Search results for "Soil Science"
showing 10 items of 1336 documents
A full‐scale study of Darcy‐Weisbach friction factor for channels vegetated by riparian species
2021
In this article, an open channel flow resistance equation, deduced applying dimensional analysis and incomplete self-similarity condition for the flow velocity distribution, was tested using measurements carried out in a full-scale channel equipped with three types of riparian plants (Salix alba L., Salix caprea L. and Alnus glutinosa L.). In the experimental channel, having banks lined with boulders, the vegetation branches were anchored in a concrete bottom. For each species, the measurements were carried out with plants having different amounts of leaves, different plant density and plant area index. The relationship between the scale factor Γ of the velocity profile and the Froude numbe…
Comparing Physical Quality of Forest and Pasture Soils in a Sicilian Watershed
2011
Forest and pasture soils should have differing properties due, for example, to differing root characteristics or livestock trampling rates, but contradictory results are reported in the literature. The surface soil physical and hydraulic properties of five forest and pasture sites were determined in a Sicilian watershed. In general, forest soils had a significantly lower bulk density, b (by 17 to 35%), and a higher field saturated hydraulic conductivity, Kfs (by a factor of 3.4-11.5) than pasture soils. Differences between water retention characteristics of forest and pasture soils were low when high levels of organic matter, OM, content (> 7.1%) were detected for both land uses. The mean …
Hillslope degradation in representative Italian areas. Just soil erosion risk or opportunity for development?
2018
In recent years, much research have dealt with the impact of human and climate change on the morpho-evolution of Mediterranean catchments characterized by high ecological and cultural value. In this paper, we speculated how humans can influence hillslope degradation by reviewing the relationships between denudation processes and land use changes in some representative areas located in different Italian regions (i.e., Liguria, Tuscany, Basilicata, and Sicily). The selected study cases are characterized by different climatic and geological features, land use, and land management and can be considered indicative of the hillslope degradation issues that affected the Apennines during the last ce…
Micro-scale post-fire surface cover changes monitored using high spatial resolution photography in a semiarid environment: A useful tool in the study…
2012
[ES] Although post-fire soil erosion has been studied, little attention has been paid to changes in soil surface cover following fires, despite this being a key factor in understanding the water and sediment yield. This study, at Peñaflor (Spain), investigated the effect of fire on soil erosion using data from soil erosion plots and high spatial resolution photography (HSRP). Measurements were made from October 2003 to October 2005 in a control plot and a plot experimentally exposed to a fire in October 2004. Ground cover components were identified, including vegetation, bare soil, stones, charcoal and ash. Runoff and sediment concentrations were low because of the absence of intense rainfa…
Modelling the Impacts of Wildfire on Ash Thickness in a Short‐Term Period
2013
Ash can provide valuable soil protection. However, ash is also very mobile, and soil protection patterns can be quickly changed, favouring the protection of some areas and exposing others with implications for soil erosion. In this research, the effects of a high severity wildfire on ash thickness were studied, 1 and 15 days after the fire. For this evaluation, several interpolation methods were tested to identify the best spatial predictor of ash distribution. The results showed that 1 day after the fire, ash was thinner in high severity areas. Fifteen days after the fire, ash thickness decreased, and the spatial pattern changed. This implies that evaluation of fire severity based on ash t…
FeOOH-modified clay sorbents for arsenic removal from aqueous solutions
2019
The presence of arsenic (As) in natural and anthropogenic soils causes severe pollution of groundwater due to its harmful carcinogenic effects. The present work describes the research activities for searching of appropriate innovative sorbents based on clay material for As sorption using iron oxy-hydroxide modification. Natural and manufactured clay was chosen for comparison of modification efficiency in order to obtain best sorption results for As(V). The results of pilot testing were obtained and the sorption was studied as a function of initial arsenic concentration. Obtained results indicate that modification of clay with Fe compounds significantly improves the sorption capacity of a ne…
Evaluation of Antimony, Cadmium and Lead Levels in Vegetables, Drinking and Raw Water from Different Agricultural Areas
1990
Abstract Lead and cadmium levels in edible vegetables and antimony, lead and cadmium in drinking and raw waters from three agricultural areas exposed to different levels of environmental pollution (1-high industrial pollution, 2-high urban pollution, 3-standard low industrial and urban pollution) are determined. The organic matter is destroyed by repeated attack with nitric acid. Cadmium and lead are determined by graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GFAAS) and antimony by hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HGAAS). When the results obtained for three different areas are compared, differences between cadmium and lead contents in vegetables are observed. Waters are…
BEST-2K Method for Characterizing Dual-Permeability Unsaturated Soils with Ponded and Tension Infiltrometers
2019
This study presents a new method (BEST-2K) that extends the existing BEST methods for use in characterizing the water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions of matrix and fast-flow regions in dual-permeability soils. BEST-2K requires input information from two water infiltration experiments that are performed under ponded (Beerkan) and unsaturated (tension infiltrometer) conditions at the surface. Other required inputs include water content measurements and the traditional BEST inputs (particle size distribution and bulk density). In this study, first, a flowchart of the BEST-2K method was developed and illustrated with analytically generated data for a synthetic dual-permeability s…
Sequential and joint hydrogeophysical inversion using a field-scale groundwater model with ERT and TDEM data
2013
Abstract. Increasingly, ground-based and airborne geophysical datasets are used to inform groundwater models. Recent research focuses on establishing coupling relationships between geophysical and groundwater parameters. To fully exploit such information, this paper presents and compares a joint hydrogeophysical inversion (JHI) approach and sequential hydrogeophysical inversion (SHI) approach to inform a field-scale groundwater model with Time Domain Electromagnetic (TDEM) and Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) data. The implemented SHI coupled inverted geophysical models with groundwater parameters, where the strength of the coupling was based on geophysical parameter resolution. To t…
Accuracy of Saturated Soil Hydraulic Conductivity Estimated from Numerically Simulated Single‐Ring Infiltrations
2019
The single-ring pressure infiltrometer (PI) method is widely used to determine saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, K s , directly in the field. The original and still most common way to analyze the data makes use of the steady-state model developed by the Canadian School in the 90s and two (two-ponding-depth, TPD, approach) or more (multiple-ponding-depth, MPD, approach) depths of ponding. The so-called Wu method based on a generalized infiltration equation allows analysis of the transient infiltration data collected by establishing a single ponding depth of water on the infiltration surface. This investigation, making use of simulated infiltration runs for initially unsaturated sand to …