Applications of GIS to the modeling of nonpoint source pollutants in the vadose zone: A conference overview

Because of their ubiquitous nature and potential chronic health effects, nonpoint source (NPS) pollutants have become a focal point of attention by the general public, particularly regarding pollution of surface and subsurface drinking water sources. The NPS pollutants pose a technical problem because of the areal extent of their contamination that increases the complexity and sheer volume of data far beyond that of point-source pollutants. The spatial nature of the NPS pollution problem necessitates the use of a geographic information system (GIS) to manipulate, retrieve, and display the large volumes of spatial data. This overview provides a brief introduction and review of the modeling of NPS pollutants with GIS and a brief discussion of some of the papers presented at the ASA-CSSA-SSSA 1995 Bouyoucos Conference entitled Applications of GIS to the Modeling of Nonpoint Source Pollutants in the Vadose Zone.