An LSU AgCenter soil scientist has released Chem_Transport, a software package that can help users study how chemicals and other properties move through soils.

Magdi Selim, a professor in the AgCenter School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, developed the program, which includes models of chemicals, nutrients and heavy metals.

“This is a user-friendly software package of several models that describe the transport and sorption of chemicals in soils,” Selim said. “The models are nonlinear and kinetic, and represent recent advances in the understanding of transport characteristics of chemicals in soils and geological media.”

The software includes models for a variety of substances that are used in field, laboratory and greenhouse settings.

Models are available for chemicals, such as pesticides, industrial chemicals, military explosives and radionuclides; nutrients, such as nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, boron, zinc, copper and molybdenum; and heavy metals, such as arsenic, lead, cobalt, cadmium and trace elements.

“The models are a great tool for classroom teaching,” Selim said. Students in engineering, geology, chemistry and environmental sciences may find them useful, he said.

The software also can be used by researchers and engineers involved in the management and restoration of contaminated sites, he said.

More information about Chem_Transport and a download link can be found at http://www.spess.lsu.edu/chem_transport/. The program runs only on Windows platforms.