(Press-News.org) Agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution is a major cause of water quality degradation, with pollutants such as nitrogen and phosphorus carried by farmland surface runoff being important sources. Statistics show that in 2017, the total nitrogen discharge from agricultural sources in China reached 1.4149 Mt, and total phosphorus was 212 kt. Among these, the nitrogen and phosphorus emissions from cropping alone accounted for 51% and 36% of agricultural source pollutants, respectively. However, current farmland runoff monitoring methods have obvious limitations: traditional runoff pool monitoring has a small range and is prone to interruption by heavy rains; manual sampling is time-consuming and labor-intensive with insufficient data representativeness; and there are large uncertainties when extrapolating monitoring results from experimental plots to field scales. How to establish a technical system that can not only truly reflect the actual situation of farmland but also realize automated and large-scale continuous monitoring has become the key to solving the problem of agricultural NPS pollution prevention and control.
Wenchao Li from Hebei Agricultural University and Lingling Hua from Beijing University of Agriculture et al. have developed an online monitoring system for NPS pollution in continuous cropping farmland based on a serial pipeline. The system, with diversion trenches, online flowmeters, and dynamic acquisition devices as the core, realizes real-time monitoring and automated sampling of farmland runoff through innovative design. Compared with traditional runoff pools, the design of diversion trenches and transmission pipelines in the new system significantly reduces the project scale, lowers construction costs and land occupation, and avoids interference with agricultural production activities. The related paper had been published in Frontiers of Agricultural Science and Engineering (DOI: 10.15302/J-FASE-2024596).
The core advantage of this system lies in breaking through multiple limitations of existing technologies. In terms of monitoring range, by laying diversion trenches and transmission pipelines, it can realize centralized runoff monitoring of continuous cropping farmland covering hundreds of hectares, overcoming the limitation that traditional runoff pools are only suitable for small plots of tens of square meters. In terms of data reliability, online flowmeters and water quality monitoring devices can collect real-time parameters such as flow rate, total nitrogen, total phosphorus, and chemical oxygen demand (COD). The dynamic acquisition device triggers sampling through a rainfall sensor, automatically collecting a representative water sample for each rainfall event, which solves the problems of poor timeliness of manual sampling and the inability of automatic samplers to reflect the entire runoff process. In addition, the system supports remote data transmission and control, allowing managers to view monitoring data in real-time through the client, and automatic alarms are triggered in case of abnormal water quality, greatly improving the efficiency of emergency response.
In the field application in the Baiyangdian Basin of Xiong’an New Area, Hebei Province, the system demonstrated good stability and accuracy. Monitoring data from July to August 2023 showed that the developed system could accurately capture the runoff lag effect—for example, after the rainfall on August 11, runoff began to form at 11:00 the next day and gradually increased, a process that was highly consistent with meteorological data. Under extreme heavy rain conditions, increasing the monitoring frequency could track flow changes in real-time, verifying the system's ability to respond to complex hydrological processes.
The method applied in experimental plots in this system has been listed as a key technology for comprehensive control of agricultural NPS pollution by the Agricultural Ecology and Resource Protection Station of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China. Compared with traditional methods relying on experimental plots, its monitoring data are more in line with actual farmland production scenarios, which can provide more reliable parameters for estimating agricultural NPS pollution loads. With the promotion of the technology, the system is expected to play an important role in the next national pollution source census, providing scientific support for formulating targeted prevention and control strategies and improving the water ecological environment.
END
Innovative online monitoring system for farmland non-point source pollution enables automated monitoring of continuous cropping farmland
2025-10-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Stabilized fertilizers improve nitrogen use efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions
2025-10-23
Agricultural green development is an important issue for global sustainable development, and the efficient utilization of nitrogen fertilizers and environmental emission reduction have always been core challenges faced by China’s agriculture. As a key input in food production, nitrogen fertilizers contribute 45% of China’s grain yield increase and 60% of protein supply in the food chain. However, China’s nitrogen use efficiency was only 42.6% in 2024, which not only causes resource waste but also leads to environmental problems such as about 400 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually, 70% of global nitrous oxide emissions, and water eutrophication. ...
Endangered Kangaroo Island ground dweller found in trees
2025-10-23
Australian ecologists have made a remarkable discovery about the mysterious and endangered Kangaroo Island dunnart: it is partial to climbing trees.
Up until now, the small carnivorous marsupial was thought to be a ground dweller.
The finding, published this month in Pacific Conservation Biology, is the first confirmed evidence that the Kangaroo Island dunnart can climb trees and shelter in hollows, using artificial nest boxes that were originally installed for pygmy-possums.
The discovery is part of the Kangaroo Island Nest Box Project, a large-scale citizen science initiative led by UniSA scientist Associate Professor Sophie (Topa) Petit and Peter Hammond from the Kangaroo Island ...
Guardians of the coast: Philippine scientists unlock the climate power of mangroves in Eastern Visayas
2025-10-23
What if the front line in the fight against climate change wasn’t in a high-tech lab or a global summit—but in the muddy, tangled roots of a mangrove forest?
In the coastal heart of the Philippines, a quiet revolution is taking root. A new study published on September 5, 2025, in the open-access journal Carbon Research, shows that mangroves, those hardy, salt-tolerant trees lining tropical shorelines, are not just nature’s coastal defenders. They’re also carbon vaults, quietly locking away tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. And now, thanks to the work of Dr. Hannah Alexis Melquiades Asilo and her team at the University of the Philippines ...
Nano-biochar helps rice roots turn silver ions into less toxic nanoparticles
2025-10-23
Researchers have uncovered a surprising new role for nano-biochar, showing that it can drive the natural formation and accumulation of silver nanoparticles in rice roots. The study, published in Biochar, reveals how this tiny carbon material interacts with plant roots to transform silver ions into metallic nanoparticles, potentially affecting both plant health and the movement of metals in the environment.
Silver is widely used in electronics, medicine, and antimicrobial products, which leads to the release of silver ions into soils and waterways. These ions are highly reactive and can pose risks to living organisms. In contrast, silver nanoparticles are more stable and less toxic. ...
New ‘liquid metal’ composite material enables recyclable, flexible and reconfigurable electronics
2025-10-22
Electronic waste is piling up around the world at a rate that far outpaces recycling efforts, partly because it’s so costly and time-consuming to recover useful materials from discarded gadgets. When processed improperly, spent electronics can expose workers and the environment to lead, mercury and other toxic chemicals. Without systemic changes, our global appetite for electronics could produce an annual 60 million tons of electronic waste by 2030.
This conundrum inspired a team at the University ...
Extinction rates have slowed across many plant and animal groups, study shows
2025-10-22
Prominent research studies have suggested that our planet is currently experiencing another mass extinction, based on extrapolating extinctions from the past 500 years into the future and the idea that extinction rates are rapidly accelerating.
A new study by Kristen Saban and John Wiens with the University of Arizona Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, however, revealed that over the last 500 years extinctions in plants, arthropods and land vertebrates peaked about 100 years ago and have declined since then. Furthermore, the researchers found that the past extinctions underlying these ...
Tiny fossil bone helps unlock history of the bowerbird
2025-10-22
The discovery of a tiny foot bone millions of years old reveals Aotearoa New Zealand was once home to a songbird species with potentially unique courtship behaviours, new research shows.
These days bowerbirds are only found in Australia and New Guinea but an international collaboration by the University of Otago – Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka, the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and the University of Cambridge shows they may have resided in Aotearoa 14-19 million years ago.
The foot bone that was found in the St Bathans, Central Otago, fossil deposits bore a close similarity to bowerbirds, though belonged to a bird that was much smaller than living species.
Co-author Associate ...
AI tool beats humans at detecting parasites in stool samples, Utah study finds
2025-10-22
Scientists at ARUP Laboratories have developed an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that detects intestinal parasites in stool samples more quickly and accurately than traditional methods, potentially transforming how labs diagnose parasitic infections around the world.
Identifying parasites under the microscope has long been a painstaking task requiring highly trained experts to manually scour each sample for telltale cysts, eggs or larva. Now, a deep-learning model, known as a convolutional neural network (CNN), achieves that work with a high degree ...
Innovative biochar research to boost circular economy: Join live talk by Prof. Salah Jellali on October 29
2025-10-22
On Wednesday, October 29 at 14:00 (Beijing Time), environmental engineering expert Prof. Salah Jellali from Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, will present his pioneering work on nutrient-enriched biochar — a sustainable solution that transforms agricultural residues and industrial byproducts into powerful, slow-release eco-fertilizers.
Unlike conventional biochar, which lacks essential nutrients, Prof. Jellali’s innovation leverages nutrient-rich wastewater and mineral waste streams to “supercharge” biochar, creating a high-performance soil enhancer that improves crop yields while closing ...
Early life sugar restriction linked to lasting heart benefits in adulthood
2025-10-22
Restricted sugar intake during early life is linked to lower risks of several heart conditions in adulthood, including heart attack, heart failure, and stroke, finds a study published by The BMJ today using data from the end of UK sugar rationing in 1953.
The greatest protection against the risk of developing heart problems - and the longest delay in disease onset - was seen in people whose sugar intake was restricted from conception (“in utero”) to around 2 years of age.
Evidence ...