Search results for "Soil surface"
showing 10 items of 28 documents
Soil hydraulic properties determined by infiltration experiments and different heights of water pouring
2014
Abstract Establishing the dependence of the soil hydraulic characterization carried out by an infiltration experiment on the procedure used to apply water on the confined soil surface may help to better interpret the collected data and also to develop more accurate strategies for soil hydraulic characterization. Soil was sampled at four Sicilian sites with both the Simplified Falling Head (SFH) technique and the Beerkan Estimation of Soil Transfer parameters (BEST) procedure and two heights of water application (0.03 and 1.5 m). The most appropriate BEST algorithm to analyze the data was determined and the effect of the height of water pouring on the measured soil hydraulic properties was e…
Analyzing long-term soil erosion in a ridge-shaped persimmon plantation in eastern Spain by means of ISUM measurements
2019
Abstract Graft unions of cultivated plants have been used as passive bio-indicators to assess long-term soil erosion rates. By taking complementary topographical measures in inter-row areas, soil erosion can be more accurately estimated as done with the Improved Stock Unearthing Method (ISUM) in vineyards. As vines are not the only plants that are grafted, ISUM could be also applied to other crops. Most fruit trees are planted in ridges and our objective was to test if ISUM could be applied in a ridge planted persimmon plantation. This update in the methodology will allow the scientific community to expand measurements that will contribute to assessing soil erosion processes in intensive an…
Analysis of soil surface component patterns affecting runoff generation. An example of methods applied to Mediterranean hillslopes in Alicante (Spain)
2008
Spatial patterns of soil surface components (vegetation, rock fragments, crusts, bedrock outcrops, etc.) are a key factor determining hydrological functioning of hillslopes. A methodological approach to analyse the patterns of soil surface components at a detailed scale is proposed in this paper. The methods proposed are applied to two contrasting semi-arid Mediterranean hillslopes, and the influence of soil surface component patterns on the runoff response of the slopes was analysed. A soil surface components map was derived from a high resolution photo-mosaic obtained in the field by means of a digital camera. Rainfall simulation experimental data were used to characterise the hydrologica…
Optimizing subsurface dripline installation depth with Hydrus 2D/3D to improve irrigation water use efficiency in the central Tunisia
2015
The main objective of the work is to optimize drip installation depth for Eggplant crop irrigated with surface or subsurface drip irrigation systems to improve irrigation Water Use Effeciency (WUE), by means of field measurements and simulations carried out with Hydrus-2D model. Initially, a comparison between simulated Soil Water Contents (SWC) and the corresponding measured in two plots, in which laterals with coextruded emitters are laid on the soil surface (T0) and at 20 cm depth (T20), respectively. In order to choose the best position of the lateral, the results of different simulation run, carried out by choosing a deeper installation (T45) depth. Simulated SWC’s resulted fairly clos…
El método mejorado del tocón (ISUM) permite evaluar procesos de erosión del suelo en plantas injertadas utilizando medidas topográficas in situ
2021
[EN] Policymakers, stakeholders and rural inhabitants must be aware of the relevance of soil erosion as an irreversible landdegradation process. This is key to achieve the land degradation neutrality challenge and the sustainability of humankindand natural ecosystems. Agricultural areas are being affected by soil erosion threatening soil quality and, subsequently,food security. Therefore, it is necessary to develop new techniques and methods visually friendly and easy to be accessedto survey and assess the soil erosion concerns. ISUM (Improve Stock Unearthing Method) is a well-contrasted procedureto estimate and map soil mobilisation and erosion rates. To achieve this goal, using the plant …
Production and turnover of organic matter in three southern European Fagus sylvatica L
1999
Above-ground biomass, litterfall and litter accumulation and decomposition at the soil surface were studied within three Mediterranean beech forests from Italy, France and Spain in order to better understand the recycling of elements associated with the turnover organic matter Above-ground tree biomass amounted to 131.9 Mg ha-1 at Etna (Italy), 134.2 Mg ha-1 at Sierra de la Demanda (Spain) and 223.9 Mg ha-1 at Mont Lozère (France). The highest amount of total litterfall was observed at Sierra de la Demanda (4.7 Mg ha-1 year-1), followed by the Mont Lozère (4.4 Mg ha-1 year-1) and Etna (3.9 Mg ha-1 year-1). Total organic matter accumulated on the soil surface in the three beech forests amoun…
Relationship between the seed rain and the establishment of vegetation in two areas abandoned after peat harvesting
1987
In this study the number and species composition of diaspores dispersing into two newly abandoned peat harvesting areas in Finland were investigated. In an area abandoned six years earlier a total of 2978 living seeds m−2, representing 18 species, was captured by using water-filled traps during two summers. In a one-year-old succession area the total number of living seeds m−2 was 2241, representing 16 plant species. The soil seed banks were found to be empty of viable seeds. In neither area there appeared to be any relation between number of dispersing seeds and of plant individuals of the same species in the pioneer vegetation. It is suggested that unfavourable conditions on the soil surf…
Physicochemical uptake and release of volatile organic compounds by soil in coated-wall flow tube experiments with ambient air
2019
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play a key role in atmospheric chemistry. Emission and deposition on soil have been suggested as important sources and sinks of atmospheric trace gases. The exchange characteristics and heterogeneous chemistry of VOCs on soil, however, are not well understood. We used a newly designed differential coated-wall flow tube system to investigate the long-term variability of bidirectional air–soil exchange of 13 VOCs under ambient air conditions of an urban background site in Beijing. Sterilized soil was investigated to address physicochemical processes and heterogeneous/multiphase reactions independently from biological activity. Most VOCs revealed net depositio…
Interacción de procesos geomórficos y distribución de componentes de la superficie del suelo en relación a la evolución de los abarrancamientos de Ta…
2009
Este artículo se ha desarrollado en el contexto de los proyectos: REN2003-045707GLO(PECOS); CGL2007-63258/BOS(PREVEA) y CGL2006-11619(PROBASE), financiados por la CICYT en el marco del Plan Nacional I+D+I
Thermal inertia modeling for soil surface water content estimation: A laboratory experiment
2012
We are proposing a new method for estimating soil surface water content from thermal inertia distributions retrieved from visible–near infrared (VISNIR)and thermal infrared (TIR) images. A drying experiment was conducted on three fi ne-textured soils while acquiring multispectral VIS-NIR and TIR images. Simultaneous measurements of soil water content and thermal inertia were conducted by the thermogravimetric method and the heat pulse technique, respectively. Direct measurements were used to test the thermal inertia approach proposed by Murray and Verhoef that requires only knowledge of soil porosity and can be easily inverted to derive soil water content from thermal inertia. For the three…