MACRO—DB: a decision-support tool for assessing pesticide fate and mobility in soils

A decision-support tool (MACRO—DB) for predicting pesticide fate and mobility in soils is described. MACRO—DB consists of soil, pesticide, climate and crop databases linked to parameter estimation routines and a simulation model (MACRO). The system currently allows access to three soils databases: SEISMIC (c. 400 UK benchmark soils), MARKDATA (26 Swedish soils), and a database that the user can develop independently. Automatic estimation procedures (pedo-transfer functions) translate the soil information into model parameter values. Two pesticide databases are available. The PETE database contains information for over 600 common compounds. The user can also develop a parallel database for new compounds. Sorption and degradation constants are calculated automatically, combining soil and compound properties. A weather database contains long-term daily meteorological data and a weather generator enables synthetic daily weather data to be derived from long-term average climatic data. A separate database contains information on typical planting and harvest dates, root depths, etc. for some common agricultural crops. To account for parameter uncertainty, the user can simulate ‘worst-case’ or ‘average-case’ soil scenarios, utilizing available information on the mean and typical ranges of soil organic carbon content and pH. The user can view and analyse simulation results with flexible, in-built, graphical procedures.