Simulation of pesticide and metabolite concentrations using SWAT+ landscape routing and conditional management applications

Authors: RATHJENS, HENDRIK - Stone Environmental Consulting; KIESEL, JENS - Stone Environmental Consulting; MIGUEZ, MARIA - Stone Environmental Consulting; WINCHELL, MICHAEL - Stone Environmental Consulting; Arnold, Jeffrey; SUR, ROBIN - Bayer Crop Sciences, Germany

Submitted to: Water
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/13/2022
Publication Date: 4/20/2022
Citation: Rathjens, H., Kiesel, J., Miguez, M.B., Winchell, M., Arnold, J.G., Sur, R. 2022. Simulation of pesticide and metabolite concentrations using SWAT+ landscape routing and conditional management applications. Water. 14. Article 1332. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091332.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/w14091332

Interpretive Summary: This research is the first SWAT+ pesticide simulation study and was conducted to evaluate new model features and to assess ability to predict pesticide concentrations. The evaluation was conducted based upon a comparison of the results from seven different model configurations with corresponding high-resolution monitoring data. The results showed that (1) SWAT+ is able to simulate the formation of degradation compounds and predict resulting concentrations in surface water, (2) an accurate representation of transport processes for pesticide exposure assessments is important, and (3) an appropriate degree of realism can be achieved with a rule-based probabilistic pesticide application schedule if information about the annual percent crop treated, a typical application rate, and a typical application window is available.

Technical Abstract: The estimation of pesticide concentrations in surface water bodies with models is a critical component of the environmental and human health risk assessment process. The most recent version of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT+) provides new features that are useful for pesticide exposure assessments. This research is the first SWAT+ pesticide simulation study and was conducted to evaluate SWAT+’s new features and to assess its ability to predict pesticide and metabolite concentrations. The evaluation was conducted based upon a comparison of the results from seven different model configurations with high-resolution monitoring data. The results showed that (1) SWAT+ is able to simulate the formation of degradation compounds and predict resulting concentrations in surface water, (2) an accurate representation of transport processes for pesticide exposure assessments is important, and (3) an appropriate degree of realism can be achieved with a rule-based probabilistic pesticide application schedule if information about the annual percent crop treated, a typical application rate, and a typical application window is available. The accuracy of the pesticide concentration simulations with the new features of SWAT+ in the present study demonstrates the model’s ability to provide more accurate estimates with reduced uncertainty compared to SWAT simulations.