Das Projekt "Entwicklung einer angewandten Methodologie zur Bewertung regionaler Elementstroeme fuer das Monitoring der Belastung von Boeden" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETH), Institut für Terrestrische Ökologie, Arbeitsgruppe Bodenschutz durchgeführt. In a study on element fluxes in a rural region of Switzerland, von Steiger and Baccini (1990) found that assessment of element balances can provide a very sensitive and economic method for early detection of trends in areal soil pollution by heavy metals. In order to improve the efficiency of soil survey and monitoring programs, the methodology used by von Steiger and Baccini (1990) was adapted to an easily available data basis, so that it can be used on a routine basis for regional element book-keeping by cantonal soil protection agencies. For this purpose Excel 4.0 routines were written, including a manual, to provide an efficient and user-friendly environment for data updating, calculation of mass balances, display of results etc. on MacIntosh and MS-DOS personal computers. PROTERRA is suited to estimate the risk of potential heavy metal accumulation in agricultural soil due to input by land management and regional atmospheric deposition. It does not account for local inputs due to traffic emissions or waste disposal. On the basis of the available data, it was found that the input of lead, copper, cadmium and zinc into Swiss agricultural soils due to these sources were in general much higher than outputs due to export by harvest. For lead atmospheric deposition dominated the inputs, while agricultural inputs themselves were approximately in equilibrium with harvest outputs.
Das Projekt "Stoffflussbilanzierung als Planungs- und Kontrollinstrument bei der (sanften) Sanierung und nachhaltigen Folgenutzung von schadstoffbelasteten Kulturboeden" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (ETHZ), Institut für Terrestrische Ökologie ITOE durchgeführt. Mass flux balancing is a fundamental method for the management and control of transport and transformation processes. Gentle remediation of agricultural soils by extraction of polluting heavy metals through accumulator plants is an emerging technique which has the advantage that soil fertility is restored, while it is sacrificed for the goal of detoxification by other techniques such as soil excavation, washing, incineration or metal extraction by strong acids. The disadvantage is that the process is rather slow. The planning of such remediation operations thus demands for a careful assessment of the required time. For this purpose mass flux balances must be sufficiently accurate. Furthermore mass flux balancing may also be used for controlling the long-term success of the remediation which can be expected in terms of the sustainability of subsequent land use. In this project the method PROTERRA which was previously developed for establishing regional mass flux balances of heavy metals in agricultural land is adapted for these purposes. Sources and propagation of sampling errors are investigated, in particular the effects of spatial variability on the accuracy of the mass balancing and the problem of combining data relating to different spatial and temporal scales. Leading Questions: Develop methods for quantification of the reliability and accuracy in mass flux balances.