Search results for "soil"

WEPP calibration for improved predictions of interrill erosion in semi-arid to arid environments

2013

Abstract Modeling soil erosion contributes to the understanding of the erosion processes and needs to predict accurately the erosion rates under different environmental conditions. Few studies have investigated the WEPP's applicability for arid and semi-arid conditions that differ from those where the model was developed. This research was carried out to evaluate and improve the WEPP model for arid and semiarid regions for interrill erosion using a rainfall simulator at plot scale. The results showed that measured interrill erosion rates ranged from 9.3 × 10− 6 to 89.6 × 10− 6 kg m− 2 s− 1. In comparison, the WEPP-interrill erosion prediction values were on average 14.5 times lower than the…

Comparison of the behaviour of three herbicides in a field experiment under bare soil conditions

2006

Abstract A case-study was design in order to rank three alternative herbicides according to their exposure to surface waters. Herbicide persistence and losses to surface waters were studied in an uncultivated Finnish field (ca. 3500 m2, slope

Derivation of flood frequency curves in poorly gauged Mediterranean catchments using a simple stochastic hydrological rainfall-runoff model

2007

In this paper a Monte Carlo procedure for deriving frequency distributions of peak flows using a semi-distributed stochastic rainfall-runoff model is presented. The rainfall-runoff model here used is very simple one, with a limited number of parameters and practically does not require any calibration, resulting in a robust tool for those catchments which are partially or poorly gauged. The procedure is based on three modules: a stochastic rainfall generator module, a hydrologic loss module and a flood routing module. In the rainfall generator module the rainfall storm, i.e. the maximum rainfall depth for a fixed duration, is assumed to follow the two components extreme value (TCEV) distribu…

Using unsteady-state water level data to estimate channel roughness and discharge hydrograph

2009

A novel methodology for simultaneous discharge and channel roughness estimation is developed and applied to data sets available at three experimental sites. The methodology is based on the synchronous measurement of water level data in two river sections far some kilometers from each other, as well as on the use of a diffusive flow routing solver and does not require any direct velocity measurement. The methodology is first analyzed for the simplest case of a channel with a large slope, where the kinematic assumption holds. A sensitivity and a model error analysis are carried out in this hypothesis in order to show the stability of the results with respect to the error in the input paramete…

Effective run-off flow length over biological soil crusts on silty loam soils in drylands

2014

This study was undertaken in the context of the research projects PECOS (REN2003-04570/GLO) and PREVEA (CGL2007-63258/BOS), both funded by the Spanish National Plan for RD&I and by the European ERDF Funds (European Regional Development Fund), as well as the projects COSTRAS (Excellence project RNM-3614) funded by the Junta de Andalucia (Autonomous Government of Andalusia, Spain), and SCIN (Soil Crust Inter-National, PRI-PIMBDV-2011-0874, European project of ERA-NET BIODIVERSA, the Spanish team being funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness)

Soils Along the Altitudinal Transect and in Catchments

2008

Total CO2output from Vulcano island (Aeolian Islands, Italy)

2012

[1] Total CO2 output from fumaroles, soil gas, bubbling gas discharges and water dissolved gases discharged from the island, was estimated for Vulcano island, Italy. The CO2 emission from fumaroles from the La Fossa summit crater was estimated from the SO2 crater output, while CO2 discharged through diffuse soil emission was quantified on the basis of 730 measurements of CO2 fluxes from the soil of the island, performed by using the accumulation chamber method. The results indicate an overall output of ≅500 t day−1 of CO2 from the island. The main contribution to the total CO2 output comes from the summit area of the La Fossa cone (453 t day−1), with 362 t day−1 from crater fumaroles and 91…

Evaluation of Green Roof Ageing Effects on Substrate Hydraulic Characteristics

2020

The vegetated substrate of green roofs may undergo various chemical and physical changes with time. Minidisk infiltrometer (MDI) tests were conducted to assess the short-term variations of the near-saturated hydraulic conductivity, K0, in the extensive green roof test plot established at the University of Palermo. Sampling was repeated four times: before planting (Age 0) and then after four months (Age 1), seven months (Age 2) and ten months (Age 3). A total of 144 infiltration tests were conducted at two pressure heads, h0 = −3 cm and h0 = −0.5 cm and infiltration data analysed by the Zhang (Soil Science Society of America Journal 61(4):1024–1030, 1997) model. Both K-3 and K-0.5 underwent …

An Italian survey of pitches for soccer

2004

On soccer grounds, grass cover is often reduced and the ground surface becomes uneven. Therefore, in order to assess the effects of climatic conditions, construction types and maintenance of the Italian soccer pitches, a detailed study was carried out. During 2000-2001, 61 soccer grounds were analysed, from continental to Mediterranean environments. First and second division Italian League grounds were about 30%, 40% were semi-professional and 30% were public grounds. Several parameters such as overseeding, fertilization, aeration, weed control, mowing and irrigation were collected in winter and at the end of the playing season, in order to evaluate soil profiles, grass mixtures and composi…

A δ18O isoscape for the shallow groundwater in the Baltic Artesian Basin

2016

The study presents a shallow groundwater isoscape for the Baltic region, which covers the major part of the Baltic Artesian Basin (BAB). BAB is an important palaeogroundwater reservoir, but prior to this study, little has been known about the spatial variability of δD and δ18O values in modern precipitation input across the region. To overcome this limitation, we hypothesized that the isotopic composition of shallow groundwater in the BAB could be used as a proxy for the mean weighted annual isotopic composition of local precipitation. However, the results of the study reveal many clear discrepancies between the isotopic composition of precipitation and shallow groundwater in the area. The …