Search results for "Map"
showing 10 items of 3484 documents
Proposal for a new diagnostic horizon for WRB Anthrosols
2009
Abstract To investigate man's role in the creation and evolution of soils in areas of large scale farming, and to investigate the main morpho-descriptive aspects of the related soils, a survey was carried out in south eastern Sicily, Italy, where, as common to other regions of the Mediterranean basin, there are wide areas with anthropogenic soils due to large scale farming activity. The complex genesis pattern of these anthropogenic soils, which shows a double sequence of man-made horizons, sideways oriented to the soil surface, does not allow their classification as Technosols, because their composition is not dominated or strongly influenced by artefacts or human-made materials as is the …
Human cytomegalovirus glycoprotein B genotypes in immunocompetent, immunocompromised, and congenitally infected Italian populations
2003
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) strains, obtained from immunocompetent and immunocompromised Italian hosts, were typed with glycoprotein B (gB) gene restriction analysis. A predominant circulation of HCMV strains with gB type 2 and 3 was detected in both the immunocompetent host with a primary HCMV infection and the immunocompromised host with or without HCMV disease. No association between gB types and subjects with different risks of developing HCMV disease was found. All four gB genotypes were capable of causing congenital infection in Italian babies, with gB type 1 accounting for 50% of the strains examined in symptomatic infants and a remarkable incidence of gB type 4 viruses.
Generalized countable iterated function systems
2011
One of the most common and most general way to generate fractals is by using iterated function systems which consists of a finite or infinitely many maps. Generalized countable iterated function systems (GCIFS) are a generalization of countable iterated function systems by considering contractions from X ? X into X instead of contractions on the metric space X to itself, where (X, d) is a compact metric space. If all contractions of a GCIFS are Lipschitz with respect to a parameter and the supremum of the Lipschitz constants is finite, then the associated attractor depends continuously on the respective parameter.
Developing an erodibility triangle for soil textures in semi-arid regions, NW Iran
2016
Abstract There is a strong need to develop a simple method for rapid estimation of erodibility using readily available data. In this study, soil erodibility was measured using eleven soil textures at the plot scale (60 cm × 80 cm) on a slope of 9% in a semi-arid region. A total of 110 soil erosion experiments were conducted using ten simulated rainfalls (50 mm h− 1 for 30 min). A regression model was developed based on silt and clay content (R2 = 0.82, p
Strategies investigation in using artificial neural network for landslide susceptibility mapping: application to a Sicilian catchment
2013
Susceptibility assessment of areas prone to landsliding remains one of the most useful approaches in landslide hazard analysis. The key point of such analysis is the correlation between the physical phenomenon and its triggering factors based on past observations. Many methods have been developed in the scientific literature to capture and model this correlation, usually within a geographic information system (GIS) framework. Among these, the use of neural networks, in particular the multi-layer perceptron (MLP) networks, has provided successful results. A successful application of the MLP method to a basin area requires the definition of different model strategies, such as the sample selec…
Estimation of the water table depth of the Calarasi district Island (Romania) at the Danube River using ASTER/DEM data
2014
The water table is the top level of ground water by definition. Therefore surface water is an exposed part of the water table. Airborne measurements, resistivimeters determinations or perforation analyses can be used to determine the water table depth. These methods require, approximately, taking a sample per hectare, which is a very expensive and time-consuming procedure. However, remote sensing constitutes an ideal alternative to determine water table depth, because unlike the existing methodologies, which are very expensive due to equipment and travel expenses, the proposed methodology is cheap and simple. The ASTER GDEM data is available at no charge to users via electronic download and…
Wheat growth simulation and yield prediction with seasonal forecasts and a numerical model
2007
Abstract Wheat is a major winter crop in northern Italy. Italian agricultural markets and government agencies would undoubtedly benefit from the early availability of wheat yield forecasts at the regional and national scales as useful support in decision making. In this study we tested the skill of seasonal weather forecasts, in combination with observed weather data, as input to a crop model working in water limited conditions. The observations were used to simulate wheat growth from sowing up to 2 months before harvest, while seasonal forecasts were used afterwards to predict final yields. Observations included climatic variables and water table levels from a location in the Po river plai…
The need for harmonizing methodologies for assessing soil threats in Europe
2010
Central to the EU thematic strategy for soil protection is that areas affected by soil degradation through erosion, soil organic matter (SOM) decline, compaction, salinization and landslides should be identified in a clear and consistent way. However, the current methodologies to achieve this often differ and this can result in different perceptions of risks amongst EU Member States. The aims of this paper are to: (i) assess the current status of assessment methodologies in Europe (EU27) associated with erosion, SOM decline, compaction, salinization and landslides and (ii) discuss the issues associated with harmonization of these methodologies throughout the EU27. The need for harmonization…
Is land-use change a cause of loss of pedodiversity? The case of the Mazzarrone study area, Sicily
2011
Anthropogenic soils created ex novo by land-us e change in large scale farming are, from a pedogenetic point of view, catastrophic events that bring the soils to time zero and change the natural pattern of the soilscape, remarkably, in some cases. The qu antitative aspects of pedodiversity of a soilsc ape in South-East Sicily, where some types of soils, in recent decades, have suffered a consistent reduction due to the transformations by large scale farming, are considered. The evolution of pedodiversity over a 53-year period (1955 to 2008 ) is examined using a dedicated statistical method and a space – time model based on Markov analysis and cellular autom ata in order to predict the evolu…
Predicting event soil loss from bare plots at two Italian sites
2013
Abstract Including runoff in USLE-type empirical models is expected to improve plot soil loss prediction at the event temporal scale and literature yields encouraging signs of the possibility to simply estimate runoff at these spatial and temporal scales. The objective of this paper was to develop an estimating procedure of event soil loss from bare plots (length = 11–44 m, slope steepness = 14.9–16.0%) at two Italian sites, i.e. Masse, in Umbria, and Sparacia, in Sicily, having a similar sand content (5–7%) but different silt (33% at Sparacia, 59% at Masse) and clay (62% and 34%, respectively) contents. A test of alternative erosivity indices for the Masse station showed that the best perf…