MACRO-DB and VERBER

MACRO-DB

MACRO-DB is a web-based two-step risk assessment tool for pesticide transport from a field to surface and groundwater. In Sweden, permits are required for pesticide use within water abstraction zones. MACRO-DB is used by farmers in their applications to the local authorities. It is an easy-to-use model that account for site-specific conditions and run on widely available input data.

MACRO-DB v 5.0 is a meta model of the MACRO model and is based on 583,200 pre-run simulations. The scenarios simulated are a combination of:

• 150 hypothetical substances; (varying half-life (DT50), adsorption strength (Koc) and Freundlich coefficients)
• 72 soil types (combination of parent material, texture and humus content)
• 18 climate zones with associated weather series (26 years with daily values ​​of precipitation and evaporation)
• 3 spraying seasons (spring, summer, autumn)

Based on substance properties concentrations of the actual substances in the leakage to the groundwater and to the drainage system are estimated by 3D interpolation of the stored results for hypothetical substances.

The meta model and a new user interface was developed by knoell Germany GmbH in collaboration with CKB and with co-financing from the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management.

• Lindahl, A., Reichenberger, S., Pohlert, T., Multsch, S., Boström, B., Gönczi, M., Stenemo, F., Kreuger, J., Markensten, H. & Jarvis, N. 2024. A web-based pesticide risk assessment tool for drinking water protection zones in Sweden. Journal of Environmental Management 357 (2024) 120700. doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120700.
• Poster 2024: MACRO-DB - A pesticide risk assessment tool for drinking water protection zones in Sweden 

VERBER 

VERBER is a regional assessment tool under developement. A beta version in R is developed for surface water. The tool predicts mean concentrations of pesticides (active substance) for lakes and watercourses in Sweden based on a relatively simple mass balance model that estimates the proportion of a single dose that can be expected to be transported to surface water via fast flow paths (e.g. surface runoff and macropore flows). The tool was applied in 2024 to produce data for the Water Authority's impact assessment of surface water bodies under the EU Water Framework Directive.

Work is underway to adapt the factor that indicates what percentage of the applied dose will end up in the watercourse according to the properties of the various substances (e.g. half-life adsorption strength ) and areas of use.

VERBER will also be developed for groundwater, in that case the meta-model developed for MACRO-DB will form the basis of the tool.

Please contact us for more information about the tools.