title: Distributed, high-resolution modelling of critical source areas for erosion and phosphorus losses.
abstract: Phosphorus losses from arable land need to be reduced to prevent eutrophication of surrounding waters. Owing to the high spatial variability of P losses, cost-effective countermeasures need to target parts of the catchment that are most susceptible to P losses. Field surveys identified critical source areas for overland flow and erosion amounting to only 0.4-2.6 % of total arable land in four different catchments in southern Sweden. Distributed modelling using high-resolution digital elevation data identified 72-96 % of these observed erosion and overland flow features. The modelling results were also successfully used to predict occurrence of overland flow and rill and gully erosion in a catchment in central Sweden. Such exact high-resolution modelling allows for accurate placement of planned countermeasures. However, current legislative and environmental subsidy programmes need to change their approach from income-loss compensation to rewarding high cost effectiveness of implemented countermeasures.
authors: Department of Aquatic Sciences and Assessment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Lennart Hjälmsv. 9, P.O. Box 7050, 75007, Uppsala, Sweden, faruk.djodjic@slu.se.
authors: Faruk
authors: F
authors: Djodjic
authors: Ana
authors: A
authors: Villa
mesh_terms: D000383:Agriculture; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D010758:Phosphorus / Q000032:analysis*; D014872:Water Movements
chemical_list: D010758:Phosphorus