European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR) from 30 September 1957 under the Auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, entered into force on 29 January 1968.

A substance within a product having a general or specific effect on target organisms such as weeds, fungi or insects, in contrast to other product ingredients which do not directly affect pests.

Infrastructural element capable of retaining spills and leaks

An application of a pesticide to a continuous narrow strip, usually over, along, or in a crop row, rather than broadcast over the entire field area. Banding reduces the total pesticide load on the field and thus the overall impact on an ecological population or community. However the additional cultivation that may be required for weed control between the bands can make herbicide banding unacceptable in areas where cultivation is being avoided to reduce erosion.

Soil, nutrient, and pesticide management practices that also provide water quality benefits. They include numerous practices such as cover crops, green manure crops, and strip-cropping to control erosion, correct timing of chemical applications to prevent the loss of nutrients and pesticides and careful selection of application methods such as banded spraying to reduce rates.

Subsoil horizon in which leached substances tend to degrade more slowly than in topsoil. The B Horizon is commonly referred to as ‘subsoil’, and consists of mineral layers which may contain concentrations of clay or minerals such as iron or aluminum oxides, or alleviated organic material.

Buffer strips are vegetated areas. Types of buffers include contour buffer strips, filter strips, riparian forest buffers, field borders, windbreaks/shelterbelts, hedgerows, grassed waterways, and alley cropping. The generally have a linear shape and are typically implemented along water bodies and at the edge of fields.

Any area, regardless of shape, designed to provide some form of protection between the point of application and a non-target environment. When designed for water protection, buffer zones may act in two ways: - Alongside surface water bodies, to protect them from spray drift. They can act either by virtue of the increased distance from the application site to the receiving environment or by the interception of the drift by vegetation (trees and hedges); - Anywhere in the watershed (along water bodies or on the slopes), in an appropriate position to intercept surface runoff. In this case they must be covered with permanent vegetation such as grass, shrubs or trees which act to increase the infiltration capacity of the underlying soil. A buffer zone may be specially constructed or may be a naturally occurring element of the landscape such as meadows, hedges and woods Strictly speaking, wetlands whether constructed or not, may also act as a buffer especially for runoff control. In practice, they are set-up and managed quite differently from the other buffers and are therefore considered separately.

Planting crops or ploughing the field in rows that are perpendicular to the slope of the land. Sometimes crop rows are placed between alternating strips of close-growing, erosion-resistant forage crops.

Crop rotation and contouring combined in equal-width strips of row crop (typically corn or soybeans) planted on the contour and alternated with strips of oats, grass, or legumes. Not more than half a field can be planted to row crops. Oats, grass, or legume slows runoff, increases infiltration, traps sediment and provides surface cover. Ridges formed by contoured rows slow water flow thus reducing erosion. Rotating the strips from corn to legumes allows nutrient-needy crops to benefit from the nitrogen added to the soil by legumes.

Capping of soil is the formation of surface crust that inhibits infiltration of rainwater and enhances surface run-off. Fine sand and silt together with low organic matter content tend to make a soil susceptible to capping.

A land area that is inundated or saturated by surface and/or ground water with a frequency and duration sufficient to support an abundance of hydrophytic (water-loving) plants or other aquatic life that require permanently saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Examples include swamps, marshes, bogs, sloughs, potholes, wet meadows, river overflow areas, mud flats, and natural ponds.

Runoff that accumulates or converges into well-defined channels.

In conservation tillage, crops are grown with minimal cultivation of the soil. When the amount of tillage is reduced, the stubble or plant residues are not completely incorporated, and most or all remain on top of the soil rather than being plowed or disked into the soil. The new crop is planted into this stubble or small strips of tilled soil. Weeds are controlled with cover crops or herbicides rather than by cultivation. (source: http://www.ncsu.edu/sustainable/tillage/tillage.html)

In an agricultural setting a constructed wetland is an artificial pond, marsh or swamp created to receive discharges from surface runoff, subsurface runoff and/or discharges from tile drains. Its principal functions are detention of storm-flow water (also: flood control), sedimentation of eroded soil material, and reduction of nutrient and pesticide flux/concentrations in discharge to the receiving surface water body. In addition wetlands can increase biodiversity in a landscape by providing habitat for adapted plants and wildlife.

Series of strips of grass or legumes placed across the slope on a contour, which help trap sediment and nutrients. This is similar to strip-cropping, but with narrower grass or legume strips. The alternating strips of grass or other permanent vegetation slow runoff flow, trap sediment from the crop strips above, and increase water infiltration. Because the buffer strip is established on the contour, runoff flows evenly across the entire surface of the grass strip, reducing sheet and rill erosion.

Furrows plowed nearly level around the hill - at right angles to the slope. Crop row ridges subsequently built by tilling and/or planting on the contour create hundreds of small dams. These ridges or dams slow water flow and increase infiltration, which reduces erosion.

A crop grown between crops or between seasons, which is not necessarily harvested but is grown to cover the soil and thus reduce erosion.

Planting grass, legumes, trees or shrubs in small, isolated areas of excessive erosion. The vegetation provides surface cover to stop the raindrop splash and slow water flow.

“Calibration” in preparing a spray application is often used as a synonym for “Adjustment”: making or becoming suitable; adjusting to circumstances; the act of adjusting something to match a standard; the process of adapting to something (such as environmental conditions). Calibration = valid for nozzle-output. This confusion might be language dependant. In some cases both calibration and adjustment might be involved. This should end in a “TEST” a “VALIDATION”, “VERIFICATION”. Three steps : inspection, calibration, testing or verification. A calibration assures that a device or system will produce results which meet or exceed some defined criteria with a specified degree of confidence. Two important measurement concepts related to calibration are precision and accuracy. Precision refers to the minimum discernible change in the parameter being measured, while accuracy refers to the actual amount of error that exists in a calibration

Spray tank: the tank containing the diluted spray mixture (carrier liquid, PPP(s), additives) Rinsing tank: the tank containing clean water, usually connected with the hydraulic system of the pump to clean the internal tank surface, to dilute the total or dilutable residual spray and also to supply the external sprayer cleaning device with clean water Hand wash tank: separate tank, preferably away from spray solution emitting nozzles and over the induction bowl. For sanitary and hygienic purposes.

Forecast, judgement, identification, based on the analysis of information. This term is used to denote the process of analyzing a watershed/drainage basin/catchment to determine potential sources for movement of nutrients and pesticides to surface water, and also the movement of water itself (run-off water pathways), in order to associate the relevant mitigation measures.

A water duct above ground, e.g. in the shape of a ditch or a channel, for draining water.

Commonly, the land area that is drained from surface water flowing in a stream or river past a specified point or into a specified water body (such as a pond or lake). Strictly a watershed refers to the divide that separates one drainage area (or catchment) from another drainage area. However, in the USA the term is often used to mean the drainage basin itself.

Movement of airborne drops of spray solution, or vapours, from the intended area of application to non-target species. Generally granules and pellets reduce drift compared to wettable powders and other liquid sprays. Dusts are most susceptible to drift. Windy conditions or air conditions created by a temperature inversion (cold air trapped between the soil surface and warm air above) generally contribute to drift.

In the context of TOPPS this is mainly related to undesired movement of PPPs in soil, water or air following application on crops and within areas agreed for use according to approved label recommendations. Examples of diffuse sources may include leaching, drainage, soil erosion and/or run off, following approved field application, due to exceptional weather conditions (see also “Point Source”)

(also commonly called “dilutable volume”) , “volume of residual in the tank” : Part of the total residual that remains in the tank or that can flow back to the tank during normal sprayer operation (definition given by ISO 13440:1996(E))

Buffer strips are vegetated areas. Types of buffers include contour buffer strips, filter strips, riparian forest buffers, field borders, windbreaks/shelterbelts, hedgerows, grassed waterways, and alley cropping. The generally have a linear shape and are typically implemented along water bodies and at the edge of fields.The classical example of slope buffers (but also riparian, when the field is close of the water body)

A natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels. It is usually earthen and often parallel to the course of a river or the coast. (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levee)

The detachment and movement of surface soil and rock particles by gravity, wind, water, freezing and thawing, and/or other natural phenomena, which is intensified by land-clearing practices related to farming, residential or industrial development, road building, or logging.

Occurs when groundwater, from interflow or underground flows, rises to the soil surface (rising water table).

Environmental Quality Standards, PPP standards in surface water, under debate within the Water Framework Directive and daughter directives, or set at national member state level. Means the concentration of a particular pollutant or group of pollutants in water, sediment or biota which should not be exceeded in order to protect human health and the environment (article 2 of Water Framework Directive).

Strips of perennial vegetation (grass or legumes) established at the outside edges of a field where excessive sheet and rill erosion is occurring. The grass or legume strips replace crop end rows, which would be planted up and down hill and be highly erosive. Field borders are sometimes referred to as picture frames of grass, and are used with contour farming, terrace, buffer strip and contour strip-cropping systems. The grass or legume in the strip protects steep field edges from soil erosion, and provides turning and travel lanes around the field.

The amount of water that is retained in soil against the force of gravity. The water content in soil can exceed field capacity during periods of infiltration (during rain events) and drop below field capacity due to evapotranspiration. Typically the water content of agricultural soils varies between the field capacity and the wilting point (plant roots cannot extract water below this moisture content).

A strip of grass, trees, or shrubs that filters runoff and removes sediment, fertilizer and pesticides before they reach water bodies or water sources including wells. Strips of grass, trees and/or shrubs slow water flow and cause contaminants like sediment, pesticides, and fertilizers to collect in vegetation. Collected nutrients are used by the vegetation, rather than entering water supplies. Filtered water then enters water bodies.

The form in which a PPP is sold for use. A mixture of active ingredients with one or more other materials such as carriers and diluents to make it safe to store, dilute and apply. Only those formulations mentioned in the BMP are included in this glossary. For a full list, one is referred to “GCPF Codes - GIFAP Technical Monograph No 2, 1989”

The scientific study of landforms and the processes that shape them. Geomorphologists seek to understand why landscapes look they way they do, to understand landform history and dynamics, and predict future changes through a combination of field observation, physical experiment, and numerical modelling. Early studies in geomorphology are the foundation for pedology, one of two main branches of soil science.? (source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geomorphology)

Linear erosion (versus sheet erosion which is diffuse). Gully erosion and rill erosion are distinguished according to two manners: (1) large versus small or (2) thalweg erosion versus (more or less flat) slope. Severe erosion in which trenches are cut to a depth greater than 30 centimeters (1 ft). Generally, ditches deep enough to cross with farm equipment are considered gullies.

A dam, embankment or other structure built across a drainage way (such as a grassed waterway or existing gully) to reduce water flow and prevent gully erosion. The structure drops water from one stabilized grade to another and prevents gullies from advancing up a slope.

Any area, regardless of shape, designed to provide some form of protection between the point of application and a non-target environment. When designed for water protection, buffer zones may act in two ways: - Alongside surface water bodies, to protect them from spray drift. They can act either by virtue of the increased distance from the application site to the receiving environment or by the interception of the drift by vegetation (trees and hedges); - Anywhere in the watershed (along water bodies or on the slopes), in an appropriate position to intercept surface runoff. In this case they must be covered with permanent vegetation such as grass, shrubs or trees which act to increase the infiltration capacity of the underlying soil. A buffer zone may be specially constructed or may be a naturally occurring element of the landscape such as meadows, hedges and woods Strictly speaking, wetlands whether constructed or not, may also act as a buffer especially for runoff control. In practice, they are set-up and managed quite differently from the other buffers and are therefore considered separately.

A natural or constructed drainage way or outlet that is graded and shaped to form a smooth, bowl-shaped channel. This area is seeded to suitable vegetation, often sod-forming grasses. Runoff water that flows down the drainage way disperses across the grass rather than eroding soil and forming a larger gully. An outlet is often installed at the base of the drainage way to stabilize the waterway and prevent a new gully from forming.

The water below the soil surface, which fills the pores, voids, fractures, and other spaces in and around rock, gravel, sand and other materials, and moves through water-saturated zones called aquifers.

In agriculture, a headland is the area at each end of a planted field that is used for turning farm machinery during field operations and is the first area to be harvested to minimize crop damage. The soil on headlands is subject to greater levels of compaction because it receives more traffic per unit of area than the field as a whole (unploughed land at the ends of furrows or near a fence).

Horton flow (or Hortonian flow) is the surface runoff created when rain intensity exceeds the infiltration capacity of the soil surface. Excess water which does not infiltrate may be lost via surface runoff and result in waterflow down the field slope.

Hydrogeomorphology deals with aspects of water, rocks and earth’s morphological features (land).
(source: hydrogeomorphology: Fundamentals, Applications and Techniques. By Babar, Md. http://books.google.com/books?id=HetiC6uWB2kC)

Hydrology is the study of the movement, distribution, and quality of water throughout Earth, and thus addresses both the hydrologic cycle and water resources. Domains of hydrology include hydrometeorology, surface hydrology, drainage basin management and water quality, where water plays the central role.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrology)

represents the visible results from a previous saturation of the soil with water. It is the process of formation or evolution of a type of water when exposed to extended water excess. It is not the same as “soil saturation” which describes the temporary or permanent saturation of the soil with water, because a natural drainage is lacking. (source: http://www.mediadico.com/dictionnaire/definition/hydromorphie/1)

The downward entry of water into the earth's surface. Infiltration usually refers to water movement into a soil or rock surface while the terms hydraulic conductivity, percolation, and permeability usually relate to water movement within a soil or rock layer.

A sub-surface groundwater collection system of pumping wells, typically shallow in depth, constructed with open-jointed or perforated pipes that discharge collected water into a watertight chamber from which the water is pumped to treatment facilities and into the distribution system.

Relief form in limestone characterised by water disappearing into sinkholes, cracks, caves, formed by chemical erosion of the underlying limestone.

The Kd value is a measure of how tightly the pesticide binds to soil particles. The greater the Kd value, the less likely a chemical will leach or contribute to runoff. A very high value means it is strongly adsorbed onto soil and organic matter and does not move throughout the soil.

The downward movement of substances (here: pesticides) with percolating water in the soil profile. Pesticides can leach through the soil to groundwater from storage, mixing, or equipment cleaning sites, disposal areas, and even from fields where normal applications take place. Knowledge of the geology and the relative depth of the groundwater can be used to prevent contamination by leaching.

Mobility is the tendency of the chemical to be transported in the soil solution.

Combination of the persistence (DT50) and adsorption (Kd) of a substance

The link with water contamination is very weak. Some statements will have strong links with critical control points on other issues such as safety or diffuse sources. Statements in English are grouped around a limited number of key words or actions expressing already some inherent ranking.

Device through which drainage water emerges into the open air, or low point of a talweg or a watercourse within a catchment area.

The quantity of water that moves across the land surface. Contributions to overland flow are from runoff and from the surfacing of subsurface flows before they reach a receiving stream or a defined drainage channel.

Fast and direct gravitational flow through the macropores of the soil.

Is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology. Pedology deals with pedogenesis, soil morphology, and soil classification, while edaphology studies the way soils influence plants, fungi, and other living things.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedology_(soil_study))

A perched water table (or perched aquifer) is an aquifer that occurs above the regional water table, in the vadose zone. This occurs when there is an impermeable layer of rock or sediment above the main aquifer but below the surface of the land.

Downward movement of water through the unsaturated zone, due to gravity.

Reduction in hydraulic conductivity, leading to slowing down or even cessation of water percolation in the soil, due to the presence of: 
• a plough pan
• a shallow clayey horizon
• a shallow impermeable parent rock.

Commercial preparation or formulation containing one or more active ingredients as well as formulation agents, designed to protect crops against weeds, pests and fungal diseases. Also called Plant Protection Product.

( Large scale spills are usually linked to accidents in production plants and distribution centres of PPPs, however these are very rare. On the other hand spills on the farm are more common and may easily impair drinking water resources. A 4 kg spill into a river flowing at 40m3/s (rather important) river can produce a peak of 10 times the drinking water standard.) Examples of point sources may include spillage of concentrated or dilute spray from container at any time such as while mixing, from inversion of empty containers, from sprayer washings or during remnant disposal or due to poor sprayer/nozzle maintenance, which can also lead to overdosing. Poor field practice eg over-spraying ditches, non compliance with buffer zones to reduce unwanted spray drift, spraying when stationary or when turning causing overdosing, or even poor planning of spray operations leading to tractors driving over sprayed areas before leaving the field and then contaminating road eg via mud on the wheels.

A land area in which water reaches the zone of saturation from surface infiltration, e.g., where rainwater soaks through the earth to reach an aquifer.

The quantity of water per unit of time that replenishes or refills an aquifer.

Trees, shrubs, and/or permanent grasses planted in a zone alongside a stream, river, or lake bank to intercept pollutants and eroded soil material.

Areas adjacent to rivers and streams with a differing density, diversity, and productivity of plant and animal species relative to nearby uplands.

Area limited by a contour within which rainwater flows to the river, its borders are topographically defined by the water divide line (also known as “crest line”).

Required for each river basin under the implementation of the Water Framework Directive.

The movement of rainfall, snow melt, or irrigation water across the land over a sloping surface rather than through the soil. Runoff occurs when the precipitation rate exceeds the infiltration capacity.

(opposed to Hortonian runoff): occurs when the soil is saturated and therefore rain water or snow melt cannot infiltrate into the soil. Hence, soil saturation runoff occurs even if rainfall intensity is less than the theoretical infiltration capacity of the surface soil.

The area below the ground water table where all open spaces are filled with water under pressure equal to or greater than that of the atmosphere.

Sites that are particularly vulnerable to harmful effects from environmental contaminants.

An indicator of a soil's susceptibility to raindrop impact, runoff, and other erosive processes.

Densely seeded crops alternated with row crops or fallow in long narrow strips across the slope or across the direction of the wind to prevent erosion.

Part of the infiltrated effective rainfall that circulates more or less horizontally in the upper soil layers and appears at the soil surface further down the slope or exits via drainage channels. The presence of a relatively impermeable shallow layer favours this flow. The essential condition for the appearance of subsurface flow is that the hydraulic lateral conductivity of the environment has to be greater than the vertical conductivity. Subsurface flow or interflow represents the main component of direct runoff in central Europe. (http://echo.epfl.ch/VICAIRE/mod_1a/chapt_6/main.htm)

Water that infiltrates vertically into the soil but then travels horizontally along the top of a less permeable layer of soil (= interflow).

Surface runoff is the water from rain, snowmelt, or other sources that does not infiltrate into the soil and flows over the land.

All water bodies above a soil or sediment surface which are open to the atmosphere (pond, river, ditch, ocean).

A type of wetland dominated by woody vegetation but without appreciable peat deposits. Swamps may be fresh or salt water and tidal or non-tidal. See also wetland (A land area that is inundated or saturated by surface and/or ground water with a frequency and duration sufficient to support an abundance of hydrophytic (water-loving) plants or other aquatic life that require permanently saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Examples include swamps, marshes, bogs, sloughs, potholes, wet meadows, river overflow areas, mud flats, and natural ponds.)

Refers to the droplet size spectrum produced by agricultural nozzles. It is an important characteristic of a given nozzle type & size – pressure combination that gives the user an indication on application efficacy and off site spray drift potential. Nozzle categorisation is often a relative ranking based on comparison with a reference nozzle due to the differences in absolute measurements as a result of the various droplet sizing instruments (see also “standards” – “other standards”) Classification category Symbol Colour Code Very Fine VF Red Fine F Orange Medium M Yellow Coarse C Blue Very coarse VC Green Extremely coarse XC White

Within the TOPPS vocabulary description of a critical control point related to point source contamination. The relation might be very strong or secondary such as general safety issues. There is no numerical descriptor used. (see also "specifications": Clear advice on how to avoid point source problems. Specifications are risk-based and should therefore be tiered, i.e. the higher the risk, the more stringent they should be (see also “sensitive zones”).

Line running along the lowest points of a valley

An earthen embankment around a hillside perpendicular to the slope and approximately on a contour, that stops water flow and stores it or guides it safely off a field. Terraces break long slopes into shorter ones. As water makes its way down a hill, terraces serve as small dams to intercept water and guide it to an outlet. There are two basic types of terraces - storage terraces and gradient terraces. Storage terraces collect water and store it until it can infiltrate into the ground or be released through a stable outlet. Gradient terraces are designed as a channel to slow runoff water and carry it to a stable outlet like a grassed waterway.

The zone extending from the soil surface down to the ground water table.

(syn. vegetated buffer strip, edge-of-field vegetative buffer strip). A buffer strip is an area of land maintained in permanent vegetation that helps to control soil and water quality primarily on land that is used for agriculture. Buffer strips trap sediment and enhance filtration of nutrients and pesticides by slowing down runoff that could enter the local surface waters. Buffer strips can have several different types of vegetation varying from grass to combinations of grass, trees, and shrubs.

Stands for “Water and Sediment Control Basin”. A water and sediment control basin is an earth embankment or combination ridge and channel constructed across the slope of minor water courses to form a sediment trap and water detention basin. Wascobs and grassed waterways are the two means proposed by SCS (Soil conservation Service – US) to control concentrated erosion (gullying in talwegs). source: http://efotg.nrcs.usda.gov/references/public/ID/638_jobsheet.pdf x-section of a WASCOB

A short earthen dam built across a drainageway where a terrace is impractical; usually part of a terrace system. An embankment is built across a depressional area of concentrated water runoff to act similar to a terrace. It traps sediment and water running off farmland above the structure, preventing it from reaching farmland below.

Presence of surplus water on the soil surface or in topsoil horizons.

Commonly, the land area that is drained from surface water flowing in a stream or river past a specified point or into a specified water body (such as a pond or lake). Strictly a watershed refers to the divide that separates one drainage area (or catchment) from another drainage area. However, in the USA the term is often used to mean the drainage basin itself.

A land area that is inundated or saturated by surface and/or ground water with a frequency and duration sufficient to support an abundance of hydrophytic (water-loving) plants or other aquatic life that require permanently saturated or seasonally saturated soil conditions for growth and reproduction. Examples include swamps, marshes, bogs, sloughs, potholes, wet meadows, river overflow areas, mud flats, and natural ponds.

A woodland is an area covered in trees, usually at low density, forming an open habitat, allowing sunlight to penetrate between the trees, and limiting shade. Woodland may support an understory of shrubs and herbaceous plants including grasses. Woodland may form a transition to shrubland under drier conditions or during early stages of primary or secondary succession. Higher densities and areas of trees, with largely closed canopy provide extensive and nearly continuous shade are referred to as forest.
(source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woodland)