A diagnosis-prescription system for nitrogen management in environment

A decision support system in the framework of the geographic information system (GIS) and subsurface flow model, Hydrosub, were used to identify critical areas from simulated spatial distributions of relative nitrogen export. Diagnosis and prescription Expert Systems (ES) are developed and applied to the identification of probable causes of excessive nitrogen export and selection of appropriate Best Management Practices (BMPs). The result is a spatially distributed set of recommended Best Management Practices that are feasible economically and environmentally. For the study watershed, using catch crops and rhizobium-legume (instead of using conventional commercial fertilizers) were the most recommended Best Management Practices.

Keywords:

• Decision support system
• expert system
• geographic information system (GIS)
• best management practices

Acknowledgment

This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0134424. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.