Search results for "Environmental Biotechnology"
showing 10 items of 568 documents
Spatio-temporal statistical methods in environmental and biometrical problems
2017
This is the editorial letter for the Special Issue dedicated to the VIII International Workshop on Spatio-temporal Modelling (METMAVIII) which took place in Valencia (Spain) from 1 to 3 June 2016, and to the second Galician-Portuguese meeting of Biometry, with applications to Health Sciences, Ecology and Environmental Sciences (BIOAPP2016) held in Santiago de Compostela (Spain), 30–2 July 2016. This special issue summarises and discusses selected peer-reviewed contributions related to spatial and spatio-temporal statistical methodologies comprising both new methodological approaches and a wide range of applications related to environmental and biometrical problems. Point processes, lattice …
2018
Abstract. In situ cloud observations at mountain-top research stations regularly measure ice crystal number concentrations (ICNCs) orders of magnitudes higher than expected from measurements of ice nucleating particle (INP) concentrations. Thus, several studies suggest that mountain-top in situ cloud microphysical measurements are influenced by surface processes, e.g., blowing snow, hoar frost or riming on snow-covered trees, rocks and the snow surface. This limits the relevance of such measurements for the study of microphysical properties and processes in free-floating clouds. This study assesses the impact of surface processes on in situ cloud observations at the Sonnblick Observatory in…
Deducing a Drain Spacing Formula by Applying Dimensional Analysis and Self-Similarity Theory
2016
For designing a steady state drainage system a drain flow formula coupled with the Dupuit-Forcheimer form of the differential equation of groundwater flow is used. At first, in this paper the most applied drain flow formulas in steady-state conditions are reviewed and compared using as dependent variable the ratio between the maximum water table height and the distance between two lines of parallel drains. These equation are also tested using experimental field data measured in three plot drained by surface pipe drains having different value of drain spacing. Then, applying the dimensional analysis and the self-similarity theory, a new drain spacing formula is theoretically deduced and comp…
Critical range of soil organic carbon in southern Europe lands under desertification risk.
2021
Soil quality is fundamental for ecosystem long term functionality, productivity and resilience to current climatic changes. Despite its importance, soil is lost and degraded at dramatic rates worldwide. In Europe, the Mediterranean areas are a hotspot for soil erosion and land degradation due to a combination of climatic conditions, soils, geomorphology and anthropic pressure. Soil organic carbon (SOC) is considered a key indicator of soil quality as it relates to other fundamental soil functions supporting crucial ecosystem services. In the present study, the functional relationships among SOC and other important soil properties were investigated in the topsoil of 38 sites under different …
Fusing optical and SAR time series for LAI gap filling with multioutput Gaussian processes
2019
The availability of satellite optical information is often hampered by the natural presence of clouds, which can be problematic for many applications. Persistent clouds over agricultural fields can mask key stages of crop growth, leading to unreliable yield predictions. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) provides all-weather imagery which can potentially overcome this limitation, but given its high and distinct sensitivity to different surface properties, the fusion of SAR and optical data still remains an open challenge. In this work, we propose the use of Multi-Output Gaussian Process (MOGP) regression, a machine learning technique that learns automatically the statistical relationships among…
Anaerobic Degradation of Environmentally Hazardous Aquatic Plant Pistia stratiotes and Soluble Cu(II) Detoxification by Methanogenic Granular Microbi…
2021
The aquatic plant Pistia stratiotes L. is environmentally hazardous and requires effective methods for its utilization. The harmfulness of these plants is determined by their excessive growth in water bodies and degradation of local aquatic ecosystems. Mechanical removal of these plants is widespread but requires fairly resource-intensive technology. However, these aquatic plants are polymer-containing substrates and have a great potential for conversion into bioenergy. The aim of the work was to determine the main patterns of Pistia stratiotes L. degradation via granular microbial preparation (GMP) to obtain biomethane gas while simultaneously detoxifying toxic copper compounds. The compos…
Assessment and inter-comparison of recently developed/reprocessed microwave satellite soil moisture products using ISMN ground-based measurements
2019
Soil moisture (SM) is a key state variable in understanding the climate system through its control on the land surface energy, water budget partitioning, and the carbon cycle. Monitoring SM at regional scale has become possible thanks to microwave remote sensing. In the past two decades, several satellites were launched carrying on board either radiometer (passive) or radar (active) or both sensors in different frequency bands with various spatial and temporal resolutions. Soil moisture algorithms are in rapid development and their improvements/revisions are ongoing. The latest SM retrieval products and versions of products that have been recently released are not yet, to our knowledge, com…
Pineapple peel biochar and lateritic soil as adsorbents for recovery of ammonium nitrogen from human urine.
2021
Abstract Human urine is a rich source of nitrogen which can be captured to supplement the existing sources of nitrogen fertilizers thus contributing to enhanced crop production. However, urine is the major contributor of macronutrients in municipal wastewater flows resulting into eutrophication of the receiving water bodies. Herein, pineapple peel biochar (PPB), and lateritic soil (LS) adsorbents were prepared for the safe removal of ammonium nitrogen (NH4+-N) from human urine solutions. Physicochemical properties of PPB, and LS were characterized by scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy…
Thermogravimetric analysis as express tool for quality assessment of refuse derived fuels used for pyro-gasification
2019
The development of pyro-gasification technologies makes necessary the development of new express analytical methods that are able to deal with the variability of feedstock and problems arising from it. Thermogravimetric proximate analysis of refuse derived fuels is a very fast, cheap and simple method for the determination of proximate and fractional composition. Development of this analytical approach may result in a very cost-effective method to describe wholesome composition and characteristics of feedstock used for pyrolysis and gasification processes in real time. The aim of this study was the development of such analytical method. Refuse derived fuel samples produced in Latvia and Est…
Integrating in situ measurements of an index of connectivity to assess soil erosion processes in vineyards
2020
In this research, we survey soil erosion processes using an index of connectivity and a non-invasive and long-term assessment in situ technique: the improved stock unearthing method (ISUM), for whi...