Search results for "Soil CO"
showing 10 items of 269 documents
Evaluation of the surface affinity of water in three biochars using fast field cycling NMR relaxometry
2016
Many soil functions depend on the interaction of water with soil. The affinity of water for soils can be altered by applying soil amendments like stone meal, manure, or biochar (a carbonaceous material obtained by pyrolysis of biomasses). In fact, the addition of hydrophobic biochar to soil may increase soil repellency, reduce water-adsorbing capacity, inhibit microbial activity, alter soil filter, buffer, storage, and transformation functions. For this reason, it is of paramount importance to monitor water affinity for biochar surface (also referred to as ‘wettability’) in order to better address its applications in soil systems. In this study, we propose the use of fast field cycling NMR …
Structure alteration of a sandy-clay soil by biochar amendments
2014
The aim of the present study was to investigate structure alterations of a sandy-clay soil upon addition of different amounts of biochar (f bc ). All the f bc samples were analyzed by high energy moisture characteristic (HEMC) technique and 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry. HEMC was applied in order to evaluate aggregate stability of biochar-amended soil samples. 1H NMR relaxometry experiments were conducted for the evaluation of the pore distributions through the investigation of water dynamics of the same samples. The HEMC technique revealed improvement in aggregate stability through measurements of the amount of drainable pores and the stability ratio. The latter increased…
Granulation of fly ash and biochar with organic lake sediments – A way to sustainable utilization of waste from bioenergy production
2019
Abstract The main waste generated during the thermochemical processes of biomass burning used for bioenergy production in cogeneration plants are ash and biochar which can be used as fertilizers in forestry and agriculture. However, several difficulties are attributed to possibilities of practical exploitation of ash and biochar due to the transporting, handling and mode of application. Granulation of energy generation waste has been shown in some circumstances as a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method. Production of granules (pellets) from wood ash and biochar leads to improved recycling and logistics of waste as well as helps to control and avoid undesirable environmental ef…
Using plot soil loss distribution for soil conservation design
2011
Abstract Soil conservation design is generally based on the estimation of average annual soil loss but it should be developed taking into account storms of a given return period. However, use of frequency analysis in soil erosion studies is relatively limited. In this paper, an investigation on statistical distribution of soil loss measurements was firstly carried out using a relatively high number of simultaneously operating plots of different lengths, λ (11, 22, 33 and 44 m) at the experimental station of Sparacia (southern Italy). Using a simple normalization technique, the analysis showed that the probability distribution of the normalized soil loss is independent of both the scale leng…
Estimating soil loss of given return period by USLE-M-type models
2020
Many field investigations have clearly shown that rare and severe events control total soil erosion occurring over a long time period with up to 92% of total soil erosion over a 7‐year period resulting from just three daily events. Therefore, soil conservation strategies should be developed taking into account large events rather than long‐term average erosion. From an engineering point of view, establishing the soil loss of a given return period is needed. This can be obtained by the frequency analysis of soil loss measurements or by suitable soil erosion models. The USLE‐M modified and USLE‐M based are two empirical Universal Soil Loss Equation‐Modified (USLE‐M) type models which were dev…
Mapping soil compaction measuring cone penetrometer resistance
2003
The quickest way for monitoring soil compaction differences in a field is measuring cone penetrometer resistance. Soil compaction can be significantly spatially variable, depending on the amount and distribution of the traffic of agricultural machines in the field. Therefore, it could be useful to measure soil compaction on a localised basis, in order to produce maps of the damages caused by the traffic of agricultural machines and/or the action of tillage implements. Aim of this paper is to present a system developed by the Department I.T.A.F. for the geo-referenced measurement of cone penetrometer resistance and for mapping soil compaction. This system was built fitting a minitransporter …
Systems for evaluating the correlation between soil cone penetrometer resistance and shear strength
2008
The aim of this research is to study possible correlations between soil compaction (and related soil cone penetrometer resistance measurements) and shear strength normal to the field plane, required to cut the soil with a subsoiler. A measurement system for sensing the soil cone penetrometer resistance was built mounting, on a frame fixed to the front part of a tractor, a rod and a penetration cone with a load cell. A load cell, mounted on the tractor drawbar, pulling a subsoiler, allowed to measure the shear strength normal to the field plane, required to cut the soil. Both load cells were connected, through a display, to a portable computer, where a software was used for acquiring the dat…
Effects of Humic Substances and Soya Lecithin on the Aerobic Bioremediation of a Soil Historically Contaminated by Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (…
2004
The high hydrophobicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) strongly reduces their bioavailability in aged contaminated soils, thus limiting their bioremediation. The biodegradation of PAHs in soils can be enhanced by employing surface-active agents. However, chemical surfactants are often recalcitrant and exert toxic effects in the amended soils. The effects of two biogenic materials as pollutant-mobilizing agents on the aerobic bioremediation of an aged-contaminated soil were investigated here. A soil historically contaminated by about 13 g kg(-1) of a large variety of PAHs, was amended with soya lecithin (SL) or humic substances (HS) at 1.5% w/w and incubated in aerobic solid-phas…
SOILPRO: a LIFE+ project implementing soil monitoring and protection together with regional stakeholders of Sicily and Peloponnese.
2011
According to the Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection, the LIFE+ ENV/IT/00428 SOILPRO project (http://www.soilpro.eu) has the overall objective of slowing down the progress of soil degradation in EU Member States, and supporting local and regional authorities (LRAs) in the identification and monitoring of risk areas. The monitoring of the on-going soil degradation processes and the evaluation of different protection measures are realized through a web-based application (SMS – Soil Monitoring System), developed according to data and knowledge obtained from the different project partners. The SMS was initially applied on the whole Sicily (Italy) and Peloponnese (Greece) regions and then test…
The organic carbon derived from sewage sludge as a key parameter determining the fate of trace metals.
2007
8 pages; International audience; In a sandy agricultural soil of south-west of France, continuously cultivated with maize and amended with sewage-sludge over 20 years, the behavior of three trace metals (Cu, Pb, and Zn) was studied during the sludge applications (1974-1993) and after its cessation (1993-1998). Using the delta13C analysis, the dynamics of different sources of organic matter were followed in order to elucidate the influence of the sludge-derived organic matter on the fate of trace metals in the soil and its particle size fractions. This study revealed that sludge-derived organic matter contributed to the formation of macroaggregates through the binding of preexisting microagg…