Nutrient fluxes at the river basin scale. I: the PolFlow model

Abstract

Abstract Human activity has resulted in increased nutrient levels in rivers and coastal seas all over Europe. Models that can describe nutrient fluxes from pollution sources to river outlets may help policy makers to select the most effective source control measures to achieve a reduction of nutrient levels in rivers and coastal seas. Part I of this paper describes the development of such a model: PolFlow. PolFlow was specially designed for operation at the river basin scale and is here applied to model 5‐year average nitrogen and phosphorus fluxes in two European river basins (Rhine and Elbe) covering the period 1970–1995. Part II reports an error analysis and model evaluation, and compares PolFlow to simpler alternative models. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.