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Watershed / Landscape Characterization

The distribution of potential agrochemical exposure to nontarget areas is due to the variability of factors that influence fate and transport. For example, exposure is affected by land cover diversity and the location of streams and rivers compared to application areas, distribution of soils, and terrain. Using a geographic information system (GIS), Waterborne has developed methods of efficiently characterizing diverse landscapes in order to better understand the relationship between application and nontarget areas.

Using watersheds as a common unit of analysis, information such as the percentage of various land uses within the watershed, characteristics of different soil types and slopes, and presence of hydrology can be generated for a small area or an entire region.

Within a representative landscape, individual nontarget areas (such as streams or forested areas) can be assessed for potential influences. If environmental concentrations are estimated, then a distribution of estimated concentrations for a landscape can be generated. Using this distribution, regulatory end points can be chosen which more closely represent the natural landscape, yet are still sufficiently protective. Selected end points can also be chosen from distributions to be used as inputs to environmental models.

Using these techniques pioneered by Waterborne staff, we have examined agricultural landscapes containing over 15,000 water bodies in a single locale and also characterized over 60,000 watersheds across the US for potential vulnerability from chemical transport via runoff, erosion, and spray drift.