An agent-based model that simulates the spatio-temporal dynamics of sources and transfer mechanisms contributing faecal indicator organisms to streams. Part 1: Background and model description

Aaron J Neill; Doerthe Tetzlaff; Norval J C Strachan; Rupert L Hough; Lisa M Avery; Sylvain Kuppel; Marco P Maneta; Chris Soulsby

doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110903

An agent-based model that simulates the spatio-temporal dynamics of sources and transfer mechanisms contributing faecal indicator organisms to streams. Part 1: Background and model description

J Environ Manage. 2020 Sep 15:270:110903. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110903. Epub 2020 Jul 14.

Authors

Aaron J Neill¹, Doerthe Tetzlaff², Norval J C Strachan³, Rupert L Hough⁴, Lisa M Avery⁴, Sylvain Kuppel⁵, Marco P Maneta⁶, Chris Soulsby⁷

Affiliations

¹ Northern Rivers Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, Scotland, United Kingdom; The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, Scotland, United Kingdom. Electronic address: aaron.neill@abdn.ac.uk.
² IGB Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany; Department of Geography, Humboldt University Berlin, 10099, Berlin, Germany; Northern Rivers Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, Scotland, United Kingdom.
³ School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Cruickshank Building, St Machar Drive, Aberdeen, AB24 3UU, Scotland, United Kingdom.
⁴ The James Hutton Institute, Craigiebuckler, Aberdeen, AB15 8QH, Scotland, United Kingdom.
⁵ Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, CNRS UMR 7154 - University of Paris, 75231, Paris, France; INRAE, RiverLy, 69625, Villeurbanne, France; Northern Rivers Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, Scotland, United Kingdom.
⁶ Geosciences Department, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812-1296, USA; Department of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences, W.A Franke College of Forestry and Conservation. Universtiy of Montana, Missoula, USA.
⁷ Northern Rivers Institute, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, Scotland, United Kingdom; IGB Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, 12587, Berlin, Germany.

PMID: 32721338
DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110903

Abstract

A new Model for the Agent-based simulation of Faecal Indicator Organisms (MAFIO) is developed that attempts to overcome limitations in existing faecal indicator organism (FIO) models arising from coarse spatial discretisations and poorly-constrained hydrological processes. MAFIO is a spatially-distributed, process-based model presently designed to simulate the fate and transport of agents representing FIOs shed by livestock at the sub-field scale in small (<10 km²) agricultural catchments. Specifically, FIO loading, die-off, detachment, surface routing, seepage and channel routing are modelled on a regular spatial grid. Central to MAFIO is that hydrological transfer mechanisms are simulated based on a hydrological environment generated by an external model for which it is possible to robustly determine the accuracy of simulated catchment hydrological functioning. The spatially-distributed, tracer-aided ecohydrological model EcH₂O-iso is highlighted as a possible hydrological environment generator. The present paper provides a rationale for and description of MAFIO, whilst a companion paper applies the model in a small agricultural catchment in Scotland to provide a proof-of-concept.

Keywords: Diffuse pollution; E. coli; EcH(2)O-iso; Microbial water quality; Tracer-aided modelling; Water quality modelling.

MeSH terms

Animals
Environmental Monitoring*
Feces
Hydrology
Rivers*
Scotland