Loss coefficient of nitrogenous non-point source pollution under various precipitation conditions

In this study, calibrations of non-point source (NPS) pollution models are performed based on Black River basin historical real-time runoff data, sedimentation record data, and NPS sources survey information. The concept of NPS loss coefficient for the watershed or the loss coefficients (LC) for simplicity is brought up by examining NPS build-up and migration processes along riverbanks in natural river systems. The historical data is used for determining the nitrogenous NPS loss coefficient for five land use types including farmland, urban land, grassland, shrub land, and forest under different precipitation conditions. The comparison of outputs from Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model and coefficient export method showed that both methods could obtain reasonable LC. The high Pearson correlation coefficient (0.94722) between those two sets of calculation results justified the consistency of those two models. Another result in the study is that different combinations of precipitation condition and land use types could significantly affect the calculated loss coefficient. As for the adsorptive nitrogen, the order of impact on LC for different land use types can be sorted as: farm land > urban land > grassland > shrub land > forest while the order was farmland > grass land > shrub land > forest s>urban land for soluble nitrogen. __________ Translated from Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae, 2006, 26(3): 392–397 [译自: 环境科学学报]