Provision of a decision-making tool for the implementation of greenings of flow paths and buffer strips based on the results of the model PhosFate

Duration:
2021 - 2022

Financing:
Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Regions and Tourism

Contact Person:
Matthias Zessner

Project Staff:
Gerold Hepp, Eva Strenge

National Partners:
Federal Agency for Water Management (BAW)
wpa Beratende Ingenieure

Brief information on the project

The model PhosFate is used to identify arable fields of risk of erosion within catchments in Austria on which the implementation of buffer strips along rivers or streets would lead to a significant reduction of sediment and phosphorous river inputs. Additionally, relevant flow paths on the field will be identified and localized by the model. Greening of relevant flow paths further efficiently reduces emission inputs into surface waters. The modelling and thus the prediction of the flow paths will be improved by an incorporation of the tillage direction and information about the rain intensity and frequency. Further, the model will be supplemented by an auto-calibration in order to achieve a more user-friendly and accelerated application of the model. The model will also be made open source with a provision of a user manual.

Finally, the results of the model will serve as a support for farmers to implement buffer strips and flow path greenings due to the localization of the greenings. Additionally, a manual for the implementation of the measures on the field will be provided. The results of the project will be made available and used by the incorporation into the new Austrian Agri-environmental Program (ÖPUL).