Abstract
Nitrate pollution in groundwater and its mitigation strategies is currently a topic of controversial debate in Germany, and the demand for harmonised approaches for the implementation of regulations is increasing. Important factors that need to be considered when planning mitigation measures are the nitrogen inputs into water bodies and the natural nitrate reduction capacity. The present study introduces a nationwide, harmonised and simplified approach for estimating nitrate reduction as an integral quantity across the unsaturated zone and the groundwater body. The nitrate reduction rates vary from 0% to 100%, and are on average 57%, with high values in the north of Germany and low values in the south. Hydrogeological characteristics are associated with the estimated nitrate reduction rates, whereby the influence of aquifer type and redox conditions are particularly relevant. The nitrate reduction rates are substantially higher in porous aquifers and under anaerobic conditions than in fractured, consolidated aquifers and under aerobic conditions. This contribution presents a harmonised conceptual approach to derive the nitrate reduction rate at a 1 km × 1 km resolution. This information can be used when planning and designing mitigation measures to meet the groundwater nitrate limits.
Highlights
Human interference in the natural nitrogen (N) cycle has serious environmental consequences.Reactive nitrogen is a macronutrient essential for plant growth, but it has a negative impact on human health, is involved in global warming and negatively affects terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems [1].there is an urgent need for sustainable, integrated nitrogen management at all levels, from the field site up to the global scale [2,3]
The seepage water rate is generally higher than the groundwater recharge rate and the difference between both is greater in the consolidated aquifers compared to the unconsolidated aquifers
(1 km), of parsimonious the integrated modelling approach estimatingzone the and spatial distribution, at a high resolution km),applied of the nitrate reduction in thefor unsaturated within the groundwater body on a large(1scale, integrated nitrate reduction in the unsaturated zone and within the groundwater body on a large here for Germany
Summary
Human interference in the natural nitrogen (N) cycle has serious environmental consequences.Reactive nitrogen is a macronutrient essential for plant growth, but it has a negative impact on human health, is involved in global warming and negatively affects terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems [1].there is an urgent need for sustainable, integrated nitrogen management at all levels, from the field site up to the global scale [2,3]. Human interference in the natural nitrogen (N) cycle has serious environmental consequences. Reactive nitrogen is a macronutrient essential for plant growth, but it has a negative impact on human health, is involved in global warming and negatively affects terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems [1]. There is an urgent need for sustainable, integrated nitrogen management at all levels, from the field site up to the global scale [2,3]. A total of 25% of the groundwater bodies in the EU have a poor chemical status, with 18% mainly affected by nitrate pollution [4]. Geographische Gitter für Deutschland in UTM-Projektion (GeoGitter national)-DE_Grid_ETRS89UTM32_1km, Frankfurt a.M. 2018. Stickstoff-Flächenbilanzen für Deutschland mit Regionalgliederung Bundesländer und Kreise—Jahre 1995 bis 2017; Umweltbundesamt: Dessau-Roßlau, Germany, 2019
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