The environmental impact of agricultural activities on water quality was studied on two sub-watersheds of the L'Assomption river in Quebec, over a 3 year period. The sub-watersheds studied were the Saint Esprit (26.1 km 2) and Desrochers (17.9 km2). Development of a methodology and associated tools for targeting conservation activities and assessing the potential impacts of conservation practices was one of the study's components. A goal of this research was the development of a tool using NPS modelling capability and GIS tools. The ANSWERS 2000 model and SPANS GIS software were selected for integration. / Using the advanced SPANS operation and EASI script language, the ANSWERS 2000 model was integrated into the latest version of SPANS GIS (Explorer ver. 7). Integration of these two software packages provided assistance in creating and handling the extensive input and output data for models, evaluating of model output, and delineating of critical areas. A sensitivity analysis of the ANSWERS model was performed on thirteen parameters to determine their effects on runoff ANSWERS 2000 was found to be most sensitive to depth of soil horizon, silt and clay contents of soil texture, and solar radiation. Four years of runoff predictions by the model were analysed using observed data. Overall, the model was in good agreement with observed runoff in the Saint Esprit watershed, particularly in the years with above the average precipitation. The coefficient of (CP'A) between predicted and observed runoff values was 0.5 and 1.5 for 1994 and 1995, respectively. The model predictions of total cumulative runoff were 66.6% in 1994, 54.9% in 1995, 71.7% in 1996, and 42.4% in 1997, of measured cumulative runoff values.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.35021 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Mousavizadeh, Mohammad Hassan. |
| Contributors | Madramootoo, C. A. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001643062, proquestno: NQ44524, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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