Our methodology

Step 1: a detailed analysis of your needs and expectations with regard to accuracy and precision of the risk assessments and features of the final software tools (e.g. types of outputs: colour-coded risk scores, maps, cumulative distribution functions and/or access to detailed time series of predicted concentrations).

Step 2: the construction of your agro-environmental scenarios. This work is based on a review of the existing data on soils, climate and cropping (comprising land cover and land use) and determines the accuracy of your final risk assessment.

Step 3: an inventory of crop protection practices in the area under study and a list of the compounds used

Step 4: the deployment of the best pesticide fate models available to simulate the fate of pesticides in your area. Pesticide fate predictions are made for percolate, drainage and runoff waters. The advantage of using mathematical models over more traditional approaches is that the pesticide fate models we use integrate the influence of all factors which have an effect on environmental fate (meteorology, soil hydrology, crop development, pesticide properties). The pesticide fate models used by FOOTWAYS (MACRO and PRZM) are state of the art and have been used extensively in pesticide risk assessment over the last 20 years. These two models have been validated through numerous research studies in the past.

Step 5: the integration of modelling results in user-friendly tools adapted to your needs.