Nitrogen and Phosphorus Losses in Surface Runoff

Published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, St. Joseph, Michigan www.asabe.org

Citation:  Transactions of the ASAE. 32(2): 0535-0544. (doi: 10.13031/2013.31036) @1989
Authors:   D. C. Flanagan, G. R. Foster
Keywords:   

ABSTRACT The results of a rainfall simulator field study are presented, detailing the losses of soluble nutrients and nutrients adsorbed on sediment in surface runoff from variable intensity rainstorms. Each of the six storm patterns used in this study had an average intensity of 64 mm/h. Four of the storms had a peak intensity of 250 mm/h occurring at 0, 20, 40 and 60 min in a one-hour period, one of the storms peaked at 125 mm/h at 20 min, and the sixth storm was at a constant 64 mm/h intensity. A liquid fertilizer solution was applied to the field plots immediately before application of rainfall. Most of the nutrient loss was associated with the sediment phase of runoff. The storm that peaked at the end of the one-hour period had the greatest predicted nitrogen and phosphorus losses from rainfall on initially dry soil because of the greater runoff and sediment loss from this storm pattern. A model relating nitrogen concentrations of sediment size fractions to the specific surface area of the fraction gave significant results. Storm pattern did not have a statistically significant effect on solution nitrate, ammonium, or phosphate losses at the 90% probability level, mainly because of very low runoff amounts and large variability in measured values. A simple extraction model for soluble nutrients adequately described the effect of storm pattern on measured concentration of solution nitrate.

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