Journal Facts

Journal
Journal of Environmental Systems
ISSN
0047-2433 (print) 1541-3802 (electronic)
Volume
2
Issue
4
Date
1/1/1972

Article Facts

Title
Modeling Lead Pollution In a Watershed — Ecosystem
DOI
10.2190/U5QM-XY1Q-QX6P-MGNY
Authors
  • Gary L. Rolfe
  • Amar Chaker
  • John Melin
  • Ben B. Ewing
Pages
339-349
Online Date
05/09/2002

Article Links

Modeling Lead Pollution In a Watershed — Ecosystem

Gary L. Rolfe
Amar Chaker
John Melin
Ben B. Ewing

DOI: 10.2190/U5QM-XY1Q-QX6P-MGNY

Abstract

An interdisciplinary study is currently in progress at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign under a grant from the National Science Foundation RANN Program. Objectives of the study include understanding and modeling the movements and effects of heavy metals (initially lead) in the environment.

A model has been constructed which simulates the movements and predicts the accumulation points of lead in a 76-square mile watershed-ecosystem in Champaign County, Illinois. The model includes components of both aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems and represents the ecosystem by a network of nodes and branches where the nodes represent the components of the ecosystem in a general sense and the branches indicate possible transport mechanisms between nodes. Results of a two year simulation using a network of 36 nodes and 121 branches is presented.

The model provides a method for the study of pollutant transport and accumulation in ecosystems.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.