0000000000681691
AUTHOR
Jorge Batlle-sales
Data quality oriented procedure, for detailed mapping of heavy metals in urban topsoil as an approach to human health risk assessment
Abstract Urban soils' health is important to the community because of the soils' potential use for recreational activities. A data quality-oriented approach to sampling design is proposed for performing soil representative surveys that gives support to defensible and statistically-based decisions. Krowoderski park in Cracow (Poland) was selected as a study case to investigate heavy metals (HMs) accumulation and to assess human risk exposure according to simulated scenarios. Statistical power was computed for optimizing the number of samples to compare HMs concentration against legal upper tolerance levels (LUTL). The samples' location was iteratively designed as random spatial distribution …
Multi-Temporal Soil Salinity Assessment at a Detailed Scale for Discriminating Halophytes Distribution
A multi-temporal survey of soil salinity in a salt lake, recolonized by halophytes, was performed using electromagnetic induction (EMI) providing volume integrated values of soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa). Inventories of plant communities were recorded according to the Braun-Blanquet method. In each of six areas monospecific with Suaeda vermiculata, Suaeda vera, Sarcocornia fruticosa, or Arthrocnemun macrostachyum, ECa was measured intensively in two seasons. Mean and range of ECa differ for each plant community. Soil was sampled in the six areas and analyzed for ion composition of the soil saturated paste extract. The electrical conductivity of the saturated paste extract (ECe…
Soil Salinity Modeling, Approaches, and Key Issues
Salinization is a progressive soil and water degradation process. Soil salinity can be natural or induced by human affecting aquifers and the most productive irrigated agroecosystems in arid and semiarid regions, representing an increasing environmental concern. Root zone soil salinity can be managed using advanced tools and adjusting irrigation application and using the concept of leaching requirement. Modeling the reactive transport in soil uses simplified representations of the reality, but can reveal complex interrelations of properties of the system under study, and is best suited for drawing scenarios for investigating “what-if…” questions. Each modeling effort tries to give answer to…