PRZM-2, a model for predicting pesticide fate in the crop root and unsaturated soil zones: User's manual for release 2. 0

PRZM-2 links two subordinate models--PRZM and VADOFT--in order to predict pesticide transport and transformation down through the crop root and unsaturated zones. PRZM is a one-dimensional, finite difference model that accounts for pesticide fate in the crop root zone. This release of PRZM-2 incorporates several features in addition to those simulated in the original PRZM code--specifically, soil temperature simulation, volatilization and vapor phase transport in soils, irrigation simulation, microbial transformation, and a method of characteristics algorithm to eliminate numerical dispersion. PRZM is now capable of simulating transport and transformation of the parent compound and as many as two daughter species. VADOFT is a one-dimensional, finite element code that solves the Richard's equation for flow in the unsaturated zone. The user may make use of constitutive relationships between pressure, water content, and hydraulic conductivity to solve the flow equations. VADOFT may also simulate the fate of two parent and two daughter products. The PRZM and VADOFT codes are linked together with the aid of a flexible execution supervisor that allows the user to build loading models that are tailored to site-specific situations. In order to perform probability-based exposure assessments, the code is also equipped with a Monte Carlo pre- and post-processor.