Optimising long-term countermeasure strategies for agricultural systems based on current management practices, environmental conditions and costs

Department of Environmental Science, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, U.K.

Abstract

Farm-scale and catchment scale approaches to the implementation of Decision Support Systems (DSS) for post-emergency management of contaminated agricultural systems are presented. These are aimed at optimising the selection of countermeasures by integrating the needs of radiation protection with the constraints posed by agricultural management practices, environmental conditions and costs. The two approaches are illustrated for an area of south-west Scotland dominated by livestock farming and their specific merits and limitations as well as those of DSS in general are summarised.