Search results for "Drop size"
showing 10 items of 13 documents
Raindrop size distribution and terminal velocity for rainfall erosivity studies. A review
2019
Abstract The knowledge of the rainfall drop size distribution (DSD) at the land surface is essential for understanding precipitation mechanisms affecting soil erosion processes. Rainfall erosivity is defined as the potential of rain to cause erosion and it can be evaluated by rainfall kinetic power, which is determined by DSD and raindrop terminal velocity. This paper firstly deals with the raindrop terminal velocity estimate. Then the most widely used DSD are reviewed highlighting the difference between the raindrop size distribution per unit volume of air and that per unit area and time. The reliability of the available kinetic power-rainfall intensity relationships and their application …
Aqueous two-phase system cold-set gelation using natural and recombinant probiotic lactic acid bacteria as a gelling agent
2016
The present study aimed to entrap probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in a sodium alginate and sodium caseinate aqueous two-phase gel system. The natural acidifying properties of two therapeutic probiotic LAB were exploited to liberate calcium ions progressively from calcium carbonate (CaCO3), which caused the gelation of the co-existing phases. Bi-biopolymeric matrix gelation of GDL/CaCO3 or LAB/CaCO3 was monitored by dynamic rheological measurements, and the final gels were characterized by frequency dependence measurements and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Weak to strong gels were formed with an elastic modulus G' from 10 to 1.000Pa, respectively. After cold-set gelation of our sy…
Simulated raindrop's characteristic measurements. A new approach of image processing tested under laboratory rainfall simulation
2018
Abstract The size of the drops determines soil erosion and runoff rates, and then the fate of ecosystems. Various raindrop measurement techniques and tools have been developed to determine natural and simulated raindrop size distributions and mean drop size. There is a need to improve the procedure to determine the raindrop properties, and this is why we develop a new technique to analyze drop size distribution and fall velocity. For this purpose a rainfall simulator with two oscillating Veejet 80100 nozzles in laboratory condition, and high speed imaging technique and edge detection approach in image processing was applied to identify and measure drop size and calculate drop velocity. The …
European small portable rainfall simulators: A comparison of rainfall characteristics
2013
28 páginas, 6 figuras, 2 tablas.- The definitive version is available on: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0341816213001252
Rainfall drop size distribution in the Western Mediterranean basin, València, Spain
1997
Although soil erosion processes are directly related to the raindrop sizes and the kinetic energy of the rainfall, little is known about the drop-size distribution. The paper staining technique is used to measure the size of the raindrops for natural thunderstorms with different rainfall intensities in the Western Mediterranean basin (Canals and Valencia, Spain). Drop sizes are greater during the most intense thunderstorms, ranging from 0.25 mm diameter (D50) for a 1 mm h−1 rainshower to 2.69 mm in very intense thunderstorms of about 120 mm h−1. The shape of the raindrop size distribution curve changes from lower to higher rainfall intensity thunderstorms. For the low intensity events, the …
Predicting rainfall erosivity by momentum and kinetic energy in Mediterranean environment
2018
Abstract Rainfall erosivity is an index that describes the power of rainfall to cause soil erosion and it is used around the world for assessing and predicting soil loss on agricultural lands. Erosivity can be represented in terms of both rainfall momentum and kinetic energy, both calculated per unit time and area. Contrasting results on the representativeness of these two variables are available: some authors stated that momentum and kinetic energy are practically interchangeable in soil loss estimation while other found that kinetic energy is the most suitable expression of rainfall erosivity. The direct and continuous measurements of momentum and kinetic energy by a disdrometer allow als…
Estimating rainfall erosivity by aggregated drop size distributions
2016
Rainfall erosivity is defined as the potential of the rain to cause erosion, and it can be represented by rainfall kinetic power. At first in this paper, the raindrop size distributions (DSD) measured by an optical disdrometer located at Palermo in the period June 2006–March 2014 and aggregated for intensity classes, are presented. Then an analysis of raindrop size characteristics is carried out, and the reliability of Ulbrich's distribution, using both the maximum likelihood and momentum estimate parameter methods, is tested. The raindrop size measurements are used to determine the experimental rainfall kinetic power values, which are compared with the ones calculated by a theoretically de…
Stima della potenza cinetica della precipitazione a partire da osservazioni disdrometriche di distribuzioni dimensionali delle gocce di pioggia
2011
Lo studio del distacco delle particelle di suolo operato dalla pioggia richiede la conoscenza delle caratteristiche erosive della precipitazione. Nella memoria, dopo aver richiamato i presupposti teorici della legge di Ulbrich e le espressioni della potenza cinetica da essa deducibili, viene presentata una verifica di applicabilita della suddetta distribuzione teorica sulla base delle distribuzioni dimensionali delle gocce di pioggia rilevate mediante un disdrometro ottico installato presso la sezione Idraulica del Dipartimento dei Sistemi Agro-Ambientali dell’Universita di Palermo. Viene proposta, infine, una verifica sperimentale dell’equazione di Wischmeier e Smith per il calcolo della p…
Modeling Rainfall Erosivity by Measured Drop-Size Distributions
2015
AbstractThe study of the detachment of soil particles due to rainfall erosivity requires knowledge of the energetic characteristics of the precipitation. In this paper, following a review of both the drop-size distribution (DSD) proposed by one researcher and the corresponding relationship for evaluating the kinetic power of rainfall, the reliability of that researcher’s DSD using the size distributions of raindrops detected by an optical disdrometer installed at Palermo (Sicily) is experimentally tested. Finally, an experimental verification of both the relationship proposed by two separate research teams for evaluating the specific and unit rainfall kinetic energy is carried out.
Characterizing rainfall erosivity by kinetic power-Median volume diameter relationship
2018
Abstract Kinetic power, i.e. kinetic energy per unit time and area, is the variable widely used to represent the rainfall erosivity which affects soil loss and sediment yield. This paper shows the results of an experimental investigation using the raindrop size distributions (DSDs) measured by an optical disdrometer installed at the Department of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Sciences of University of Palermo in Italy (June 2006–March 2014) and at the El Teularet experimental station in Spain (July 2015–May 2016). At first an analysis of the DSDs aggregated into intensity classes is carried out, then the measured kinetic power values are determined. The aggregated DSDs allowed to establis…