Search results for " water content"
showing 10 items of 77 documents
Model Analysis of Hydrometeor Scattering Effects on Free Space Near-Infrared Links
2012
A promising technology for peer-to-peer connections and urban area networks is represented by wireless communications through free space using optical carrier (Free Space Optics, FSO). This technology ensures high data rates, with relatively low error rates, low power consumption and inherent security. Nevertheless FSO links are quite sensitive to atmospheric condition. Fog droplets, but also raindrops and snowflakes, may introduce severe path attenuation which drastically reduces the channel availability. A parametric model to simulate droplets scattering effects over the FSO link in terms of extinction coefficient, albedo factor and asymmetry coefficient as function of the particle water …
Cloud and Fog Effects and Their Parameterisation in Regional Air Quality Models
1997
For the special purpose of cloud chemistry a tool ASOCC was developed which is able to generate a differential equation system from a given set of chemical kinetics equations. Sensitivity and structure analysis have been performed to evaluate the great number of investigated reactions in the liquid phase and to derive a condensed mechanism for use in regional chemistry-transport models.
Effect of soil permanent grass cover on growth, yield and water status of rainfed olive trees in Sicily
2017
The study was carried out in an olive grove located along the hills of northern Sicily where soil had been managed for decades by chemical weeding. Starting in 2008, one portion of the grove was left non-weeded, and the permanent grass cover was managed by mowing 2-3 times per year in winter and spring. In 2011, 2012 and 2013, yield, average drupe weight, percentage of drupe black color (veraison), trunk circumference, shoot elongation, and leaf relative water content (RWC) were determined on 34 adult trees of the cultivar 'Biancolilla' with uniform size and age. In 2013, soil organic matter content and leaf nutrient concentrations were also determined in the two portions of the grove. As e…
Transpiration/Evaporation Ratio in Prunus Fremontii and Marianna 2624 over a 4-Day Period of Drought
2017
Drought stress represents one of the major environmental limitations to crop production in a large portion of the Earth’s surface. Natural genetic resources are one of the most powerful weapons against environmental stress. In such contest, the behavior in terms of water loss of two species, P. fremontii (slower-growing) and Marianna 2624 (faster-growing), native to arid and humid regions respectively, was tested. Transpiration (T) and evapotranspiration (ET) rates and soil water content (SWC) were measured in the two species under controlled conditions. Evaporation rate from the soil surface was obtained by difference, and an average transpiration/evaporation ratio (T/E) was calculated to …
Implementing a cyber-physical system to monitor soil water status and environmental variables for irrigation scheduling
2018
The most advanced research on irrigation at farm scale, following the paradigm “more crop per drop”, has been aimed at the definition of strategies of precision irrigation, in order to optimize crop water productivity and to maximize the economic benefits without affecting environmental quality.Water saving management strategies, such as regulated deficit irrigation (RDI), can be effectively applied if supported by the real time control of soil/plant water status allowing the identification of appropriate irrigation scheduling parameters (irrigation timing and doses). This challenge can be achieved by integrating sensing technologies, internet of things and cloud computing supported with co…
Identifying the threshold of soil water content for the precise irrigation scheduling of a Citrus orchard under subsurface drip irrigation
2019
Proper irrigation scheduling requires the knowledge of the soil-plant-atmosphere system, including the relationships existing between its various components. During the last decade, the monitoring of soil water content (SWC) has been considered a standard way to determine when crops need to be irrigated. However, under drip irrigation systems in which laterals are laid on the soil surface or buried at a certain depth, the gradients of soil water content are rather high and therefore the threshold of SWC below which crop water stress occurs should account for the position of the sensors; the threshold, in fact, depends on the specific crop system, as well as on the relative position of the m…
Surface soil water content estimation based on thermal inertia and Bayesian smoothing
2014
Soil water content plays a critical role in agro-hydrology since it regulates the rainfall partition between surface runoff and infiltration and, the energy partition between sensible and latent heat fluxes. Current thermal inertia models characterize the spatial and temporal variability of water content by assuming a sinusoidal behavior of the land surface temperature between subsequent acquisitions. Such behavior implicitly supposes clear sky during the whole interval between the thermal acquisitions; but, since this assumption is not necessarily verified even if sky is clear at the exact epoch of acquisition, , the accuracy of the model may be questioned due to spatial and temporal varia…
Assessing Field and Laboratory Calibration Protocols for the Diviner 2000 Probe in a Range of Soils with Different Textures
2016
Frequency domain reflectometry (FDR) downhole sensors have been increasingly used for soil moisture field monitoring because they allow measurement, even continuously, along a soil profile. Moreover, they can also be installed with minimal soil disturbance around the access tube. The objectives of the paper were to assess the field and laboratory calibration protocols for a FDR capacitance probe (Diviner 2000) for a range of soils characterized by different particle size distributions and shrink/swell potential and to propose a practical and effective protocol on the basis of undisturbed soil samples, accounting for soil shrinkage/swelling processes characterizing swelling clay soils. The e…
Deficit irrigation does not affect alternate bearing of ‘Valencia’ orange trees
2018
This study evaluated the effect of long-term partial rootzone drying and continuous deficit irrigation on the degree of alternate bearing of adult ‘Valencia’ orange trees grown in northern Sicily. Three irrigation strategies were imposed in summer from 2007 to 2011: irrigation with volumes corresponding to 100% of crop evapotranspiration applied to entire rootzone (CI), partial rootzone drying (PRD) with 50% of CI water applied to one alternated side of the rootzone, and continuous deficit irrigation (CDI) with 50% of CI water applied to both sides of the rootzone. The experiment was conducted on 48 adult orange trees arranged according to a randomized block design. Weather and soil paramet…
Effects of partial rootzone drying and rootstock vigour on growth and fruit quality of 'Pink Lady' apple trees in Mediterranean environments
2008
We investigated the effects of partial rootzone drying (PRD) and rootstock vigour on water relations, and vegetative and productive performance of ‘Pink Lady’ apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) trees in central Sicily. In a first field trial, trees on MM.106 rootstock were subjected to: Conventional irrigation (CI), maintaining soil moisture above 80% of field capacity; PRD irrigation, where only one alternated side of the rootzone received 50% of the CI irrigation water; and continuous deficit irrigation (DI), where 50% of the CI water was equally applied to both sides of the rootzone. In a second trial, trees on M.9 or MM.106 were subjected to CI and PRD irrigation. PRD reduced stomatal condu…