The Relationship Between Nitrate Distribution in Groundwater and Agricultural Landuse (Case study: Ardabil Plain,Iran)

The use of chemical fertilizers in agricultural sector leads to increase of nitrate concentrations in surface and groundwater. The present study determined the vast impacts of agriculture in Ardabil Plain in the northwest of Iran. The study surveyed and measured the amount of nitrate concentration in groundwater sources of 46 wells in the region. Arc GIS software was used to zoning of the area by ordinary kriging function. To match the changes of nitrate concentrations with the land use patterns, images of Landsat Satellite ETM+ in June of 2012 was applied. To determine the relationship of agricultural land use with nitrate distribution in the area SPSS 16 software was used. According to the regression results, the use of agricultural land use and the amount of chemical fertilizer in the region are highly related with nitrate distribution with 95% accuracy. The results showed that the source of nitrate input to the region is the use of artificial nitrate fertilizer in agricultural activities.