Groundwater Atrazine Detection Probability in Colorado with Land Use and Hydrogeology

A raster dataset predicts the probability of detecting atrazine or its breakdown product in Colorado groundwater. It is one of eight datasets from a U.S. Geological Survey study that incorporated atrazine use estimates and hydrogeomorphic regions. The maps were developed to support state-level pesticide management planning.

Use Cases

• Modeling pesticide contamination risk in groundwater based on atrazine use estimates.
• Informing state pesticide management plans using hydrogeomorphic region data.
• Assessing groundwater vulnerability by overlaying water quality data with land cover and geology.
• Comparing contamination probabilities for different agricultural chemicals like atrazine and nitrate.

Strengths

• Dataset is part of a structured study producing eight related prediction models.
• Incorporates multiple data layers including land cover, precipitation, soils, and well construction.
• Methodology documented in a 35-page U.S. Geological Survey report (WRIR 02-4269).

Limitations

• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and file formats are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 02-4269 (Rupert, 2003).

Collection Method

Groundwater quality data overlaid with anthropogenic/hydrogeologic data in a GIS, analyzed with logistic regression.

Geography

Colorado, United States.