Applications of GIS to the Modeling of NonPoint Source Pollutants in the Vadose Zone: A Conference Overview

Abstract

AbstractBecause of their ubiquitous nature and potential chronic health effects, nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants have become a focal point of attention by the general public, particularly regarding pollution of surface and subsurface drinking water sources. The NPS pollutants pose a technical problem because of the areal extent of their contamination that increases the complexity and sheer volume of data far beyond that of point‐source pollutants. The spatial nature of the NPS pollution problem necessitates the use of a geographic information system (GIS) to manipulate, retrieve, and display the large volumes of spatial data. This overview provides a brief introduction and review of the modeling of NPS pollutants with GIS and a brief discussion of some of the papers presented at the ASA‐CSSA‐SSSA 1995 Bouyoucos Conference entitled Applications of GIS to the Modeling of Nonpoint Source Pollutants in the Vadose Zone.