Title: GIS-baserad kartläggning av sambandet mellan pesticidförekomster i grundvatten och markegenskaper
Abstract:This bachelor thesis, written at the Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at
Lund University in 2010, discusses the movement of pesticides in the ground. The
aim of the study is to examine the...This bachelor thesis, written at the Department of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences at
Lund University in 2010, discusses the movement of pesticides in the ground. The
aim of the study is to examine the potential impact that the ground properties have on
the movement of pesticides to and with groundwater. The ground properties that will
be considered are the hydraulic conductivity and the depth of the unsaturated zone.
Studies regarding the quality of groundwater are currently of great importance as
peoples in many areas rely on groundwater for drinking and sanitary purposes.
Pesticides are a vital part of modern farming, as they are used for a wide range of
purposes, mainly to eliminate weeds and to protect crops from vermin. Pesticides
were initially discovered in the groundwater at the start of the 1980’s, the discovery
was unexpected as pesticides were thought to be immobile when in the ground.
The studied area, situated in southern Skane, Sweden, consists of 95% cultivated
land and is dominated by clayey sandy moraines. Interviews with farmers active in the
area have been conducted since 1990, and based on these interviews records have
been created mapping the pesticide use. Furthermore, pesticide sampling has been
carried out in two wells located in the studied area since 2004.
Geographical Information Systems (GIS) were used to analyse the potential
relationship between the two ground parameters and the pesticides’ occurrence in the
groundwater, and SPSS was used as a statistical tool to calculate the significance of
the results.
Results indicate that the soils where detected pesticides were spread have a higher
hydraulic conductivity than the soils where undetected pesticides were spread. No
significant difference in the depth of the unsaturated zone was found, a reason for this
result is thought to be because of lacking precision in the data and the accuracy of the
instruments used.
As GIS is a suitable tool to combine various kinds of data with spatial
information, further studies of this kind will be useful in order to create accurate
simulations of the movement of pesticides in ground water.Read More
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
Access and Citation
Cited By Count: 8
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