Denitrification in German aquifers – data-driven assessments and modelling realities
Abstract: Elevated nitrate concentrations as a result of intensive agriculture are a persistent threat to drinking water safety in Germany. In 2022, 16% of all monitoring wells in the nitrate monitoring network had nitrate concentrations above the drinking water limit. As a result, 22% of all German groundwater bodies are in poor chemical status. It was found that the concentrations in groundwater are heterogeneously distributed, which is due to spatially variable inputs and variable effectiveness of denitrification, the most important process of nitrate removal. While we have made progress in quantifying the spatial and temporal distribution of nitrogen inputs to soils, denitrification in groundwater is notoriously difficult to assess. Here, results of a large-scale and large-sample assessment of groundwater denitrification using the N2/Ar method in Germany are presented and combined with large-scale, transit-time based modelling efforts in the Elbe and Rhine basin. Advantages, but also constraints and pitfalls, of both top-down (data-driven) and bottom-up (model-driven) approaches are discussed and conclusions on the needed next steps are drawn.
Speaker: Dr. Andreas Musolff, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ
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