A review of available pesticide leaching models: Selection of models for simulation of herbicide fate in Finnish sugar beet cultivation

The quality of simulation results depends on the model structure and its parameterisation. The aim of this study was to find the best available models for herbicide fate simulation for Finnish conditions. Subjective model selection criteria were developed for the simulation domain: pesticide fate in Finnish sugar beet cultivation. An inventory was made of available models and a number of different pesticide and solute transport models were identified. Thirteen one-dimensional deterministic models (CRACK-NP, EPIC, GLEAMS, LEACHP, MACRO, OPUS, PELMO, PEARL, PESTLA, PLM, PRZM, RZWQM and SIMULAT) were compared and evaluated for their characteristics. The comparison showed that none of these models fulfilled all of the desired criteria. Finally, MACRO 4.1 and GLEAMS 3.0 were selected for herbicide fate simulations. The other high regarded models were RZWQM, PEARL and PELMO.