Dissolved organic carbon concentrations and compositions, and trihalomethane formation potentials in waters from agricultural peat soils, Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, California; implications for drinking-water quality

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fujii, Roger; Ranalli, Anthony J.; Aiken, George R.; Bergamaschi, Brian A.

1998-01-01

Water exported from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River delta (Delta) is an important drinking-water source for more than 20 million people in California. At times, this water contains elevated concentrations of dissolved organic carbon and bromide, and exceeds the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's maximum contaminant level for trihalomethanes of 0.100 milligrams per liter if chlorinated for drinking water. About 20 to 50 percent of the trihalomethane precursors to Delta waters originates from drainage water from peat soils on Delta islands. This report elucidates some of the factors and processes controlling and affecting the concentration and quality of dissolved organic carbon released from peat soils and relates the propensity of dissolved organic carbon to form trihalomethanes to its chemical composition.Soil water was sampled from near-surface, oxidized, well-decomposed peat soil (upper soil zone) and deeper, reduced, fibrous peat soil (lower soil zone) from one agricultural field in the west central Delta over 1 year. Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon in the upper soil zone were highly variable, with median concentrations ranging from 46.4 to 83.2 milligrams per liter. Concentrations of dissolved organic carbon in samples from the lower soil zone were much less variable and generally slightly higher than samples from the upper soil zone, with median concentrations ranging from 49.3 to 82.3 milligrams per liter. The dissolved organic carbon from the lower soil zone had significantly higher aromaticity (as measured by specific ultraviolet absorbance) and contained significantly greater amounts of aromatic humic substances (as measured by XAD resin fractionation and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance analysis of XAD isolates) than the dissolved organic carbon from the upper soil zone. These results support the conclusion that more aromatic forms of dissolved organic carbon are produced under anaerobic conditions compared to aerobic conditions. Dissolved organic carbon concentration, trihalomethane formation potential, and ultraviolet absorbance were all highly correlated, showing that trihalomethane precursors increased with increasing dissolved organic carbon and ultraviolet absorbance for whole water samples. Contrary to the generally accepted conceptual model for trihalomethane formation that assumes that aromatic forms of carbon are primary precursors to trihalomethanes, results from this study indicate that dissolved organic carbon aromaticity appears unrelated to trihalomethane formation on a carbon-normalized basis. Thus, dissolved organic carbon aromaticity alone cannot fully explain or predict trihalomethane precursor content, and further investigation of aromatic and nonaromatic forms of carbon will be needed to better identify trihalomethane precursors.

Vadose zone microbiology

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kieft, Thomas L.; Brockman, Fred J.

2001-01-17

The vadose zone is defined as the portion of the terrestrial subsurface that extends from the land surface downward to the water table. As such, it comprises the surface soil (the rooting zone), the underlying subsoil, and the capillary fringe that directly overlies the water table. The unsaturated zone between the rooting zone and the capillary fringe is termed the "intermediate zone" (Chapelle, 1993). The vadose zone has also been defined as the unsaturated zone, since the sediment pores and/or rock fractures are generally not completely water filled, but instead contain both water and air. The latter characteristic results inmore » the term "zone of aeration" to describe the vadose zone. The terms "vadose zone," "unsaturated zone", and "zone of aeration" are nearly synonymous, except that the vadose zone may contain regions of perched water that are actually saturated. The term "subsoil" has also been used for studies of shallow areas of the subsurface immediately below the rooting zone. This review focuses almost exclusively on the unsaturated region beneath the soil layer since there is already an extensive body of literature on surface soil microbial communities and process, e.g., Paul and Clark (1989), Metting (1993), Richter and Markowitz, (1995), and Sylvia et al. (1998); whereas the deeper strata of the unsaturated zone have only recently come under scrutiny for their microbiological properties.« less

Soil salinization in different natural zones of intermontane depressions in Tuva

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chernousenko, G. I.; Kurbatskaya, S. S.

2017-11-01

Soil salinization features in semidesert, dry steppe, and chernozemic steppe zones within intermontane depressions in the central part of the Tuva Republic are discussed. Chernozems, chestnut soils, and brown desert-steppe soils of these zones are usually nonsaline. However, salinization of these zonal soils is possible in the case of the presence of salt-bearing parent materials (usually, the derivatives of Devonian deposits). In different natural zones of the intermontane depressions, salt-affected soils are mainly allocated to endorheic lake basins, where they are formed in places of discharge of mineral groundwater, and to river valleys. The composition and content of salts in the natural waters are dictated by the local hydrogeological conditions. The total content of dissolved solids in lake water varies from 1 to 370 g/L; the water is usually of the sulfate-chloride or chloride-sulfate salinity type; in some cases, soda-sulfate water is present. Soil salinity around the lakes is usually of the chloride-sulfate-sodium type; gypsum is often present in the profiles. Chloride salinization rarely predominates in this part of Tuva, because chlorides are easily leached off from the mainly coarse-textured soils. In some cases, the predominance of magnesium over sodium is observed in the composition of dissolved salts, which may be indicative of the cryogenic transformation of soil salts. Soda-saline soils are present in all the considered natural zones on minor areas. It is hardly possible to make unambiguous statements about the dominance of the particular type of salinity in the given natural zones. Zonal salinity patterns are weakly expressed in salinization of hydromorphic soils. However, a tendency for more frequent occurrence of soda-saline soils in steppe landscapes and chloride-sulfate salinization (often, with participation of gypsum) in the dry steppe and semidesert landscapes is observed.

Isotope fractionation of sandy-soil water during evaporation - an experimental study.

PubMed

Rao, Wen-Bo; Han, Liang-Feng; Tan, Hong-Bing; Wang, Shuai

2017-06-01

Soil samples containing water with known stable isotopic compositions were prepared. The soil water was recovered by using vacuum/heat distillation. The experiments were held under different conditions to control rates of water evaporation and water recovery. Recoveries, δ 18 O and δ 2 H values of the soil water were determined. Analyses of the data using a Rayleigh distillation model indicate that under the experimental conditions only loosely bound water is extractable in cases where the recovery is smaller than 100 %. Due to isotopic exchange between vapour and remaining water in the micro channels or capillaries of the soil matrix, isotopic fractionation may take place under near-equilibrium conditions. This causes the observed relationship between δ 2 H and δ 18 O of the extracted water samples to have a slope close to 8. The results of this study may indicate that, in arid zones when soil that initially contains water dries out, the slope of the relationship between δ 2 H and δ 18 O values should be close to 8. Thus, a smaller slope, as observed by some groundwater and soil water samples in arid zones, may be caused by evaporation of water before the water has entered the unsaturated zone.

[Transfer characteristic and source identification of soil heavy metals from water-level-fluctuating zone along Xiangxi River, three-Gorges Reservoir area].

PubMed

Xu, Tao; Wang, Fei; Guo, Qiang; Nie, Xiao-Qian; Huang, Ying-Ping; Chen, Jun

2014-04-01

Transfer characteristics of heavy metals and their evaluation of potential risk were studied based on determining concentration of heavy metal in soils from water-level-fluctuating zone (altitude:145-175 m) and bank (altitude: 175-185 m) along Xiangxi River, Three Gorges Reservoir area. Factor analysis-multiple linear regression (FA-MLR) was employed for heavy metal source identification and source apportionment. Results demonstrate that, during exposing season, the concentration of soil heavy metals in water-level-fluctuation zone and bank showed the variation, and the concentration of soil heavy metals reduced in shallow soil, but increased in deep soil at water-level-fluctuation zone. However, the concentration of soil heavy metals reduced in both shallow and deep soil at bank during the same period. According to the geoaccumulation index,the pollution extent of heavy metals followed the order: Cd > Pb > Cu > Cr, Cd is the primary pollutant. FA and FA-MLR reveal that in soils from water-level-fluctuation zone, 75.60% of Pb originates from traffic, 62.03% of Cd is from agriculture, 64.71% of Cu and 75.36% of Cr are from natural rock. In soils from bank, 82.26% of Pb originates from traffic, 68.63% of Cd is from agriculture, 65.72% of Cu and 69.33% of Cr are from natural rock. In conclusion, FA-MLR can successfully identify source of heavy metal and compute source apportionment of heavy metals, meanwhile the transfer characteristic is revealed. All these information can be a reference for heavy metal pollution control.

Water in the critical zone: soil, water and life from profile to planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirkby, Mike

2015-04-01

Water is essential to the critical zone between bedrock and the atmosphere, and without water the soil is dead. Water provides the basis for the abundant life within the soil and, interacting with micro-organisms, drives the key processes in the critical zone. This review looks at the balances that control the flow of water through the soil, and how water movement is one of the major controls on the fluxes and transformations that control the formation, evolution and loss of material that controls the 'life' and 'health' of the soil. At regional scales, climate, acting largely through the soil hydrology, plays a major part in determining the type of soils developed - from hyper arid soils dominated by aeolian inputs, through arid and semi-arid soils with largely vertical water exchanges with the atmosphere, to temperate soils with substantial lateral drainage, and humid soils dominated by organic peats. Soil water balance controls the partition of precipitation between evaporative loss, lateral subsurface flow and groundwater recharge, and, in turn, has a major influence on the potential for plant growth and on the lateral connectivity between soils on a hillslope. Sediment and solute balances distinguish soils of accumulation from soils that tend towards a stable chemical depletion ratio. Reflecting the availability of water and the soil material, carbon balance plays a major role in soil horizonation and distinguishes soils dominated by mineral or organic components. At finer catena and catchment scales, lateral connectivity, or its absence, determines how soils evolve through the transfer of water and sediment downslope, creating more or less integrated landscapes in a balance between geomorphological and pedological processes. Within single soil profiles, the movement of water controls the processes of weathering and soil horizonation by ion diffusion, advective leaching and bioturbation, creating horizonation that, in turn, modifies the hydrological responses of both soil and landscape. For example, the soil hydrological regime helps to contrast soils that accumulate more and less soluble constituents of the parent material.

Dynamics of Soil Water Evaporation during Soil Drying in the Presence of a Shallow Water Table: Laboratory Experiment and Numerical Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, J.; Lin, J.; Liu, P.; Li, W.

2017-12-01

Evaporation from a porous medium plays a key role in hydrological, agricultural, environmental, and engineering applications. Laboratory and numerical experiments were conducted to investigate the evolution of soil water evaporation during a continuous drying event. Simulated soil water contents and temperatures by the calibrated model well reproduced measured values at different depths. Results show that the evaporative drying process could be divided into three stages, beginning with a relatively high evaporation rate during stage 1, followed by a lower rate during transient stage and stage 2, and finally maintaining a very low and constant rate during stage 3. The condensation zone was located immediately below the evaporation zone in the profile. Both peaks of evaporation and condensation rate increased rapidly during stage 1 and transition stage, decreased during stage 2, and maintained constant during stage 3. The width of evaporation zone kept a continuous increase during stages 1 and 2 and maintained a nearly constant value of 0.68 cm during stage 3. When the evaporation zone totally moved into the subsurface, a dry surface layer (DSL) formed above the evaporation zone at the end of stage 2. The width of DSL also presented a continuous increase during stage 2 and kept a constant value of 0.71 cm during stage 3. Although the magnitude of condensation zone was much smaller than that for the evaporation zone, the importance of the contribution of condensation zone to soil water dynamics should not be underestimated. Results from our experiment and numerical simulation show that this condensation process resulted in an unexpected and apparent water content increase in the middle of vadose zone profile.

Functional homogeneous zones (fHZs) in viticultural zoning procedure: an Italian case study on Aglianico vine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfante, A.; Agrillo, A.; Albrizio, R.; Basile, A.; Buonomo, R.; De Mascellis, R.; Gambuti, A.; Giorio, P.; Guida, G.; Langella, G.; Manna, P.; Minieri, L.; Moio, L.; Siani, T.; Terribile, F.

2015-06-01

This paper aims to test a new physically oriented approach to viticulture zoning at farm scale that is strongly rooted in hydropedology and aims to achieve a better use of environmental features with respect to plant requirements and wine production. The physics of our approach are defined by the use of soil-plant-atmosphere simulation models, applying physically based equations to describe the soil hydrological processes and solve soil-plant water status. This study (part of the ZOVISA project) was conducted on a farm devoted to production of high-quality wines (Aglianico DOC), located in southern Italy (Campania region, Mirabella Eclano, AV). The soil spatial distribution was obtained after standard soil survey informed by geophysical survey. Two homogeneous zones (HZs) were identified; in each one a physically based model was applied to solve the soil water balance and estimate the soil functional behaviour (crop water stress index, CWSI) defining the functional homogeneous zones (fHZs). For the second process, experimental plots were established and monitored for investigating soil-plant water status, crop development (biometric and physiological parameters) and daily climate variables (temperature, solar radiation, rainfall, wind). The effects of crop water status on crop response over must and wine quality were then evaluated in the fHZs. This was performed by comparing crop water stress with (i) crop physiological measurement (leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence, leaf water potential, chlorophyll content, leaf area index (LAI) measurement), (ii) grape bunches measurements (berry weight, sugar content, titratable acidity, etc.) and (iii) wine quality (aromatic response). This experiment proved the usefulness of the physically based approach, also in the case of mapping viticulture microzoning.

[Edge influence of soil moisture at farmland-grassland boundary in agriculture-pasturage ecotone of northern China].

PubMed

Liu, Hong-lai; Zhang, Wei-hua; Wang, Kun; Zhao, Na

2009-03-01

In the agriculture-pasturage ecotone of Northern China, a typical zone with linear boundary of cropland and grassland was chosen to investigate its soil moisture regime, and the moving split-window technique was adopted to study the edge influence of soil moisture at the boundary. The results showed that the edge influence was 10 m, from 6 m within grassland and 4 m within cropland, and was categorized as the acute change type boundary. Accordingly, the farmland-grassland landscape boundary could be divided into three functional zones, i.e., grassland zone, farmland zone, and compositional ecotone zone. Soil moisture content varied abruptly in the ecotone zone, but presented linear distribution in both grassland zone and farmland zone. The average soil moisture content in grassland was about 1 g x g(-1) higher than that in farmland, which was mainly caused by the decreased capillary moisture capacity of farmland. Owing to the different vegetation cover, farmland and grassland had different transpiration and evaporation, which led to the diverse soil moisture regime, making soil water potential changed and water movement from one ecosystem to another possible.

Investigations of the unsaturated zone at two radioactive waste disposal sites in Lithuania.

PubMed

Skuratovič, Žana; Mažeika, Jonas; Petrošius, Rimantas; Martma, Tõnu

2016-01-01

The unsaturated zone is an important part of the water cycle, governed by many hydrological and hydrogeological factors and processes and provide water and nutrients to the terrestrial ecosystem. Besides, the soils of the unsaturated zone are regarded as the first natural barrier to a large extent and are able to limit the spread of contaminants depending on their properties. The unsaturated zone provides a linkage between atmospheric moisture, groundwater, and seepage of groundwater to streams, lakes, or other surface water bodies. The major difference between water flow in saturated and unsaturated soils is that the hydraulic conductivity, which is conventionally assumed to be a constant in saturated soils, is a function of the degree of saturation or matrix suction in the unsaturated soils. In Lithuania, low and intermediate level radioactive wastes generated from medicine, industry and research were accumulated at the Maisiagala radioactive waste repository. Short-lived low and intermediate levels radioactive waste, generated during the operation of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant (INPP) and arising after the INPP decommissioning will be disposed of in the near surface repository close to the INPP (Stabatiske site). Extensive data sets of the hydraulic properties and water content attributed to unsaturated zone soil profiles of the two radioactive waste disposal sites have been collected and summarized. Globally widespread radionuclide tritium ((3)H) and stable isotope ratio ((18)O/(16)O and (2)H/(1)H) distribution features were determined in precipitation, unsaturated zone soil moisture profiles and groundwater.

Discussion of pore pressure transmission under rain infiltration in a soil layer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, S. Y.; Jan, C. D.

2017-12-01

The vadose zone (or unsaturated zone) denotes the geologic media between ground surface and the water table in situ where the openings, or pores, in the soil (rock) layers are partially filled with water and air. In this landscape, rainwater infiltrates into soils advancing through this vadose zone and could generates a shallow saturation zone at soil bedrock boundary due to permeability contrast. This saturation zone leads to downslope shallow subsurface storm runoff that contributes to a part of saturation overland flow, dominating water reaching river channels. Hence, unsaturated processes (e.g., rain infiltration) is an important issue that can determine the timing and magnitude of positive pore pressure and discharge peaks, and the characteristics of runoff, water chemistry, hillslope stability is also tie to the processes. In this study, we investigated the transmission of pore pressure evolution in the vadose zone for diverse soil materials based on poroelasticity theory. Commonly, a traditional way is to utilize the Richard's equation to predict pore pressure evolution under unsaturated rain infiltration, ignoring the inertial effect on the process. Here we relax this limitation and propose two reference time tk and tep that can represent the arriving time at a certain depth of wave propagation and dissipation, respectively. Form ground surface to a depth of 1 m, tk has significant differences under nearly unsaturated conditions for diverse soil properties; however, no evident variations in tk can be observed under nearly saturated conditions. Values of tep for loose, cohesionless soils are much greater but decreases to the smallest one (within 1 day) than those for other soil properties under a nearly saturated condition. Results indicate that transient pore pressure transmission is mainly dominated by dynamic wave propagation but the effect of dissipation could become more important with increase in water saturation.

Microwave remote sensing of soil water content

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cihlar, J.; Ulaby, F. T.

1975-01-01

Microwave remote sensing of soils to determine water content was considered. A layered water balance model was developed for determining soil water content in the upper zone (top 30 cm), while soil moisture at greater depths and near the surface during the diurnal cycle was studied using experimental measurements. Soil temperature was investigated by means of a simulation model. Based on both models, moisture and temperature profiles of a hypothetical soil were generated and used to compute microwave soil parameters for a clear summer day. The results suggest that, (1) soil moisture in the upper zone can be predicted on a daily basis for 1 cm depth increments, (2) soil temperature presents no problem if surface temperature can be measured with infrared radiometers, and (3) the microwave response of a bare soil is determined primarily by the moisture at and near the surface. An algorithm is proposed for monitoring large areas which combines the water balance and microwave methods.

Vadose zone water fluxmeter

DOEpatents

Faybishenko, Boris A.

2005-10-25

A Vadose Zone Water Fluxmeter (WFM) or Direct Measurement WFM provides direct measurement of unsaturated water flow in the vadose zone. The fluxmeter is a cylindrical device that fits in a borehole or can be installed near the surface, or in pits, or in pile structures. The fluxmeter is primarily a combination of tensiometers and a porous element or plate in a water cell that is used for water injection or extraction under field conditions. The same water pressure measured outside and inside of the soil sheltered by the lower cylinder of the fluxmeter indicates that the water flux through the lower cylinder is similar to the water flux in the surrounding soil. The fluxmeter provides direct measurement of the water flow rate in the unsaturated soils and then determines the water flux, i.e. the water flow rate per unit area.

From soil water to surface water - how the riparian zone controls element transport from a boreal forest to a stream

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lidman, Fredrik; Boily, Åsa; Laudon, Hjalmar; Köhler, Stephan J.

2017-06-01

Boreal headwaters are often lined by strips of highly organic soils, which are the last terrestrial environment to leave an imprint on discharging groundwater before it enters a stream. Because these riparian soils are so different from the Podzol soils that dominate much of the boreal landscape, they are known to have a major impact on the biogeochemistry of important elements such as C, N, P and Fe and the transfer of these elements from terrestrial to aquatic ecosystems. For most elements, however, the role of the riparian zone has remained unclear, although it should be expected that the mobility of many elements is affected by changes in, for example, pH, redox potential and concentration of organic carbon as they are transported through the riparian zone. Therefore, soil water and groundwater was sampled at different depths along a 22 m hillslope transect in the Krycklan catchment in northern Sweden using soil lysimeters and analysed for a large number of major and trace elements (Al, As, B, Ba, Ca, Cd, Cl, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, Fe, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Rb, Se, Si, Sr, Th, Ti, U, V, Zn, Zr) and other parameters such as sulfate and total organic carbon (TOC). The results showed that the concentrations of most investigated elements increased substantially (up to 60 times) as the water flowed from the uphill mineral soils and into the riparian zone, largely as a result of higher TOC concentrations. The stream water concentrations of these elements were typically somewhat lower than in the riparian zone, but still considerably higher than in the uphill mineral soils, which suggests that riparian soils have a decisive impact on the water quality of boreal streams. The degree of enrichment in the riparian zone for different elements could be linked to the affinity for organic matter, indicating that the pattern with strongly elevated concentrations in riparian soils is typical for organophilic substances. One likely explanation is that the solubility of many organophilic elements increases as a result of the higher concentrations of TOC in the riparian zone. Elements with low or modest affinity for organic matter (e.g. Na, Cl, K, Mg and Ca) occurred in similar or lower concentrations in the riparian zone. Despite the elevated concentrations of many elements in riparian soil water and groundwater, no increase in the concentrations in biota could be observed (bilberry leaves and spruce shoots).

An index for plant water deficit based on root-weighted soil water content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Jianchu; Li, Sen; Zuo, Qiang; Ben-Gal, Alon

2015-03-01

Governed by atmospheric demand, soil water conditions and plant characteristics, plant water status is dynamic, complex, and fundamental to efficient agricultural water management. To explore a centralized signal for the evaluation of plant water status based on soil water status, two greenhouse experiments investigating the effect of the relative distribution between soil water and roots on wheat and rice were conducted. Due to the significant offset between the distributions of soil water and roots, wheat receiving subsurface irrigation suffered more from drought than wheat under surface irrigation, even when the arithmetic averaged soil water content (SWC) in the root zone was higher. A significant relationship was found between the plant water deficit index (PWDI) and the root-weighted (rather than the arithmetic) average SWC over root zone. The traditional soil-based approach for the estimation of PWDI was improved by replacing the arithmetic averaged SWC with the root-weighted SWC to take the effect of the relative distribution between soil water and roots into consideration. These results should be beneficial for scheduling irrigation, as well as for evaluating plant water consumption and root density profile.

Generating a global soil evaporation dataset using SMAP soil moisture data to estimate components of the surface water balance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbone, E.; Small, E. E.; Badger, A.; Livneh, B.

2016-12-01

Evapotranspiration (ET) is fundamental to the water, energy and carbon cycles. However, our ability to measure ET and partition the total flux into transpiration and evaporation from soil is limited. This project aims to generate a global, observationally-based soil evaporation dataset (E-SMAP): using SMAP surface soil moisture data in conjunction with models and auxiliary observations to observe or estimate each component of the surface water balance. E-SMAP will enable a better understanding of water balance processes and contribute to forecasts of water resource availability. Here we focus on the flux between the soil surface and root zone layers (qbot), which dictates the proportion of water that is available for soil evaporation. Any water that moves from the surface layer to the root zone contributes to transpiration or groundwater recharge. The magnitude and direction of qbot are driven by gravity and the gradient in matric potential. We use a highly discretized Richards Equation-type model (e.g. Hydrus 1D software) with meteorological forcing from the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS) to estimate qbot. We verify the simulations using SMAP L4 surface and root zone soil moisture data. These data are well suited for evaluating qbot because they represent the most advanced estimate of the surface to root zone soil moisture gradient at the global scale. Results are compared with similar calculations using NLDAS and in situ soil moisture data. Preliminary calculations show that the greatest amount of variability between qbot determined from NLDAS, in situ and SMAP occurs directly after precipitation events. At these times, uncertainties in qbot calculations significantly affect E-SMAP estimates.

Evaluation of groundwater and soil pollution in a landfill area using electrical resistivity imaging survey.

PubMed

Ahmed, A M; Sulaiman, W N

2001-11-01

Landfills are sources of groundwater and soil pollution due to the production of leachate and its migration through refuse. This study was conducted in order to determine the extent of groundwater and soil pollution within and around the landfill of Seri Petaling located in the State of Selangor, Malaysia. The condition of nearby surface water was also determined. An electrical resistivity imaging survey was used to investigate the leachate production within the landfill. Groundwater geochemistry was carried out and chemical analysis of water samples was conducted upstream and downstream of the landfill. Surface water was also analyzed in order to determine its quality. Soil chemical analysis was performed on soil samples taken from different locations within and around the landfill in the vadose zone (unsaturated zone) and below the water table (in the soil saturated zone). The resistivity image along line L-L1 indicated the presence of large zones of decomposed waste bodies saturated with highly conducting leachate. Analysis of trace elements indicated their presence in very low concentrations and did not reflect any sign of heavy metal pollution of ground and surface water or of soil. Major ions represented by Na, K, and Cl were found in anomalous concentrations in the groundwater of the downstream bore hole, where they are 99.1%, 99.2%, and 99.4%, respectively, higher compared to the upstream bore hole. Electrical conductivity (EC) was also found in anomalous concentration downstream. Ca and Mg ions represent the water hardness (which is comparatively high downstream). There is a general trend of pollution towards the downstream area. Sulfates (SO4) and nitrates (NO3) are found in the area in low concentrations, even below the WHO standards for drinking water, but are significantly higher in the surface water compared to the groundwater. Phosphate (PO4) and nitrite (NO2), although present in low levels, are significantly higher at the downstream. There is no significant difference in the amount of fluoride (F) in the different locations. In the soil vadose zone, heavy metals were found to be in their typical normal ranges and within the background concentrations. Soil exchangeable bases were significantly higher in the soil saturated zone compared to the vadose zone, and no significant difference was obtained in the levels of inorganic pollutants. With the exception of Cd, the concentration ranges of all trace elements (Cu, Zn, Cr, Pb, and Ni) of Seri Petaling landfill soils were below the upper limits of baseline concentrations published from different sources.

Rain water transport and storage in a model sandy soil with hydrogel particle additives.

PubMed

Wei, Y; Durian, D J

2014-10-01

We study rain water infiltration and drainage in a dry model sandy soil with superabsorbent hydrogel particle additives by measuring the mass of retained water for non-ponding rainfall using a self-built 3D laboratory set-up. In the pure model sandy soil, the retained water curve measurements indicate that instead of a stable horizontal wetting front that grows downward uniformly, a narrow fingered flow forms under the top layer of water-saturated soil. This rain water channelization phenomenon not only further reduces the available rain water in the plant root zone, but also affects the efficiency of soil additives, such as superabsorbent hydrogel particles. Our studies show that the shape of the retained water curve for a soil packing with hydrogel particle additives strongly depends on the location and the concentration of the hydrogel particles in the model sandy soil. By carefully choosing the particle size and distribution methods, we may use the swollen hydrogel particles to modify the soil pore structure, to clog or extend the water channels in sandy soils, or to build water reservoirs in the plant root zone.

Simulations and field observations of root water uptake in plots with different soil water availability.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, Gaochao; Vanderborght, Jan; Couvreur, Valentin; Javaux, Mathieu; Vereecken, Harry

2015-04-01

Root water uptake is a main process in the hydrological cycle and vital for water management in agronomy. In most models of root water uptake, the spatial and temporal soil water status and plant root distributions are required for water flow simulations. However, dynamic root growth and root distributions are not easy and time consuming to measure by normal approaches. Furthermore, root water uptake cannot be measured directly in the field. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate monitoring data of soil water content and potential and root distributions within a modeling framework to explore the interaction between soil water availability and root water uptake. But, most models are lacking a physically based concept to describe water uptake from soil profiles with vertical variations in soil water availability. In this contribution, we present an experimental setup in which root development, soil water content and soil water potential are monitored non-invasively in two field plots with different soil texture and for three treatments with different soil water availability: natural rain, sheltered and irrigated treatment. Root development is monitored using 7-m long horizontally installed minirhizotubes at six depths with three replicates per treatment. The monitoring data are interpreted using a model that is a one-dimensional upscaled version of root water uptake model that describes flow in the coupled soil-root architecture considering water potential gradients in the system and hydraulic conductances of the soil and root system (Couvreur et al., 2012). This model approach links the total root water uptake to an effective soil water potential in the root zone. The local root water uptake is a function of the difference between the local soil water potential and effective root zone water potential so that compensatory uptake in heterogeneous soil water potential profiles is simulated. The root system conductance is derived from inverse modelling using measurements of soil water potentials, water contents, and root distributions. The results showed that this modelling approach reproduced soil water dynamics well in the different plots and treatments. Root water uptake reduced when the effective soil water potential decreased to around -70 to -100 kPa in the root zone. Couvreur, V., Vanderborght, J., and Javaux, M.: A simple three dimensional macroscopic root water uptake model based on the hydraulic architecture approach, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2957-2971, doi:10.5194/hess-16-2957-2012, 2012.

Spatial regression between soil surface elevation, water storage in root zone and biomass productivity of alfalfa within an irrigated field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zeyliger, Anatoly; Ermolaeva, Olga

2014-05-01

Efficiency of water use for the irrigation purposes is connected to the variety of circumstances, factors and processes appearing along the transportation path of water from its sources to the root zone of the plant. Water efficiency of agricultural irrigation is connected with variety of circumstances, the impacts and the processes occurring during the transportation of water from water sources to plant root zone. Agrohydrological processes occur directly at the irrigated field, these processes linked to the infiltration of the applied water subsequent redistribution of the infiltrated water within the root zone. One of them are agrohydrological processes occurring directly on an irrigated field, connected with infiltration of water applied for irrigation to the soil, and the subsequent redistribution of infiltrated water in the root zone. These processes have the strongly pronounced spatial character depending on the one hand from a spatial variation of some hydrological characteristics of soils, and from other hand with distribution of volume of irrigation water on a surface of the area of an irrigated field closely linked with irrigation technology used. The combination of water application parameters with agrohydrological characteristics of soils and agricultural vegetation in each point at the surface of an irrigated field leads to formation of a vector field of intensity of irrigation water. In an ideal situation, such velocity field on a soil surface should represent uniform set of vertically directed collinear vectors. Thus values of these vectors should be equal to infiltration intensities of water inflows on a soil surface. In soil profile the field of formed intensities of a water flow should lead to formation in it of a water storage accessible to root system of irrigated crops. In practice this ideal scheme undergoes a lot of changes. These changes have the different nature, the reasons of occurrence and degree of influence on the processes connected with formation of water flow and water storage. The major changes are formed as a result of imposing of the intensity fields on a soil surface and its field capillary infiltration rate. Excess of the first intensity over the second in each point of soil surface leads to formation of a layer of intensity of water not infiltrated in soil. Thus generate the new field of vectors of intensity which can consist of vertically directed vector of speed of evaporation, a quasi horizontal vector of intensity of a surface water flow and quasi vertical vector of intensity of a preferential flow directed downwards. Principal cause of excess of irrigation water application intensity over capillary infiltration rate can be on the one hand spatial non-uniformity of irrigation water application, and with other spatial variability of capillary infiltration rate, connected with spatial variability of water storage in the top layers of soil. As a result the spatial redistribution of irrigation water over irrigated filed forms distortions of ideal model of irrigation water storage in root zone of soil profile. The major differences consist in increasing of water storage in the depressions of a relief of an irrigated field and accordingly in their reduction on elevated zones of a relief, as well as losses of irrigation water outside of boundaries of a root zone of an irrigated field, in vertical, and horizontal directions. One of key parameters characterizing interaction between irrigation technology and soil state an irrigated field are intensity of water application, intensity and volume of a capillary infiltration, the water storage in root zone at the moment of infiltration starting and a topography of an irrigated field. Fnalyzing of spatial links between these characteristics a special research had been carried out on irrigated by sprinkler machine called Fregate at alfalfa field during the summer of 2012. This research carried out at experimental farm of the research institute VolgNIIGiM situated at a left bank of Volga River of Saratov Region of Russia (N51.384650°, E46.055890°). The digital elevation model of soil surface has been created, as well as monitoring of spatial water storage with EM 38 device and of a biomass were carried out. Layers of corresponding spatial data have been created and analyzed. The carried out analysis of spatial regresses has shown presence of links between productivity of a biomass of a alfalfa, water storage and topography. The obtained results shows the significance to include spatial characteristics of the topography and water storage to the irrigation models, as well as adaptation of sprinkler technology to allow differentiate the volume and rate of the applied water within the field. Special attention should be done to quantify relationships between uniform technology of water application by sprinkler and spatial nonuniformity of moisture storage (zoning of high soil moisture in depressions) in soil and as consequence of infiltration capacity.

Calibration of the Root Zone Water Quality Model and Application of Data Assimilation Techniques to Estimate Profile Soil Moisture

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Estimation of soil moisture has received considerable attention in the areas of hydrology, agriculture, meteorology and environmental studies because of its role in the partitioning water and energy at the land surface. In this study, the USDA, Agricultural Research Service, Root Zone Water Quality ...

Vadose zone studies at an industrial contaminated site: the vadose zone monitoring system and cross-hole geophysics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandez de Vera, Natalia; Beaujean, Jean; Jamin, Pierre; Nguyen, Frédéric; Dahan, Ofer; Vanclooster, Marnik; Brouyère, Serge

2014-05-01

In order to improve risk characterization and remediation measures for soil and groundwater contamination, there is a need to improve in situ vadose zone characterization. However, most available technologies have been developed in the context of agricultural soils. Such methodologies are not applicable at industrial sites, where soils and contamination differ in origin and composition. In addition, most technologies are applicable only in the first meters of soils, leaving deeper vadose zones with lack of information, in particular on field scale heterogeneity. In order to overcome such difficulties, a vadose zone experiment has been setup at a former industrial site in Belgium. Industrial activities carried out on site left a legacy of soil and groundwater contamination in BTEX, PAH, cyanide and heavy metals. The experiment comprises the combination of two techniques: the Vadose Zone Monitoring System (VMS) and cross-hole geophysics. The VMS allows continuous measurements of water content and temperature at different depths of the vadose zone. In addition, it provides the possibility of pore water sampling at different depths. The system is formed by a flexible sleeve containing monitoring units along its depth which is installed in a slanted borehole. The flexible sleeve contains three types of monitoring units in the vadose zone: Time Domain Transmissometry (TDT), which allows water content measurements; Vadose Sampling Ports (VSP), used for collecting water samples coming from the matrix; the Fracture Samplers (FS), which are used for retrieving water samples from the fractures. Cross-hole geophysics techniques consist in the injection of an electrical current using electrodes installed in vertical boreholes. From measured potential differences, detailed spatial patterns about electrical properties of the subsurface can be inferred. Such spatial patterns are related with subsurface heterogeneities, water content and solute concentrations. Two VMS were installed in two slanted boreholes on site, together with four vertical boreholes containing electrodes for geophysical measurements. Currently the site is being monitored under natural recharge conditions. Initial results show the reaction of the vadose zone to rainfall events, as well as chemical evolution of soil water with depth.

Soil moisture dynamics modeling considering multi-layer root zone.

PubMed

Kumar, R; Shankar, V; Jat, M K

2013-01-01

The moisture uptake by plant from soil is a key process for plant growth and movement of water in the soil-plant system. A non-linear root water uptake (RWU) model was developed for a multi-layer crop root zone. The model comprised two parts: (1) model formulation and (2) moisture flow prediction. The developed model was tested for its efficiency in predicting moisture depletion in a non-uniform root zone. A field experiment on wheat (Triticum aestivum) was conducted in the sub-temperate sub-humid agro-climate of Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India. Model-predicted soil moisture parameters, i.e., moisture status at various depths, moisture depletion and soil moisture profile in the root zone, are in good agreement with experiment results. The results of simulation emphasize the utility of the RWU model across different agro-climatic regions. The model can be used for sound irrigation management especially in water-scarce humid, temperate, arid and semi-arid regions and can also be integrated with a water transport equation to predict the solute uptake by plant biomass.

Integrated assessment on groundwater nitrate by unsaturated zone probing and aquifer sampling with environmental tracers.

PubMed

Yuan, Lijuan; Pang, Zhonghe; Huang, Tianming

2012-12-01

By employing chemical and isotopic tracers ((15)N and (18)O in NO(3)(-)), we investigated the main processes controlling nitrate distribution in the unsaturated zone and aquifer. Soil water was extracted from two soil cores drilled in a typical agricultural cropping area of the North China Plain (NCP), where groundwater was also sampled. The results indicate that evaporation and denitrification are the two major causes of the distribution of nitrate in soil water extracts in the unsaturated zone. Evaporation from unsaturated zone is evidenced by a positive correlation between chloride and nitrate, and denitrification by a strong linear relationship between [Formula: see text] and ln(NO(3)(-)/Cl). The latter is estimated to account for up to 50% of the nitrate loss from soil drainage. In the saturated zone, nitrate is reduced at varying extents (100 mg/L and 10 mg/L at two sites, respectively), largely by dilution of the aquifer water. Crown Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Transportation and risk assessment of heavy metal pollution in water-soil from the Riparian Zone of Daye Lake, China].

PubMed

Zhang, Jia-quan; Li, Xiu; Zhang, Quan-fa; Li, Qiong; Xiao, Wen-sheng; Wang, Yong-kui; Zhang, Jian-chun; Gai, Xi-guang

2015-01-01

Each 20 water samples and soil samples (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm) were collected from the riparian zone of Daye Lake in dry season during March 2013. Heavy metals (Cu, Ph, Cd, Zn) have been detected by flame atomic absorption spectrometric (FAAS). The results showed that the average concentrations of Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn in the water were 7.14, 25.94, 15.72 and 37.58 microg x L(-1), respectively. The concentration of Cu was higher than the five degree of the surface water environment quality standard. The average concentrations of Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn in soil(0-10 cm) were 108.38, 53.92, 3.55, 139.26 mg x kg(-1) in soil (10-20 cm) were 93.00, 51.72, 2.08, 171.00 mg x kg(-1), respectively. The Cd concentrations were higher than the three grade value of the national soil environment quality standard. The transportation of Pb from soil to water was relatively stable, and Zn was greatly influenced by soil property and the surrounding environment from soil to water. The transformation of heavy metal in west riparian zone was higher than that of east riparian zone. The potential environmental risk was relatively high. Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn were dominated by residue fraction of the modified BCR sequential extraction method. The overall migration order of heavy metal element was: Pb > Cu > Cd > Zn. There were stronger transformation and higher environmental pollution risk of Cu, Pb. The index of assessment and potential ecological risk coefficient indicated that heavy metal pollution in soil (0-10 cm) was higher than the soil (10-20 cm), Cd was particularly serious.

78 FR 60218 - Safety Zone; Old Mormon Slough, Stockton, CA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-10-01

... decontaminate soil, groundwater, and sediment in Old Mormon Slough and the surrounding basin. This safety zone... safety zone in Old Mormon Slough to further the efforts of the EPA to rehabilitate soil, sediment, and... water collection ponds. The unlined oily waste ponds were closed in 1981. Sampling has shown that soils...

[Assessment on the changing conditions of ecosystems in key ecological function zones in China].

PubMed

Huang, Lin; Cao, Wei; Wu, Dan; Gong, Guo-li; Zhao, Guo-song

2015-09-01

In this paper, the dynamics of ecosystem macrostructure, qualities and core services during 2000 and 2010 were analyzed for the key ecological function zones of China, which were classified into four types of water conservation, soil conservation, wind prevention and sand fixation, and biodiversity maintenance. In the water conservation ecological function zones, the areas of forest and grassland ecosystems were decreased whereas water bodies and wetland were increased in the past 11 years, and the water conservation volume of forest, grassland and wetland ecosystems increased by 2.9%. This region needs to reverse the decreasing trends of forest and grassland ecosystems. In the soil conservation ecological function zones, the area of farmland ecosystem was decreased, and the areas of forest, grassland, water bodies and wetland ecosystems were increased. The total amount of the soil erosion was reduced by 28.2%, however, the soil conservation amount of ecosystems increased by 38.1%. In the wind prevention and sand fixation ecological function zones, the areas of grassland, water bodies and wetland ecosystems were decreased, but forest and farmland ecosystems were increased. The unit amount of the soil. wind erosion was reduced and the sand fixation amount of ecosystems increased lightly. In this kind of region that is located in arid and semiarid areas, ecological conservation needs to reduce farmland area and give priority to the protection of the original ecological system. In the biodiversity maintenance ecological function zones, the areas of grassland and desert ecosystems were decreased and other types were increased. The human disturbances showed a weakly upward trend and needs to be reduced. The key ecological function zones should be aimed at the core services and the protecting objects, to assess quantitatively on the effectiveness of ecosystem conservation and improvement.

Interacting vegetative and thermal contributions to water movement in desert soil

USGS Publications Warehouse

Garcia, C.A.; Andraski, Brian J.; Stonestrom, David A.; Cooper, C.A.; Šimůnek, J.; Wheatcraft, S.W.

2011-01-01

Thermally driven water-vapor flow can be an important component of total water movement in bare soil and in deep unsaturated zones, but this process is often neglected when considering the effects of soil–plant–atmosphere interactions on shallow water movement. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the coupled and separate effects of vegetative and thermal-gradient contributions to soil water movement in desert environments. The evaluation was done by comparing a series of simulations with and without vegetation and thermal forcing during a 4.7-yr period (May 2001–December 2005). For vegetated soil, evapotranspiration alone reduced root-zone (upper 1 m) moisture to a minimum value (25 mm) each year under both isothermal and nonisothermal conditions. Variations in the leaf area index altered the minimum storage values by up to 10 mm. For unvegetated isothermal and nonisothermal simulations, root-zone water storage nearly doubled during the simulation period and created a persistent driving force for downward liquid fluxes below the root zone (total net flux ~1 mm). Total soil water movement during the study period was dominated by thermally driven vapor fluxes. Thermally driven vapor flow and condensation supplemented moisture supplies to plant roots during the driest times of each year. The results show how nonisothermal flow is coupled with plant water uptake, potentially influencing ecohydrologic relations in desert environments.

Depth dependent microbial carbon use efficiency in the capillary fringe as affected by water table fluctuations in a column incubation experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pronk, G. J.; Mellage, A.; Milojevic, T.; Smeaton, C. M.; Rezanezhad, F.; Van Cappellen, P.

2017-12-01

Microbial growth and turnover of soil organic carbon (SOC) depend on the availability of electron donors and acceptors. The steep geochemical gradients in the capillary fringe between the saturated and unsaturated zones provide hotspots of soil microbial activity. Water table fluctuations and the associated drying and wetting cycles within these zones have been observed to lead to enhanced turnover of SOC and adaptation of the local microbial communities. To improve our understanding of SOC degradation under changing moisture conditions, we carried out an automated soil column experiment with integrated of hydro-bio-geophysical monitoring under both constant and oscillating water table conditions. An artificial soil mixture composed of quartz sand, montmorillonite, goethite and humus was used to provide a well-defined system. This material was inoculated with a microbial community extracted from a forested riparian zone. The soils were packed into 6 columns (60 cm length and 7.5 cm inner diameter) to a height of 45 cm; and three replicate columns were incubated under constant water table while another three were saturated and drained monthly. The initial soil development, carbon cycling and microbial community development were then characterized during 10 months of incubation. This system provides an ideal artificial gradient from the saturated to the unsaturated zone to study soil development from initially homogeneous materials and the same microbial community composition under controlled conditions. Depth profiles of SOC and microbial biomass after 329 days of incubation showed a depletion of carbon in the transition drying and wetting zone that was not associated with higher accumulation of microbial biomass, indicating a lower carbon use efficiency of the microbial community established within the water table fluctuation zone. This was supported by a higher ATP to microbial biomass carbon ratio within the same zone. The findings from this study highlight the importance of considering the effects of transient soil moisture and oxygen availability on microbial mediated SOC transformations. The effects of these changes in carbon use efficiency need to be included in soil models in order to accurately predict SOC turnover.

Moditored unsaturated soil transport processes as a support for large scale soil and water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanclooster, Marnik

2010-05-01

The current societal demand for sustainable soil and water management is very large. The drivers of global and climate change exert many pressures on the soil and water ecosystems, endangering appropriate ecosystem functioning. The unsaturated soil transport processes play a key role in soil-water system functioning as it controls the fluxes of water and nutrients from the soil to plants (the pedo-biosphere link), the infiltration flux of precipitated water to groundwater and the evaporative flux, and hence the feed back from the soil to the climate system. Yet, unsaturated soil transport processes are difficult to quantify since they are affected by huge variability of the governing properties at different space-time scales and the intrinsic non-linearity of the transport processes. The incompatibility of the scales between the scale at which processes reasonably can be characterized, the scale at which the theoretical process correctly can be described and the scale at which the soil and water system need to be managed, calls for further development of scaling procedures in unsaturated zone science. It also calls for a better integration of theoretical and modelling approaches to elucidate transport processes at the appropriate scales, compatible with the sustainable soil and water management objective. Moditoring science, i.e the interdisciplinary research domain where modelling and monitoring science are linked, is currently evolving significantly in the unsaturated zone hydrology area. In this presentation, a review of current moditoring strategies/techniques will be given and illustrated for solving large scale soil and water management problems. This will also allow identifying research needs in the interdisciplinary domain of modelling and monitoring and to improve the integration of unsaturated zone science in solving soil and water management issues. A focus will be given on examples of large scale soil and water management problems in Europe.

COSMOS soil water sensor compared with EM sensor network & weighing lysimeter

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil water sensing methods are widely used to characterize the root zone and below, but only a few are capable of delivering water content data with accuracy for the entire soil profile such that evapotranspiration (ET) can be determined by soil water balance and irrigations can be scheduled with mi...

Soil Water Sensing-Focus on Variable Rate Irrigation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Irrigation scheduling using soil water sensors is an exercise in maintaining the water content of the crop root zone soil above a lower limit defined by the management allowed depletion (MAD) for that soil and crop, but not so wet that too much water is lost to deep percolation. The management allow...

Effects of Rainfall-Induced Topsoil Structure Changes on Root-Zone Moisture Regime during the Dry Period

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Feng; Chen, Jiazhou; Lin, Lirong

2018-01-01

Rainfall erosion and subsequent intermittent drought are serious barriers for agricultural production in the subtropical red soil region of China. Although it is widely recognized that rainfall-induced soil structure degradation reduced soil water storage and water-holding capacity, the effects of variation of the rainfall-induced topsoil structure on the subsequent soil water regime during the dry period is still rarely considered. The objective of this study was to ascertain the way of rainfall-induced topsoil structure changes on the subsequent soil water regime during the dry period. In a three-year-long experiment, six practices (CK, only crop; SM, straw mulching; PAM, polyacrylamide surface application; B, contour Bahia-grass strip; SPAM, straw mulching and polyacrylamide surface application; and BPAM, contour Bahia-grass strip and polyacrylamide surface application) were conducted at an 8° farmland with planting summer maize resulting in different topsoil structure and root-zone moisture, to establish and reveal the quantitatively relationship between the factors of topsoil structure and soil drought. Rainfall erosion significantly increased the soil crust coverage, and decreased the WSA 0.25, 0-30 mm soil porosity and mean pore size. There was no significant difference during the raining stage of root-zone water storage between CK and other practices. An index of soil drought intensity ( I) and degree ( D) was established using soil water loss rate and soil drought severity. The larger value of I means a higher rate of water loss. The larger value of D means more severe drought. During the dry period, I and D were significantly higher in CK than in other practices. I and D had significantly positively correlation with the crust size and crust coverage, and negatively with WSA 0.25, 15-30 mm soil porosity and mean pore size. Among of soil structure factors, the soil porosity had the largest effect on I and D. The rainfall-induced topsoil structure changes greatly deteriorated the root-zone regime during the dry period mainly due to significant increasing soil water loss but little improving the raining stage of soil water storage. Straw mulching had greater effects than other practices in alleviating rainfall-induced erosion and intermittent drought, and could be a better strategy applied for this region.

Monitoring the Vadose Zone Moisture Regime Below a Surface Barrier

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Z. F.; Strickland, C. E.; Field, J. G.

2009-12-01

A 6000 m2 interim surface barrier has been constructed over a portion of the T Tank Farm in the Depart of Energy’s Hanford site. The purpose of using a surface barrier was to reduce or eliminate the infiltration of meteoric precipitation into the contaminated soil zone due to past leaks from Tank T-106 and hence to reduce the rate of movement of the plume. As part of the demonstration effort, vadose zone moisture is being monitored to assess the effectiveness of the barrier on the reduction of soil moisture flow. A vadose zone monitoring system was installed to measure soil water conditions at four horizontal locations (i.e., instrument Nests A, B, C, and D) outside, near the edge of, and beneath the barrier. Each instrument nest consists of a capacitance probe with multiple sensors, multiple heat-dissipation units, and a neutron probe access tube used to measure soil-water content and soil-water pressure. Nest A serves as a control by providing subsurface conditions outside the influence of the surface barrier. Nest B provides subsurface measurements to assess barrier edge effects. Nests C and D are used to assess the impact of the surface barrier on soil-moisture conditions beneath it. Monitoring began in September 2006 and continues to the present. To date, the monitoring system has provided high-quality data. Results show that the soil beneath the barrier has been draining from the shallower depth. The lack of climate-caused seasonal variation of soil water condition beneath the barrier indicates that the surface barrier has minimized water exchange between the soil and the atmosphere.

Assessment of groundwater quality by unsaturated zone study due to migration of leachate from Abloradjei waste disposal site, Ghana

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Egbi, Courage Davidson; Akiti, Tetteh Thomas; Osae, Shiloh; Dampare, Samuel Boakye; Abass, Gibrilla; Adomako, Dickson

2017-05-01

Leachate generated by open solid waste disposal sites contains substances likely to contaminate groundwater. The impact of potential contaminants migrating from leachate on groundwater can be quantified by monitoring their concentration and soil properties at specific points in the unsaturated zone. In this study, physical and chemical analyses were carried out on leachate, soil and water samples within the vicinity of the municipal solid waste disposal site at Abloradjei, a suburb of Accra, Ghana. The area has seen a massive increase in population and the residents depend on groundwater as the main source of water supply. Results obtained indicate alkaline pH for leachate and acidic conditions for unsaturated zone water. High EC values were recorded for leachate and unsaturated zone water. Major ions (Ca2+, Na+, Mg2+, K+, NO3 -, SO4 2-, Cl-, PO4 3- were analysed in leachate, unsaturated zone water, soil solution and groundwater while trace metals (Al, Fe, Cu, Zn, Pb) were analysed in both soil and extracted soil solution. Concentrations of major ions were high in all samples indicating possible anthropogenic origin. Mean % gravel, % sand, % clay, bulk density, volumetric water content and porosity were 28.8, 63.93, 6.6, 1 g cm-3, 35 and 62.7 %, respectively. Distribution of trace elements showed Kd variation of Al > Cu > Fe > Pb > Zn in the order of sequential increasing solubility. It was observed that the quality of groundwater is not suitable for drinking.

Soil and periphyton indicators of anthropogenic water-quality changes in a rainfall-driven wetland

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCormick, P.V.

2011-01-01

Surface soils and periphyton communities were sampled across an oligotrophic, soft-water wetland to document changes associated with pulsed inputs of nutrient- and mineral-rich canal drainage waters. A gradient of canal-water influence was indicated by the surface-water specific conductance, which ranged between 743 and 963 ??S cm-1 in the canals to as low as 60 ??S cm-1 in the rainfall-driven wetland interior. Changes in soil chemistry and periphyton taxonomic composition across this gradient were described using piecewise regressions models. The greatest increase in soil phosphorus (P) concentration occurred at sites closest to the canal while soil mineral (sulfur, calcium) concentrations increased most rapidly at the lower end of the gradient. Multiple periphyton shifts occurred at the lower end of the gradient and included; (1) a decline in desmids and non-desmid filamentous chlorophytes, and their replacement by a diatom-dominated community; (2) the loss of soft-water diatom indicator species and their replacement by hard-water species. Increased dominance by cyanobacteria and eutrophic diatom indicators occurred closer to the canals. Soil and periphyton changes indicated four zones of increasing canal influence across the wetland: (1) a zone of increasing mineral concentrations where soft-water taxa remained dominant; (2) a transition towards hard-water, oligotrophic diatoms as mineral concentrations increased further; (3) a zone of dominance by these hard-water species; (4) a zone of rapidly increasing P concentrations and dominance by eutrophic taxa. In contrast to conclusions drawn from routine water-chemistry monitoring, measures of chemical and biological change presented here indicate that most of this rainfall-driven peatland receives some influence from canal discharges. These changes are multifaceted and induced by shifts in multiple chemical constituents. ?? 2010 US Government.

[Effect of Seasonal Temperature Increasing on Nitrogen Mineralization in Soil of the Water Level Fluctuating Zone of Three Gorge Tributary During the Dry Period].

PubMed

Lin, Jun-jie; Zhang, Shuai; Liu, Dan; Zhou, Bin; Xiao, Xiao-jun; Ma, Hui-yan; Yu, Zhi-guo

2016-02-15

To reveal the effect of seasonal temperature increasing on nitrogen mineralization in soil of the water level fluctuating soil zone of three gorge reservoir areas in the Yangtze river tributary during the dry period, surface soils were collected from the water level fluctuating zone of Pengxi river crossing two hydrological sections, i.e., upstream and downstream and three water level altitudes, 155 m (low), 165 m (middle) and 175 m (high). We incubated the soil at 25 degrees C and 35 degrees C to determine the transformation rates of nitrogen in soil of Pengxi river basin during the dry period. The result showed that TN and NO3- -N contents in the soil of upstream section and higher (175 m) altitude of water level were higher than those in downstream and low (165 m) altitude of water level, whereas the pattern for NH4+ -N was different, with higher NH4+ -N contents in downstream and low water level. The inorganic nitrogen was dominated by NO3- -N, which accounted for up to 57.4%-84.7% of inorganic nitrogen. Generally, soil ammoniation, nitration and net N mineralization increased with the rising water level altitude and stream sections (P < 0.05). In summary, nitration and net N mineralization significantly increased with increasing temperature, (P < 0.05), while ammoniation showed no difference (P > 0.05).

Cokriging of Electromagnetic Induction Soil Electrical Conductivity Measurements and Soil Textural Properties to Demarcate Sub-field Management Zones for Precision Irrigation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ding, R.; Cruz, L.; Whitney, J.; Telenko, D.; Oware, E. K.

2017-12-01

There is the growing need for the development of efficient irrigation management practices due to increasing irrigation water scarcity as a result of growing population and changing climate. Soil texture primarily controls the water-holding capacity of soils, which determines the amount of irrigation water that will be available to the plant. However, while there are significant variabilities in the textural properties of the soil across a field, conventional irrigation practices ignore the underlying variability in the soil properties, resulting in over- or under-irrigation. Over-irrigation leaches plant nutrients beyond the root-zone leading to fertilizer, energy, and water wastages with dire environmental consequences. Under-irrigation, in contrast, causes water stress of the plant, thereby reducing plant quality and yield. The goal of this project is to leverage soil textural map of a field to create water management zones (MZs) to guide site-specific precision irrigation. There is increasing application of electromagnetic induction methods to rapidly and inexpensively map spatially continuous soil properties in terms of the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of the soil. ECa is a measure of the bulk soil properties, including soil texture, moisture, salinity, and cation exchange capacity, making an ECa map a pseudo-soil map. Data for the project were collected from a farm site at Eden, NY. The objective is to leverage high-resolution ECa map to predict spatially dense soil textural properties from limited measurements of soil texture. Thus, after performing ECa mapping, we conducted particle-size analysis of soil samples to determine the textural properties of soils at selected locations across the field. We cokriged the high-resolution ECa measurements with the sparse soil textural data to estimate a soil texture map for the field. We conducted irrigation experiments at selected locations to calibrate representative water-holding capacities of each estimated soil textural unit. Estimated soil units with similar water-holding characteristics were merged to create sub-field water MZs to guide precision irrigation of each MZ, instructed by each MZ's calibrated water-holding properties.

Water in the critical zone: soil, water and life from profile to planet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirkby, M. J.

2016-12-01

Earth is unique in the combination of abundant liquid water, plate tectonics and life, providing the broad context within which the critical zone exists, as the surface skin of the land. Global differences in the availability of water provide a major control on the balance of processes operating in the soil, allowing the development of environments as diverse as those dominated by organic soils, by salty deserts or by deeply weathered lateritic profiles. Within the critical zone, despite the importance of water, the complexity of its relationships with the soil material continue to provide many fundamental barriers to our improved understanding, at the scales of pore, hillslope and landscape. Water is also a vital resource for the survival of increasing human populations. Intensive agriculture first developed in semi-arid areas where the availability of solar energy could be combined with irrigation water from more humid areas, minimising the problems of weed control with primitive tillage techniques. Today the challenge to feed the world requires improved, and perhaps novel, ways to optimise the combination of solar energy and water at a sustainable economic and environmental cost.

Simulated fate and transport of metolachlor in the unsaturated zone, Maryland, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Bayless, E.R.; Capel, P.D.; Barbash, J.E.; Webb, R.M.T.; Hancock, T.L.C.; Lampe, D.C.

2008-01-01

An unsaturated-zone transport model was used to examine the transport and fate of metolachlor applied to an agricultural site in Maryland, USA. The study site was instrumented to collect data on soil-water content, soil-water potential, ground water levels, major ions, pesticides, and nutrients from the unsaturated zone during 2002-2004. The data set was enhanced with site-specific information describing weather, soils, and agricultural practices. The Root Zone Water Quality Model was used to simulate physical, chemical, and biological processes occurring in the unsaturated zone. Model calibration to bromide tracer concentrations indicated flow occurred through the soil matix. Simulated recharge rates were within the measured range of values. The pesticide transport model was calibrated to the intensive data collection period (2002-2004), and the calibrated model was then used to simulate the period 1984 through 2004 to examine the impact of sustained agricultural management practices on the concentrations of metolachlor and its degradates at the study site. Simulation results indicated that metolachlor degrades rapidly in the root zone but that the degradates are transported to depth in measurable quantities. Simulations indicated that degradate transport is strongly related to the duration of sustained use of metolachlor and the extent of biodegradation. 

Hillslope-Riparian-Streamflow Interactions in a Discontinuous Permafrost Alpine Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carey, S. K.

2004-12-01

Hillslope-riparian-streamflow interactions are poorly characterized in mountainous discontinuous permafrost environments. Permafrost underlain soils have a distinct soil profile, characterized by thick near-surface organic horizons atop ice-rich mineral substrates, whereas slopes without permafrost have thinner or absent organic soils overlying well drained mineral horizons. Riparian areas occur at the base of both seasonally frozen and permafrost slopes, yet a stronger hydrologic and soil transition occurs at slope bases with only seasonal frost. In a subarctic alpine catchment within the Wolf Creek Research Basin, Yukon, Canada, experiments were conducted between 2001 and 2003 to evaluate linkages along the slope-riparian-stream continuum during melt and post-melt periods. Water table, hydraulic head, stable isotope (d2H, d18O) and simple geochemical (pH, SpC, DOC) data were collected along transects during melt and summer periods. In soils with only seasonal frost, there was a downward piezometric gradient in slopes and upward gradient in riparian areas during melt. In contrast, permafrost soils did not show a recharge/discharge gradient between the slope and riparian zone. DOC declined and SpC increased with depth at all sites during melt. DOC was lower in riparian zones and areas without organic soils. SpC declined in soils as dilute meltwater entered the soil, yet it was difficult to establish spatial relations due to differences in melt timing. The similarity in stable isotope composition among sites indicated that the slopes were well flushed with snowmelt water to depth. DOC in streamflow was greatest on the ascending freshet hydrograph, and declined rapidly following melt. Streamflow SpC declined dramatically in response to dilute meltwater inputs and a decline in stream pH indicates flowpaths through organic horizons. Following melt, DOC concentrations declined rapidly in both slopes and riparian areas. In summer, water tables lowered in seasonally frozen slopes, yet an upward hydraulic gradient and near-surface water table was maintained in the riparian area. In permafrost slopes, water tables fell into mineral soils, increasing SpC and reducing DOC. Riparian water tables remained high and DOC was greater than the seasonally frozen soils, yet riparian zone hydraulic gradient reversed suggesting a small recharge gradient. In permafrost soil, riparian zone DOC was an order of magnitude higher than seasonally frozen riparian zones, which had DOC concentrations similar to streamflow. The similarity in stable isotope ratios among sites throughout the summer indicated that soil waters were dominated by water supplied during melt period. Rainfall waters had little long-term effect on slope and riparian isotopic ratios. Mixing analysis of geochemical and isotopic parameters indicates that during melt, most water was supplied via near surface organic layers, whereas later in the year, subsurface pathways predominated. Permafrost slope-riparian zones have a different hydraulic and geochemical interaction than seasonally frozen ones, yet their respective contribution to streamflow during different times of the year remains unclear at this time.

Water consumption and water-saving characteristics of a ground cover rice production system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, Xinxin; Zuo, Qiang; Ma, Wenwen; Li, Sen; Shi, Jianchu; Tao, Yueyue; Zhang, Yanan; Liu, Yang; Liu, Xiaofei; Lin, Shan; Ben-Gal, Alon

2016-09-01

The ground cover rice production system (GCRPS) offers a potentially water-saving alternative to the traditional paddy rice production system (TPRPS) by furrow irrigating mulched soil beds and maintaining soils under predominately unsaturated conditions. The guiding hypothesis of this study was that a GCRPS would decrease both physiological and non-physiological water consumption of rice compared to a TPRPS while either maintaining or enhancing production. This was tested in a two-year field experiment with three treatments (TPRPS, GCRPSsat keeping root zone average soil water content near saturated, and GCRPS80% keeping root zone average soil water content as 80-100% of field water capacity) and a greenhouse experiment with four treatments (TPRPS, GCRPSsat, GCRPSfwc keeping root zone average soil water content close to field water capacity, and GCRPS80%). The water-saving characteristics of GCRPS were analyzed as a function of the measured soil water conditions, plant parameters regarding growth and production, and water input and consumption. In the field experiment, significant reduction in both physiological and non-physiological water consumption under GCRPS lead to savings in irrigation water of ∼61-84% and reduction in total input water of ∼35-47%. Compared to TPRPS, deep drainage was reduced ∼72-88%, evaporation was lessened ∼83-89% and transpiration was limited ∼6-10% under GCRPS. In addition to saving water, plant growth and grain yield were enhanced under GCRPS due to increased soil temperature in the root zone. Therefore, water use efficiencies (WUEs), based on transpiration, irrigation and total input water, were respectively improved as much as 27%, 609% and 110% under GCRPS. Increased yield attributed to up to ∼19%, decreased deep drainage accounted for ∼75%, decreased evaporation accounted for ∼14% and reduced transpiration for ∼5% of the enhancement in WUE of input water under GCRPS, while increased runoff and water storage had negative influence on WUE (-7.5 and -3.7%, respectively) for GCRPS compared to TPRPS. The greenhouse experiment validated the results obtained in the field by simplifying the non-physiological water consumption processes, and thus confirming the relative importance of physiological processes and increased WUE under GCRPS.

A combined monitoring and modeling approach to quantify water and nitrate leaching using effective soil column hydraulic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Couvreur, V.; Kandelous, M. M.; Moradi, A. B.; Baram, S.; Mairesse, H.; Hopmans, J. W.

2014-12-01

There is a worldwide growing concern for agricultural lands input to groundwater pollution. Nitrate contamination of groundwater across the Central Valley of California has been related to its diverse and intensive agricultural practices. However, there has been no study comparing leaching of nitrate in each individual agricultural land within the complex and diversely managed studied area. A combined field monitoring and modeling approach was developed to quantify from simple measurements the leaching of water and nitrate below the root zone. The monitored state variables are soil water content at several depths within the root zone, soil matric potential at two depths below the root zone, and nitrate concentration in the soil solution. In the modeling part, unsaturated water flow and solute transport are simulated with the software HYDRUS in a soil profile fragmented in up to two soil hydraulic types, whose effective hydraulic properties are optimized with an inverse modeling method. The applicability of the method will first be demonstrated "in-silico", with synthetic soil water dynamics data generated with HYDRUS, and considering the soil column as the layering of several soil types characterized in-situ. The method will then be applied to actual soil water status data from various crops in California including tomato, citrus, almond, pistachio, and walnut. Eventually, improvements of irrigation and fertilization management practices (i.e. mainly questions of quantity and frequency of application minimizing leaching under constraint of water and nutrient availability) will be investigated using coupled modeling and optimization tools.

Estimation of the Potential for Atrazine Transport in a Silt Loam Soil

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eckhardt, D.A.V.; Wagenet, R.J.

1996-01-01

The transport potential of the herbicide atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethyl-6-isopropyl-s-triazine) through a 1-meter-thick root zone of corn (Zea mays L.) in a silty-loam soil in Kansas was estimated for a 22-year period (1972-93) using the one-dimensional water-flow and solute-transport model LEACHM. Results demonstrate that, for this soil, atrazine transport is directly related to the amount and timing of rain that follows spring applications of atrazine. Two other critical transport factors were important in wet years - [1] variability in atrazine application rate, and [2] atrazine degradation rates below the root zone. Results demonstrate that the coincidence of heavy rain soon after atrazine application can cause herbicide to move below the rooting zone into depths at which biodegradation rates are assumed to be low but are often unknown. Atrazine that reaches below the rooting zone and persists in the underlying soil can subsequently be transported into ground water as soil water drains, typically after the growing season. A frequency analysis of atrazine concentrations in subsurface drainage, combined with field data, demonstrates the relative importance of critical transport factors and confirms a need for definitive estimates of atrazine-degradation rates below the root zone. The analysis indicates that periodic leaching of atrazine can be expected for this soil when rainfall that exceeds 20 cm/mo coincides with atrazine presence in soil.

Soil water sensing: Implications of sensor capabilities for variable rate irrigation management

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Irrigation scheduling using soil water sensors aims at maintaining the soil water content in the crop root zone above a lower limit defined by the management allowed depletion (MAD) for that soil and crop, but not so wet that too much water is lost to deep percolation, evaporation and runoff or that...

An alternative tensiometer design for deep vadose zone monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moradi, A. B.; Kandelous, M. M.; Hopmans, J. W.

2015-12-01

The conventional tensiometer is among the most accurate devices for soil water matric potential measurements, as well as for estimations of soil water flux from soil water potential gradients. Uncertainties associated with conventional tensiometers such as caused by ambient temperature effects and the draining of the tensiometer tube, as well as their limitation for deep soil monitoring has prevented their widespread use for vadose zone monitoring, despite their superior accuracy, in general. We introduce an alternative tensiometer design that offers the accuracy of the conventional tensiometer, while minimizing afore-mentioned uncertainties and limitations. The proposed alternative tensiometer largely eliminates temperature-induced diurnal fluctuations and uncertainties associated with the draining of the tensiometer tube, and removes the limitation in installation depth. In addition, the manufacturing costs of this alternative tensiometer design is close to that of the conventional tensiometer, while it is especially suited for monitoring of soil water potential gradients as required for soil water flux measurements.

Denitrification potential in relation to lithology in five headwater riparian zones.

PubMed

Hill, Alan R; Vidon, Philippe G F; Langat, Jackson

2004-01-01

The influence of riparian zone lithology on nitrate dynamics is poorly understood. We investigated vertical variations in potential denitrification activity in relation to the lithology and stratigraphy of five headwater riparian zones on glacial till and outwash landscapes in southern Ontario, Canada. Conductive coarse sand and gravel layers occurred in four of the five riparian areas. These layers were thin and did not extend to the field-riparian perimeter in some riparian zones, which limited their role as conduits for ground water flow. We found widespread organic-rich layers at depths ranging from 40 to 300 cm that resulted from natural floodplain processes and the burial of surface soils by rapid valley-bottom sedimentation after European settlement. The organic matter content of these layers varied considerably from 2 to 5% (relic channel deposit) to 5 to 21% (buried soils) and 30 to 62% (buried peat). Denitrification potential (DNP) was measured by the acetylene block method in sediment slurries amended with nitrate. The highest DNP rates were usually found in the top 0- to 15-cm surface soil layer in all riparian zones. However, a steep decline in DNP with depth was often absent and high DNP activity occurred in the deep organic-rich layers. Water table variations in 2000-2002 indicated that ground water only interacted frequently with riparian surface soils between late March and May, whereas subsurface organic layers that sustain considerable DNP were below the water table for most of the year. These results suggest that riparian zones with organic deposits at depth may effectively remove nitrate from ground water even when the water table does not interact with organic-rich surface soil horizons.

Dissolved organic matter in the unsaturated zone: the view from the cave

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baker, A.; Duan, W.; Rutlidge, H.; McDonough, L.; Oudone, P.; Meredith, K.; Andersen, M. S.; O'Carroll, D. M.; Coleborn, K.; Treble, P. C.

2017-12-01

Soil organic matter content is typically a few percent of the total soil composition. Diffuse recharge can mobilise some of this soil-derived organic matter. While soil pore water dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations are up to 100 ppm, the resulting groundwater dissolved organic matter concentration is typically less than 2ppm. Dissolved organic matter transported from the soil can be both biodegraded and sorbed to minerals, and the relative importance of these two processes in the unsaturated zone is poorly understood. Caves in karstified limestone uniquely provide direct access to water percolating from the soil to the groundwater. Cave percolation waters can be analysed for their DOM concentration and character. This provides insights into the extent and type of biological and chemical processing of DOM during transport from the soil to the groundwater. We determine the concentration and characteristics of DOM in cave percolation waters using liquid chromatography (LC-OCD) and optical spectrophotometry (fluorescence and absorbance). We sample DOM from multiple caves in SE Australia (Cathedral Cave, Wellington; South Glory and Harrie Wood Caves, Yarrangobilly), permitting comparison of unsaturated zone DOM properties at different depths (up to 30m below land surface) and different climate zones (montane and temperate). We use caves with long-term hydrological monitoring programs so that DOM in waters of contrasting residence times can be compared. Additionally, we compare these cave percolation water DOM characteristics to those from local and regional groundwater, sampled from nearby wells. Our results will help improve our understanding of how DOM is processed from soil to groundwater, and is also relevant to speleothem scientists interested in using organic matter preserved in speleothems as a paleoclimate or paleoenvironmental proxy.

Soil nitrogen balance under wastewater management: Field measurements and simulation results

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sophocleous, M.; Townsend, M.A.; Vocasek, F.; Ma, Liwang; KC, A.

2009-01-01

The use of treated wastewater for irrigation of crops could result in high nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) concentrations in the vadose zone and ground water. The goal of this 2-yr field-monitoring study in the deep silty clay loam soils south of Dodge City, Kansas, was to assess how and under what circumstances N from the secondary-treated, wastewater-irrigated corn reached the deep (20-45 m) water table of the underlying High Plains aquifer and what could be done to minimize this problem. We collected 15.2-m-deep soil cores for characterization of physical and chemical properties; installed neutron probe access tubes to measure soil-water content and suction lysimeters to sample soil water periodically; sampled monitoring, irrigation, and domestic wells in the area; and obtained climatic, crop, irrigation, and N application rate records for two wastewater-irrigated study sites. These data and additional information were used to run the Root Zone Water Quality Model to identify key parameters and processes that influence N losses in the study area. We demonstrated that NO3-N transport processes result in significant accumulations of N in the vadose zone and that NO3-N in the underlying ground water is increasing with time. Root Zone Water Quality Model simulations for two wastewater-irrigated study sites indicated that reducing levels of corn N fertilization by more than half to 170 kg ha-1 substantially increases N-use efficiency and achieves near-maximum crop yield. Combining such measures with a crop rotation that includes alfalfa should further reduce the accumulation and downward movement of NO3-N in the soil profile. Copyright ?? 2009 by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. All rights reserved.

COSMOS soil water sensing affected by crop biomass and water status

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil water sensing methods are widely used to characterize water content in the root zone and below, but only a few are capable of sensing soil volumes larger than a few hundred liters. Scientists with the USDA-ARS Conservation & Production Research Laboratory, Bushland, Texas, evaluated: a) the Cos...

Creep model of unsaturated sliding zone soils and long-term deformation analysis of landslides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Liangchao; Wang, Shimei; Zhang, Yeming

2015-04-01

Sliding zone soil is a special soil layer formed in the development of a landslide. Its creep behavior plays a significant role in long-term deformation of landslides. Due to rainfall infiltration and reservoir water level fluctuation, the soils in the slide zone are often in unsaturated state. Therefore, the investigation of creep behaviors of the unsaturated sliding zone soils is of great importance for understanding the mechanism of the long-term deformation of a landslide in reservoir areas. In this study, the full-process creep curves of the unsaturated soils in the sliding zone in different net confining pressure, matric suctions and stress levels were obtained from a large number of laboratory triaxial creep tests. A nonlinear creep model for unsaturated soils and its three-dimensional form was then deduced based on the component model theory and unsaturated soil mechanics. This creep model was validated with laboratory creep data. The results show that this creep model can effectively and accurately describe the nonlinear creep behaviors of the unsaturated sliding zone soils. In order to apply this creep model to predict the long-term deformation process of landslides, a numerical model for simulating the coupled seepage and creep deformation of unsaturated sliding zone soils was developed based on this creep model through the finite element method (FEM). By using this numerical model, we simulated the deformation process of the Shuping landslide located in the Three Gorges reservoir area, under the cycling reservoir water level fluctuation during one year. The simulation results of creep displacement were then compared with the field deformation monitoring data, showing a good agreement in trend. The results show that the creeping deformations of landslides have strong connections with the changes of reservoir water level. The creep model of unsaturated sliding zone soils and the findings obtained by numerical simulations in this study are conducive to reveal the mechanisms of the dynamic process of landslide deformation, and serve as an important basis for the prediction and evaluation of landslides.

[Classification of Priority Area for Soil Environmental Protection Around Water Sources: Method Proposed and Case Demonstration].

PubMed

Li, Lei; Wang, Tie-yu; Wang, Xiaojun; Xiao, Rong-bo; Li, Qi-feng; Peng, Chi; Han, Cun-liang

2016-04-15

Based on comprehensive consideration of soil environmental quality, pollution status of river, environmental vulnerability and the stress of pollution sources, a technical method was established for classification of priority area of soil environmental protection around the river-style water sources. Shunde channel as an important drinking water sources of Foshan City, Guangdong province, was studied as a case, of which the classification evaluation system was set up. In detail, several evaluation factors were selected according to the local conditions of nature, society and economy, including the pollution degree of heavy metals in soil and sediment, soil characteristics, groundwater sensitivity, vegetation coverage, the type and location of pollution sources. Data information was mainly obtained by means of field survey, sampling analysis, and remote sensing interpretation. Afterwards, Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was adopted to decide the weight of each factor. The basic spatial data layers were set up respectively and overlaid based on the weighted summation assessment model in Geographical Information System (GIS), resulting in a classification map of soil environmental protection level in priority area of Shunde channel. Accordingly, the area was classified to three levels named as polluted zone, risky zone and safe zone, which respectively accounted for 6.37%, 60.90% and 32.73% of the whole study area. Polluted zone and risky zone were mainly distributed in Lecong, Longjiang and Leliu towns, with pollutants mainly resulted from the long-term development of aquaculture and the industries containing furniture, plastic constructional materials and textile and clothing. In accordance with the main pollution sources of soil, targeted and differentiated strategies were put forward. The newly established evaluation method could be referenced for the protection and sustainable utilization of soil environment around the water sources.

Water movement and fate of nitrogen during drip dispersal of wastewater effluent into a semi-arid landscape.

PubMed

Siegrist, Robert L; Parzen, Rebecca; Tomaras, Jill; Lowe, Kathryn S

2014-04-01

Drip dispersal of partially treated wastewater was investigated as an approach for onsite water reclamation and beneficial reuse of water and nutrients in a semi-arid climate. At the Mines Park Test Site in Golden, Colorado, a drip dispersal system (DDS) was installed at 20- to 30-cm depth in an Ascalon sandy loam soil profile. Two zones with the same layout were established to enable study of two different hydraulic loading rates. Zones 1 and 2 each had one half of the landscape surface with native vegetation and the other with Kentucky bluegrass sod. After startup activities, domestic septic tank effluent was dispersed five times a day at footprint loading rates of 5 L/m(2)/d for Zone 1 and 10 L/m(2)/d for Zone 2. Over a two-year period, monitoring included the frequency and volume of effluent dispersed and its absorption by the landscape. After the first year of operation in October a (15)N tracer test was completed in the sodded portion of Zone 1 and samples of vegetation and soil materials were collected and analyzed for water content, pH, nitrogen, (15)N, and bacteria. Research revealed that both zones were capable of absorbing the effluent water applied at 5 or 10 L/m(2)/d. Effluent water dispersed from an emitter infiltrates at the emitter and along the drip tubing and water movement is influenced by hydrologic conditions. Based on precipitation and evapotranspiration at the Test Site, only a portion of the effluent water dispersed migrated downward in the soil (approx. 34% or 64% for Zone 1 or 2, respectively). Sampling within Zone 1 revealed water filled porosities were high throughout the soil profile (>85%) and water content was most elevated along the drip tubing (17-22% dry wt.), which is also where soil pH was most depressed (pH 4.5) due to nitrification reactions. NH4(+) and NO3(-) retention occurred near the dispersal location for several days and approximately 51% of the N applied was estimated to be removed by plant uptake and denitrification. Heterotrophic bacteria levels were elevated (up to 1 log) in the subsurface within the DDS but there was effective elimination of effluent fecal coliform and Escherichia coli bacteria. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lateral water flux in the unsaturated zone: A mechanism for the formation of spatial soil heterogeneity in a headwater catchment

Treesearch

John P. Gannon; Kevin J. McGuire; Scott W. Bailey; Rebecca R. Bourgault; Donald S. Ross

2017-01-01

Measurements of soil water potential and water table fluctuations suggest that morphologically distinct soils in a headwater catchment at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire formed as a result of variations in saturated and unsaturated hydrologic fluxes in the mineral soil. Previous work showed that each group of these soils had distinct water table...

Post-fire interactions between soil water repellency, soil fertility and plant growth in soil collected from a burned piñon-juniper woodland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fernelius, Kaitlynn J.; Madsen, Matthew D.; Hopkins, Bryan G.; Bansal, Sheel; Anderson, Val J.; Eggett, Dennis L.; Roundy, Bruce A.

2017-01-01

Woody plant encroachment can increase nutrient resources in the plant-mound zone. After a fire, this zone is often found to be water repellent. This study aimed to understand the effects of post-fire water repellency on soil water and inorganic nitrogen and their effects on plant growth of the introduced annual Bromus tectorum and native bunchgrass Pseudoroegneria spicata. Plots centered on burned Juniperus osteosperma trees were either left untreated or treated with surfactant to ameliorate water repellency. After two years, we excavated soil from the untreated and treated plots and placed it in zerotension lysimeter pots. In the greenhouse, half of the pots received an additional surfactant treatment. Pots were seeded separately with B. tectorum or P. spicata. Untreated soils had high runoff, decreased soilwater content, and elevated NO3eN in comparison to surfactant treated soils. The two plant species typically responded similar to the treatments. Above-ground biomass and microbial activity (estimated through soil CO2 gas emissions) was 16.8-fold and 9.5-fold higher in the surfactant-treated soils than repellent soils, respectably. This study demonstrates that water repellency can influence site recovery by decreasing soil water content, promoting inorganic N retention, and impairing plant growth and microbial activity.

What's so critical about the critical zone?: New insights at the boundaries between hydrology, pedology, geomorphology, rocks and life (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grant, G.

2013-12-01

The great promise of critical zone science and observatories (CZOs) emerging over the past decade was that real progress towards understanding the earth's near-surface environment could be made through coordinated studies of processes and interactions that occur within that thin layer between the bottom of the atmosphere and the top of competent bedrock - the critical zone. How well has this promise been realized, and where is the science now headed? Drawing on recent findings from CZOs and elsewhere, I identify a number of exciting and potentially transformative new ideas and threads at the boundaries of hydrology, geomorphology, pedology, and ecology. These include: 1). New understanding of interactions and feedbacks among soil weathering, pathways for water, tree roots, and bedrock fractures. A fundamental insight emerging from critical zone studies is that soils are far more interestingly structured than simple textbook models of homogeneous substrates with exponentially decreasing permeability with depth. Instead, the near-surface is now seen as a complex network of voids, paths, conduits, and storage zones that are both formed and exploited by the movement of water, geochemical reactions, and organisms. This evolving perspective on the critical zone has implications for a wide range of issues, including the residence time and chemistry of water, rates of weathering, slope stability, and long-term soil fertility. 2. Growing appreciation for the role of biology in conditioning and transforming its own physical environment within the critical zone. This includes the role of trees in hydraulically redistributing water, fracturing bedrock, and contributing to long-term soil erosion and landscape evolution through tree fall and throw and vegetation effects on moisture regimes. 3. Similarly, the importance of understanding linkages among soils, water, and vegetation has never been greater as a warming climate dramatically changes the 'rules of the game'. New understanding of feedbacks among vegetation growth and water uptake, soil moisture regimes, snowpack dynamics, and overall forest health are challenging previous assumptions about how best to manage forest environments in the face of a warming atmosphere and increased frequencies of disturbance. Time will tell whether these new perspectives represent incremental or fundamental shifts in our thinking about the critical zone, but it is clearly an exciting time for critical zone science and scientists.

Inter-Annual Variability of Soil Moisture Stress Function in the Wheat Field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akuraju, V. R.; Ryu, D.; George, B.; Ryu, Y.; Dassanayake, K. B.

2014-12-01

Root-zone soil moisture content is a key variable that controls the exchange of water and energy fluxes between land and atmosphere. In the soil-vegetation-atmosphere transfer (SVAT) schemes, the influence of root-zone soil moisture on evapotranspiration (ET) is parameterized by the soil moisture stress function (SSF). Dependence of actual ET: potential ET (fPET) or evaporative fraction to the root-zone soil moisture via SSF can also be used inversely to estimate root-zone soil moisture when fPET is estimated by remotely sensed land surface states. In this work we present fPET versus available soil water (ASW) in the root zone observed in the experimental farm sites in Victoria, Australia in 2012-2013. In the wheat field site, fPET vs ASW exhibited distinct features for different soil depth, net radiation, and crop growth stages. Interestingly, SSF in the wheat field presented contrasting shapes for two cropping years of 2012 and 2013. We argue that different temporal patterns of rainfall (and resulting soil moisture) during the growing seasons in 2012 and 2013 are responsible for the distinctive SSFs. SSF of the wheat field was simulated by the Agricultural Production Systems sIMulator (APSIM). The APSIM was able to reproduce the observed fPET vs. ASW. We discuss implications of our findings for existing modeling and (inverse) remote sensing approaches relying on SSF and alternative growth-stage-dependent SSFs.

Modelling the impact of mulching the soil with plant remains on water regime formation, crop yield and energy costs in agricultural ecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gusev, Yeugeniy M.; Dzhogan, Larisa Y.; Nasonova, Olga N.

2018-02-01

The model MULCH, developed by authors previously for simulating the formation of water regime in an agricultural field covered by straw mulch layer, has been used for the comparative evaluation of the efficiency of four agricultural cultivation technologies, which are usually used for wheat production in different regions of Russia and Ukraine. It simulates the dynamics of water budget components in a soil rooting zone at daily time step from the beginning of spring snowmelt to the beginning of the period with stable negative air temperatures. The model was designed for estimation of mulching efficiency in terms of increase in plant water supply and crop yield under climatic and soil conditions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones. It is used for studying the mulching effect on some characteristics of water regime and yield of winter wheat growing at specific sites located in semi-arid and arid regions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the eastern and southern parts of the East-European (Russian) plain. In addition, a previously developed technique for estimating the energetic efficiency of various agricultural technologies with accounting for their impact on changes in soil energy is applied for the comparative evaluation of the efficiency of four agricultural cultivation technologies, which are usually used for wheat production in different regions of the steppe and forest-steppe zones of the European Russia: (1) moldboard tillage of soil without irrigation, (2) moldboard tillage of soil with irrigation, (3) subsurface cultivation, and (4) subsurface cultivation with mulching the soil with plant remains.

THE RETC CODE FOR QUANTIFYING THE HYDRAULIC FUNCTIONS OF UNSATURATED SOILS

EPA Science Inventory

This report describes the RETC computer code for analyzing the soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions of unsaturated soils. These hydraulic properties are key parameters in any quantitative description of water flow into and through the unsaturated zone of soil...

Selected papers in the hydrologic sciences 1984; July 1984

USGS Publications Warehouse

Meyer, Eric L.

1984-01-01

The rapid, accurate measurement of the oxygen content of soil gas in the unsaturated zone or dissolved oxygen in soil water in the saturated zone can be useful in wetland vegetation studies. A method has been devised and tested in the Great Dismal Swamp, a wetland with fine silt-clay and organic soils, that appears to provide good results. A 60-milliliter sample of soil gas or water is withdrawn from permanently installed chambers at various depths in the soil profile. The oxygen concentration of air samples is measured with a specially constructed analyzer cell fitted to the polarographic oxygen electrode of a portable oxygen meter. The dissolved oxygen concentration of water samples is measured directly with the oxygen electrode while stirring the sample in a 32-milliliter glass bottle with a portable magnetic stirrer. Field tests with duplicate chamber installations showed that consistent results are obtained for soil gas and water.

Relation of pathways and transit times of recharge water to nitrate concentrations using stable isotopes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Landon, M.K.; Delin, G.N.; Komor, S.C.; Regan, C.P.

2000-01-01

Oxygen and hydrogen stable isotope values of precipitation, irrigation water, soil water, and ground water were used with soil-moisture contents and water levels to estimate transit times and pathways of recharge water in the unsaturated zone of a sand and gravel aquifer. Nitrate-nitrogen (nitrate) concentrations in ground water were also measured to assess their relation to seasonal recharge. Stable isotope values indicated that recharge water usually had a transit time through the unsaturated zone of several weeks to months. However, wetting fronts usually moved through the unsaturated zone in hours to weeks. The much slower transit of isotopic signals than that of wetting fronts indicates that recharge was predominantly composed of older soil water that was displaced downward by more recent infiltrating water. Comparison of observed and simulated isotopic values from pure-piston flow and mixing-cell water and isotope mass balance models indicates that soil water isotopic values were usually highly mixed. Thus, movement of recharge water did not occur following a pure piston-flow displacement model but rather follows a hydrid model involving displacement of mixed older soil water with new infiltration water. An exception to this model occurred in a topographic depression, where movement of water along preferential flowpaths to the water table occurred within hours to days following spring thaw as result of depression-focused infiltration of snow melt. In an adjacent upland area, recharge of snow melt occurred one to two months later. Increases in nitrate concentrations at the water table during April-May 1993 and 1994 in a topographic lowland within a corn field were related to recharge of water that had infiltrated the previous summer and was displaced from the unsaturated zone by spring infiltration. Increases in nitrate concentrations also occurred during July-August 1994 in response to recharge of water that infiltrated during May-August 1994. These results indicate that the largest ground water nitrate concentrations were associated with recharge of water that infiltrated into the soil during May-August, when most nitrogen fertilizer was applied.

Surface Runoff and Snowmelt Infiltration into the Soil on Plowlands in the Forest-Steppe and Steppe Zones of the East European Plain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barabanov, A. T.; Dolgov, S. V.; Koronkevich, N. I.; Panov, V. I.; Petel'ko, A. I.

2018-01-01

Long-term series of observations over the spring water balance elements on fields with hydrologically contrasting agricultural backgrounds―a loose soil after fall moldboard plowing and a plowland compacted by 12-16% compared to the former soil (perennial grasses, winter crops, stubble)―have been analyzed. The values of surface runoff and water infiltration into the soil in the steppe and forest-steppe zones of European Russia have been calculated for the spring (flooding) period and the entire cold season. The hydrological role of fall plowing has been shown, and water balance elements for the current (1981-2016) and preceding (1957-1980) periods have been compared. A significant decrease in runoff and an increase of water reserve in the soil have been revealed on all plowland types. Consequences of changes in the spring water balance on plowland have been analyzed.

SIMULATING RADIONUCLIDE FATE AND TRANSPORT IN THE UNSATURATED ZONE: EVALUATION AND SENSITIVITY ANALYSES OF SELECT COMPUTER MODELS

EPA Science Inventory

Numerical, mathematical models of water and chemical movement in soils are used as decision aids for determining soil screening levels (SSLs) of radionuclides in the unsaturated zone. Many models require extensive input parameters which include uncertainty due to soil variabil...

Combined effects of tides, evaporation and rainfall on the soil conditions in an intertidal creek-marsh system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Pei; Zhou, Tingzhang; Lu, Chunhui; Shen, Chengji; Zhang, Chenming; D'Alpaos, Andrea; Li, Ling

2017-05-01

Salt marshes, distributed globally at the land-ocean interface, are a highly productive eco-system with valuable ecological functions. While salt marshes are affected by various eco-geo-hydrological processes and factors, soil moisture and salinity affect plant growth and play a key role in determining the structure and functions of the marsh ecosystem. To examine the variations of both soil parameters, we simulated pore-water flow and salt transport in a creek-marsh system subjected to spring-neap tides, evaporation and rainfall. The results demonstrated that within a sandy-loam marsh, the tide-induced pore-water circulation averted salt build-up due to evaporation in the near-creek area. In the marsh interior where the horizontal drainage was weak, density-driven flow was responsible for dissipating salt accumulation in the shallow soil layer. In the sandy-loam marsh, the combined influences of spring-neap tides, rainfall and evaporation led to the formation of three characteristic zones, c.f., a near-creek zone with low soil water saturation (i.e., well-aerated) and low pore-water salinity as affected by the semi-diurnal spring tides, a less well-aerated zone with increased salinity where drainage occurred during the neap tides, and an interior zone where evaporation and rainfall infiltration regulated the soil conditions. These characteristics, however, varied with the soil type. In low-permeability silt-loam and clay-loam marshes, the tide-induced drainage weakened and the soil conditions over a large area became dominated by evaporation and rainfall. Sea level rise was found to worsen the soil aeration condition but inhibit salt accumulation due to evaporation. These findings shed lights on the soil conditions underpinned by various hydrogeological processes, and have important implications for further investigations on marsh plant growth and ecosystem functions.

Dynamics of Physical and Physicochemical Properties of Urban Soils under the Effect of Ice-Melting Salts

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azovtseva, N. A.; Smagin, A. V.

2018-01-01

Physical (water content, density, and air and water regimes) and physicochemical (electrical conductivity, pH, and SAR) properties of urban soils were investigated on test plots of Moscow to evaluate their dynamics under anthropogenic impact. The wilting point and the dependence of the capillary-sorption and total water potentials of the soil water content were determined in laboratory experiments with natural and artificially saline soil samples to evaluate the effect of salt antifreeze substances on water availability for plants under conditions of active application of deicing reagents. Seasonal dynamics of these parameters were investigated. It was found that electrolytes display a steady tendency for the accumulation and redistribution in the root zone rather than for their deep leaching despite humid climatic conditions in Moscow megalopolis. In summer, regular droughts result in drying of the root zone to critical values and to the concentration of electrolytes up to the values that make the total water potential of soil unsuitable for water uptake by roots. The key factor of soil degradation under the impact of electrolytes is the soil dispersity: the finer the texture, the higher the soil salinization and solonetzicity and the stronger irreversible changes in the soil water retention capacity and physical properties.

Application of Terrestrial Microwave Remote Sensing to Agricultural Drought Monitoring

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crow, W. T.; Bolten, J. D.

2014-12-01

Root-zone soil moisture information is a valuable diagnostic for detecting the onset and severity of agricultural drought. Current attempts to globally monitor root-zone soil moisture are generally based on the application of soil water balance models driven by observed meteorological variables. Such systems, however, are prone to random error associated with: incorrect process model physics, poor parameter choices and noisy meteorological inputs. The presentation will describe attempts to remediate these sources of error via the assimilation of remotely-sensed surface soil moisture retrievals from satellite-based passive microwave sensors into a global soil water balance model. Results demonstrate the ability of satellite-based soil moisture retrieval products to significantly improve the global characterization of root-zone soil moisture - particularly in data-poor regions lacking adequate ground-based rain gage instrumentation. This success has lead to an on-going effort to implement an operational land data assimilation system at the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA FAS) to globally monitor variations in root-zone soil moisture availability via the integration of satellite-based precipitation and soil moisture information. Prospects for improving the performance of the USDA FAS system via the simultaneous assimilation of both passive and active-based soil moisture retrievals derived from the upcoming NASA Soil Moisture Active/Passive mission will also be discussed.

Viticulture microzoning: a functional approach aiming to grape and wine qualities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bonfante, A.; Agrillo, A.; Albrizio, R.; Basile, A.; Buonomo, R.; De Mascellis, R.; Gambuti, A.; Giorio, P.; Guida, G.; Langella, G.; Manna, P.; Minieri, L.; Moio, L.; Siani, T.; Terribile, F.

2014-12-01

This paper aims to test a new physically oriented approach to viticulture zoning at the farm scale, strongly rooted on hydropedology and aiming to achieve a better use of environmental features with respect to plant requirement and wine production. The physics of our approach is defined by the use of soil-plant-atmosphere simulation models which applies physically-based equations to describe the soil hydrological processes and solves soil-plant water status. This study (ZOVISA project) was conducted in a farm devoted to high quality wines production (Aglianico DOC), located in South Italy (Campania region, Mirabella Eclano-AV). The soil spatial distribution was obtained after standard soil survey informed by geophysical survey. Two Homogenous Zones (HZs) were identified; in each one of those a physically based model was applied to solve the soil water balance and estimate the soil functional behaviour (crop water stress index, CWSI) defining the functional Homogeneous Zones (fHzs). In these last, experimental plots were established and monitored for investigating soil-plant water status, crop development (biometric and physiological parameters) and daily climate variables (temperature, solar radiation, rainfall, wind). The effects of crop water status on crop response over must and wine quality were then evaluated in the fHZs. This was performed by comparing crop water stress with (i) crop physiological measurement (leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence, leaf water potential, chlorophyll content, LAI measurement), (ii) grape bunches measurements (berry weight, sugar content, titratable acidity, etc.) and (iii) wine quality (aromatic response). Eventually this experiment has proved the usefulness of the physical based approach also in the case of mapping viticulture microzoning.

Effects of crude oil on water and tracer movement in the unsaturated and saturated zones.

PubMed

Delin, Geoffrey N; Herkelrath, William N

2017-05-01

A tracer test was conducted to aid in the investigation of water movement and solute transport at a crude-oil spill site near Bemidji, Minnesota. Time of travel was measured using breakthrough curves for rhodamine WT and bromide tracers moving from the soil surface through oil-contaminated and oil-free unsaturated zones to the saturated zone. Results indicate that the rates of tracer movement were similar in the oil-free unsaturated and saturated zones compared to the oily zones. These results are somewhat surprising given the oil contamination in the unsaturated and saturated zones. Rhodamine tracer breakthrough in the unsaturated and saturated zones in general was delayed in comparison to bromide tracer breakthrough. Peak tracer concentrations for the lysimeters and wells in the oily zone were much greater than at the corresponding depths in the oil-free zone. Water and tracer movement in the oily zone was complicated by soil hydrophobicity and decreased oil saturations toward the periphery of the oil. Preferential flow resulted in reduced tracer interaction with the soil, adsorption, and dispersion and faster tracer movement in the oily zone than expected. Tracers were freely transported through the oily zone to the water table. Recharge calculations support the idea that the oil does not substantially affect recharge in the oily zone. This is an important result indicating that previous model-based assumptions of decreased recharge beneath the oil were incorrect. Results have important implications for modeling the fate and transport of dissolved contaminants at hydrocarbon spill sites. Published by Elsevier B.V.

The Critical Zone: A Necessary Framework for Understanding Surface Earth Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dietrich, W. E.

2016-12-01

One definition of the critical zone is: the thin veneer of Earth that extends from the top of the vegetation to the base of weathered bedrock. With this definition we can envision the critical zone as a distinct entity with a well-defined top and a fairly well-defined bottom that is distributed across terrestrial earth landscapes. It is a zone of co-evolving processes and, importantly, much of this zone is well below the soil mantle (and commonly more than 10 times thicker than the soil). Weathering advance into fresh bedrock creates a hydrologically-conductive skin that mediates runoff and solute chemistry, stores water used by vegetation, releases water as baseflow to streams, influences soil production and hillslope evolution, and feeds gasses to the atmosphere. Especially in seasonally dry environments, rock moisture in the critical zone, i.e. moisture that is exchangeable and potentially mobile in the matrix and fractures of the bedrock, can be a significant source of water to plants and is a previously unrecognized large component of the water budget that matters to climate models. First observations on the systematic variation of the critical zone across hillslopes have led to four distinct theories representing four distinct processes for what controls the depth to fresh bedrock (and thus the thickness of this zone across a hillslope). These theories are motivating geophysical surveys, deep drilling, and other actions to parameterize and explore the power of these models. Studies at the NSF-supported Critical Zone Observatories have taught us that the critical zone is an entity and that enduring field studies reveal key processes. A challenge we now face is how to include this emerging understanding of the critical zone into models of reactive transport, hydrologic processes and water supply, critical zone structure, landscape evolution, and climate.

In situ monitoring of H and O stable isotopes in soil water reveals ecohydrologic dynamics in managed soil systems [Urban ecohydrologic dynamics revealed by in situ monitoring of H and O stable isotopes in soil water

DOE PAGES

Oerter, Erik J.; Bowen, Gabriel

2017-04-12

The water cycle in urban and hydrologically managed settings is subject to perturbations that are dynamic on small spatial and temporal scales; the effects of which may be especially profound in soils. We deploy a membrane inlet-based laser spectroscopy system in conjunction with soil moisture and temperature sensors to monitor soil water dynamics and H and O stable isotope ratios (δ 2H and δ 18O values) in a seasonally irrigated urban-landscaped garden soil over the course of 9 months between the cessation of irrigation in the autumn and the onset of irrigation through the summer. Here, we find that soilmore » water δ 2H and δ 18O values predominately reflect seasonal precipitation and irrigation inputs. A comparison of total soil water by cryogenic extraction and mobile soil water measured by in situ water vapor probes reveals that initial infiltration events after long periods of soil drying (the autumn season in this case) emplace water into the soil matrix that is not easily replaced by, or mixed with, successive pulses of infiltrating soil water. Tree stem xylem water H and O stable isotope composition did not match that of available water sources. Our findings suggest that partitioning of soil water into mobile and immobile “pools” and resulting ecohydrologic separation may occur in engineered and hydrologically managed soils and not be limited to natural settings. Furthermore, the laser spectroscopy method detailed here has potential to yield insights in a variety of critical zone and vadose zone studies, potential that is heightened by the simplicity and portability of the system.« less

In situ monitoring of H and O stable isotopes in soil water reveals ecohydrologic dynamics in managed soil systems [Urban ecohydrologic dynamics revealed by in situ monitoring of H and O stable isotopes in soil water

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Oerter, Erik J.; Bowen, Gabriel

The water cycle in urban and hydrologically managed settings is subject to perturbations that are dynamic on small spatial and temporal scales; the effects of which may be especially profound in soils. We deploy a membrane inlet-based laser spectroscopy system in conjunction with soil moisture and temperature sensors to monitor soil water dynamics and H and O stable isotope ratios (δ 2H and δ 18O values) in a seasonally irrigated urban-landscaped garden soil over the course of 9 months between the cessation of irrigation in the autumn and the onset of irrigation through the summer. Here, we find that soilmore » water δ 2H and δ 18O values predominately reflect seasonal precipitation and irrigation inputs. A comparison of total soil water by cryogenic extraction and mobile soil water measured by in situ water vapor probes reveals that initial infiltration events after long periods of soil drying (the autumn season in this case) emplace water into the soil matrix that is not easily replaced by, or mixed with, successive pulses of infiltrating soil water. Tree stem xylem water H and O stable isotope composition did not match that of available water sources. Our findings suggest that partitioning of soil water into mobile and immobile “pools” and resulting ecohydrologic separation may occur in engineered and hydrologically managed soils and not be limited to natural settings. Furthermore, the laser spectroscopy method detailed here has potential to yield insights in a variety of critical zone and vadose zone studies, potential that is heightened by the simplicity and portability of the system.« less

Soil moisture inferences from thermal infrared measurements of vegetation temperatures

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jackson, R. D. (Principal Investigator)

1981-01-01

Thermal infrared measurements of wheat (Triticum durum) canopy temperatures were used in a crop water stress index to infer root zone soil moisture. Results indicated that one time plant temperature measurement cannot produce precise estimates of root zone soil moisture due to complicating plant factors. Plant temperature measurements do yield useful qualitative information concerning soil moisture and plant condition.

Holistic irrigation water management approach based on stochastic soil water dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alizadeh, H.; Mousavi, S. J.

2012-04-01

Appreciating the essential gap between fundamental unsaturated zone transport processes and soil and water management due to low effectiveness of some of monitoring and modeling approaches, this study presents a mathematical programming model for irrigation management optimization based on stochastic soil water dynamics. The model is a nonlinear non-convex program with an economic objective function to address water productivity and profitability aspects in irrigation management through optimizing irrigation policy. Utilizing an optimization-simulation method, the model includes an eco-hydrological integrated simulation model consisting of an explicit stochastic module of soil moisture dynamics in the crop-root zone with shallow water table effects, a conceptual root-zone salt balance module, and the FAO crop yield module. Interdependent hydrology of soil unsaturated and saturated zones is treated in a semi-analytical approach in two steps. At first step analytical expressions are derived for the expected values of crop yield, total water requirement and soil water balance components assuming fixed level for shallow water table, while numerical Newton-Raphson procedure is employed at the second step to modify value of shallow water table level. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm, combined with the eco-hydrological simulation model, has been used to solve the non-convex program. Benefiting from semi-analytical framework of the simulation model, the optimization-simulation method with significantly better computational performance compared to a numerical Mote-Carlo simulation-based technique has led to an effective irrigation management tool that can contribute to bridging the gap between vadose zone theory and water management practice. In addition to precisely assessing the most influential processes at a growing season time scale, one can use the developed model in large scale systems such as irrigation districts and agricultural catchments. Accordingly, the model has been applied in Dasht-e-Abbas and Ein-khosh Fakkeh Irrigation Districts (DAID and EFID) of the Karkheh Basin in southwest of Iran. The area suffers from the water scarcity problem and therefore the trade-off between the level of deficit and economical profit should be assessed. Based on the results, while the maximum net benefit has been obtained for the stress-avoidance (SA) irrigation policy, the highest water profitability, defined by economical net benefit gained from unit irrigation water volume application, has been resulted when only about 60% of water used in the SA policy is applied.

Dynamics of Soil Water Evaporation during Soil Drying: Laboratory Experiment and Numerical Analysis

PubMed Central

Han, Jiangbo; Zhou, Zhifang

2013-01-01

Laboratory and numerical experiments were conducted to investigate the evolution of soil water evaporation during a continuous drying event. Simulated soil water contents and temperatures by the calibrated model well reproduced measured values at different depths. Results show that the evaporative drying process could be divided into three stages, beginning with a relatively high evaporation rate during stage 1, followed by a lower rate during transient stage and stage 2, and finally maintaining a very low and constant rate during stage 3. The condensation zone was located immediately below the evaporation zone in the profile. Both peaks of evaporation and condensation rate increased rapidly during stage 1 and transition stage, decreased during stage 2, and maintained constant during stage 3. The width of evaporation zone kept a continuous increase during stages 1 and 2 and maintained a nearly constant value of 0.68 cm during stage 3. When the evaporation zone totally moved into the subsurface, a dry surface layer (DSL) formed above the evaporation zone at the end of stage 2. The width of DSL also presented a continuous increase during stage 2 and kept a constant value of 0.71 cm during stage 3. PMID:24489492

Dynamics of soil water evaporation during soil drying: laboratory experiment and numerical analysis.

PubMed

Han, Jiangbo; Zhou, Zhifang

2013-01-01

Laboratory and numerical experiments were conducted to investigate the evolution of soil water evaporation during a continuous drying event. Simulated soil water contents and temperatures by the calibrated model well reproduced measured values at different depths. Results show that the evaporative drying process could be divided into three stages, beginning with a relatively high evaporation rate during stage 1, followed by a lower rate during transient stage and stage 2, and finally maintaining a very low and constant rate during stage 3. The condensation zone was located immediately below the evaporation zone in the profile. Both peaks of evaporation and condensation rate increased rapidly during stage 1 and transition stage, decreased during stage 2, and maintained constant during stage 3. The width of evaporation zone kept a continuous increase during stages 1 and 2 and maintained a nearly constant value of 0.68 cm during stage 3. When the evaporation zone totally moved into the subsurface, a dry surface layer (DSL) formed above the evaporation zone at the end of stage 2. The width of DSL also presented a continuous increase during stage 2 and kept a constant value of 0.71 cm during stage 3.

Application of Data Assimilation with the Root Zone Water Quality Model for Soil Moisture Profile Estimation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF), a popular data assimilation technique for non-linear systems was applied to the Root Zone Water Quality Model. Measured soil moisture data at four different depths (5cm, 20cm, 40cm and 60cm) from two agricultural fields (AS1 and AS2) in northeastern Indiana were us...

When interflow also percolates: downslope travel distances and hillslope process zones.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jackson, C. Rhett; Bitew, Menberu; Du, Enhao

2014-02-17

In hillslopes with soils characterized by deep regoliths, such as Ultisols,Oxisols, and Alfisols, interflow occurs episodically over impeding layers near and parallel to the soil surface such as low-conductivity B horizons (e.g.Newman et al., 1998; Buttle andMcDonald, 2002; Du et al., In Review), till layers (McGlynn et al., 1999; Bishop et al., 2004), hardpans (McDaniel et al., 2008), C horizons (Detty and McGuire, 2010), and permeable bedrock (Tromp van Meerveld et al., 2007). As perched saturation develops within and above these impeding but permeable horizons, flow moves laterally downslope, but the perched water also continues to percolate through the impedingmore » horizon to the unsaturated soils and saprolite below. Perched water and solutes will eventually traverse the zone of perched saturation above the impeding horizon and then enter and percolate through the impeding horizon. In such flow situations, only lower hillslope segments with sufficient downslope travel distance will deliver water to the riparian zone within the time scale of a storm.farther up the slope, lateral flow within the zone of perched saturation. will act mainly to shift the point of percolation (location where a water packet leaves the downslope flow zone in the upper soil layer and enters the impeding layer) down the hillslope from the point of infiltration. In flatter parts of the hillslope or in areas with little contrast between the conductivities of the upper and impeding soil layers, lateral flow distances will be negligible.« less

[Distribution and risk assessment of mercury species in soil of the water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir].

PubMed

Zhang, Cheng; Chen, Hong; Wang, Ding-Yong; Sun, Rong-Guo; Zhang, Jin-Yang

2014-03-01

To investigate pollution level and ecological risk of mercury in soils of the water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region, 192 surface soil samples from 14 counties (districts) in Chongqing were obtained. Concentrations of THg and Hg species, bioavailable Hg were analyzed and discussed. Geoaccumulation index (I(geo)) and Håkanson potential ecological risk index (E(r)) were applied to assess the pollution status and potential ecological risk of THg and Hg species, respectively. The results showed that significant differences in the concentration of THg were found in soils of water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir. The THg concentration ranged from 22.4 to 393.5 microg x kg(-1), with an average of (84.2 +/- 54.3) microg x kg(-1). 76.6% of the samples' THg content was higher than the soil background value in the Three Gorges Reservoir Region. The percentage of five mercury species (water-soluble Hg, HCl-soluble Hg, KOH-soluble Hg, H2O2-soluble Hg, residue Hg) in soils were 4.1%, 15.5%, 18.3%, 10.9%, 51.3%, respectively. The average concentrations of bioavailable mercury varied between 19.7-36.6 microg x kg(-1), and the percentage of bioavailable Hg was 22.1%-51.6% of THg. According to the geoaccumulation index, the soils were lightly polluted by Hg. Håkanson single potential ecological risk index evaluation showed that Hg species had a low potential ecological risk, moreover, soils of water-level-fluctuating zone in the Three Gorges Reservoir were at low ecological risk levels as evaluated by bioavailable Hg. While, the assessment results based on THg of soils was much higher than that based on the Hg species. Two methods of evaluation showed that the I(geo) and E(r) values calculated based on the Hg species better reflected the actual pollution levels of soils and its hazard to aquatic organisms.

CO2 efflux from soils with seasonal water repellency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Urbanek, Emilia; Doerr, Stefan H.

2017-10-01

Soil carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are strongly dependent on pore water distribution, which in turn can be modified by reduced wettability. Many soils around the world are affected by soil water repellency (SWR), which reduces infiltration and results in diverse moisture distribution. SWR is temporally variable and soils can change from wettable to water-repellent and vice versa throughout the year. Effects of SWR on soil carbon (C) dynamics, and specifically on CO2 efflux, have only been studied in a few laboratory experiments and hence remain poorly understood. Existing studies suggest soil respiration is reduced with increasing severity of SWR, but the responses of soil CO2 efflux to varying water distribution created by SWR are not yet known.Here we report on the first field-based study that tests whether SWR indeed reduces soil CO2 efflux, based on in situ measurements carried out over three consecutive years at a grassland and pine forest sites under the humid temperate climate of the UK.Soil CO2 efflux was indeed very low on occasions when soil exhibited consistently high SWR and low soil moisture following long dry spells. Low CO2 efflux was also observed when SWR was absent, in spring and late autumn when soil temperatures were low, but also in summer when SWR was reduced by frequent rainfall events. The highest CO2 efflux occurred not when soil was wettable, but when SWR, and thus soil moisture, was spatially patchy, a pattern observed for the majority of the measurement period. Patchiness of SWR is likely to have created zones with two different characteristics related to CO2 production and transport. Zones with wettable soil or low persistence of SWR with higher proportion of water-filled pores are expected to provide water with high nutrient concentration resulting in higher microbial activity and CO2 production. Soil zones with high SWR persistence, on the other hand, are dominated by air-filled pores with low microbial activity, but facilitating O2 supply and CO2 exchange between the soil and the atmosphere.The effects of soil moisture and SWR on soil CO2 efflux are strongly co-correlated, but the results of this study support the notion that SWR indirectly affects soil CO2 efflux by affecting soil moisture distribution. The appearance of SWR is influenced by moisture and temperature, but once present, SWR influences subsequent infiltration patterns and resulting soil water distribution, which in turn affects respiration. This study demonstrates that SWR can have contrasting effects on CO2 efflux. It can reduce it in dry soil zones by preventing their re-wetting, but, at the field soil scale and when spatially variable, it can also enhance overall CO2 efflux. Spatial variability in SWR and associated soil moisture distribution therefore need to be considered when evaluating the effects of SWR on soil C dynamics under current and predicted future climatic conditions.

Soil degradation in farmlands of California's San Joaquin Valley resulting from drought-induced land-use changes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Scudiero, Elia; Skaggs, Todd; Anderson, Ray; Corwin, Dennis

2016-04-01

Irrigation in California's Central Valley (USA) has decreased significantly due to water shortages resulting from the current drought, which began in 2010. In particular, fallow fields in the west side of the San Joaquin Valley (WSJV), which is the southwest portion of the Central Valley, increased from around 12% in the years before the drought (2007-2010) to 20-25% in the following years (2011-2015). We monitored and mapped drought-induced edaphic changes in salinity at two scales: (i) field scale (32.4-ha field in Kings County) and (ii) water district scale (2400 ha at -former- Broadview Water District in Fresno County). At both scales drought-induced land-use changes (i.e., shift from irrigated agriculture to fallow) drastically decreased soil quality by increasing salinity (and sodicity), especially in the root-zone (top 1.2 m). The field study monitors the spatial (three dimensions) changes of soil salinity (and sodicity) in the root-zone during 10 years of irrigation with drainage water followed by 4 years of no applied irrigation water (only rainfall) due to drought conditions. Changes of salinity (and other edaphic properties), through the soil profile (down to 1.2 m, at 0.3-m increments), were monitored and modeled using geospatial apparent electrical conductivity measurements and extensive soil sampling in 1999, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2011, and 2013. Results indicate that when irrigation was applied, salts were leached from the root-zone causing a remarkable improvement in soil quality. However, in less than two years after termination of irrigation, salinity in the soil profile returned to original levels or higher across the field. At larger spatial scales the effect of drought-induced land-use change on root-zone salinity is also evident. Up to spring 2006, lands in Broadview Water District (BWD) were used for irrigated agriculture. Water rights were then sold and the farmland was retired. Soil quality decreased since land retirement, especially during the drought years. Root-zone soil salinity was mapped in 1991 using geospatial apparent electrical conductivity measurements and extensive soil sampling and in 2013 using recent root-zone remote sensing salinity map for the WSJV (developed and published by the U.S. Salinity Laboratory, USDA-ARS), which was calibrated and (independently) validated, including fields from the BWD. Results reveal dramatic increases in soil salinity for all the fields that were originally non-saline and slightly-saline in 1991. Additionally, time-series analysis of very-high resolution ortho-imagery (from Google Earth and USGS) suggests that surface soil quality drastically decreased especially during the drought years. Our research shows how terminating irrigation in California's Central Valley can lead to substantial soil salinization in a very short time. Salinization in WSJV due to the termination of irrigation is a consequence of the complex multi-scale interaction of geomorphologic, topographic, and anthropogenic factors requiring yearly monitoring to adequately assess the impacts of drought for use in field- and basin-scale water management decisions. Among other concerns, increased salinity and sodicity affect vegetation growth and may lead to increased soil erosion and very-fine dust formation creating health and environmental hazards.

Which key properties controls the preferential transport in the vadose zone under transient hydrological conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Groh, J.; Vanderborght, J.; Puetz, T.; Gerke, H. H.; Rupp, H.; Wollschlaeger, U.; Stumpp, C.; Priesack, E.; Vereecken, H.

2015-12-01

Understanding water flow and solute transport in the unsaturated zone is of great importance for an appropriate land use management strategy. The quantification and prediction of water and solute fluxes through the vadose zone can help to improve management practices in order to limit potential risk on our fresh water resources. Water related solute transport and residence time is strongly affected by preferential flow paths in the soil. Water flow in soils depends on soil properties and site factors (climate or experiment conditions, land use) and are therefore important factors to understand preferential solute transport in the unsaturated zone. However our understanding and knowledge of which on-site properties or conditions define and enhance preferential flow and transport is still poor and mostly limited onto laboratory experimental conditions (small column length and steady state boundary conditions). Within the TERENO SOILCan lysimeter network, which was designed to study the effects of climate change on soil functions, a bromide tracer was applied on 62 lysimeter at eight different test sites between Dec. 2013 and Jan. 2014. The TERENO SOILCan infrastructure offers the unique possibility to study the occurrence of preferential flow and transport of various soil types under different natural transient hydrological conditions and land use (crop, bare and grassland) at eight TERENO SOILCan observatories. Working with lysimeter replicates at each observatory allows defining the spatial variability of preferential transport and flow. Additionally lysimeters in the network were transferred within and between observatories in order to subject them to different rainfall and temperature regimes and enable us to relate the soil type susceptibility of preferential flow and transport not only to site specific physical and land use properties, but also to different transient boundary conditions. Comparison and statistical analysis between preferential flow indicators 5% arrival time and potential key soil properties, site factors and boundary conditions will be presented in order to identify key properties which control the preferential transport in the vadose zone under transient hydrological conditions.

Spatio-temporal Root Zone Soil Moisture Estimation for Indo - Gangetic Basin from Satellite Derived (AMSR-2 and SMOS) Surface Soil Moisture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sure, A.; Dikshit, O.

2017-12-01

Root zone soil moisture (RZSM) is an important element in hydrology and agriculture. The estimation of RZSM provides insight in selecting the appropriate crops for specific soil conditions (soil type, bulk density, etc.). RZSM governs various vadose zone phenomena and subsequently affects the groundwater processes. With various satellite sensors dedicated to estimating surface soil moisture at different spatial and temporal resolutions, estimation of soil moisture at root zone level for Indo - Gangetic basin which inherits complex heterogeneous environment, is quite challenging. This study aims at estimating RZSM and understand its variation at the level of Indo - Gangetic basin with changing land use/land cover, topography, crop cycles, soil properties, temperature and precipitation patterns using two satellite derived soil moisture datasets operating at distinct frequencies with different principles of acquisition. Two surface soil moisture datasets are derived from AMSR-2 (6.9 GHz - `C' Band) and SMOS (1.4 GHz - `L' band) passive microwave sensors with coarse spatial resolution. The Soil Water Index (SWI), accounting for soil moisture from the surface, is derived by considering a theoretical two-layered water balance model and contributes in ascertaining soil moisture at the vadose zone. This index is evaluated against the widely used modelled soil moisture dataset of GLDAS - NOAH, version 2.1. This research enhances the domain of utilising the modelled soil moisture dataset, wherever the ground dataset is unavailable. The coupling between the surface soil moisture and RZSM is analysed for two years (2015-16), by defining a parameter T, the characteristic time length. The study demonstrates that deriving an optimal value of T for estimating SWI at a certain location is a function of various factors such as land, meteorological, and agricultural characteristics.

Impact of groundwater levels on evaporation and water-vapor fluxes in highly saline soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Munoz, J. F.; Hernández, M. F.; Braud, I.; Gironas, J. A.; Suarez, F. I.

2012-12-01

In aquifers of arid and hyper-arid zones, such as those occurring in the Chilean Andes high plateau, it is important to determine both the quantity and location of water discharges at the temporal scales of interest to close the basin's water budget and thus, to manage the water resource properly. In zones where shallow aquifers are the main source of water, overexploitation of the water resource changes the dynamics of water, heat and solute transport in the vadose zone. As aquifers are exploited, fluctuations in depth to groundwater are exacerbated. These fluctuations modify both soil structure and evaporation from the ground, which is typically the most important discharge from the water budget and is very difficult to estimate. Therefore, a correct quantification of evaporation from these soils is essential to improve the accuracy of the water balance estimation. The objective of this study was to investigate the evaporation processes and water-vapor fluxes in a soil column filled with a saline soil from the Salar del Huasco basin, Chile. Water content, electrical conductivity and temperature at different depths in the soil profile were monitored to determine the liquid and vapor fluxes within the soil column. The results showed that evaporation is negligible when the groundwater table is deeper than 1 m. For shallower groundwater levels, evaporation increases in an exponential fashion reaching a value of 3 mm/day when the groundwater table is near the surface of the ground. These evaporation rates are on the same order of magnitude than the field measurements, but slightly lower due to the controlled conditions maintained in the laboratory. Isothermal fluid fluxes were predominant over the non-isothermal fluid and water vapor fluxes. The net flux for all the phreatic levels tested in the laboratory showed different behaviors, with ascending or descending flows as a consequence of changes in water content and temperature distribution within the soil. It was found that evaporation from bare soils occurs as a consequence of vapor transport due to the thermal gradients. This vapor transport was also influences by the salinity of the soil.

Development and assessment of an efficient vadose zone module solving the 1D Richards' equation and including root extraction by plants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Varado, N.; Braud, I.; Ross, P. J.

2006-05-01

From the non iterative numerical method proposed by [Ross, P.J., 2003. Modeling soil water and solute transport—fast, simplified numerical solutions. Agronomy Journal 95, 1352-1361] for solving the 1D Richards' equation, an unsaturated zone module for large scale hydrological model is developed by the inclusion of a root extraction module and a formulation of interception. Two root water uptake modules, first proposed by [Lai, C.-T. and Katul, G., 2000. The dynamic role of rott-water uptake in coupling potential to actual transpiration. Adv. Water Res. 23: 427-439; Li, K.Y., De Jong, R. and Boisvert, J.B., 2001. An exponential root-water-uptake model with water stress compensation. J. Hydrol. 252: 189-204], were included as the sink term in the Richards' equation. They express root extraction as a linear function of potential transpiration and take into account water stress and compensation mechanism allowing water to be extracted in wetter layers. The vadose zone module is tested in a systematic way with synthetic data sets covering a wide range of soil characteristics, climate forcing, and vegetation cover. A detailed SVAT model providing an accurate solution of the coupled heat and water transfer in the soil and the surface energy balance is used as a reference. The accuracy of the numerical solution using only the SVAT soil module, and the loss of accuracy when using a potential evapotranspiration instead of solving the energy budget are both investigated. The vadose zone module is very accurate with errors of less than a few percent for cumulative transpiration. Soil evaporation is less accurately simulated as it leads to a systematic underestimation of soil evaporation amounts. The [Lai, C.-T. and Katul, G., 2000. The dynamic role of rott-water uptake in coupling potential to actual transpiration. Adv. Water Res. 23: 427-439] module is not adapted for sandy soils, due to a weakness in the compensation term formulation. When using a potential evapotranspiration instead of the surface energy balance, we evidenced a difference in partitioning the energy between the soil and the vegetation. A Beer-Lambert law is not able to take into account the complex interactions at the soil-vegetation-atmopshere interface. However, under field conditions, the accuracy of the vadose zone module is satisfactory provided that a correct crop coefficient could be defined. As a conclusion the numerical method proposed by [Ross, P.J., 2003. Modeling soil water and solute transport—fast, simplified numerical solutions. Agronomy Journal 95, 1352-1361] coupled with the [Li, K.Y., De Jong, R. and Boisvert, J.B., 2001. An exponential root-water-uptake model with water stress compensation. J. Hydrol. 252: 189-204] root extraction module provides an efficient and accurate solution for inclusion as a physically-based infiltration-evapotranspiration module into larger scale watershed models.

Examining nitrogen dynamics in heterogeneous soils: preliminary work

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jolicoeur, J. L.; Salvage, K. M.

2004-05-01

A study is being conducted in the Catatonk Creek watershed, in the headwaters of the Susquehanna River, in order to determine the vulnerability of the valley-fill aquifers to nitrate contamination. The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the nitrogen retention mechanisms for a combination of different soil types and different agricultural land uses and is scheduled to last approximately 2 years with ongoing fieldwork starting the summer of 2003 to the spring of 2005. This project will investigate the residence time and the quantity of the nitrate leached below the root zone and due to enter eventually the groundwater, and the existence of subsurface flow draining the nitrate from the root zone to the adjacent streams. Finally, a numerical and an analytical model will be developed that can be used as a tool for predicting the long-term effect of fertilizer application as a source of nitrate loading to the underlying aquifer or to surface water. In order to address the objectives of this research, a field investigation of three experimental sites will be carried out. Data will be collected on land uses, agricultural practices, climatic factors, soil properties, nitrogen dynamics in the soil, and the flow pattern in the unsaturated soil zone. At each site soil physical and chemical properties will be determined for each layer of the root zone to a depth of 90 cm. The soil physical properties include soil moisture, saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, bulk density, soil temperature, particle size distribution and its water retention curve. Soil water content and matric potential will be monitored using conventional and geophysical techniques including matric potential blocks, water content reflectometer sensors, Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). The soil chemical properties include soil total organic carbon and total nitrogen, nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4) and will be determined at the beginning and at the end of the field season. The soil water will be collected monthly at three depths at each site throughout the growing season and will be analyzed for nitrate and ammonium.

Soil water sensing for climate change studies; Applicability of COSMOS and local sensor networks

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil water sensors are used to characterize water content in the near-surface, the root zone and below for agricultural and ecosystem management, but only a few are capable of sensing soil volumes larger than a few hundred liters. Scientists with the USDA-ARS Conservation & Production Research Labor...

Evaluation of Crop-Water Consumption Simulation to Support Agricultural Water Resource Management using Satellite-based Water Cycle Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, M.; Bolten, J. D.; Lakshmi, V.

2016-12-01

Water scarcity is one of the main factors limiting agricultural development. Numerical models integrated with remote sensing datasets are increasingly being used operationally as inputs for crop water balance models and agricultural forecasting due to increasing availability of high temporal and spatial resolution datasets. However, the model accuracy in simulating soil water content is affected by the accuracy of the soil hydraulic parameters used in the model, which are used in the governing equations. However, soil databases are known to have a high uncertainty across scales. Also, for agricultural sites, the in-situ measurements of soil moisture are currently limited to discrete measurements at specific locations, and such point-based measurements do not represent the spatial distribution at a larger scale accurately, as soil moisture is highly variable both spatially and temporally. The present study utilizes effective soil hydraulic parameters obtained using a 1-km downscaled microwave remote sensing soil moisture product based on the NASA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) using the genetic algorithm inverse method within the Catchment Land Surface Model (CLSM). Secondly, to provide realistic irrigation estimates for agricultural sites, an irrigation scheme within the land surface model is triggered when the root-zone soil moisture deficit reaches the threshold, 50% with respect to the maximum available water capacity obtained from the effective soil hydraulic parameters. An additional important criterion utilized is the estimation of crop water consumption based on dynamic root growth and uptake in root zone layer. Model performance is evaluated using MODIS land surface temperature (LST) product. The soil moisture estimates for the root zone are also validated with the in situ field data, for three sites (2- irrigated and 1- rainfed) located at the University of Nebraska Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead, NE and monitored by three AmeriFlux installations (Verma et al., 2005).

Improved soil water deficit estimation through the integration of canopy temperature measurements into a soil water balance model

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Correct prediction of the dynamics of total available water in the root zone (TAWr) is critical for irrigation management as shown in the soil water balance model presented in FAO paper 56 (Allen et al., 1998). In this study, we propose a framework to improve TAWr estimation by incorporating the cro...

Contributions of water supply from the weathered bedrock zone to forest soil quality

Treesearch

James H. Witty; Robert C. Graham; Kenneth R. Hubbert; James A. Doolittle; Jonathan A. Wald

2003-01-01

One measure of forest soil quality is the ability of the soil to support tree growth. In mediterranean-type ecosystems, such as most of California's forests, there is virtually no rainfall during the summer growing season, so trees must rely on water stored within the substrate. Water is the primary limitation to productivity in these forests. Many forest soils in...

Combining steam injection with hydraulic fracturing for the in situ remediation of the unsaturated zone of a fractured soil polluted by jet fuel.

PubMed

Nilsson, Bertel; Tzovolou, Dimitra; Jeczalik, Maciej; Kasela, Tomasz; Slack, William; Klint, Knud E; Haeseler, Frank; Tsakiroglou, Christos D

2011-03-01

A steam injection pilot-scale experiment was performed on the unsaturated zone of a strongly heterogeneous fractured soil contaminated by jet fuel. Before the treatment, the soil was stimulated by creating sub-horizontal sand-filled hydraulic fractures at three depths. The steam was injected through one hydraulic fracture and gas/water/non-aqueous phase liquid (NAPL) was extracted from the remaining fractures by applying a vacuum to extraction wells. The injection strategy was designed to maximize the heat delivery over the entire cell (10 m × 10 m × 5 m). The soil temperature profile, the recovered NAPL, the extracted water, and the concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the gas phase were monitored during the field test. GC-MS chemical analyses of pre- and post-treatment soil samples allowed for the quantitative assessment of the remediation efficiency. The growth of the heat front followed the configuration of hydraulic fractures. The average concentration of total hydrocarbons (g/kg of soil) was reduced by ∼ 43% in the upper target zone (depth = 1.5-3.9 m) and by ∼ 72% over the entire zone (depth = 1.5-5.5 m). The total NAPL mass removal based on gas and liquid stream measurements and the free-NAPL product were almost 30% and 2%, respectively, of those estimated from chemical analyses of pre- and post-treatment soil samples. The dominant mechanisms of soil remediation was the vaporization of jet fuel compounds at temperatures lower than their normal boiling points (steam distillation) enhanced by the ventilation of porous matrix due to the forced convective flow of air. In addition, the significant reduction of the NAPL mass in the less-heated deeper zone may be attributed to the counter-current imbibition of condensed water from natural fractures into the porous matrix and the gravity drainage associated with seasonal fluctuations of the water table. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Salinization of the soil solution decreases the further accumulation of salt in the root zone of the halophyte Atriplex nummularia Lindl. growing above shallow saline groundwater.

PubMed

Alharby, Hesham F; Colmer, Timothy D; Barrett-Lennard, Edward G

2018-01-01

Water use by plants in landscapes with shallow saline groundwater may lead to the accumulation of salt in the root zone. We examined the accumulation of Na + and Cl - around the roots of the halophyte Atriplex nummularia Lindl. and the impacts of this increasing salinity for stomatal conductance, water use and growth. Plants were grown in columns filled with a sand-clay mixture and connected at the bottom to reservoirs containing 20, 200 or 400 mM NaCl. At 21 d, Na + and Cl - concentrations in the soil solution were affected by the salinity of the groundwater, height above the water table and the root fresh mass density at various soil depths (P < 0.001). However, by day 35, the groundwater salinity and height above the water table remained significant factors, but the root fresh mass density was no longer significant. Regression of data from the 200 and 400 mM NaCl treatments showed that the rate of Na + accumulation in the soil increased until the Na + concentration reached ~250 mM within the root zone; subsequent decreases in accumulation were associated with decreases in stomatal conductance. Salinization of the soil solution therefore had a feedback effect on further salinization within the root zone. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Models for root water uptake under deficit irrigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazarovitch, Naftali; Krounbi, Leilah; Simunek, Jirka

2010-05-01

Modern agriculture, with its dependence on irrigation, fertilizers, and pesticide application, contributes significantly to the water and solute influx through the soil into the groundwater, specifically in arid areas. The quality and quantity of this water as it passes through the vadose zone is influenced primarily by plant roots. Root water uptake is a function of both a physical root parameter, commonly referred to as the root length density, and the soil water status. The location of maximum water uptake in a homogenous soil profile of uniform water content and hydraulic conductivity occurs in the soil layer containing the largest root length density. Under field conditions, in a drying soil, plants are both subject to, and the source of, great spatial variability in the soil water content. The upper soil layers containing the bulk of the root zone are usually the most water depleted, while the deeper regions of the soil profile containing fewer roots are wetter. Changes in the physiological functioning of plants have been shown to result from extended periods of water stress, but the short term effects of water stress on root water uptake are less well understood. While plants can minimize transpiration and the resulting growth rates under limiting conditions to conserve water, many plants maintain a constant potential transpiration rate long after the commencement of the drying process. Compensatory uptake, whereby plants respond to non-uniform, limiting conditions by increasing water uptake from areas in the root zone characterized by more favorable conditions, is one such mechanism by which plants sustain potential transpiration rates in drying soils. The development of models which accurately characterize temporal and spatial root water uptake patterns is important for agricultural resource optimization, upon which subsequent management decisions affecting resource conservation and environmental pollution are based. Numerical simulations of root water uptake in various irrigation and fertilization regimes provide a much-needed alternative to tiring and expensive field work. These simulations can aid in raising agricultural water use efficiency while preserving soil and water resources. In this research, controlled lab experiments were carried out in soil-packed lysimeters designed for plant cultivation. Both the water balance of the growing plants as well as the temporary matric head distribution in the soil profile were calculated and measured. The experiment was conducted with sweet sorghum grown in two different soil profiles with different hydraulic properties. The experiment provided the data necessary to calculate the parameters of various models used to simulate root water uptake, by using an inverse solution method imbedded in the HYDRUS-1D code. The observed increase in uptake from the wetter soil regions under drying conditions, as measured and calculated, sheds light on the dominant role of soil hydraulic properties over the root distribution, and consequently root water uptake.

Altering recharge dynamics through woody vegetation removal: a study on the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer of south Texas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mattox, A. M.

2011-12-01

Grasslands in many semi-arid regions of the world have seen an expansion of woody vegetation over the past century and many now exist largely as woodlands or shrublands. This "woody encroachment" results in numerous changes to ecosystem function, including alteration of element and water cycles. As in many parts of the world, these shrublands in south Texas have been subjected to a variety of management practices intended to reduce woody vegetation and increase the dominance of herbaceous vegetation. In addition to the intended change in vegetation structure, this activity has the potential to affect hydrologic fluxes and potentially increase deep drainage through reduced transpiration and rooting depths. However, there is significant uncertainty about the hydrologic response of vegetation to woody vegetation removal. We report here the results of a large manipulative experiment designed to assess the effects of woody vegetation removal on soil moisture movement in the vadose zone in an area that serves as a recharge zone for an unconsolidated sediment aquifer (Carrizo-Wilcox). In this study woody vegetation has been removed using a mechanical method (roller chopping) as well as a mechanical and chemical method (chainsaw removal + stump herbicide). The treated plots are located on three different soil types that represent the range of soils typical in this area. A water balance approach is used to assess soil moisture fluxes and potential deep drainage. In this first year of the study we quantified ecological and edaphic components that have the greatest effect on deep drainage, namely rooting depth, soil texture and antecedent soil water conditions. Exceptionally dry conditions this year have provided a unique opportunity to understand plant soil water interactions in the critical zone given the strong soil moisture limitations observed in the surface soil horizons. Understanding these interactions across different plant communities and soil textures are the initial steps to determining if ground water recharge may be increased through brush management. Rooting depth and volumetric water content were determined in the Chacon clay loam, Webb sandy loam and Antosa-Bobillo loamy sands. Two soil cores were taken to depths of 2 m in each of the 1/4 acre plots in each of the treated and untreated plots for a total of 54 cores. Rooting depths were determined through a combination of hydro-pneumatic root elutriation, comparison of soil water profiles in treated and untreated plots, as well as stem and soil water isotope analysis. Initial data indicates hydraulic redistribution is occurring in the loamy sand as well as the clay loam soils. Neutron probe measurements suggest that vegetation may be facilitating the movement of water into deeper soil horizons in the clay loam soils. In addition to improving our understanding of the relationships between vegetation structure and vadose zone hydrology, our results will be useful for managing water resources under increasing demand, climate change, and varied priorities for entities tasked with managing water resources.

Identifying riparian sinks for watershed nitrate using soil surveys.

PubMed

Rosenblatt, A E; Gold, A J; Stolt, M H; Groffman, P M; Kellogg, D Q

2001-01-01

The capacity of riparian zones to serve as critical control locations for watershed nitrogen flux varies with site characteristics. Without a means to stratify riparian zones into different levels of ground water nitrate removal capacity, this variability will confound spatially explicit source-sink models of watershed nitrate flux and limit efforts to target riparian restoration and management. We examined the capability of SSURGO (1:15 840 Soil Survey Geographic database) map classifications (slope class, geomorphology, and/or hydric soil designation) to identify riparian sites with high capacity for ground water nitrate removal. The study focused on 100 randomly selected riparian locations in a variety of forested and glaciated settings within Rhode Island. Geomorphic settings included till, outwash, and organic/alluvial deposits. We defined riparian zones with "high ground water nitrate removal capacity" as field sites possessing both >10 m of hydric soil width and an absence of ground water surface seeps. SSURGO classification based on a combination of geomorphology and hydric soil status created two functionally distinct sets of riparian sites. More than 75% of riparian sites classified by SSURGO as organic/alluviumhydric or as outwash-hydric had field attributes that suggest a high capacity for ground water nitrate removal. In contrast, >85% of all till sites and nonhydric outwash sites had field characteristics that minimize the capacity for ground water nitrate removal. Comparing the STATSGO and SSURGO databases for a 64000-ha watershed, STATSGO grossly under-represented critical riparian features. We conclude that the SSURGO database can provide modelers and managers with important insights into riparian zone nitrogen removal potential.

Groundwater control of mangrove surface elevation: shrink and swell varies with soil depth

USGS Publications Warehouse

Whelan, K.R.T.; Smith, T. J.; Cahoon, D.R.; Lynch, J.C.; Anderson, G.H.

2005-01-01

We measured monthly soil surface elevation change and determined its relationship to groundwater changes at a mangrove forest site along Shark River, Everglades National Park, Florida. We combined the use of an original design, surface elevation table with new rod-surface elevation tables to separately track changes in the mid zone (0?4 m), the shallow root zone (0?0.35 m), and the full sediment profile (0?6 m) in response to site hydrology (daily river stage and groundwater piezometric pressure). We calculated expansion and contraction for each of the four constituent soil zones (surface [accretion and erosion; above 0 m], shallow zone [0?0.35 m], middle zone [0.35?4 m], and bottom zone [4?6 m]) that comprise the entire soil column. Changes in groundwater pressure correlated strongly with changes in soil elevation for the entire profile (Adjusted R2 5 0.90); this relationship was not proportional to the depth of the soil profile sampled. The change in thickness of the bottom soil zone accounted for the majority (R2 5 0.63) of the entire soil profile expansion and contraction. The influence of hydrology on specific soil zones and absolute elevation change must be considered when evaluating the effect of disturbances, sea level rise, and water management decisions on coastal wetland systems.

Comparative water relations of adjacent california shrub and grassland communities.

PubMed

Davis, S D; Mooney, H A

1985-07-01

Much of the coastal mountains and foothills of central and southern California are covered by a mosaic of grassland, coastal sage scrub, and evergreen sclerophyllous shrubs (chaparral). In many cases, the borders between adjacent plant communities are stable. The cause of this stability is unknown. The purpose of our study was to examine the water use patterns of representative grasses, herbs, and shrubs across a grassland/chaparrel ecotone and determine the extent to which patterns of water use contribute to ecotone stability. In addition, we examined the effects of seed dispersal and animal herbivory. We found during spring months, when water was not limited, grassland species had a much higher leaf conductance to water vapor diffusion than chaparral plants. As the summer drought progressed, grassland species depleted available soil moisture first, bare zone plants second, and chaparral third, with one chaparral species (Quercus durata) showing no evidence of water stress. Soil moisture depletion patterns with depth and time corresponded to plant water status and root depth. Rabbit herbivory was highest in the chaparral and bare zone as indicated by high densities of rabbit pellets. Dispersal of grassland seeds into the chaparral and bare zone was low. Our results support the hypothesis that grassland species deplete soil moisture in the upper soil horizon early in the drought, preventing the establishment of chaparral seedlings or bare zone herbs. Also, grassland plants are prevented from invading the chaparral because of low seed dispersability and high animal herbivory in these regions.

Unsaturated flow dynamics during irrigation with wastewater: field and modelling study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Martinez-Hernandez, V.; de Miguel, A.; Meffe, R.; Leal, M.; González-Naranjo, V.; de Bustamante, I.

2012-04-01

To deal with water scarcity combined with a growing water demand, the reuse of wastewater effluents of wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) for industrial and agricultural purposes is considered as a technically and economically feasible solution. In agriculture, irrigation with wastewater emerges as a sustainable practice that should be considered in such scenarios. Water infiltration, soil moisture storage and evapotranspiration occurring in the unsaturated zone are fundamental processes that play an important role in soil water balance. An accurate estimation of unsaturated flow dynamics (during and after irrigation) is essential to improve wastewater management (i.e. estimating groundwater recharge or maximizing irrigation efficiency) and to avoid possible soil and groundwater affections (i.e. predicting contaminant transport). The study site is located in the Experimental Plant of Carrión de los Céspedes (Seville, Spain). Here, treated wastewater is irrigated over the soil to enhance plants growth. To obtain physical characteristics of the soil (granulometry, bulk density and water retention curve), soil samples were collected at different depths. A drain gauge passive capillary lysimeter was installed to determine the volume of water draining from the vadose zone. Volumetric water content of the soil was monitored by measuring the dielectric constant using capacitance/frequency domain technology. Three soil moisture probes were located at different depths (20, 50 and 70 cm below the ground surface) to control the variation of the volumetric water content during infiltration. The main aim of this study is to understand water flow dynamics through the unsaturated zone during irrigation by using the finite element model Hydrus-1D. The experimental conditions were simulated by a 90 cm long, one dimensional solution domain. Specific climatic conditions, wastewater irrigation rates and physical properties of the soil were introduced in the model as input parameters. Data from the lysimeter and soil moisture probes were used to calibrate the model. The overall simulation time period included the dry (irrigation as main source of water) and the wet season (precipitation as main source of water). Future investigation concerning groundwater affections and contaminant transport at the field site will be based on the results obtained through the flow model developed in this study.

Fast determination of soil behavior in the capillary zone using simple laboratory tests.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-12-01

Frost heave and thaw weakening are typical problems for engineers building in northern regions. These unsaturated-soil behaviors are : caused by water flowing through the capillary zone to a freezing front, where it forms ice lenses. Although suction...

Effect of soil moisture on the sorption of trichloroethene vapor to vadose-zone soil at picatinny arsenal, New Jersey

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, J.A.; Chiou, C.T.; Kammer, J.A.; Kile, D.E.

1990-01-01

This report presents data on the sorption of trichloroethene (TCE) vapor to vadose-zone soil above a contaminated water-table aquifer at Picatinny Arsenal in Morris County, NJ. To assess the impact of moisture on TCE sorption, batch experiments on the sorption of TCE vapor by the field soil were carried out as a function of relative humidity. The TCE sorption decreases as soil moisture content increases from zero to saturation soil moisture content (the soil moisture content in equilibrium with 100% relative humidity). The moisture content of soil samples collected from the vadose zone was found to be greater than the saturation soil-moisture content, suggesting that adsorption of TCE by the mineral fraction of the vadose-zone soil should be minimal relative to the partition uptake by soil organic matter. Analyses of soil and soil-gas samples collected from the field indicate that the ratio of the concentration of TCE on the vadose-zone soil to its concentration in the soil gas is 1-3 orders of magnitude greater than the ratio predicted by using an assumption of equilibrium conditions. This apparent disequilibrium presumably results from the slow desorption of TCE from the organic matter of the vadose-zone soil relative to the dissipation of TCE vapor from the soil gas.

Measuring and computing natural ground-water recharge at sites in south-central Kansas

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sophocleous, M.A.; Perry, C.A.

1987-01-01

To measure the natural groundwater recharge process, two sites in south-central Kansas were instrumented with sensors and data microloggers. The atmospheric-boundary layer and the unsaturated and saturated soil zones were monitored as a single regime. Direct observations also were used to evaluate the measurements. Atmospheric sensors included an anemometer, a tipping-bucket rain gage, an air-temperature thermistor, a relative-humidity probe, a net radiometer, and a barometric-pressure transducer. Sensors in the unsaturated zone consisted of soil-temperature thermocouples, tensiometers coupled with pressure transducers and dial gages, gypsum blocks, and a neutron-moisture probe. The saturated-zone sensors consisted of a water-level pressure transducer, a conventional float gage connected to a variable potentiometer, soil thermocouples, and a number of multiple-depth piezometers. Evaluation of the operation of these sensors and recorders indicates that certain types of equipment, such as pressure transducers, are very sensitive to environmental conditions. A number of suggestions aimed at improving instrumentation of recharge investigations are outlined. Precipitation and evapotranspiration data, taken together with soil moisture profiles and storage changes, water fluxes in the unsaturated zone and hydraulic gradients in the saturated zone at various depths, soil temperature, water table hydrographs, and water level changes in nearby wells, describe the recharge process. Although the two instrumented sites are located in sand-dune environments in area characterized by a shallow water table and a sub-humid continental climate, a significant difference was observed in the estimated total recharge. The estimates ranged from less than 2.5 mm at the Zenith site to approximately 154 mm at the Burrton site from February to June 1983. The principal reasons that the Burrton site had more recharge than the Zenith site were more precipitation, less evapotranspiration, and a shallower depth to the water table. Effective recharge took place only during late winter and spring. No summer or fall recharge was observed at either site during the observation period of this study. (Author 's abstract)

Project Summary. THE RETC CODE FOR QUANTIFYING THE HYDRAULIC FUNCTIONS OF UNSATURATED SOILS

EPA Science Inventory

This summary describes the RETC computer code for analyzing the soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity functions of unsaturated soils. These hydraulic properties are key parameters in any quantitative description of water flow into and through the unsaturated zone of soi...

Compost improves urban soil and water quality

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Construction in urban zones compacts the soil, which hinders root growth and infiltration and may increase erosion, which may degrade water quality. The purpose of our study was to determine the whether planting prairie grasses and adding compost to urban soils can mitigate these concerns. We simula...

Evidence of linked biogeochemical and hydrological processes in homogeneous and layered vadose zone systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McGuire, J. T.; Hansen, D. J.; Mohanty, B. P.

2010-12-01

Understanding chemical fate and transport in the vadose zone is critical to protect groundwater resources and preserve ecosystem health. However, prediction can be challenging due to the dynamic hydrologic and biogeochemical nature of the vadose zone. Additional controls on hydrobiogeochemical processes are added by subsurface structural heterogeneity. This study uses repacked soil column experiments to quantify linkages between microbial activity, geochemical cycling and hydrologic flow. Three “short” laboratory soil columns were constructed to evaluate the effects of soil layering: a homogenized medium-grained sand, homogenized organic-rich loam, and a sand-over-loam layered column. In addition, two “long” columns were constructed using either gamma-irradiated (sterilized) or untreated sediments to evaluate the effects of both soil layers and the presence of microorganisms. The long columns were packed identically; a medium-grained sand matrix with two vertically separated and horizontally offset lenses of organic-rich loam. In all 5 columns, downward and upward infiltration of water was evaluated to simulate rainfall and rising water table events respectively. In-situ colocated probes were used to measure soil water content, matric potential, Eh, major anions, ammonium, Fe2+, and total sulfide. Enhanced biogeochemical cycling was observed in the short layered column versus the short, homogeneous columns, and enumerations of iron and sulfate reducing bacteria were 1-2 orders of magnitude greater. In the long columns, microbial activity caused mineral bands and produced insoluble gases that impeded water flow through the pores of the sediment. Capillary barriers, formed around the lenses due to soil textural differences, retarded water flow rates through the lenses. This allowed reducing conditions to develop, evidenced by the production of Fe2+ and S2-. At the fringes of the lenses, Fe2+ oxidized to form Fe(III)-oxide bands that further retarded water flux. No such mineral bands developed in the sterilized column. As a consequence, water content in the lenses of the sterilized column was half that of the other column and flow rates through the lenses were an order of magnitude lower. This flow impedance limited the interaction and mixing of groundwater with infiltrating vadose zone water and led to the formation of geochemically distinct water masses residing in relatively close proximity to one another. Results provide a specific examples of the direct impact of biogeochemical cycling on water flow in the vadose zone and vice versa. In addition, these demonstrate that the presence of layers in vadose zone environments may be an important control on overall chemical fate and transport in subsurface systems.

Characterizing hydrology and the importance of ground-water discharge in natural and constructed wetlands

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hunt, Randall J.; Walker, John F.; Krabbenhoft, David P.

1999-01-01

Although considered the most important component for the establishment and persistence of wetlands, hydrology has been hard to characterize and linkages between hydrology and other environmental conditions are often poorly understood. In this work, methods for characterizing a wetland’s hydrology from hydrographs were developed, and the importance of ground water to the physical and geochemical conditions in the root zone was investigated. Detailed sampling of nearly continuous hydrographs showed that sites with greater ground-water discharge had higher water tables and more stable hydrographs. Subsampling of the continuous hydrograph failed to characterize the sites correctly, even though the wetland complex is located in a strong regional ground-water-discharge area. By comparing soil-moisture-potential measurements to the water-table hydrograph at one site, we noted that the amount of root-zone saturation was not necessarily driven by the water-table hydrograph but can be a result of other soil parameters (i.e., soil texture and associated capillary fringe). Ground-water discharge was not a significant determinant of maximum or average temperatures in the root zone. High ground-water discharge was associated with earliest date of thaw and shortest period of time that the root zone was frozen, however. Finally, the direction and magnitude of shallow ground-water flow was found to affect the migration and importance of a geochemical species. Areas of higher ground-water discharge had less downward penetration of CO2 generated in the root zone. In contrast, biotically derived CO2 was able to penetrate the deeper ground-water system in areas of ground-water recharge. Although ground-water flows are difficult to characterize, understanding these components is critical to the success of wetland restoration and creation efforts.

Evaluation of diffuse and preferential flow pathways of infiltrated precipitation and irrigation using oxygen and hydrogen isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Bin; Liang, Xing; Liu, Shaohua; Jin, Menggui; Nimmo, John R.; Li, Jing

2017-05-01

Subsurface-water flow pathways in three different land-use areas (non-irrigated grassland, poplar forest, and irrigated arable land) in the central North China Plain were investigated using oxygen (18O) and hydrogen (2H) isotopes in samples of precipitation, soils, and groundwater. Soil water in the top 10 cm was significantly affected by both evaporation and infiltration. Water at 10-40 cm depth in the grassland and arable land, and 10-60 cm in poplar forest, showed a relatively short residence time, as a substantial proportion of antecedent soil water was mixed with a 92-mm storm infiltration event, whereas below those depths (down to 150 cm), depleted δ18O spikes suggested that some storm water bypassed the shallow soil layers. Significant differences, in soil-water content and δ18O values, within a small area, suggested that the proportion of immobile soil water and water flowing in subsurface pathways varies depending on local vegetation cover, soil characteristics and irrigation applications. Soil-water δ18O values revealed that preferential flow and diffuse flow coexist. Preferential flow was active within the root zone, independent of antecedent soil-water content, in both poplar forest and arable land, whereas diffuse flow was observed in grassland. The depleted δ18O spikes at 20-50 cm depth in the arable land suggested the infiltration of irrigation water during the dry season. Temporal isotopic variations in precipitation were subdued in the shallow groundwater, suggesting more complete mixing of different input waters in the unsaturated zone before reaching the shallow groundwater.

Superfund Record of Decision (EPA Region 9): Watkins-Johnson (Stewart Division), Scotts Valley, California (first remedial action), Final report, June 29, 1990

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Not Available

The Watkins-Johnson site is an active research and development, manufacturing, and industrial complex in Santa Cruz County, five miles north of Santa Cruz, California. The Watkins-Johnson Company has owned and operated the complex since 1963, conducting such activities as: metal machining, degreasing, metal plating, and photo laboratory activities. During these activities, a variety of organics, inorganics and metals were used. The primary contaminants of concern affecting the soil and ground water are VOCs including PCE and TCE, and metals including silver. The selected remedial action for the site includes soil vapor (vacuum) extraction with pretreatment of extracted vapors using GACmore » prior to ambient discharge; capping and grading contaminated soil areas to minimize the potential for mobilization of soil contaminants to the ground water; installing infiltration leachfields to prevent offsite migration of ground water contaminants in the perched zone; installing gravity drains to transfer the contaminated ground water from the perched zone to the regional aquifer zone for subsequent extraction; ground water pumping and onsite treatment to remove contamination from both the perched and regional zones using GAC adsorption with offsite regeneration of spent carbon. The estimated present worth cost for this remedial action is $2,156,243, which includes an estimated annual O and M cost of $167,820.« less

A minimalist probabilistic description of root zone soil water

USGS Publications Warehouse

Milly, P.C.D.

2001-01-01

The probabilistic response of depth‐integrated soil water to given climatic forcing can be described readily using an existing supply‐demand‐storage model. An apparently complex interaction of numerous soil, climate, and plant controls can be reduced to a relatively simple expression for the equilibrium probability density function of soil water as a function of only two dimensionless parameters. These are the index of dryness (ratio of mean potential evaporation to mean precipitation) and a dimensionless storage capacity (active root zone soil water capacity divided by mean storm depth). The first parameter is mainly controlled by climate, with surface albedo playing a subsidiary role in determining net radiation. The second is a composite of soil (through moisture retention characteristics), vegetation (through rooting characteristics), and climate (mean storm depth). This minimalist analysis captures many essential features of a more general probabilistic analysis, but with a considerable reduction in complexity and consequent elucidation of the critical controls on soil water variability. In particular, it is shown that (1) the dependence of mean soil water on the index of dryness approaches a step function in the limit of large soil water capacity; (2) soil water variance is usually maximized when the index of dryness equals 1, and the width of the peak varies inversely with dimensionless storage capacity; (3) soil water has a uniform probability density function when the index of dryness is 1 and the dimensionless storage capacity is large; and (4) the soil water probability density function is bimodal if and only if the index of dryness is <1, but this bimodality is pronounced only for artificially small values of the dimensionless storage capacity.

An analytical solution for predicting the transient seepage from a subsurface drainage system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Pei; Dan, Han-Cheng; Zhou, Tingzhang; Lu, Chunhui; Kong, Jun; Li, Ling

2016-05-01

Subsurface drainage systems have been widely used to deal with soil salinization and waterlogging problems around the world. In this paper, a mathematical model was introduced to quantify the transient behavior of the groundwater table and the seepage from a subsurface drainage system. Based on the assumption of a hydrostatic pressure distribution, the model considered the pore-water flow in both the phreatic and vadose soil zones. An approximate analytical solution for the model was derived to quantify the drainage of soils which were initially water-saturated. The analytical solution was validated against laboratory experiments and a 2-D Richards equation-based model, and found to predict well the transient water seepage from the subsurface drainage system. A saturated flow-based model was also tested and found to over-predict the time required for drainage and the total water seepage by nearly one order of magnitude, in comparison with the experimental results and the present analytical solution. During drainage, a vadose zone with a significant water storage capacity developed above the phreatic surface. A considerable amount of water still remained in the vadose zone at the steady state with the water table situated at the drain bottom. Sensitivity analyses demonstrated that effects of the vadose zone were intensified with an increased thickness of capillary fringe, capillary rise and/or burying depth of drains, in terms of the required drainage time and total water seepage. The analytical solution provides guidance for assessing the capillary effects on the effectiveness and efficiency of subsurface drainage systems for combating soil salinization and waterlogging problems.

Acid precipitation: compositional changes during throughfall; soil water. Technical completion report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Klein, R.

1984-12-01

Lysimeters were installed at two soil depths within each of the three major ecosystems on Camels Hump Mountain. Collections were made weekly during the frost-free season of 1982 and 1983. Samples were analyzed for pH, conductivity, and a broad range of metals, anionic and cationic constituents, and for other physical properties. The findings included: soil solutions obtained from the upper-elevations in a northern coniferous forest zone are significantly more acidic than those from the lower elevation hardwood forest zone; soil solutions for all ecological zones are more acidic in the spring during and shortly after snowmelt than they are latermore » in the frost free-season; aluminum in soil solutions from the upper elevations is present in concentrations known to be phytotoxic to seedlings of forest trees and to groundcover plants; cadmium, Pb, and Zn are, in the spring, present in concentrations that are close to being phytotoxic; there are changes in the ratios of divalent cations to specific metals during the season and as functions of altitude and forest zones; nitrate concentration in soil water are also elevation- and time dependent.« less

Influence of root-water-uptake parameterization on simulated heat transport in a structured forest soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Votrubova, Jana; Vogel, Tomas; Dohnal, Michal; Dusek, Jaromir

2015-04-01

Coupled simulations of soil water flow and associated transport of substances have become a useful and increasingly popular tool of subsurface hydrology. Quality of such simulations is directly affected by correctness of its hydraulic part. When near-surface processes under vegetation cover are of interest, appropriate representation of the root water uptake becomes essential. Simulation study of coupled water and heat transport in soil profile under natural conditions was conducted. One-dimensional dual-continuum model (S1D code) with semi-separate flow domains representing the soil matrix and the network of preferential pathways was used. A simple root water uptake model based on water-potential-gradient (WPG) formulation was applied. As demonstrated before [1], the WPG formulation - capable of simulating both the compensatory root water uptake (in situations when reduced uptake from dry layers is compensated by increased uptake from wetter layers), and the root-mediated hydraulic redistribution of soil water - enables simulation of more natural soil moisture distribution throughout the root zone. The potential effect on heat transport in a soil profile is the subject of the present study. [1] Vogel T., M. Dohnal, J. Dusek, J. Votrubova, and M. Tesar. 2013. Macroscopic modeling of plant water uptake in a forest stand involving root-mediated soil-water redistribution. Vadose Zone Journal, 12, 10.2136/vzj2012.0154. The research was supported by the Czech Science Foundation Project No. 14-15201J.

Water chemistry at Snowshoe Mountain, Colorado: mixed processes in a common bedrock

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hoch, A.R.; Reddy, M.M.

2001-01-01

At Snowshoe Mountain the primary bedrock is quite homogeneous, but weathering processes vary as waters moves through the soils, vadose zone and phreatic zone of the subsurface. In the thin soil, physical degradation of tuff facilitates preferential dissolution of potassium ion from glass within the rock matrix, while other silicate minerals remain unaltered. In the vadose zone, in the upper few meters of fractured bedrock, dilute water infiltrates during spring snowmelt and summer storms, leading to preferential dissolution of augite exposed on fracture surfaces. Deeper yet, in the phreatic zone of the fractured bedrock, Pleistocene calcite fracture fillings dissolve, and dioctahedral and trioctahedral clays form as penetrative weathering alters feldspar and pyroxene. Alkalinity is generated and silica concentrations are buffered by mineral alteration reactions.

Mineralogy of Antarctica Dry Valley Soils: Implications for Pedogenic Processes on Mars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Quinn, J. E.; Ming, D. W.; Morris, R. V.; Douglas, S.; Kounaves, S. P.; McKay, C. P.; Tamppari, L, K.; Smith, P. H.; Zent, A. P.; Archer, P. D., Jr.

2010-01-01

The Antarctic Dry Valleys (ADVs) located in the Transantarctic Mountains are the coldest and driest locations on Earth. The mean annual air temperature is -20 C or less and the ADVs receive 100mm or less of precipitation annually in the form of snow. The cold and dry climate in the ADVs is one of the best terrestrial analogs for the climatic conditions on Mars [2]. The soils in the ADVs have been categorized into three soil moisture zones: subxerous, xerous and ultraxerous. The subxerous zone is a coastal region in which soils have ice-cemented permafrost relatively close to the surface. Moisture is available in relatively large amounts and soil temperatures are above freezing throughout the soil profile (above ice permafrost) in summer months. The xerous zone, the most widespread of the three zones, is an inland region with a climate midway between the subxerous and ultraxerous. The soils from this zone have dry permafrost at moderate depths (30-75cm) but have sufficient water in the upper soil horizons to allow leaching of soluble materials. The ultraxerous zone is a high elevation zone, where both temperature and precipitation amounts are very low resulting in dry permafrost throughout the soil profile. The three moisture regime regions are similar to the three microclimatic zones (coastal thaw, inland mixed, stable upland) defined by Marchant and Head.

Soil Water and Shallow Groundwater Relations in an Agricultural Hillslope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Logsdon, S. D.; Schilling, K. E.

2007-12-01

Shallow water tables contribute to soil water variations under rolling topography, and soil properties contribute to shallow water table fluctutations. Preferential flow through large soil pores can cause a rise in the water table with little increase in soil water except near the soil surface. Lateral groundwater flow can cause a large rise in water table at toeslope and depressional landscape positions. As plants transpire, water can move up into the root zone from the water table and wet soil below the root zone. Roots can utilize water in the capillary fringe. The purpose of this study was to interface automated measurements of soil water content and water table depth for determining the importance of drainage and upward movement. In 2006 soil water and water table depth were monitored at three positions: shoulder, backslope, and toeslope. Neutron access tubes were manually monitored to 2.3 m depth, and automated soil moisture was measured using CS616 probes installed at 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 0.9 m depth. Water table depths were monitored manually and automated, but the automated measurements failed during the season at two sites. In 2007, similar measurements were made at one toeslope position, but the CS616 probes were installed at nine depths and better quality automated well depth equipment was used. The 2006 data revealed little landscape position effect on daytime soil water loss on a wetter date; however, on a dry day just before a rain, daytime water loss was greatest for the toeslope positon and least for the shoulder position. After a period of intense rain, a rapid and significant water table rise occurred at the toeslope position but little water table rise occurred at the other landscape positions. The rapid toeslope water table rise was likely caused by lateral groundwater flow whereas minor water table rise at the other positions was likely due to preferential flow since the soil had not wet up below 0.6 m. Use of automated equipment has improved our understanding of the relations of soil water to water table fluctuations in an agricultural field.

Soil water content drives spatiotemporal patterns of CO2 and N2O emissions from a Mediterranean riparian forest soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Poblador, Sílvia; Lupon, Anna; Sabaté, Santiago; Sabater, Francesc

2017-09-01

Riparian zones play a fundamental role in regulating the amount of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) that is exported from catchments. However, C and N removal via soil gaseous pathways can influence local budgets of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and contribute to climate change. Over a year, we quantified soil effluxes of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from a Mediterranean riparian forest in order to understand the role of these ecosystems on catchment GHG emissions. In addition, we evaluated the main soil microbial processes that produce GHG (mineralization, nitrification, and denitrification) and how changes in soil properties can modify the GHG production over time and space. Riparian soils emitted larger amounts of CO2 (1.2-10 g C m-2 d-1) than N2O (0.001-0.2 mg N m-2 d-1) to the atmosphere attributed to high respiration and low denitrification rates. Both CO2 and N2O emissions showed a marked (but antagonistic) spatial gradient as a result of variations in soil water content across the riparian zone. Deep groundwater tables fueled large soil CO2 effluxes near the hillslope, while N2O emissions were higher in the wet zones adjacent to the stream channel. However, both CO2 and N2O emissions peaked after spring rewetting events, when optimal conditions of soil water content, temperature, and N availability favor microbial respiration, nitrification, and denitrification. Overall, our results highlight the role of water availability on riparian soil biogeochemistry and GHG emissions and suggest that climate change alterations in hydrologic regimes can affect the microbial processes that produce GHG as well as the contribution of these systems to regional and global biogeochemical cycles.

Improvements to measuring water flux in the vadose zone.

PubMed

Masarik, Kevin C; Norman, John M; Brye, Kristofor R; Baker, John M

2004-01-01

Evaluating the impact of land use practices on ground water quality has been difficult because few techniques are capable of monitoring the quality and quantity of soil water flow below the root zone without disturbing the soil profile and affecting natural flow processes. A recently introduced method, known as equilibrium tension lysimetry, was a major improvement but it was not a true equilibrium since it still required manual intervention to maintain proper lysimeter suction. We addressed this issue by developing an automated equilibrium tension lysimeter (AETL) system that continuously matches lysimeter tension to soil-water matric potential of the surrounding soil. The soil-water matric potential of the bulk soil is measured with a heat-dissipation sensor, and a small DC pump is used to apply suction to a lysimeter. The improved automated approach reported here was tested in the field for a 12-mo period. Powered by a small 12-V rechargeable battery, the AETLs were able to continuously match lysimeter suction to soil-water matric potential for 2-wk periods with minimal human attention, along with the added benefit of collecting continuous soil-water matric potential data. We also demonstrated, in the laboratory, methods for continuous measurement of water depth in the AETL, a capability that quantifies drainage on a 10-min interval, making it a true water-flux meter. Equilibrium tension lysimeters have already been demonstrated to be a reliable method of measuring drainage flux, and the further improvements have created a more effective device for studying water drainage and chemical leaching through the soil matrix.

Consequences of varied soil hydraulic and meteorological complexity on unsaturated zone time lag estimates.

PubMed

Vero, S E; Ibrahim, T G; Creamer, R E; Grant, J; Healy, M G; Henry, T; Kramers, G; Richards, K G; Fenton, O

2014-12-01

The true efficacy of a programme of agricultural mitigation measures within a catchment to improve water quality can be determined only after a certain hydrologic time lag period (subsequent to implementation) has elapsed. As the biophysical response to policy is not synchronous, accurate estimates of total time lag (unsaturated and saturated) become critical to manage the expectations of policy makers. The estimation of the vertical unsaturated zone component of time lag is vital as it indicates early trends (initial breakthrough), bulk (centre of mass) and total (Exit) travel times. Typically, estimation of time lag through the unsaturated zone is poor, due to the lack of site specific soil physical data, or by assuming saturated conditions. Numerical models (e.g. Hydrus 1D) enable estimates of time lag with varied levels of input data. The current study examines the consequences of varied soil hydraulic and meteorological complexity on unsaturated zone time lag estimates using simulated and actual soil profiles. Results indicated that: greater temporal resolution (from daily to hourly) of meteorological data was more critical as the saturated hydraulic conductivity of the soil decreased; high clay content soils failed to converge reflecting prevalence of lateral component as a contaminant pathway; elucidation of soil hydraulic properties was influenced by the complexity of soil physical data employed (textural menu, ROSETTA, full and partial soil water characteristic curves), which consequently affected time lag ranges; as the importance of the unsaturated zone increases with respect to total travel times the requirements for high complexity/resolution input data become greater. The methodology presented herein demonstrates that decisions made regarding input data and landscape position will have consequences for the estimated range of vertical travel times. Insufficiencies or inaccuracies regarding such input data can therefore mislead policy makers regarding the achievability of water quality targets. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Emerging organic pollutants in the vadose zone of a soil aquifer treatment system: Pore water extraction using positive displacement.

PubMed

Sopilniak, Alexander; Elkayam, Roy; Rossin, Anna Voloshenko; Lev, Ovadia

2018-01-01

Trace organic compounds in effluents, water streams and aquifers are amply reported. However, the mobile pool of Emerging Organic Contaminants (EOCs) in the deep parts of the vadose zone is hard to estimate, due to difficulties in extraction of sufficient quantity of pore water. Here, we present a new methodology for depth profiling of EOCs in pore water by Positive Displacement Extraction (PDE): Pore water extraction from unsaturated soil samples is carried out by withdrawal of soil cores by direct-push drilling and infiltrating the core by organics free water. We show that EOC concentrations in the water eluted in the plateau region of the inverse breakthrough curve is equal to their pore water concentrations. The method was previously validated for DOC extraction, and here the scope of the methodology is extended to pore water extraction for organic pollutants analysis. Method characteristics and validation were carried out with atrazine, simazine, carbamazepine, venlafaxine, O-desmethylvenlafaxine and caffeine in the concentration range of several ng to several μg/liter. Validation was carried out by laboratory experiments on three different soils (sandy, sandy-clayey and clayey). Field studies in the vadose zone of a SAT system provided 27 m deep EOC profiles with less than 1.5 m spatial resolution. During the percolation treatment, carbamazepine remained persistent, while the other studied EOCs were attenuated to the extent of 50-99%.The highest degradation rate of all studied EOCs was in the aerobic zone. EOC levels based on PDE and extraction by centrifugation were compared, showing a positive bias for centrifugation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Release of dissolved phosphorus from riparian wetlands: Evidence for complex interactions among hydroclimate variability, topography and soil properties.

PubMed

Gu, Sen; Gruau, Gérard; Dupas, Rémi; Rumpel, Cornélia; Crème, Alexandra; Fovet, Ophélie; Gascuel-Odoux, Chantal; Jeanneau, Laurent; Humbert, Guillaume; Petitjean, Patrice

2017-11-15

In agricultural landscapes, establishment of vegetated buffer zones in riparian wetlands (RWs) is promoted to decrease phosphorus (P) emissions because RWs can trap particulate P from upslope fields. However, long-term accumulation of P risks the release of dissolved P, since the unstable hydrological conditions in these zones may mobilize accumulated particulate P by transforming it into a mobile dissolved P species. This study evaluates how hydroclimate variability, topography and soil properties interact and influence this mobilization, using a three-year dataset of molybdate-reactive dissolved P (MRDP) and total dissolved P (TDP) concentrations in soil water from two RWs located in an agricultural catchment in western France (Kervidy-Naizin), along with stream P concentrations. Two main drivers of seasonal dissolved P release were identified: i) soil rewetting during water-table rise after dry periods and ii) reductive dissolution of soil Fe (hydr)oxides during prolonged water saturation periods. These mechanisms were shown to vary greatly in space (according to topography) and time (according to intra- and interannual hydroclimate variability). The concentration and speciation of the released dissolved P also varied spatially depending on soil chemistry and local topography. Comparison of sites revealed a similar correlation between soil P speciation (percentage of organic P ranging from 35-70%) and the concentration and speciation of the released P (MRDP from <0.10 to 0.40mgl -1 ; percentage of MRDP in TDP from 25-70%). These differences propagated to stream water, suggesting that the two RWs investigated were the main sources of dissolved P to streams. RWs can be critical areas due to their ability to biogeochemically transform the accumulated P in these zones into highly mobile and highly bioavailable dissolved P forms. Hydroclimate variability, local topography and soil chemistry must be considered to decrease the risk of remobilizing legacy soil P when establishing riparian buffer zones in agricultural landscapes. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Transpiration Driven Hydrologic Transport in vegetated shallow water environments: Implications on Diel and Seasonal Soil Biogeochemical Processes and System Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bachand, P.; Bachand, S. M.; Fleck, J.; Anderson, F.

2011-12-01

Hydrology arguably plays the most important role in biogeochemical cycling of mercury in wetlands and other shallow aquatic systems. CFSTR, PFR and non-ideal reactor models are oftentimes currently used to hydrologically assess these systems and to account for the fate, transport and cycling of constituents of concern (COC) with systems assumed to be non-leaky and with diffusion dominating soil transport. Yet a number of results in the literature imply transpiration drives soil transport: transpiration into the root zone is in the range of 50 - 75% of ET seasonally; gaseous emissions from aquatic systems show a diel pattern that tracks diel ET patterns; in long detention time aquatic systems ET is the largest sink for applied surface waters; and non-reactive tracers when applied to surface waters can find themselves in the root zone and within plants. All these findings strongly suggest transpiration driven infiltration into the root zone, is a significant hydrologic pathway for constituents and is an important transport mechanism. This paper examines the annual water budget for four shallow aquatic land uses in the Yolo Bypass, California: rice, wild rice, fallowed fields and wetlands. Results indicate that differences in hydrology between the fields, particularly the temporal nature of transpiration, play a significant role in mercury transformations and transport. During the irrigation period, fallowed fields discharged 6 cm of surface water (15% applied water), rice fields 31 - 43 cm (27 - 31% applied water), and wild rice fields 16 - 39 cm (15 - 31% applied water). Evapotranspiration rates were in the range of 120 - 130 cm/y for all land uses (i.e. rice, wild rice, fallowed fields and seasonal wetlands) except for the permanent wetland which was about 1/3 higher at about 170 cm/y. During the summer, approximately 50% of the applied surface water was drawn into the root zone to meet transpiration demands. Based upon results from our water budget and utilizing modified Peclet No. calculations, we quantified the relative importance of upward diffusion from the sediments and downward advection from transpiration as hydrologic transport mechanisms in the root zone. Transpiration driven infiltration moves water past the diffusive zone within 1 - 2 days in this system during the summer months. With the waning seasons, evapotranspiration diminishes until by winter diffusion dominates throughout the entire root zone. This model has great implications on the analyses of soil biogeochemical process in the root zone of shallow aquatic systems. Downward advection is a major transport mechanism into the root zone of shallow flooded aquatic systems and provides an important physical mechanism that drives variability in the seasonal and diel storage; release and cycling of COCs; and the creation of both a physical and chemical barrierd to upward diffusion of soil-borne COCs into the water column. Models that do not account for root zone interactions may not be able to capture diel and seasonal differences. Moreover, these interactions may lead to unanticipated environmental consequences as a result of cultural practices.

Controls on deep drainage beneath the root soil zone in snowmelt-dominated environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hammond, J. C.; Harpold, A. A.; Kampf, S. K.

2017-12-01

Snowmelt is the dominant source of streamflow generation and groundwater recharge in many high elevation and high latitude locations, yet we still lack a detailed understanding of how snowmelt is partitioned between the soil, deep drainage, and streamflow under a variety of soil, climate, and snow conditions. Here we use Hydrus 1-D simulations with historical inputs from five SNOTEL snow monitoring sites in each of three regions, Cascades, Sierra, and Southern Rockies, to investigate how inter-annual variability on water input rate and duration affects soil saturation and deep drainage. Each input scenario was run with three different soil profiles of varying hydraulic conductivity, soil texture, and bulk density. We also created artificial snowmelt scenarios to test how snowmelt intermittence affects deep drainage. Results indicate that precipitation is the strongest predictor (R2 = 0.83) of deep drainage below the root zone, with weaker relationships observed between deep drainage and snow persistence, peak snow water equivalent, and melt rate. The ratio of deep drainage to precipitation shows a stronger positive relationship to melt rate suggesting that a greater fraction of input becomes deep drainage at higher melt rates. For a given amount of precipitation, rapid, concentrated snowmelt may create greater deep drainage below the root zone than slower, intermittent melt. Deep drainage requires saturation below the root zone, so saturated hydraulic conductivity serves as a primary control on deep drainage magnitude. Deep drainage response to climate is mostly independent of soil texture because of its reliance on saturated conditions. Mean water year saturations of deep soil layers can predict deep drainage and may be a useful way to compare sites in soils with soil hydraulic porosities. The unit depth of surface runoff often is often greater than deep drainage at daily and annual timescales, as snowmelt exceeds infiltration capacity in near-surface soil layers. These results suggest that processes affecting the duration of saturation below the root zone could compromise deep recharge, including changes in snowmelt rate and duration as well as the depth and rate of ET losses from the soil profile.

Vadose Zone Monitoring of Dairy Green Water Lagoons using Soil Solution Samplers.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brainard, James R.; Coplen, Amy K

2005-11-01

Over the last decade, dairy farms in New Mexico have become an important component to the economy of many rural ranching and farming communities. Dairy operations are water intensive and use groundwater that otherwise would be used for irrigation purposes. Most dairies reuse their process/green water three times and utilize lined lagoons for temporary storage of green water. Leakage of water from lagoons can pose a risk to groundwater quality. Groundwater resource protection infrastructures at dairies are regulated by the New Mexico Environment Department which currently relies on monitoring wells installed in the saturated zone for detecting leakage of wastemore » water lagoon liners. Here we present a proposal to monitor the unsaturated zone beneath the lagoons with soil water solution samplers to provide early detection of leaking liners. Early detection of leaking liners along with rapid repair can minimize contamination of aquifers and reduce dairy liability for aquifer remediation. Additionally, acceptance of vadose zone monitoring as a NMED requirement over saturated zone monitoring would very likely significantly reduce dairy startup and expansion costs. Acknowledgment Funding for this project was provided by the Sandia National Laboratories Small Business Assistance Program« less

SMERGE: A multi-decadal root-zone soil moisture product for CONUS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crow, W. T.; Dong, J.; Tobin, K. J.; Torres, R.

2017-12-01

Multi-decadal root-zone soil moisture products are of value for a range of water resource and climate applications. The NASA-funded root-zone soil moisture merging project (SMERGE) seeks to develop such products through the optimal merging of land surface model predictions with surface soil moisture retrievals acquired from multi-sensor remote sensing products. This presentation will describe the creation and validation of a daily, multi-decadal (1979-2015), vertically-integrated (both surface to 40 cm and surface to 100 cm), 0.125-degree root-zone product over the contiguous United States (CONUS). The modeling backbone of the system is based on hourly root-zone soil moisture simulations generated by the Noah model (v3.2) operating within the North American Land Data Assimilation System (NLDAS-2). Remotely-sensed surface soil moisture retrievals are taken from the multi-sensor European Space Agency Climate Change Initiative soil moisture data set (ESA CCI SM). In particular, the talk will detail: 1) the exponential smoothing approach used to convert surface ESA CCI SM retrievals into root-zone soil moisture estimates, 2) the averaging technique applied to merge (temporally-sporadic) remotely-sensed with (continuous) NLDAS-2 land surface model estimates of root-zone soil moisture into the unified SMERGE product, and 3) the validation of the SMERGE product using long-term, ground-based soil moisture datasets available within CONUS.

Modeling Water Flux at the Base of the Rooting Zone for Soils with Varying Glacial Parent Materials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Naylor, S.; Ellett, K. M.; Ficklin, D. L.; Olyphant, G. A.

2013-12-01

Soils of varying glacial parent materials in the Great Lakes Region (USA) are characterized by thin unsaturated zones and widespread use of agricultural pesticides and nutrients that affect shallow groundwater. To better our understanding of the fate and transport of contaminants, improved models of water fluxes through the vadose zones of various hydrogeologic settings are warranted. Furthermore, calibrated unsaturated zone models can be coupled with watershed models, providing a means for predicting the impact of varying climate scenarios on agriculture in the region. To address these issues, a network of monitoring sites was developed in Indiana that provides continuous measurements of precipitation, potential evapotranspiration (PET), soil volumetric water content (VWC), and soil matric potential to parameterize and calibrate models. Flux at the base of the root zone is simulated using two models of varying complexity: 1) the HYDRUS model, which numerically solves the Richards equation, and 2) the soil-water-balance (SWB) model, which assumes vertical flow under a unit gradient with infiltration and evapotranspiration treated as separate, sequential processes. Soil hydraulic parameters are determined based on laboratory data, a pedo-transfer function (ROSETTA), field measurements (Guelph permeameter), and parameter optimization. Groundwater elevation data are available at three of six sites to establish the base of the unsaturated zone model domain. Initial modeling focused on the groundwater recharge season (Nov-Feb) when PET is limited and much of the annual vertical flux occurs. HYDRUS results indicate that base of root zone fluxes at a site underlain by glacial ice-contact parent materials are 48% of recharge season precipitation (VWC RMSE=8.2%), while SWB results indicate that fluxes are 43% (VWC RMSE=3.7%). Due in part to variations in surface boundary conditions, more variable fluxes were obtained for a site underlain by alluvium with the SWB model (68% of recharge season precipitation, VWC RMSE=7.0%) predicting much greater drainage than HYDRUS (38% of recharge season precipitation, VWC RMSE=6.6%). Results also show that when calculating drainage flux over the recharge period, HYDRUS is highly sensitive to model initialization using observed water content from in-situ instrumentation. Simulated recharge season drainage flux is as much as 3.5 times higher when a one-month spin-up period was performed in the HYDRUS model for the same site. SWB results are less sensitive to water content initialization, but drainage flux is 1.6 times higher at one site using the same spin-up analysis. The long-term goals of this effort are to leverage the robust calibration data set to establish optimal approaches for determining hydraulic parameters such that water fluxes in the lower vadose zone can be modeled for a wider range of geomorphic settings where calibration data are unavailable.

Sensing water from subsurface drip irrigation laterals: In situ sensors, weighing lysimeters and COSMOS under vegetated and bare conditions

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Characterization of soil water dynamics in the root zone under subsurface drip irrigated (SDI) is complicated by the three dimensional nature of water fluxes from drip emitters plus the fluxes, if any, of water from precipitation. In addition, soil water sensing systems may differ in their operating...

Laboratory and numerical experiments on water and energy fluxes during freezing and thawing in the unsaturated zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holländer, Hartmut; Montasir Islam, Md.; Šimunek, Jirka

2017-04-01

Frozen soil has a major effect in many hydrologic processes, and its effects are difficult to predict. A prime example is flood forecasting during spring snowmelt within the Canadian Prairies. One key driver for the extent of flooding is the antecedent soil moisture and the possibility for water to infiltrate into frozen soils. Therefore, these situations are crucial for accurate flood prediction during every spring. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the water flow and heat transport within HYDRUS-1D version 4.16 and with Hansson's model, which is a detailed freezing/thawing module (Hansson et al., 2004), to predict the impact of frozen and partly frozen soil on infiltration. We developed a standardized data set of water flow and heat transport into (partial) frozen soil by laboratory experiments using fine sand. Temperature, soil moisture, and percolated water were observed at different freezing conditions as well as at thawing conditions. Significant variation in soil moisture was found between the top and the bottom of the soil column at the starting of the thawing period. However, with increasing temperature, the lower depth of the soil column showed higher moisture as the soil became enriched with moisture due to the release of heat by soil particles during the thawing cycle. We applied vadose zone modeling using the results from the laboratory experiments. The simulated water content by HYDRUS-1D 4.16 showed large errors compared to the observed data showing by negative Nash-Sutcliffe Efficiency. Hansson's model was not able to predict soil water fluxes due to its unstable behavior (Šimunek et al., 2016). The soil temperature profile simulated using HYDRUS-1D 4.16 was not able to predict the release of latent heat during the phase change of water that was visible in Hansson's model. Hansson's model includes the energy gain/loss due to the phase change in the amount of latent energy stored in the modified heat transport equation. However, in situations when the thermal heat gradient was large, the latent heat was not the key process, and HYDRUS-1D 4.16 was predicting better soil temperatures compared to Hansson's model. The newly developed data showed their usefulness for the evaluation and validation of the numerical models. We claim that these laboratory results will be useful for the validation of numerical models and for developing scientific knowledge to suggest potential code variations or new code development in numerical models. References: Hansson, K., J. Šimunek, M. Mizoguchi, L.-C. Lundin, and M. T. van Genuchten (2004), Water Flow and Heat Transport in Frozen Soil, Vadose Zone J, 3(2), 693-704. Šimunek, J., M. T. van Genuchten, and M. Sejna (2016), Recent developments and applications of the HYDRUS computer software packages, Vadose Zone J, 15(7).

Land use and hydromechanical heterogeneities in marshland soils.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tojo Radimy, Raymond; Dupont, Jean-Paul; Dudoignon, Patrick

2017-04-01

In the interpretation of soil moisture profiles, mechanical properties were most often considered homogeneous. The structural heterogeneities of the soil are knows to be at the origin of the distribution and the availability of water in the vadose zone. The soils study is located in the French Atlantic coastal marshlands, characterized by the succession polderization/desiccation/consolidation and maturation. The work is carried out within the framework of the farming of old salt marshes with two concerns in the farmers: the salinity of the soil and the distribution of the available water capacity of the soils according to the crop growth. The present work shows the knowledge of the soil storage transfers during seasonal cycles on drained corn field and undrained grassland. We analyze the vertical water profiles observed to reveal the hydromechanical heterogeneities in the soils depending the porosity and gravity water parameter. This approach is based on mechanical tests between the compaction pathways carried out in the laboratory using materials taken in situ. Comparing to grasslands profiles, we highlight the influence of agricultural practices and the establishment of drainage in the marshland. However, the vertical homogenization of hydromechanical structures, desalination has been taken into account for the estimation of water in crop. The concept of a homogeneous structure is not adapted to real vertical profile. Finally, the authors conclude by discussing the notion of the mechanical availability of water in terms of porosity and gravity water. These parameters are good tools to the sustainable management of marshland soils. Keywords: hydromechanics, vadose zone, soil structure, land use, available water capacity

Benchmarking LSM root-zone soil mositure predictions using satellite-based vegetation indices

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The application of modern land surface models (LSMs) to agricultural drought monitoring is based on the premise that anomalies in LSM root-zone soil moisture estimates can accurately anticipate the subsequent impact of drought on vegetation productivity and health. In addition, the water and energy ...

Water movement in the unsaturated zone at a low-level radioactive-waste burial site near Barnwell, South Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dennehy, K.F.; McMahon, P.B.

1987-01-01

Four unsaturated zone monitoring sites and a meteorologic station were installed at the low level radioactive waste burial site near Barnwell, South Carolina, to investigate the geohydrologic and climatologic factors affecting water movement in the unsaturated zone. The study site is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The unsaturated zone consists of a few centimeters to > 1 m of surface sand, underlain by up to 15 m of clayey sand. Two monitoring sites were installed in experimental trenches and two were installed in radioactive waste trenches. Two different trench designs were evaluated at the monitoring sites. A meteorologic station was used to measure precipitation and to calculate actual evapotranspiration using the Bowen ratio method. Soil-moisture tensiometers, soil-moisture conductance probes, and temperature sensors were used to monitor soil-water movement in and adjacent to the trenches. Tracer tests using sodium chloride were conducted at each monitoring site. Data collection at the monitoring sites began in January 1982 and continued until early May 1984. Tensiometer data show that the unsaturated materials had their highest percent saturations in the winter and spring. Saturations in the backfill sand varied from 20 to 100%. They varied from about 75 to 100% in the adjacent undisturbed and overlying compacted clayey sand. Additionally, because tensiometer data indicate negligible water storage changes in the unsaturated zone, it is estimated that approximately 43 cm of recharge reached the water table. During 1984, the rise and fall of ponded water in an experimental trench was continuously monitored with a digital recorder. A cross-sectional finite element model of variably saturated flow was used to test the conceptual model of water movement in the unsaturated zone and to illustrate the effect of trench design on water movement into the experimental trenches. Monitoring and model results show that precipitation on trenches infiltrated the trench cap and moved vertically into the trench backfill material. The trench construction practice of placing a compacted clayey-sand barrier around the trench greatly inhibits soil water from entering the trench. (Author 's abstract)

Effects of soil water availability on water fluxes in winter wheat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cai, G.; Vanderborght, J.; Langensiepen, M.; Vereecken, H.

2014-12-01

Quantifying soil water availability in water-limited ecosystems on plant water use continues to be a practical problem in agronomy. Transpiration which represents plant water demand is closely in relation to root water uptake in the root zone and sap flow in plant stems. However, few studies have been concentrated on influences of soil moisture on root water uptake and sap flow in crops. This study was undertaken to investigate (i) whether root water uptake and sap flow correlate with the transpiration estimated by the Penman-Monteith model for winter wheat(Triticum aestivum), and (ii) for which soil water potentials in the root zone, the root water uptake and sap flow rates in crop stems would be reduced. Therefore, we measured sap flow velocities by an improved heat-balance approach (Langensiepen et al., 2014), calculated crop transpiration by Penman-Monteith model, and simulated root water uptake by HYDRUS-1D on an hourly scale for different soil water status in winter wheat. In order to assess the effects of soil water potential on root water uptake and sap flow, an average soil water potential was calculated by weighting the soil water potential at a certain depth with the root length density. The temporal evolution of root length density was measured using horizontal rhizotubes that were installed at different depths.The results showed that root water uptake and sap flow matched well with the computed transpiration by Penman-Monteith model in winter wheat when the soil water potential was not limiting root water uptake. However, low soil water content restrained root water uptake, especially when soil water potential was lower than -90 kPa in the top soil. Sap flow in wheat was not affected by the observed soil water conditions, suggesting that stomatal conductance was not sensitive to soil water potentials. The effect of drought stress on root water uptake and sap flow in winter wheat was only investigated in a short time (after anthesis). Further research could focus on a long time (e.g. from vegetation to maturity) effect under different soil water conditions, such as irrigated, sheltered and normal status. Langensiepen, M., Kupisch, M., Graf, A., Schmidt, M. and Ewert, F., 2014. Improving the stem heat balance method for determining sap-flow in wheat. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 186: 34-42.

Observation of flow processes in the vadose zone using ERT on different space and time scales: results, obstacles, and suggestions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noell, Ursula; Ganz, Christina; Lamparter, Axel; Duijnisveld, Wilhelmus; Bachmann, Jörg

2013-04-01

Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) observes the flow processes in the vadose zone indirectly. ERT has been used to estimate water flow in different soil types and under different flow conditions using active experiments or monitoring the natural process in many cases. Our experiments in sand and loess soil connected ERT with local soil probing using TDR devices and tensiometers in order to proof the reliability of the ERT inversion results in terms of infiltration velocity. Additionally, a colour tracer was used and sections through the infiltration zones were excavated in order to compare the shape of the dye -stained infiltration zone with the results of the ERT inversion. The data revealed the complicated infiltration pattern with a higher transport velocity in sand and a different shape than expected by classical soil hydraulic models. These results indicate the need for independent observations in order to correctly assess the water storage in the vadose zone with its hydrological consequences, the groundwater recharge and the contamination risk caused by rapid movement of water. ERT can be used for this purpose on different spatial- and time scales but for reliable results various obstacles need to be dealt with. Firstly, the ambiguity of the resistivity because soil resistivity depends on both, soil water content and electrical soil/water conductivity. This obstacle is less severe when the infiltration velocity is investigated, because then only the first onset of resistivity change is interpreted as the water arrival time. Our results show that the arrival of the water front as well as the final infiltration depth can be reliably detected. In contrast, this obstacle is very severe when the amount of water stored is observed using conductive tracer. The problem is not critical during a passive experiment when the natural rain fall and the waters fate through the vadose zone is monitored. The second obstacle is the limited resolution of ERT which deteriorates with depth. The resolution depends on the electrode distances and the depth resolution can be increased by using borehole electrodes. However, if one ha of land is to be observed with a reasonable number of electrodes (some 100) the resolution will be some 10 m. The structures, however, that influence the infiltration process, might be much smaller. Therefore, it is suggested to use ERT as the tool to observe and quantify the infiltration process with regard to time and space on a scale of some meters. For independent proof local TDR devices should be inserted within the investigated area for calibration. These results should then be used to establish a physical soil model that grasps the observed process correctly in time and space. The next step would then be to repeat these local measurements at different locations where the similarity of the processes is at doubt. Only when this is confirmed or discarded, further upscaling steps can be done reliably.

Evaluation of diffuse and preferential flow pathways of infiltratedprecipitation and irrigation using oxygen and hydrogen isotopes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ma, Bin; Liang, Xing; Liu, Shaohua; Jin, Menggui; Nimmo, John R.; Li, Jingxin

2017-01-01

Subsurface-water flow pathways in three different land-use areas (non-irrigated grassland, poplar forest, and irrigated arable land) in the central North China Plain were investigated using oxygen (18O) and hydrogen (2H) isotopes in samples of precipitation, soils, and groundwater. Soil water in the top 10 cm was significantly affected by both evaporation and infiltration. Water at 10–40 cm depth in the grassland and arable land, and 10–60 cm in poplar forest, showed a relatively short residence time, as a substantial proportion of antecedent soil water was mixed with a 92-mm storm infiltration event, whereas below those depths (down to 150 cm), depleted δ18O spikes suggested that some storm water bypassed the shallow soil layers. Significant differences, in soil-water content and δ18O values, within a small area, suggested that the proportion of immobile soil water and water flowing in subsurface pathways varies depending on local vegetation cover, soil characteristics and irrigation applications. Soil-water δ18O values revealed that preferential flow and diffuse flow coexist. Preferential flow was active within the root zone, independent of antecedent soil-water content, in both poplar forest and arable land, whereas diffuse flow was observed in grassland. The depleted δ18O spikes at 20–50 cm depth in the arable land suggested the infiltration of irrigation water during the dry season. Temporal isotopic variations in precipitation were subdued in the shallow groundwater, suggesting more complete mixing of different input waters in the unsaturated zone before reaching the shallow groundwater.

Vadose zone dynamics governing snowmelt infiltration and groundwater recharge in a seasonally frozen, semi-arid landscape

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohammed, A.; LeBlanc, F.; Cey, E. E.; Hayashi, M.

2016-12-01

Snowmelt infiltration and vadose zone fluxes in seasonally frozen soils are strongly affected by meteorological and soil moisture dynamics occurring during the preceding fall and winter, and complex processes controlling soil hydraulic and thermal regimes. In order to predict their effects on hydrologic processes such as run-off generation, groundwater recharge and plant-water availability in cold regions, an improved understanding of the mechanisms governing coupled water and heat fluxes in the unsaturated zone is needed. Field and laboratory studies were conducted to investigate snowmelt infiltration and groundwater recharge through partially frozen ground over a range of climate and soil conditions in the Canadian Prairies. Meteorological and subsurface field measurements at three sites were combined with laboratory infiltration experiments on frozen undisturbed soil-columns to provide insights into the hydraulic and thermal processes governing water movement. Analysis reveals that antecedent moisture content and thermal profiles both strongly affect subsurface dynamics during infiltration of snowmelt. Preferential flow is also a critical parameter, as both thermal and hydraulic responses were observed at depth prior to complete ground thaw in the field; as well as drainage outflow from the frozen soil column experiments under certain conditions. Results indicate that both diffuse (matrix) and preferential (macropore) flow play significant roles in the infiltration and redistribution of snowmelt water under frozen soil conditions, and shallow groundwater recharge. This study highlights the critical subsurface factors and processes that control infiltration and groundwater recharge in these seasonally frozen landscapes.

Crop systems and plant roots can modify the soil water holding capacity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Doussan, Claude; Cousin, Isabelle; Berard, Annette; Chabbi, Abad; Legendre, Laurent; Czarnes, Sonia; Toussaint, Bruce; Ruy, Stéphane

2015-04-01

At the interface between atmosphere and deep sub-soil, the root zone plays a major role in regulating the flow of water between major compartments: groundwater / surface / atmosphere (drainage, runoff, evapotranspiration). This role of soil as regulator/control of water fluxes, but also as a supporting medium to plant growth, is strongly dependent on the hydric properties of the soil. In turn, the plant roots growing in the soil can change its structure; both in the plow layer and in the deeper horizons and, therefore, could change the soil properties, particularly hydric properties. Such root-related alteration of soil properties can be linked to direct effect of roots such as soil perforation during growth, aggregation of soil particles or indirect effects such as the release of exudates by roots that could modify the properties of water or of soil particles. On an another hand, the rhizosphere, the zone around roots influenced by the activity of root and associated microorganisms, could have a high influence on hydric properties, particularly the water retention. To test if crops and plant roots rhizosphere may have a significant effect on water retention, we conducted various experiment from laboratory to field scales. In the lab, we tested different soil and species for rhizospheric effect on soil water retention. Variation in available water content (AWC) between bulk and rhizospheric soil varied from non-significant to a significant increase (to about 16% increase) depending on plant species and soil type. In the field, the alteration of water retention by root systems was tested in different pedological settings for a Maize crop inoculated or not with the bacteria Azospirillum spp., known to alter root structure, growth and morphology. Again, a range of variation in AWC was evidenced, with significant increase (~30%) in some soil types, but more linked to innoculated/non-innoculated plants rather than to a difference between rhizospheric and bulk soil. Finally, in field condition, on a larger time scale, we investigated the effect of crop alternations on the Lusignan ACBB SOERE site. That site presents on the same soil type different crop alternation treatments: an old, continuous grassland, a 8-year continuous cereal rotation and an alternation of cereal/grassland (3-years cereals and 3 to 6 years grassland). Measurements of AWC in these different crop systems setting, 8 years after implementation of the SOERE, show that AWC was different in the cereal/grassland alternation compared to the continuous cereal or grassland cropping systems (~15-20% increase). If such alteration of AWC may seem modest, modeling (in the case of ACBB SOERE) shows that this increase in AWC would increase the cereal yield but also decrease the water drainage out of the root zone, and the possible associated loss of nitrate and pesticides. As a conclusion, in line with some other literature data, roots can influence soil hydric properties and this opens a way to use plants as "soil engineers" to modulate the properties of the root zone, and thus the components of water balance, to mitigate effects of drought on crops… However, how and how much plants will modify the hydric properties, a question which mixes physics, biology, microbiology, crop system settings, is still in infancy and needs further research.

Soil Flushing Through a Thick Vadose Zone: Perchlorate Removal Documented at Edwards AFB, California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Battey, T. F.; Shepard, A. J.; Tait, R. J.

2007-12-01

There are currently few viable alternatives for perchlorate remediation in the vadose zone, particularly for the relatively thick vadose zones that are typical in the arid southwest where many perchlorate sites occur. Perchlorate in the vadose zone occurs in the form of highly soluble salts that may represent a risk to human or ecological receptors, and may also represent a threat to the underlying groundwater. A soil flushing treatability study was conducted at Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of southern California at a site with a 129-foot thick vadose zone consisting primarily of clayey sand. This study utilized an infiltration gallery in conjunction with extraction, treatment, and re-injection of groundwater at the site, which contained perchlorate-contaminated soil and groundwater. The study objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the infiltration gallery to 1) introduce treated groundwater back into the aquifer and 2) wash the perchlorate from the vadose zone soils to the aquifer. The infiltration gallery consisted of slotted PVC pipes within a highly permeable engineered bed of washed gravel. The initial water introduced into the gallery was amended with potassium bromide tracer. A downhole neutron probe was used to track the movement of the wetting front downward and outward from the gallery. Successive neutron measurements in vertical access tubes revealed that the introduced water reached the 125-foot bottom of the access tubes 14 weeks after the water was introduced into the gallery. The bromide tracer was detected in groundwater immediately below the gallery approximately 1 week later. The infiltration gallery was able to sustain an average flow rate of 2.3 gallons per minute. Prior to infiltration, the perchlorate concentration in groundwater below the gallery was 4,500 µg/L. Approximately 18 weeks after the start of infiltration, a perchlorate spike of 72,400 µg/L was detected below the gallery. The increase in perchlorate groundwater concentrations indicates the transfer of perchlorate from the vadose zone to the saturated zone, where it was readily captured by an adjacent groundwater extraction well. Continued flushing of treated water through the vadose and saturated zones resulted in a rapid decline in perchlorate groundwater concentrations. Confirmation soil boreholes documented the effectiveness of the soil treatment after perchlorate groundwater concentrations returned to their pre-soil flushing levels. This treatability study demonstrates that perchlorate can be removed from a thick sandy vadose zone by controlled infiltration with associated hydraulic control of groundwater to capture the leached perchlorate. The treatability study results also indicates that an infiltration gallery may provide 1) a cost-effective alternative to injection wells for reintroducing treated groundwater to the aquifer and 2) an effective mechanism for the delivery of amendments to the vadose zone and aquifer for promoting enhanced biodegradation of perchlorate in soil and groundwater.

Estimation of available water capacity components of two-layered soils using crop model inversion: Effect of crop type and water regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sreelash, K.; Buis, Samuel; Sekhar, M.; Ruiz, Laurent; Kumar Tomer, Sat; Guérif, Martine

2017-03-01

Characterization of the soil water reservoir is critical for understanding the interactions between crops and their environment and the impacts of land use and environmental changes on the hydrology of agricultural catchments especially in tropical context. Recent studies have shown that inversion of crop models is a powerful tool for retrieving information on root zone properties. Increasing availability of remotely sensed soil and vegetation observations makes it well suited for large scale applications. The potential of this methodology has however never been properly evaluated on extensive experimental datasets and previous studies suggested that the quality of estimation of soil hydraulic properties may vary depending on agro-environmental situations. The objective of this study was to evaluate this approach on an extensive field experiment. The dataset covered four crops (sunflower, sorghum, turmeric, maize) grown on different soils and several years in South India. The components of AWC (available water capacity) namely soil water content at field capacity and wilting point, and soil depth of two-layered soils were estimated by inversion of the crop model STICS with the GLUE (generalized likelihood uncertainty estimation) approach using observations of surface soil moisture (SSM; typically from 0 to 10 cm deep) and leaf area index (LAI), which are attainable from radar remote sensing in tropical regions with frequent cloudy conditions. The results showed that the quality of parameter estimation largely depends on the hydric regime and its interaction with crop type. A mean relative absolute error of 5% for field capacity of surface layer, 10% for field capacity of root zone, 15% for wilting point of surface layer and root zone, and 20% for soil depth can be obtained in favorable conditions. A few observations of SSM (during wet and dry soil moisture periods) and LAI (within water stress periods) were sufficient to significantly improve the estimation of AWC components. These results show the potential of crop model inversion for estimating the AWC components of two-layered soils and may guide the sampling of representative years and fields to use this technique for mapping soil properties that are relevant for distributed hydrological modelling.

EVALUATION OF MASS FLUX TO AND FROM GROUND WATER USING A VERTICAL FLUX MODEL (VFLUX): APPLICATION TO THE SOIL VACUUM EXTRACTION CLOSURE PROBLEM

EPA Science Inventory

Site closure for soil vacuum extraction (SVE) application typically requires attainment of specified soil concentration standards based on the premise that mass flux from the vadose zone to ground water not result in levels exceeding maximum contaminant levels (MCLSs). Unfortuna...

Dynamics of Nutrients Transport in Onsite Wastewater Treatment Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Toor, G.; De, M.

2013-05-01

Domestic wastewater is abundant in nutrients¬ that originate from various activities in the households. In developed countries, wastewater is largely managed by (1) centralized treatment where wastewater from large population is collected, treated, and discharged and (2) onsite treatment where wastewater is collected from an individual house, treated, and dispersed onsite; this system is commonly known as septic system or onsite wastewater treatment system (OWTS) and consist of a septic tank (collects wastewater) and drain-field (disperses wastewater in soil). In areas with porous sandy soils, the transport of nutrients from drain-field to shallow groundwater is accelerated. To overcome this limitation, elevated disposal fields (commonly called mounds) on top of the natural soil are constructed to provide unsaturated conditions for wastewater treatment. Our objective was to study the dynamics of nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) transport in the vadose zone and groundwater in traditional and advanced OWTS. Soil water samples were collected from the vadose zone by using suction cup lysimeters and groundwater samples were collected by using piezometers. Collected samples (wastewater, soil-water, groundwater) were analyzed for various water quality parameters. The pH (4.39-4.78) and EC (0.28-0.34 dS/m) of groundwater was much lower than both wastewater and soil-water. In contrast to >50 mg/L of ammonium-N in wastewater, concentrations in all lysimeters (0.02-0.81 mg/L) and piezometers (0.01-0.82 mg/L) were <1 mg/L; suggesting that >99% disappeared (primarily nitrified) in the vadose zone (<1.05-m soil profile depth). In the vadose zone of advanced system, heterotrophic and autrotrophic denitrification reduced nitrate-N concentrations to <0.12 mg/L, compared with >20 mg/L in the vadose zones of traditional systems (drip dispersal and gravel trench). Concentrations of chloride showed a distinct pattern of nitrate-N breakthrough in vadose zone and groundwater; the groundwater nitrate-N was elevated upto 19.2 mg/L after wastewater delivery in tradional systems. Total P in the wastewater was ~10 mg/L, but low in all lysimeters (0.046-1.72 mg/L) and piezometers (0.01-0.78 mg/L) indicating enhanced P attenuation in the vadose zone of all systems.

Soil physical properties changed induced by dry-wet cycles in the water-level fluctuation zone of Three Gorges Reservoir region, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Junfang; Tang, Xiangyu; Zhang, Wei

2017-04-01

In southwest China, a grand hydraulic engineering called Three Gorges Dam (TGD) was completed and under full power run since 2009, making a total area of 349 km2 along Yangtze River exposing the dry-wet cycles by its impounding of water step by step from the elevations of 135 m in summer season to 175 m in winter season at each year. As populated area, the environmental issues aroused by the TGR have centered on water quality, biodiversity, sedimentation, downstream riverbed erosion and pollutants (both heavy metals and organic pollutants) transportation. All these are regulated or affected by soil structure and pore network, directly or indirectly. Thus, the study of soil physical quality changed induced by these seasonal dry-wet cycles is crucial. The objective of this study is: (1) to describe soil structural status in WLF zone of TGR by combination of laboratory measures and visual evaluation method; (2) to describe the pore system in this zone by both SWRC and CT images; and (3) to address the changes of soil physical quality changed by seasonal dry-wet cycles. Our results showed a deterioration of soil structure (indicated by a high Sq score in VESS) and soil aggregate stability (indicated by low MWD and the mass fractal dimension Dm) in lower land of TGR. The data from both soil water retention curve and micro-CT image demonstrates a going -worse of soil physical quality by decreasing of soil pore number and porosity as well as a shift of drainable micro-pores (0.1 < r < 125 µm) to non-drainable micro-pores (r < 0.1 µm) in the lower land of TGR.

Quantifying the role of vegetation in controlling the time-variant age of evapotranspiration, soil water and stream flow

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Smith, A.; Tetzlaff, D.; Soulsby, C.

2017-12-01

Identifying the sources of water which sustain plant water uptake is an essential prerequisite to understanding the interactions of vegetation and water within the critical zone. Estimating the sources of root-water uptake is complicated by ecohydrological separation, or the notion of "two-water worlds" which distinguishes more mobile and immobile water sources which respectively sustain streamflow and evapotranspiration. Water mobility within the soil determines both the transit time/residence time of water through/in soils and the subsequent age of root-uptake and xylem water. We used time-variant StorAge Selection (SAS) functions to conceptualise the transit/residence times in the critical zone using a dual-storage soil column differentiating gravity (mobile) and tension dependent (immobile) water, calibrated to measured stable isotope signatures of soil water. Storage-discharge relationships [Brutsaert and Nieber, 1977] were used to identify gravity and tension dependent storages. A temporally variable distribution for root water uptake was identified using simulated stable isotopes in xylem and soil water. Composition of δ2H and δ18O was measured in soil water at 4 depths (5, 10, 15, and 20 cm) on 10 occasions, and 5 times for xylem water within the dominant heather (Calluna sp. and Erica sp.) vegetation in a Scottish Highland catchment over a two-year period. Within a 50 cm soil column, we found that more than 53% of the total stored water was water that was present before the start of the simulation. Mean residence times of the mobile water in the upper 20 cm of the soil were 16, 25, 36, and 44 days, respectively. Mean evaporation transit time varied between 9 and 40 days, driven by seasonal changes and precipitation events. Lastly, mean transit times of xylem water ranged between 95-205 days, driven by changes in soil moisture. During low soil moisture (i.e. lower than mean soil moisture), root-uptake was from lower depths, while higher than mean soil moisture showed preferential uptake of near surface water. In our humid, low energy environment, we found that xylem water is comprised of both mobile and immobile water. The division of soil storage into two storages, gravity and tension dependent, has shown potential to identify the sources of plant water and vegetation and soil water interactions.

Spatio-temporal patterns of soil water storage under dryland agriculture at the watershed scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ibrahim, Hesham M.; Huggins, David R.

2011-07-01

SummarySpatio-temporal patterns of soil water are major determinants of crop yield potential in dryland agriculture and can serve as the basis for delineating precision management zones. Soil water patterns can vary significantly due to differences in seasonal precipitation, soil properties and topographic features. In this study we used empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis to characterize the spatial variability of soil water at the Washington State University Cook Agronomy Farm (CAF) near Pullman, WA. During the period 1999-2006, the CAF was divided into three roughly equal blocks (A, B, and C), and soil water at 0.3 m intervals to a depth of 1.5 m measured gravimetrically at approximately one third of the 369 geo-referenced points on the 37-ha watershed. These data were combined with terrain attributes, soil bulk density and apparent soil conductivity (EC a). The first EOF generated from the three blocks explained 73-76% of the soil water variability. Field patterns of soil water based on EOF interpolation varied between wet and dry conditions during spring and fall seasons. Under wet conditions, elevation and wetness index were the dominant factors regulating the spatial patterns of soil water. As soil dries out during summer and fall, soil properties (EC a and bulk density) become more important in explaining the spatial patterns of soil water. The EOFs generated from block B, which represents average topographic and soil properties, provided better estimates of soil water over the entire watershed with larger Nash-Sutcliffe Coefficient of Efficiency (NSCE) values, especially when the first two EOFs were retained. Including more than the first two EOFs did not significantly increase the NSCE of soil water estimate. The EOF interpolation method to estimate soil water variability worked slightly better during spring than during fall, with average NSCE values of 0.23 and 0.20, respectively. The predictable patterns of stored soil water in the spring could serve as the basis for delineating precision management zones as yield potential is largely driven by water availability. The EOF-based method has the advantage of estimating the soil water variability based on soil water data from several measurement times, whereas in regression methods only soil water measurement at a single time are used. The EOF-based method can also be used to estimate soil water at any time other than measurement times, assuming the average soil water of the watershed is known at that time.

Geophysical and Geochemical Characterization of Subsurface Drip Irrigation Sites, Powder River Basin, Wyoming

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Burton, B. L.; Bern, C. R.; Sams, J. I., III; Veloski, G.; Minsley, B. J.; Smith, B. D.

2010-12-01

Coalbed natural gas (CBNG) production in the Powder River Basin (PRB) in northeastern Wyoming has increased rapidly since 1997. CBNG production involves the extraction of large amounts of water containing >2000 mg/L total dissolved solids, dominantly sodium bicarbonate. Subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) is a beneficial disposal method of produced waters, provided that waters and associated salts are managed properly. We are studying how water and solute distributions change in soils with progressive irrigation at two PRB sites using a combination of geophysical, geochemical, and mineralogical analyses. Perennial crops are grown at both sites, drip tapes are located at 92 cm depth, and water is applied year-round. The first SDI site is located at the confluence of Crazy Woman Creek and the Powder River. Baseline ground-based and helicopter-borne frequency domain electromagnetic induction (EMI) surveys were completed in 2007 and 2008, respectively, prior to the installation of the SDI system. Since installation, additional ground-based EMI, resistivity, and downhole geophysical log surveys have been completed along with soil geochemical and mineralogical analyses. Determining baseline physical, chemical, and electrical soil characteristics at this study site is an important step in linking the EMI measurements to the soil characteristics they are intended to assess. EMI surveys indicate that soil conductivity has generally increased with irrigation, but lateral migration of water away from the irrigated blocks is minimal. Median downhole electrical conductivity was positively correlated with soil mass wetness but not correlated with soil mineralogy. Soil-water extract results indicate existing salts are chemically heterogeneous throughout the site and in depth. The observed EMI conductivity variations are therefore primarily attributed to water content changes and secondarily to soil texture. The second SDI site, located northeast of Sheridan, WY, has been operating for six years and includes irrigated alfalfa and grass and adjacent non-irrigated grass fields. A single ground-based EMI survey was performed in Feb. 2010, which helped direct subsequent soil sampling. Gypsum distribution can be differentiated into two soil zones: an upper, gypsum-poor zone and a lower gypsum-rich zone. The break between zones is 30 cm deeper in the irrigated soil and is probably due to dissolution and displacement of gypsum by SDI waters infiltrating from the drip tape. Resistivity profiles were acquired in June 2010 over the soil sampling sites and are consistent with the EMI data, which show higher conductivity values in the irrigated fields. In the SDI alfalfa field, there is a strong negative correlation between mass wetness and resistivity with a 75% increase in mass wetness (0.2-0.35 g/g) at 3 m depth corresponding to a 30% resistivity decrease (15-10 ohm-m). When compared to the non-irrigated field profile, the SDI alfalfa field data show a 50% resistivity decrease (20-10 ohm-m) below 3 m depth, indicating a possible accumulation of irrigated waters below the SDI system.

Evaluation of Water Quality Renovation by Advanced Soil-Based Wastewater Treatment Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cooper, J.; Loomis, G.; Kalen, D.; Boving, T.; Morales, I.; DeLuca, J.; Amador, J.

2013-12-01

25% of US households utilize onsite wastewater treatment systems (OWTS) for wastewater management. Advanced technologies were designed to overcome the inadequate wastewater treatment by conventional OWTS in critical shallow water table areas, such as coastal zones, in order to protect ground water quality. In addition to the septic tank and soil drainfield that comprise a conventional OWTS, advanced systems claim improved water renovation with the addition of sand filtration, timed dosing controls, and shallow placement of the infiltrative zone. We determined water quality renovation functions under current water table and temperature conditions, in anticipation of an experiment to measure OWTS response to a climate change scenario of 30-cm increase in water table elevation and 4C temperature increase. Replicate (n=3) intact soil mesocosms were used to evaluate the effectiveness of drainfields with a conventional wastewater delivery (pipe-and-stone) compared to two types of pressurized, shallow narrow drainfield. Results under steady state conditions indicate complete removal of fecal coliform bacteria, phosphorus and BOD by all soil-based systems. By contrast, removal of total nitrogen inputs was 16% in conventional and 11% for both advanced drainfields. Effluent waters maintained a steady state pH between 3.2 - 3.7 for all technologies. Average DO readings were 2.9mg/L for conventional drainfield effluent and 4.6mg/L for advanced, showing the expected oxygen uptake with shallow placement of the infiltrative zone. The conventional OWTS is outperforming the advanced with respect to nitrogen removal, but renovating wastewater equivalently for all other contaminants of concern. The results of this study are expected to facilitate development of future OWTS regulation and planning guidelines, particularly in coastal zones and in the face of a changing climate.

Precipitation, irrigation and crop growth signals in COSMOS data

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil water sensors are used to characterize water content in the root zone and below for water management and environmental monitoring, but only a few are capable of sensing soil volumes larger than a few hundred liters. Scientists with the USDA-ARS Conservation & Production Research Laboratory, Bus...

Carbon storage, soil carbon dioxide efflux and water quality in three widths of piedmont streamside management zones

Treesearch

Erica F. Wadl; William Lakel; Michael Aust; John Seiler

2010-01-01

Streamside management zones (SMZs) are used to protect water quality. Monitoring carbon pools and fluxes in SMZs may a good indicator of the SMZ’s overall function and health. In this project we evaluated some of these pools and fluxes from three different SMZ widths (30.5, 15.3, and 7.6 m) in the Piedmont of Virginia. We quantified carbon storage in the soil (upper 10...

Implementing a conceptual model of physical and chemical soil profile evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirkby, Mike

2017-04-01

When soil profile composition is generalised in terms of the proportion, p, of bedrock remaining (= 1 - depletion ratio), then other soil processes can also be expressed in terms of p, and 'soil depth' described by the integral of (1-p) down to bedrock. Soil profile evolution is expressed as the advance of a sigmoidal weathering front into the critical zone under the action of upward ionic diffusion of weathering products; downward advection of solutes in percolating waters, with loss of (cleanish) water as evapotranspiration and (solute-laden) water as a lateral sub-surface flow increment; and mechanical denudation increment at the surface. Each component responds to the degree of weathering. Percolation is limited by precipitation, evapotranspiration demand and the degree of weathering at each level in the profile which diverts subsurface flow. Mechanical removal rates are considered to broadly increase as weathering proceeds, as grain size and dilation angle decreases. The implication of these assumptions can be examined for steady state profiles, for which observed relationships between mechanical and chemical denudation rates; and between chemical denudation and critical zone depth are reproduced. For non-steady state evolution, these relationships break down, but provide a basis for linking critical zone with hillslope/ landform evolution.

Vadose Zone Nitrate Transport Dynamics Resulting from Agricultural Groundwater Banking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Murphy, N. P.; McLaughlin, S.; Dahlke, H. E.

2017-12-01

In recent years, California's increased reliance on groundwater resources to meet agricultural and municipal demands has resulted in significant overdraft and water quality issues. Agricultural groundwater banking (AGB) has emerged as a promising groundwater replenishment opportunity in California; AGB is a form of managed aquifer recharge where farmland is flooded during the winter using excess surface water in order to recharge the underlying groundwater. Suitable farmland that is connected to water delivery systems is available for AGB throughout the Central Valley. However, questions remain how AGB could be implemented on fertilized agricultural fields such that nitrate leaching from the root zone is minimized. Here, we present results from field and soil column studies that investigate the transport dynamics of nitrogen in the root and deeper vadose zone during flooding events. We are specifically interested in estimating how timing and duration of flooding events affect percolation rates, leaching and nitrification/denitrification processes in three soil types within the Central Valley. Laboratory and field measurements include nitrogen (NO3-, NH4+, NO2-, N2O), redox potentials, total organic carbon, dissolved oxygen, moisture content and EC. Soil cores are collected in the field before and after recharge events up to a depth of 4m, while other sensors monitor field conditions continuously. Preliminary results from the three field sites show that significant portions of the applied floodwater (12-62 cm) infiltrated below the root zone: 96.1% (Delhi), 88.6% (Modesto) and 76.8% (Orland). Analysis of the soil cores indicate that 70% of the residual nitrate was flushed from the sandy soil, while the fine sandy loam showed only a 5% loss and in some cores even an increase in soil nitrate (in the upper 20cm). Column experiments support these trends and indicate that increases in soil nitrate in the upper root zone might be due to organic nitrogen mineralization and nitrification, facilitated by the added water. The next step will be to use field and laboratory data for the parameterization of the HP1 (Coupled Hydrus-1D and PHREEQC) model to develop an understanding of nitrogen transport in differing soil textures, and develop best management practices for future AGB projects.

Long term (2006-2016) seasonal and inter-annual variability of soil electrical resistivity in a Laotian catchment of the OZCAR network. Impact of land use change, soil type and rainfall

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robain, Henri; Ribolzi, Olivier; De Rouw, Anneke; Silvera, Norbert; Souniaphong, Phabvilay; Soulileuth, Bousamai; Latchasak, Keooudone; Sengtaheuanghoung, Oloth; Valentin, Christian; Gaillardet, Jerome

2017-04-01

The MSEC(1) observatory of the critical zone in south-east Asia, which is part of the OZCAR(2) Network, has been monitored since 1999 (Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) to study the long term impact of land use changes in tropical mountainous regions, in terms of soil properties (porosity, depth, SOC, nutrients…), biodiversity (weeds, soil macro fauna), plant roots (architecture, functions,…), and transfers within the critical zone at various temporal and space scales: partition between infiltration and runoff, water quality (physical, chemical and bacteriological) and erosion processes (splash, inter-rill and rill, tillage, mass-movement). In the Houay Pano catchment located in Northern Laos, a long-term monitoring system was implemented in 2006 combining Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT), with soil and hydrological equipments to better analyse the interactions between bank and hillslopes groundwater, and streamwater, in a context of steep slopes (>50%) and rapid land use change (conversion of annual crops to teak plantation). This continuous ERT monitoring has been carried out along a representative 100 m long transect in the middle of the 65 ha catchment perpendicular to the stream. The data were collected every week during rainy season and every second week during dry season. It has been associated with hydrological monitoring (piezometers, limnimeters, gauging weirs). Such high resolution geophysical monitoring data set (approx. 900 apparent resistivity measurements for each acquisition) provides an invaluable non-invasive proxy of soil water content variations in the different layers of the vadose zone. It demonstrates: i) the influence of plant cover on water infiltration; ii) the pathways for vertical and horizontal water fluxes within the soil cover; iii) the control of soil organisation along the hillslope over the hydrological behaviour of the unsaturated part of the critical zone. (1) «Multi-Scale Environmental Changes» : http://msec.obs-mip.fr/ (2) «Observatoires de la Zone Critique Applications et Recherches» Including the former RBV (Réseau de Bassins Versants) : http://portailrbv.sedoo.fr/

Chemical weathering and diagenesis of a cold desert soil from Wright Valley, Antarctica - An analog of Martian weathering processes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gibson, E. K.; Mckay, D. S.; Wentworth, S. J.

1983-01-01

Weathering, diagenesis, and chemical alteration of a soil profile from the Dry Valleys of Antarctica are investigated as an analog to soil development within the Martian regolith. Soil samples from a soil pit one meter deep on Prospect Mesa, Wright Valley, are examined for their major element concentrations, water-soluble cations and anions, carbon, sulfur, and water concentrations, and related petrographic characteristics of weathering in a cold, dry environment. A petrographic study of the samples suggests that most silicate mineral and lithic fragments exhibit some degree of alteration. Chemical alteration occurs both in samples above and within the permanently frozen zone. The concentrations of water-soluble cations, for example, Na(+), K(+), Ca(2+), and anions, Cl(-), SO4(2-), NO3(-), are found to decrease significantly from the surface to the permanently frozen zone, suggesting a major movement of water-soluble species. It is also found that enrichments in secondary mineral abundances correlate with the water soluble ion concentrations. The formation of zeolites is seen throughout the soil column; these, it is thought, may be reservoirs for volatile storage within the regolith.

Water and vapor transfer in vadose zone of Gobi desert and riparian in the hyper arid environment of Ejina, China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, C.; Yu, J.; Sun, F.; Liu, X.

2015-12-01

To reveal how water and vapor transfer in vadose zone affect evapotranspiration in Gobi desert and riparian in hyper arid region is important for understanding eco-hydrological process. Field studies and numerical simulations were imported to evaluate the water and vapor movement processes under non isothermal and lower water content conditions. The soil profiles (12 layers) in Gobi desert and riparian sites of Ejina were installed with sensors to monitor soil moisture and temperature for 1 year. The meteorological conditions and water table were measured by micro weather stations and mini-Divers respectively in the two sites. Soil properties, including particles composition, moisture, bulk density, water retention curve, and saturated hydraulic conductivity of two site soil profiles, was measured. The observations showed that soil temperatures for the two sites displayed large diurnal and seasonal fluctuations. Temperature gradients with depth resulted in a downward in summer and upward in winter and became driving force for thermal vapor movement. Soil moistures in Gobi desert site were very low and varied slowly with time. While the soil moistures in riparian site were complicated due to root distribution but water potentials remained uniform with time. The hydrus-1D was employed to simulate evapotranspiration processes. The simulation results showed the significant difference of evaporation rate in the Gobi desert and riparian sites.

Vadose zone processes delay groundwater nitrate reduction response to BMP implementation as observed in paired cultivated vs. uncultivated potato rotation fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, Y.; Nyiraneza, J.; Murray, B. J.; Chapman, S.; Malenica, A.; Parker, B.

2017-12-01

Nitrate leaching from crop production contributes to groundwater contamination and subsequent eutrophication of the receiving surface water. A study was conducted in a 7-ha potato-grain-forages rotation field in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada during 2011-2016 to link potato rotation practices and groundwater quality. The field consists of fine sandy loam soil and is underlain by 7-9 m of glacial till, which overlies the regional fractured ;red-bed; sandstone aquifer. The water table is generally located in overburden close to the bedrock interface. Field treatments included one field zone taken out of production in 2011 with the remaining zones kept under a conventional potato rotation. Agronomy data including crop tissue, soil, and tile-drain water quality were collected. Hydrogeology data including multilevel monitoring of groundwater nitrate and hydraulic head and data from rock coring for nitrate distribution in overburden and bedrock matrix were also collected. A significant amount of nitrate leached below the soil profile after potato plant kill (referred to as topkill) in 2011, most of it from fertilizer N. A high level of nitrate was also detected in the till vadose zone through coring in December 2012 and through multilevel groundwater sampling from January to May 2014 in both cultivated and uncultivated field zones. Groundwater nitrate concentrations increased for about 2.5 years after the overlying potato field was removed from production. Pressure-driven uniform flow processes dominate water and nitrate transport in the vadose zone, producing an apparently instant water table response but a delayed groundwater quality response to nitrate leaching events. These data suggest that the uniform flow dominated vadose zone in agricultural landscapes can cause the accumulation of a significant amount of nitrate originated from previous farming activities, and the long travel time of this legacy nitrate in the vadose zone can result in substantially delayed responses of groundwater quality to field management adjustments. The delayed effects should also apply to the transport of other contaminants. This study also suggests that management practices should be optimized to reduce soil nitrate build-up during the non-growing season (when plant N uptake is diminishing and the soil contains excessive moisture, for example, after the potato harvest period in PEI) in order to protect groundwater quality.

Water repellency and soil moisture variations under Rosmarinus officinalis in a burned soil

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gimeno-García, E.; Pascual-Aguilar, J. A.; Llovet, J.

2009-04-01

Mediterranean semi-arid landscapes are characterised by the patchiness of the vegetation cover, in which variations in the distribution pattern of soil water repellency (SWR) can be of major importance for their hydrological and geomorphological effects in burned areas, and also for their ecological implications concerning to the re-establishment of their plant cover. Within a broader research framework, the present work studies the influence of Rosmarinus officinalis vegetated patches on SWR in burned and unburned soils and its relationship with the field soil moisture content (SMC). The results presented here are the first step analysing the spatial pattern of sink and source runoff areas in a burned hillslope. The study area is located in the municipality of Les Useres, 40 km from Castellón city (E Spain), where a wildfire occurred in August 2007. We selected a burned SSE facing hillslope, located at 570 m a.s.l., with 12 ° slope angle, in which it was possible to identify the presence of two unique shrub species: Quercus coccifera L. and Rosmarinus officinalis L., which were distributed in a patchy mosaic. Twenty microsites with burned R. officinalis and eight at the nearest unburned area were selected. At the burned microsites, it was possible to distinguish three concentric zones (I, II and III) around the stumps showing differences on their soil surface appearance, which indicate a gradient of fire severity. Those differences were considered for soil sampling (1 sample per zone at each microsite, n= 84, form the first 2 cm of the mineral A horizon) and field soil moisture measurements determined by means of the moisture meter HH2 with ThetaProbe sensor type ML2x (5 measurements per zone at each microsite, n= 420), which were taken one day after the first rainfall event after fire, when 11 mm were registered in the study area. Results showed that the largest repellency persistence (measured by means of the Water Drop Penetration Time test, WDPT) was found close to the burned R. officinalis stumps, where all soil samples showed water repellency, with mean WDPT of 68 seconds. Generally, we observed a sharp hydrophobic/hydrophilic boundary between the zones I (stump) and II (intermediate). Soil samples from bare soil (zone III) were entirely wettable. At control microsites, SWR was present only in one of the unburned R. officinalis samples. On the basis that unburned microsites are representative of the pre-fire conditions at the burned ones, these results imply that fire caused a significant increase in SWR occurrence at the soil surface. Field SMC showed statistically significant differences between the three zones. Both control and burned microsites showed the same trend, with an increasing gradient towards the outer zone. Furthermore, burned microsites showed larger differences in SMC between zone I and zone III (18% and 27%, respectively) than the unburned ones. It could be explained because at burned stumps, the largest persistence of water repellency and the highest SOM content might decrease the wettability of aggregates, slowing their rates of wetting, which might not occur at all during the rainstorms. In fact, there was obtained a significant and negative Pearson's correlation coefficients between SMC and WDPT, and between SMC and SOM at burned microsites. However, no correlation between field SMC and WDPT was found from control microsites. Moreover, at the burned microsites, the partial correlation analysis with SOM as control variable revealed that SMC and WDPT were influenced by the SOM. In addition, it is necessary to consider the existence of root channels with the development of preferential flow pathways, which could enhance deeper water infiltration in the stump areas. These results provide evidences of the importance of microsite soil surface properties on SMC variability on semiarid burned slopes. The existence of SWR and lowest SMC detected at burned stumps opposite to the highest SMC after rainfall and the absence of SWR in burned bare soil zones could be key factors for the differences in overland flow and erosional response of burned areas characterised by the patchiness of the vegetation cover.

DOE-EPSCOR SPONSORED PROJECT FINAL REPORT

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhu, Jianting

Concern over the quality of environmental management and restoration has motivated the model development for predicting water and solute transport in the vadose zone. Soil hydraulic properties are required inputs to subsurface models of water flow and contaminant transport in the vadose zone. Computer models are now routinely used in research and management to predict the movement of water and solutes into and through the vadose zone of soils. Such models can be used successfully only if reliable estimates of the soil hydraulic parameters are available. The hydraulic parameters considered in this project consist of the saturated hydraulic conductivity andmore » four parameters of the water retention curves. To quantify hydraulic parameters for heterogeneous soils is both difficult and time consuming. The overall objective of this project was to better quantify soil hydraulic parameters which are critical in predicting water flows and contaminant transport in the vadose zone through a comprehensive and quantitative study to predict heterogeneous soil hydraulic properties and the associated uncertainties. Systematic and quantitative consideration of the parametric heterogeneity and uncertainty can properly address and further reduce predictive uncertainty for contamination characterization and environmental restoration at DOE-managed sites. We conducted a comprehensive study to assess soil hydraulic parameter heterogeneity and uncertainty. We have addressed a number of important issues related to the soil hydraulic property characterizations. The main focus centered on new methods to characterize anisotropy of unsaturated hydraulic property typical of layered soil formations, uncertainty updating method, and artificial neural network base pedo-transfer functions to predict hydraulic parameters from easily available data. The work also involved upscaling of hydraulic properties applicable to large scale flow and contaminant transport modeling in the vadose zone and geostatistical characterization of hydraulic parameter heterogeneity. The project also examined the validity of the some simple average schemes for unsaturated hydraulic properties widely used in previous studies. A new suite of pedo-transfer functions were developed to improve the predictability of hydraulic parameters. We also explored the concept of tension-dependent hydraulic conductivity anisotropy of unsaturated layered soils. This project strengthens collaboration between researchers at the Desert Research Institute in the EPSCoR State of Nevada and their colleagues at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The results of numerical simulations of a field injection experiment at Hanford site in this project could be used to provide insights to the DOE mission of appropriate contamination characterization and environmental remediation.« less

Model development for prediction of soil water dynamics in plant production.

PubMed

Hu, Zhengfeng; Jin, Huixia; Zhang, Kefeng

2015-09-01

Optimizing water use in agriculture and medicinal plants is crucially important worldwide. Soil sensor-controlled irrigation systems are increasingly becoming available. However it is questionable whether irrigation scheduling based on soil measurements in the top soil could make best use of water for deep-rooted crops. In this study a mechanistic model was employed to investigate water extraction by a deep-rooted cabbage crop from the soil profile throughout crop growth. The model accounts all key processes governing water dynamics in the soil-plant-atmosphere system. Results show that the subsoil provides a significant proportion of the seasonal transpiration, about a third of water transpired over the whole growing season. This suggests that soil water in the entire root zone should be taken into consideration in irrigation scheduling, and for sensor-controlled irrigation systems sensors in the subsoil are essential for detecting soil water status for deep-rooted crops.

Evaluation of soil manipulation to prepare engineered earthen waste covers for revegetation

DOE PAGES

Waugh, W. Joseph; Benson, Craig H.; Albright, William H.; ...

2015-10-21

Seven ripping treatments designed to improve soil physical conditions for revegetation were compared on a test pad simulating an earthen cover for a waste disposal cell. The field test was part of study of methods to convert compacted-soil waste covers into evapotranspiration covers. The test pad consisted of a compacted layer of fine-textured soil simulating a barrier protection layer overlain by a gravelly sand bedding layer and a cobble armor layer. Treatments included combinations of soil-ripping implements (conventional shank [CS], wing-tipped shank [WTS], and parabolic oscillating shank with wings [POS]), ripping depths, and number of passes. Dimensions, dry density, moisturemore » content, and particle size distribution of disturbance zones were determined in two trenches excavated across rip rows. The goal was to create a root-zone dry density between 1.2 and 1.6 Mg m-3 and a seedbed soil texture ranging from clay loam to sandy loam with low rock content. All treatments created V-shaped disturbance zones as measured on trench faces. Disturbance zone size was most influenced by ripping depth. Winged implements created larger disturbance zones. All treatments lifted fines into the bedding layer, moved gravel and cobble down into the fine-textured protection layer, and thereby disrupted the capillary barrier at the interface. Changes in dry density within disturbance zones were comparable for the CS and WTS treatments but were highly variable among POS treatments. Water content increased in the bedding layer and decreased in the protection layer after ripping. The POS at 1.2-m depth and two passes created the largest zone with a low dry density (1.24 Mg m-3) and the most favorable seedbed soil texture (gravely silt loam). Furthermore, ripping also created large soil aggregates and voids in the protection layer that may produce preferential flow paths and reduce water storage capacity.« less

Root zone soil water dynamics and its effects on above ground biomass in cellulosic and grain based bioenergy crops of Midwest USA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bhardwaj, A. K.; Hamilton, S. K.; van Dam, R. L.; Diker, K.; Basso, B.; Glbrc-Sustainability Thrust-4. 3 Biogeochemistry

2010-12-01

Root-zone soil moisture constitutes an important variable for hydrological and agronomic models. In agriculture, crop yields are directly related to soil moisture, levels that are most important in the root zone area of the soil. One of the most accurate in-situ methods that has established itself as a recognized standard around the world uses Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) to determine volumetric water content of the soil. We used automated field-to-desk TDR based systems to monitor temporal (1-hr interval) soil moisture variability in 10 different bioenergy cropping systems at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center’s (GLBRC) sustainability research site in south western Michigan, U.S.A. These crops range from high-diversity, low-input grass mixes to low-diversity, high-input crop monocultures. We equipped the 28 x 40 m vegetation plots with 30 cm long TDR probes at seven depths from 10 cm to 1.25 m below surface. The parent material at the site consists of coarse sandy glacial tills in which a soil with an approximately 50cm thick A-Bt horizon has developed. Additional equipment permanently installed for each system includes soil moisture access tubes, multi-depth temperature sensors, and multi-electrode resistivity arrays. The access tubes were monitored using a portable TDR system at bi-weekly intervals. 2D dipole-dipole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data are collected in 4-week intervals, while a subset of the electrodes is used for bi-hourly monitoring. The continuous scans (1 hr) provided us the real time changes in water content, replenishment and depletion, providing indications of water uptake by plant roots and potential seasonal water limitation of biomass accumulation. The results show significant seasonal variations between the crops and cropping systems. Significant relationships were observed between soil moisture stress, above-ground biomass and rooting characteristics. The overall goal of the study is to quantify the components of water balance, and identify water quality and water use implications of these cropping systems.Key Words

Numerical Modeling of Water Fluxes in the Root Zone of Irrigated Pecan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shukla, M. K.; Deb, S.

2010-12-01

Information is still limited on the coupled liquid water, water vapor, heat transport and root water uptake for irrigated pecan. Field experiments were conducted in a sandy loam mature pecan field in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Three pecan trees were chosen to monitor diurnal soil water content under the canopy (approximately half way between trunk and the drip line) and outside the drip line (bare spot) along a transect at the depths of 5, 10, 20, 40, and 60 cm using TDR sensors. Soil temperature sensors were installed at an under-canopy locations and bare spot to monitor soil temperature data at depths of 5, 10, 20, and 40 cm. Simulations of the coupled transport of liquid water, water vapor, and heat with and without root water uptake were carried out using the HYDRUS-1D code. Measured soil hydraulic and thermal properties, continuous meteorological data, and pecan characteristics, e.g. rooting depth, leaf area index, were used in the model simulations. Model calibration was performed for a 26-day period from DOY 204 through DOY 230, 2009 based on measured soil water content and soil temperature data at different soil depths, while the model was validated for a 90-day period from DOY 231 through DOY 320, 2009 at bare spot. Calibrated parameters were also used to apply the model at under-canopy locations for a 116-day period from DOY 204 to 320. HYDRUS-1D simulated water contents and soil temperatures correlated well with the measured data at each depth. Numerical assessment of various transport mechanisms and quantitative estimates of isothermal and thermal water fluxes with and without root water uptake in the unsaturated zone within canopy and bare spot is in progress and will be presented in the conference.

Spatiotemporal Heterogeneity of Dissolved Organic Carbon in Waters and Soils in a Snow-dominated Headwater Catchment: Investigations at Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory, Owyhee County, Idaho

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radke, A. G.; Godsey, S.; Lohse, K. A.; Huber, D. P.; Patton, N. R.; Holbrook, S.

2017-12-01

The non-uniform distribution of precipitation in snowmelt-driven systems—the result of blowing and drifting snow—is a primary driver of spatial heterogeneity in vegetative communities and soil development. Snowdrifts may increase bedrock weathering below them, creating deeper soils and the potential for greater fracture flow. These snowdrift areas are also commonly more productive than the snow-starved, scoured areas where wind has removed snow. Warming-induced changes in the fraction of precipitation falling as snow, and therefore subject to drifting, may significantly affect carbon dynamics on multiple timescales. The focus of this study is to understand the coupled hydrological and carbon dynamics in a heterogeneous, drift-dominated watershed. We seek to determine the paths of soil water and groundwater in a small headwater catchment (Reynolds Mountain East, Reynolds Creek Critical Zone Observatory, Idaho, USA). Additionally, we anticipate quantifying the flux of dissolved organic carbon through these paths, and relate this to zones of greater vegetative productivity. We deduce likely flowpaths through a combination of soil water, groundwater, and precipitation characterization. Along a transect running from a snowdrift to the stream, we measure hydrometric and hydrochemical signatures of flow throughout the snowmelt period and summer. We then use end-member-mixing analysis to interpret flowpaths in light of inferred subsurface structure derived from drilling and electrical resistance tomography transects. Preliminary results from soil moisture sensors suggest that increased bedrock weathering creates pathways by which snowmelt bypasses portions of the soil, further increasing landscape heterogeneity. Further analysis will identify seasonal changes in carbon sourcing for this watershed, but initial indications are that spring streamwater is sourced primarily from soil water, with close associations between soil carbon and DOC.

Recharge contribution to the Guarani Aquifer System estimated from the water balance method in a representative watershed.

PubMed

Wendland, Edson; Gomes, Luis H; Troeger, Uwe

2015-01-01

The contribution of recharge to regional groundwater flow systems is essential information required to establish sustainable water resources management. The objective of this work was to determine the groundwater outflow in the Ribeirão da Onça Basin using a water balance model of the saturated soil zone. The basin is located in the outcrop region of the Guarani Aquifer System (GAS). The water balance method involved the determination of direct recharge values, groundwater storage variation and base flow. The direct recharge was determined by the water table fluctuation method (WTF). The base flow was calculated by the hydrograph separation method, which was generated by a rain-flow model supported by biweekly streamflow measurements in the control section. Undisturbed soil samples were collected at depths corresponding to the variation zone of the groundwater level to determine the specific yield of the soil (drainable porosity). Water balances were performed in the saturated zone for the hydrological years from February 2004 to January 2007. The direct recharge ranged from 14.0% to 38.0%, and groundwater outflow from 0.4% to 2.4% of the respective rainfall during the same period.

Pesticide fate and transport throughout unsaturated zones in five agricultural settings, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hancock, T.C.; Sandstrom, M.W.; Vogel, J.R.; Webb, R.M.T.; Bayless, E.R.; Barbash, J.E.

2008-01-01

Pesticide transport through the unsaturated zone is a function of chemical and soil characteristics, application, and water recharge rate. The fate and transport of 82 pesticides and degradates were investigated at five different agricultural sites. Atrazine and metolachlor, as well as several of the degradates of atrazine, metolachlor, acetochlor, and alachlor, were frequently detected in soil water during the 2004 growing season, and degradates were generally more abundant than parent compounds. Metolachlor and atrazine were applied at a Nebraska site the same year as sampling, and focused recharge coupled with the short time since application resulted in their movement in the unsaturated zone 9 m below the surface. At other sites where the herbicides were applied 1 to 2 yr before sampling, only degradates were found in soil water. Transformations of herbicides were evident with depth and during the 4-mo sampling time and reflected the faster degradation of metolachlor oxanilic acid and persistence of metolachor ethanesulfonic acid. The fraction of metolachlor ethanesulfonic acid relative to metolachlor and metolachlor oxanilic acid increased from 0.3 to > 0.9 at a site in Maryland where the unsaturated zone was 5 m deep and from 0.3 to 0.5 at the shallowest depth. The flux of pesticide degradates from the deepest sites to the shallow ground water was greatest (3.0–4.9 μmol m−2 yr−1) where upland recharge or focused flow moved the most water through the unsaturated zone. Flux estimates based on estimated recharge rates and measured concentrations were in agreement with fluxes estimated using an unsaturated-zone computer model (LEACHM).

Modeling Subsurface Hydrology in Floodplains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Evans, Cristina M.; Dritschel, David G.; Singer, Michael B.

2018-03-01

Soil-moisture patterns in floodplains are highly dynamic, owing to the complex relationships between soil properties, climatic conditions at the surface, and the position of the water table. Given this complexity, along with climate change scenarios in many regions, there is a need for a model to investigate the implications of different conditions on water availability to riparian vegetation. We present a model, HaughFlow, which is able to predict coupled water movement in the vadose and phreatic zones of hydraulically connected floodplains. Model output was calibrated and evaluated at six sites in Australia to identify key patterns in subsurface hydrology. This study identifies the importance of the capillary fringe in vadose zone hydrology due to its water storage capacity and creation of conductive pathways. Following peaks in water table elevation, water can be stored in the capillary fringe for up to months (depending on the soil properties). This water can provide a critical resource for vegetation that is unable to access the water table. When water table peaks coincide with heavy rainfall events, the capillary fringe can support saturation of the entire soil profile. HaughFlow is used to investigate the water availability to riparian vegetation, producing daily output of water content in the soil over decadal time periods within different depth ranges. These outputs can be summarized to support scientific investigations of plant-water relations, as well as in management applications.

Land Retirement as a Habitat Restoration Tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, P. N.; Wallender, W. W.

2007-12-01

Use of intensive irrigation in arid and semi-arid areas usually leads to gradual salination of the soil leading to crop yield decline. The salination problem is mitigated by applying irrigation in excess of crop requirements, which leaches the excess salt load to the groundwater. Insufficient natural or man made drainage to dispose off this saline recharge to the groundwater leads to a gradual rise in the water table and eventual encroachment upon the root zone. This may ultimately make the land unfit for any economically productive activity. The abandoned land may even lead to desertification with adverse environmental consequences. In drainage basins with no surface outflow (sometimes called closed basins), land retirement has been proposed as a management tool to address this problem. Land retirement essentially entails intentionally discontinuing irrigation of selected farmlands with the expectation that the shallow water table beneath those lands should drop and the root zone salinity level should decrease. In the San Joaquin Valley of California, intensive irrigation in conjunction with a shallow underlying layer of clay, known as the Corcoran clay layer and absence of a drainage system caused the root zone to become highly saline and the shallow water table to rise. Land retirement would remove from production those farmlands contributing the poorest quality subsurface drain water. Based on numerical models results, it was expected that with land retirement of substantial irrigated lands with poor drainage characteristics, beneath which lies shallow groundwater with high salt load, the shallow water table beneath those lands should drop. A part of the retired lands could also be used for wildlife habitat. A potential negative side of the land retirement option that has to be considered is that in certain enabling evapotranspiration, soil and water table conditions, water will be drawn upwards and evaporated, leaving a deposit of salts on the surface and in the root zone. Salt on the surface may then be wind blown to adjacent areas creating a potential environmental hazard. Using field results from the U.S. Department of the Interior Land Retirement Demonstration Project at the Tranquillity site located in western Fresno County, principles of mass balance in a fixed control volume, the HYDRUS-1D Software Package for Simulating the One-Dimensional Movement of Water, Heat, and Multiple Solutes in Variably-Saturated Media, and PEST, a model-independent parameter optimizer, we have investigated the processes of soil water and salinity movement in the root zone and the deep vadose zone. Various combinations of evapotranspiration, soil water retention properties, water table condition and top and bottom boundary condition were tested. We show that certain Land Retirement scenarios decrease shallow water table and soil water salinity and enhance development of native plants as a means to facilitate habitat restoration for certain combination of soil and bottom boundary condition. Other combinations are not sustainable.

Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2): Model use, calibration, and validation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2) has been used widely for simulating agricultural management effects on crop production and soil and water quality. Although it is a one-dimensional model it has many desirable features for the modeling community. This paper outlines the principles of calibr...

Effects of partial root-zone irrigation on hydraulic conductivity in the soil–root system of maize plants

PubMed Central

Hu, Tiantian; Kang, Shaozhong; Li, Fusheng; Zhang, Jianhua

2011-01-01

Effects of partial root-zone irrigation (PRI) on the hydraulic conductivity in the soil–root system (Lsr) in different root zones were investigated using a pot experiment. Maize plants were raised in split-root containers and irrigated on both halves of the container (conventional irrigation, CI), on one side only (fixed PRI, FPRI), or alternately on one of two sides (alternate PRI, APRI). Results show that crop water consumption was significantly correlated with Lsr in both the whole and irrigated root zones for all three irrigation methods but not with Lsr in the non-irrigated root zone of FPRI. The total Lsr in the irrigated root zone of two PRIs was increased by 49.0–92.0% compared with that in a half root zone of CI, suggesting that PRI has a significant compensatory effect of root water uptake. For CI, the contribution of Lsr in a half root zone to Lsr in the whole root zone was ∼50%. For FPRI, the Lsr in the irrigated root zone was close to that of the whole root zone. As for APRI, the Lsr in the irrigated root zone was greater than that of the non-irrigated root zone. In comparison, the Lsr in the non-irrigated root zone of APRI was much higher than that in the dried zone of FPRI. The Lsr in both the whole and irrigated root zones was linearly correlated with soil moisture in the irrigated root zone for all three irrigation methods. For the two PRI treatments, total water uptake by plants was largely determined by the soil water in the irrigated root zone. Nevertheless, the non-irrigated root zone under APRI also contributed to part of the total crop water uptake, but the continuously non-irrigated root zone under FPRI gradually ceased to contribute to crop water uptake, suggesting that it is the APRI that can make use of all the root system for water uptake, resulting in higher water use efficiency. PMID:21527627

Displacement of soil pore water by trichloroethylene

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wershaw, R. L.; Aiken, G.R.; Imbrigiotta, T.E.; Goldberg, M.C.

1994-01-01

Dense nonaqueous phase liquids (DNAPLS) are important pollutants because of their widespread use as chemical and industrial solvents. An example of the pollution caused by the discharge of DNAPLs is found at the Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey, where trichloroethylene (TCE) has been discharged directly into the unsaturated zone. This discharge has resulted in the formation of a plume of TCE-contaminated water in the aquifer downgradient of the discharge. A zone of dark-colored groundwater containing a high dissolved organic C content has been found near the point of discharge of the TCE. The colored-water plume extends from the point of discharge at least 30 m (100 feet) downgradient. Fulvic acids isolated from the colored-waters plume, from water from a background well that has not been affected by the discharge of chlorinated solvents, and from soil pore water collected in a lysimeter installed at an uncontaminated site upgradient of the study area have been compared. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectra of the fulvic acids from the colored waters and from the lysimeter are very similar, but are markedly different from the nuclear magnetic resonance spectrum of the fulvic acid from the background well. The three-dimensional fluorescence spectrum and the DOC fractionation profile of the colored groundwater and the soil pore water are very similar to each other, but quite different from those of the background water. It is proposed from these observations that this colored water is soil pore water that has been displaced by a separate DNAPL liquid phase downward to the saturated zone.

Effects of agricultural practices and vadose zone stratigraphy on nitrate concentration in ground water in Kansas, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Townsend, M.A.; Sleezer, R.O.; Macko, S.A.; ,

1996-01-01

Differences in nitrate-N concentrations in,around water in Kansas can be explained by variations in agricultural practices and vadose-zone stratigraphy. In northwestern Kansas, past use of a local stream for tailwater runoff from irrigation and high fertilizer applications for sugar-beet farming resulted in high nitrate-N concentrations (12-60 mg L-1; in both soil and ground water. Nitrogen isotope values from the soil and ground water range from +4 to +8? which is typical for a fertilizer source. In parts of south-central Kansas, the use of crop rotation and the presence of both continuous fine-textured layers and a reducing ground-water chemistry resulted in ground-water nitrate-N values of 10 mg L-1; in both soil and grounwater. Nitrogen isotope values of +3 to +7? indicate a fertilizer source. Crop rotation decreased nitrate-N values in the shallow ground water (9 m). However, deeper ground water showed increasing nitrate-N concentrations as a result of past farming practices.

Soil erosion from harvested sites versus streamside management zone sediment deposition in the Piedmont of Virginia

Treesearch

William A. Lakel; W. Michael Aust; C. Andrew Dolloff; Amy W. Easterbrook

2006-01-01

Forestry best management practices were primarily developed to address two major issues related to soil erosion: water quality and site productivity. Sixteen watersheds managed as loblolly pine plantations in the piedmont region were monitored for soil erosion and water quality prior to treatment. Subsequently, all watersheds were harvested with clearcutting, ground-...

Electrical resistivity imaging study of near-surface infiltration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lampousis, Angelos

High resolution electrical resistivity images (ERI method) were obtained during vadose zone infiltration experiments on agricultural soils in cooperation with Cornell University's Agricultural Stewardship Program, Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County, Extension Education Center, Riverhead, New York [ as well as Cornell University's Long Island Horticultural Research & Extension Center (LIHREC) in Riverhead, New York]. One natural soil was also studied. Infiltration was monitored by means of image analysis of two-dimensional array resistivity generated by a Syscal Kid Switch resistivity system (Griffiths et al., 1990). The data was inverted with the computer program RES2DINV (Loke, 2004). The agricultural soils considered were Riverhead sandy loam (RdA), Haven loam (HaA), and Bridgehampton silt loam (BgA). The natural site was located in the Catskill Mountains of New York State. The soils there are classified as Schoharie silty clay loam. The electrical images of the three sites were compared against established soil properties, including particle size distribution, available water capacity, and soluble salts (from the literature), as well as against site-specific soil samples and penetrometer data, which were collected along with the geophysical measurements. This research evaluates the potential of acquiring high resolution, non-destructive measurements of infiltration in the uppermost 1.5 meter of the vadose zone. The results demonstrate that resistivity differences can detect infiltration in soils typical of the north-eastern United States. Temporal and spatial variations of soil water content in the upper 1.5 meters (relevant to agriculture) of the subsurface can be monitored successfully and non-destructively with ERI. The sensitivity of the method is higher in subsurface environments that demonstrate high overall apparent resistivity values (e.g. high sand content). Under conditions of increased soil heterogeneity, instead of the formation of a continuous water plume as occurred in the homogeneous agricultural soils, the location of the infiltrated water seems to be highly influenced by the soil heterogeneity, and the water front is scattered into discontinuous layers and travels in additional directions. The geophysical results during infiltration correlate well with soil compaction data. It follows that the ERI method can be used as a proxy for soil compaction and water content variations in agricultural applications. In a natural environment, ERI successfully maps the tree root zone of mature trees. Applications include continuous water content monitoring in high value cash crops, such as viticulture (precision agriculture).

Soil Gas Dynamics and Microbial Activity in the Unsaturated Zone of a Regulated River

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Christensen, H.; Ferencz, S. B.; Cardenas, M. B.; Neilson, B. T.; Bennett, P. C.

2017-12-01

Over 60% of the world's rivers are dammed, and are therefore regulated. In some river systems, river regulation is the dominant factor governing fluid exchange and soil gas dynamics in the hyporheic region and overlying unsaturated zone of the river banks. Where this is the case, it is important to understand the effects that an artificially-induced change in river stage can have on the chemical, plant, and microbial components of the unsaturated zone. Daily releases from an upstream dam cause rapid stage fluctuations in the Lower Colorado River east of Austin, Texas. For this study, we utilized an array of water and gas wells along a transect perpendicular to the river to investigate the biogeochemical process occurring in this mixing zone. The gas wells were installed at several depths up to 1.5 meters, and facilitated the continuous monitoring of soil gases as the pulse percolated through the river bank. Water samples collected from the screened wells penetrated to depths below the water table and were analyzed for nutrients, carbon, and major ions. Additionally, two soil cores were taken at different distances from the river and analyzed for soil moisture and grain size. These cores were also analyzed for microbial activity using the total heterotroph count method and the acetylene inhibition technique, a sensitive method of measuring denitrifying activity. The results provide a detailed picture of soil gas flux and biogeochemical processes in the bank environment in a regulated river. Findings indicate that a river pulse that causes a meter-scale change in river stage causes small, centimeter-scale pulses in the water table. We propose that these conditions create an area of elevated microbial respiration at the base of the unsaturated zone that appears to be decoupled from normal diurnal fluctuations. Along the transect, CO2 concentrations increased with increasing depth down to the water table. CO2 concentrations were highest in the time following a pulse, and the lowest concentrations were recorded following the trough in river stage.

Simulating the fate of water in field soil crop environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cameira, M. R.; Fernando, R. M.; Ahuja, L.; Pereira, L.

2005-12-01

This paper presents an evaluation of the Root Zone Water Quality Model(RZWQM) for assessing the fate of water in the soil-crop environment at the field scale under the particular conditions of a Mediterranean region. The RZWQM model is a one-dimensional dual porosity model that allows flow in macropores. It integrates the physical, biological and chemical processes occurring in the root zone, allowing the simulation of a wide spectrum of agricultural management practices. This study involved the evaluation of the soil, hydrologic and crop development sub-models within the RZWQM for two distinct agricultural systems, one consisting of a grain corn planted in a silty loam soil, irrigated by level basins and the other a forage corn planted in a sandy soil, irrigated by sprinklers. Evaluation was performed at two distinct levels. At the first level the model capability to fit the measured data was analyzed (calibration). At the second level the model's capability to extrapolate and predict the system behavior for conditions different than those used when fitting the model was assessed (validation). In a subsequent paper the same type of evaluation is presented for the nitrogen transformation and transport model. At the first level a change in the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) formulation was introduced, based upon the definition of the effective leaf area, resulting in a 51% decrease in the root mean square error of the ETc simulations. As a result the simulation of the root water uptake was greatly improved. A new bottom boundary condition was implemented to account for the presence of a shallow water table. This improved the simulation of the water table depths and consequently the soil water evolution within the root zone. The soil hydraulic parameters and the crop variety specific parameters were calibrated in order to minimize the simulation errors of soil water and crop development. At the second level crop yield was predicted with an error of 1.1 and 2.8% for grain and forage corn, respectively. Soil water was predicted with an efficiency ranging from 50 to 95% for the silty loam soil and between 56 and 72% for the sandy soil. The purposed calibration procedure allowed the model to predict crop development, yield and the water balance terms, with accuracy that is acceptable in practical applications for complex and spatially variable field conditions. An iterative method was required to account for the strong interaction between the different model components, based upon detailed experimental data on soils and crops.

Green Infrastructure Benefits for Communities Managing Nitrate in their Drinking Water Sources

EPA Science Inventory

Nitrate in water moving through the “biologically active soil zone” of riparian zones, wetlands and streams may undergo denitrification. Therefore GI techniques such as conservation and restoration of riparian zones, wetlands and streams (daylighting) have the potential to remov...

Denitrification Potential, Root Biomass and Organic Matter in Degraded and Restored Urban Riparian Zones

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrologic changes associated with urbanization often lead to lower water tables and drier, more aerobic soils in riparian zones. These changes reduce the potential for denitrification, an anaerobic microbial process that converts nitrate, a common water pollutant, into nitroge...

Denitrification Potential, Root Biomass, and Organic Matter in Degraded and Restored Urban Riparian Zones

EPA Science Inventory

Hydrologic changes associated with urbanization often lead to lower water tables and drier, more aerobic soils in riparian zones. These changes reduce the potential for denitrification, an anaerobic microbial process that converts nitrate, a common water pollutant, into nitrogen...

Use of small scale electrical resistivity tomography to identify soil-root interactions during deficit irrigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanella, D.; Cassiani, G.; Busato, L.; Boaga, J.; Barbagallo, S.; Binley, A.; Consoli, S.

2018-01-01

Plant roots activity affect the exchanges of mass and energy between the soil and atmosphere. However, it is challenging to monitor the activity of the root-zone because roots are not visible from the soil surface, and root systems undergo spatial and temporal variations in response to internal and external conditions. Therefore, measurements of the activity of root systems are interesting to ecohydrologists in general, and are especially important for specific applications, such as irrigation water management. This study demonstrates the use of small scale three-dimensional (3-D) electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to monitor the root-zone of orange trees irrigated by two different regimes: (i) full rate, in which 100% of the crop evapotranspiration (ETc) is provided; and (ii) partial root-zone drying (PRD), in which 50% of ETc is supplied to alternate sides of the tree. We performed time-lapse 3-D ERT measurements on these trees from 5 June to 24 September 2015, and compared the long-term and short-term changes before, during, and after irrigation events. Given the small changes in soil temperature and pore water electrical conductivity, we interpreted changes of soil electrical resistivity from 3-D ERT data as proxies for changes in soil water content. The ERT results are consistent with measurements of transpiration flux and soil temperature. The changes in electrical resistivity obtained from ERT measurements in this case study indicate that root water uptake (RWU) processes occur at the 0.1 m scale, and highlight the impact of different irrigation schemes.

Modelling of groundwater-vegetation interactions in a tidal marsh

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xin, Pei; Kong, Jun; Li, Ling; Barry, D. A.

2013-07-01

Wetting and drying due to tidal fluctuations affect soil conditions and hence plant growth in tidal marshes. Here, a coupled one-dimensional model was developed to simulate interacting groundwater flow and plant growth in these wetlands. The simulation results revealed three characteristic zones of soil conditions for plant growth along a cross-creek section subjected to the combined influences of spring-neap tides and evapotranspiration: (1) a near-creek zone affected by semi-diurnal tides over the whole spring-neap cycle, where the soil is well aerated although the plant growth could be slightly limited by the local water content dropping periodically below the wilting point on the ebb tide; (2) a less well-drained zone where drainage occurs only during neap tides (for which the daily inundation is absent) and plant growth is aeration-limited; and (3) an interior zone where evapotranspiration determines the soil-water saturation. Plant growth dynamics, which depend on these soil conditions, lead to spatial biomass distributions that are consistent with the characteristic zonation. The simulations shed light on the feedback mechanism for groundwater-vegetation interactions in the marsh system. It was demonstrated that the growth of pioneer plants can improve the soil aeration condition as a result of transpiration. The strength of this feedback varies spatially in accordance with the three characteristic zones of soil-water saturation. However, the development of another species in the marsh system is likely to be more complicated than suggested by the "positive feedback" mechanism proposed previously, due to the influence of inter-species competition. The feedback effects are generally more complex, involving both plant growth enhancement and inhibition depending on the combined influence of the intra- and inter-species competition, the ecosystem's carrying capacity and plant transpiration. These findings demonstrate the interplay of ecological and hydrological processes in tidal marshes, and provide guidance for future research, including field investigations that aim to establish the principle relationship between marsh morphology and plant zonation.

Soil Moisture/ Tree Water Status Dynamics in Mid-Latitude Montane Forest, Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory, CA

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hartsough, P. C.; Malazian, A.; Meadows, M. W.; Roudneva, K.; Storch, J.; Bales, R. C.; Hopmans, J. W.

2010-12-01

As part of an effort to understand the root-water-nutrient interactions in the multi-dimensional soil/vegetation system surrounding large trees, in August 2008 we instrumented a mature white fir (Abies concolor) and the surrounding soil to better define the water balance in a single tree. In July 2010, we instrumented a second tree, a Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) in shallower soils on a drier, exposed slope. The trees are located in a mixed-conifer forest at an elevation of 2000m in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory. The deployment of more than 250 sensors to measure temperature, volumetric water content, matric potential, and snow depth surrounding the two trees complements sap-flow measurements in the trunk and stem-water-potential measurements in the canopy to capture the seasonal cycles of soil wetting and drying. We show here the results of a multi-year deployment of soil moisture sensors as critical integrators of hydrologic/ biotic interaction in a forested catchment. Sensor networks such as deployed here are a valuable tool in closing the water budget in dynamic forested catchments. While the exchange of energy, water and carbon is continuous, the pertinent fluxes are strongly heterogeneous in both space and time. Thus, the prediction of the behavior of the system across multiple scales constitutes a major challenge.

Role of Subsurface Physics in the Assimilation of Surface Soil Moisture Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reichle, R. H.

2010-01-01

Root zone soil moisture controls the land-atmosphere exchange of water and energy and exhibits memory that may be useful for climate prediction at monthly scales. Assimilation of satellite-based surface soil moisture observations into a land surface model is an effective way to estimate large-scale root zone soil moisture. The propagation of surface information into deeper soil layers depends on the model-specific representation of subsurface physics that is used in the assimilation system. In a suite of experiments we assimilate synthetic surface soil moisture observations into four different models (Catchment, Mosaic, Noah and CLM) using the Ensemble Kalman Filter. We demonstrate that identical twin experiments significantly overestimate the information that can be obtained from the assimilation of surface soil moisture observations. The second key result indicates that the potential of surface soil moisture assimilation to improve root zone information is higher when the surface to root zone coupling is stronger. Our experiments also suggest that (faced with unknown true subsurface physics) overestimating surface to root zone coupling in the assimilation system provides more robust skill improvements in the root zone compared with underestimating the coupling. When CLM is excluded from the analysis, the skill improvements from using models with different vertical coupling strengths are comparable for different subsurface truths. Finally, the skill improvements through assimilation were found to be sensitive to the regional climate and soil types.

Quantification of the impact of hydrology on agricultural production as a result of too dry, too wet or too saline conditions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hack-ten Broeke, Mirjam J. D.; Kroes, Joop G.; Bartholomeus, Ruud P.; van Dam, Jos C.; de Wit, Allard J. W.; Supit, Iwan; Walvoort, Dennis J. J.; van Bakel, P. Jan T.; Ruijtenberg, Rob

2016-08-01

For calculating the effects of hydrological measures on agricultural production in the Netherlands a new comprehensive and climate proof method is being developed: WaterVision Agriculture (in Dutch: Waterwijzer Landbouw). End users have asked for a method that considers current and future climate, that can quantify the differences between years and also the effects of extreme weather events. Furthermore they would like a method that considers current farm management and that can distinguish three different causes of crop yield reduction: drought, saline conditions or too wet conditions causing oxygen shortage in the root zone. WaterVision Agriculture is based on the hydrological simulation model SWAP and the crop growth model WOFOST. SWAP simulates water transport in the unsaturated zone using meteorological data, boundary conditions (like groundwater level or drainage) and soil parameters. WOFOST simulates crop growth as a function of meteorological conditions and crop parameters. Using the combination of these process-based models we have derived a meta-model, i.e. a set of easily applicable simplified relations for assessing crop growth as a function of soil type and groundwater level. These relations are based on multiple model runs for at least 72 soil units and the possible groundwater regimes in the Netherlands. So far, we parameterized the model for the crops silage maize and grassland. For the assessment, the soil characteristics (soil water retention and hydraulic conductivity) are very important input parameters for all soil layers of these 72 soil units. These 72 soil units cover all soils in the Netherlands. This paper describes (i) the setup and examples of application of the process-based model SWAP-WOFOST, (ii) the development of the simplified relations based on this model and (iii) how WaterVision Agriculture can be used by farmers, regional government, water boards and others to assess crop yield reduction as a function of groundwater characteristics or as a function of the salt concentration in the root zone for the various soil types.

Soil water stable isotopes reveal evaporation dynamics at the soil-plant-atmosphere interface of the critical zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sprenger, Matthias; Tetzlaff, Doerthe; Soulsby, Chris

2017-07-01

Understanding the influence of vegetation on water storage and flux in the upper soil is crucial in assessing the consequences of climate and land use change. We sampled the upper 20 cm of podzolic soils at 5 cm intervals in four sites differing in their vegetation (Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris) and heather (Calluna sp. and Erica Sp)) and aspect. The sites were located within the Bruntland Burn long-term experimental catchment in the Scottish Highlands, a low energy, wet environment. Sampling took place on 11 occasions between September 2015 and September 2016 to capture seasonal variability in isotope dynamics. The pore waters of soil samples were analyzed for their isotopic composition (δ2H and δ18O) with the direct-equilibration method. Our results show that the soil waters in the top soil are, despite the low potential evaporation rates in such northern latitudes, kinetically fractionated compared to the precipitation input throughout the year. This fractionation signal decreases within the upper 15 cm resulting in the top 5 cm being isotopically differentiated to the soil at 15-20 cm soil depth. There are significant differences in the fractionation signal between soils beneath heather and soils beneath Scots pine, with the latter being more pronounced. But again, this difference diminishes within the upper 15 cm of soil. The enrichment in heavy isotopes in the topsoil follows a seasonal hysteresis pattern, indicating a lag time between the fractionation signal in the soil and the increase/decrease of soil evaporation in spring/autumn. Based on the kinetic enrichment of the soil water isotopes, we estimated the soil evaporation losses to be about 5 and 10 % of the infiltrating water for soils beneath heather and Scots pine, respectively. The high sampling frequency in time (monthly) and depth (5 cm intervals) revealed high temporal and spatial variability of the isotopic composition of soil waters, which can be critical, when using stable isotopes as tracers to assess plant water uptake patterns within the critical zone or applying them to calibrate tracer-aided hydrological models either at the plot to the catchment scale.

Quantifying agricultural drought impacts using soil moisture model and drought indices in South Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nam, W. H.; Bang, N.; Hong, E. M.; Pachepsky, Y. A.; Han, K. H.; Cho, H.; Ok, J.; Hong, S. Y.

2017-12-01

Agricultural drought is defined as a combination of abnormal deficiency of precipitation, increased crop evapotranspiration demands from high-temperature anomalies, and soil moisture deficits during the crop growth period. Soil moisture variability and their spatio-temporal trends is a key component of the hydrological balance, which determines the crop production and drought stresses in the context of agriculture. In 2017, South Korea has identified the extreme drought event, the worst in one hundred years according to the South Korean government. The objective of this study is to quantify agricultural drought impacts using observed and simulated soil moisture, and various drought indices. A soil water balance model is used to simulate the soil water content in the crop root zone under rain-fed (no irrigation) conditions. The model used includes physical process using estimated effective rainfall, infiltration, redistribution in soil water zone, and plant water uptake in the form of actual crop evapotranspiration. Three widely used drought indices, including the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI), and the Self-Calibrated Palmer Drought Severity Index (SC-PDSI) are compared with the observed and simulated soil moisture in the context of agricultural drought impacts. These results demonstrated that the soil moisture model could be an effective tool to provide improved spatial and temporal drought monitoring for drought policy.

Soil Systems for Upscaling Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity (Ksat) for Hydrological Modeling in the Critical Zone

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Successful hydrological model predictions depend on appropriate framing of scale and the spatial-temporal accuracy of input parameters describing soil hydraulic properties. Saturated soil hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) is one of the most important properties influencing water movement through soil un...

Linking Weathering, Rock Moisture Dynamics, Geochemistry, Runoff, Vegetation and Atmospheric Processes through the Critical Zone: Graduate Student led Research at the Eel River Critical Zone Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dietrich, W. E.

2014-12-01

In the Eel River Critical Zone Observatory lies Rivendell, a heavily-instrumented steep forested hillslope underlain by nearly vertically dipping argillite interbedded with sandstone. Under this convex hillslope lies "Zb", the transition to fresh bedrock, which varies from less than 6 m below the surface near the channel to 20 m at the divide. Rempe and Dietrich (2014, PNAS) show that the Zb profile can be predicted from the assumption that weathering occurs when drainage is induced in the uplifting fresh bedrock under hillslopes by lateral head gradients driven by channel incision at the hillslope boundary. Infiltrating winter precipitation is impeded at the lower conductivity boundary at Zb, generating perched groundwater that dynamically pulses water laterally to the channel, controlling stream runoff. Below the soil and above the water table lies an unsaturated zone through which all recharge to the perched groundwater (and thus all runoff to channels) occurs. It is this zone and the waters in them that profoundly affect critical zone processes. In our seasonally dry environment, the first rains penetrate past the soil and moisten the underlying weathered bedrock (Salve et al., 2012, WRR). It takes about 200 to 400 mm of cumulative rain, however, before the underlying groundwater rises significantly. Oshun et al (in review) show that by this cumulative rainfall the average of the wide-ranging isotopic signature of rain reaches a nearly constant average annual value. Consequently, the recharging perched groundwater shows only minor temporal isotopic variation. Kim et al, (2014, GCA) find that the winter high-flow groundwater chemistry is controlled by relatively fast-reacting cation exchange processes, likely occurring in transit in the unsaturated zone. Oshun also demonstrates that the Douglas fir rely on this rock moisture as a water source, while the broadleaf trees (oaks and madrone) use mostly soil moisture. Link et al (2014 WRR) show that Doug fir declines in transpiration rate significantly compared to the madrone during summer high water stress periods, with may induce feedbacks from the forest to atmospheric temperature and humidity. Collectively these studies spotlight the seasonally dynamic unsaturated zone in the weathered bedrock beneath the soil as key to understanding critical zone processes.

Validation of SMAP Root Zone Soil Moisture Estimates with Improved Cosmic-Ray Neutron Probe Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babaeian, E.; Tuller, M.; Sadeghi, M.; Franz, T.; Jones, S. B.

2017-12-01

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) soil moisture products are commonly validated based on point-scale reference measurements, despite the exorbitant spatial scale disparity. The difference between the measurement depth of point-scale sensors and the penetration depth of SMAP further complicates evaluation efforts. Cosmic-ray neutron probes (CRNP) with an approximately 500-m radius footprint provide an appealing alternative for SMAP validation. This study is focused on the validation of SMAP level-4 root zone soil moisture products with 9-km spatial resolution based on CRNP observations at twenty U.S. reference sites with climatic conditions ranging from semiarid to humid. The CRNP measurements are often biased by additional hydrogen sources such as surface water, atmospheric vapor, or mineral lattice water, which sometimes yield unrealistic moisture values in excess of the soil water storage capacity. These effects were removed during CRNP data analysis. Comparison of SMAP data with corrected CRNP observations revealed a very high correlation for most of the investigated sites, which opens new avenues for validation of current and future satellite soil moisture products.

Use of thermal infrared and colour infrared imagery to detect crop moisture stress. [Alberta, Canada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mckenzie, R. C.; Clark, N. F.; Cihlar, J. (Principal Investigator)

1979-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. In the presence of variable plant cover (primarily percent cover) and variable available water content, the remotely sensed apparent temperatures correlate closely with plant cover and poorly with soil water. To the extent that plant cover is not systematically related to available soil water, available water in the root zone values may not be reliably predicted from the thermal infrared data. On the other hand, if plant cover is uniform and the soil surface is shown in a minor way, the thermal data indicate plant stress and consequently available water in the soil profile.

Evaluation of soil water stable isotope analysis by H2O(liquid)-H2O(vapor) equilibration method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gralher, Benjamin; Stumpp, Christine

2014-05-01

Environmental tracers like stable isotopes of water (δ18O, δ2H) have proven to be valuable tools to study water flow and transport processes in soils. Recently, a new technique for soil water isotope analysis has been developed that employs a vapor phase being in isothermal equilibrium with the liquid phase of interest. This has increased the potential application of water stable isotopes in unsaturated zone studies as it supersedes laborious extraction of soil water. However, uncertainties of analysis and influencing factors need to be considered. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate different methodologies of analysing stable isotopes in soil water in order to reduce measurement uncertainty. The methodologies included different preparation procedures of soil cores for equilibration of vapor and soil water as well as raw data correction. Two different inflatable sample containers (freezer bags, bags containing a metal layer) and equilibration atmospheres (N2, dry air) were tested. The results showed that uncertainties for δ18O were higher compared to δ2H that cannot be attributed to any specific detail of the processing routine. Particularly, soil samples with high contents of organic matter showed an apparent isotope enrichment which is indicative for fractionation due to evaporation. However, comparison of water samples obtained from suction cups with the local meteoric water line indicated negligible fractionation processes in the investigated soils. Therefore, a method was developed to correct the raw data reducing the uncertainties of the analysis.. We conclude that the evaluated method is advantageous over traditional methods regarding simplicity, resource requirements and sample throughput but careful consideration needs to be made regarding sample handling and data processing. Thus, stable isotopes of water are still a good tool to determine water flow and transport processes in the unsaturated zone.

Evaluating the role of soil variability on groundwater pollution and recharge at regional scale by integrating a process-based vadose zone model in a stochastic approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coppola, Antonio; Comegna, Alessandro; Dragonetti, Giovanna; Lamaddalena, Nicola; Zdruli, Pandi

2013-04-01

Interpreting and predicting the evolution of water resources and soils at regional scale are continuing challenges for natural scientists. Examples include non-point source (NPS) pollution of soil and surface and subsurface water from agricultural chemicals and pathogens, as well as overexploitation of groundwater resources. The presence and build up of NPS pollutants may be harmful for both soil and groundwater resources. The accumulation of salts and trace elements in soils can significantly impact crop productivity, while loading of salts, nitrates, trace elements and pesticides into groundwater supplies can deteriorate a source of drinking and irrigation water. Consequently, predicting the spatial distribution and fate of NPS pollutants in soils at applicative scales is now considered crucial for maintaining the fragile balance between crop productivity and the negative environmental impacts of NPS pollutants, which is a basis of sustainable agriculture. Soil scientists and hydrologists are regularly asked to assist state agencies to understand these critical environmental issues. The most frequent inquiries are related to the development of mathematical models needed for analyzing the impacts of alternative land-use and best management use and management of soil and water resources. Different modelling solutions exist, mainly differing on the role of the vadose zone and its horizontal and vertical variability in the predictive models. The vadose zone (the region from the soil surface to the groundwater surface) is a complex physical, chemical and biological ecosystem that controls the passage of NPS pollutants from the soil surface where they have been deposited or accumulated due to agricultural activities, to groundwater. Physically based distributed hydrological models require the internal variability of the vadose zone be explored at a variety of scales. The equations describing fluxes and storage of water and solutes in the unsaturated zone used in these modelling approaches have been developed at small space scales. Their extension to the applicative macroscale of the regional model is not a simple task mainly because of the heterogeneity of vadose zone properties, as well as of non-linearity of hydrological processes. Besides, one of the problems when applying distributed models is that spatial and temporal scales for data to be used as input in the models vary on a wide range of scales and are not always consistent with the model structure. Under these conditions, a strictly deterministic response to questions about the fate of a pollutant in the soil is impossible. At best, one may answer "this is the average behaviour within this uncertainty band". Consequently, the extension of these equations to account for regional-scale processes requires the uncertainties of the outputs be taken into account if the pollution vulnerability maps that may be drawn are to be used as agricultural management tools. A map generated without a corresponding map of associated uncertainties has no real utility. The stochastic stream tube approach is a frequently used to the water flux and solute transport through the vadose zone at applicative scales. This approach considers the field soil as an ensemble of parallel and statistically independent tubes, assuming only vertical flow. The stream tubes approach is generally used in a probabilistic framework. Each stream tube defines local flow properties that are assumed to vary randomly between the different stream tubes. Thus, the approach allows average water and solute behaviour be described, along with the associated uncertainty bands. These stream tubes are usually considered to have parameters that are vertically homogeneous. This would be justified by the large difference between the horizontal and vertical extent of the spatial applicative scale. Vertical is generally overlooked. Obviously, all the model outputs are conditioned by this assumption. The latter, in turn, is more dictated by the lack of information on vertical variability of soil properties. It is our opinion that, with sufficient information on soil horizonation and with an appropriate horizontal resolution, it may be demonstrated that model outputs may be largely sensitive to the vertical variability of stream tubes, even at applicative scales. Horizon differentiation is one of the main observations made by pedologists while describing soils and most analytical data are given according to soil horizons. Over the last decades, soil horizonation has been subjected to regular monitoring for mapping soil variation at regional scales. Accordingly, this study mainly aims to developing a regional-scale simulation approach for vadose zone flow and transport that use real soil profiles data based on information on vertical variability of soils. As to the methodology, the parallel column concept was applied to account for the effect of vertical heterogeneity on variability of water flow and solute transport in the vadose zone. Even if the stream tube approach was mainly introduced for (unrealistic) vertically homogeneous soils, we extended their use to real vertically variable soils. The approach relies on available datasets coming from different sources and offers quantitative answers to soil and groundwater vulnerability to non-point source of chemicals and pathogens at regional scale within a defined confidence interval. This result will be pursued through the design and building up of a spatial database containing 1). Detailed pedological information, 2). Hydrological properties mainly measured in the investigated area in different soil horizons, 3). Water table depth, 4). Spatially distributed climatic temporal series, and 5). Land use. The area of interest for the study is located in the sub-basin of Metaponto agricultural site, located in southern Basilicata Region in Italy, covering approximately 11,698 hectares, crossed by two main rivers, Sinni and Agri and from many secondary water bodies. Distributed output of soil pollutant leaching behaviour, with corresponding statistical uncertainties, will be provided and finally visualized in GIS maps. The example pollutants considered cover much of the practical pollution conditions one may found in the reality. Nevertheless, this regional- scale methodology may be applied to any specific pollutants for any soil, climatic and land use conditions. Also, as the approach is built on physically based equations, it may be extended to the predictions of any water and solute storage and fluxes (i.e., groundwater recharge) in the vadose zone. By integrating the scientific results with economic and political considerations, and with advanced information technologies, the NPS-pollution assessment may become a powerful decision support tool for guiding activities involving soil and groundwater resources and, more in general, for managing environmental resources.

A comparative study of soil water movement under different vegetation covers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

FERNANDO, A.; Tanaka, T.

2002-05-01

Vegetation, varying widely floristically, structurally, and in spatial distribution, is a complex phenomenon, delicately adjusted within itself and to its broader environment. To investigate the soil water movement of different vegetation covers, soil physical properties, and pressure head of soil water, have been analysed in a pine forest and adjacent disturbed grassland at the Terrestrial Environmental Research Centre (ERC) of Tsukuba University, Japan. Our results of the soil physical properties showed significant differences under different vegetation. At the forest site, the total porosity was nearly constant, i.e. 81% to 84%, from the ground surface to the depth of 70 cm, and decreased uniformly with the depth to reach 63.2% at 150 cm. At the grassland site, the total porosity was about 70% near the ground surface, however, expeditiously decreased to approximately 62% between the depths of 10 and 40 cm. Below these depths the total porosity increased to a maximum of about 77% between the depths of 50 and 80 cm, then decreased again to 54.9% at 150 cm. The total pressure head indicated that the evapotranspiration zone of the pine forest was 70 cm but was 50 cm in the grassland. KEY WORDS: Natural pine forest, Disturbed grassland, Soil water movement, Soil physical properties, Evaporation effective zone.

Vadose zone controls on damping of climate-induced transient recharge fluxes in U.S. agroecosystems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gurdak, Jason

2017-04-01

Understanding the physical processes in the vadose zone that link climate variability with transient recharge fluxes has particular relevance for the sustainability of groundwater-supported irrigated agriculture and other groundwater-dependent ecosystems. Natural climate variability on interannual to multidecadal timescales has well-documented influence on precipitation, evapotranspiration, soil moisture, infiltration flux, and can augment or diminish human stresses on water resources. Here the behavior and damping depth of climate-induced transient water flux in the vadose zone is explored. The damping depth is the depth in the vadose zone that the flux variation damps to 5% of the land surface variation. Steady-state recharge occurs when the damping depth is above the water table, and transient recharge occurs when the damping depth is below the water table. Findings are presented from major agroecosystems of the United States (U.S.), including the High Plains, Central Valley, California Coastal Basin, and Mississippi Embayment aquifer systems. Singular spectrum analysis (SSA) is used to identify quasi-periodic signals in precipitation and groundwater time series that are coincident with the Arctic Oscillation (AO) (6-12 mo cycle), Pacific/North American oscillation (PNA) (<1-4 yr cycle), El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) (2-7 yr cycle), North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) (3-6 yr cycle), Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) (15-30 yr cycle), and Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation (AMO) (50-70 yr cycle). SSA results indicate that nearly all of the quasi-periodic signals in the precipitation and groundwater levels have a statistically significant lag correlation (95% confidence interval) with the AO, PNA, ENSO, NAO, PDO, and AMO indices. Results from HYDRUS-1D simulations indicate that transient water flux through the vadose zone are controlled by highly nonlinear interactions between mean infiltration flux and infiltration period related to the modes of climate variability and the local soil textures, layering, and depth to the water table. Simulation results for homogeneous profiles generally show that shorter-period climate oscillations, smaller mean fluxes, and finer-grained soil textures generally produce damping depths closer to land surface. Simulation results for layered soil textures indicate more complex responses in the damping depth, including the finding that finer-textured layers in a coarser soil profile generally result in damping depths closer to land surface, while coarser-textured layers in coarser soil profile result in damping depths deeper in the vadose zone. Findings from this study improve understanding of how vadose zone properties influences transient recharge flux and damp climate variability signals in groundwater systems, and have important implications for sustainable management of groundwater resources and coupled agroecosystems under future climate variability and change.

Corn stover harvest increases herbicide movement to subsurface drains – Root Zone Water Quality Model simulations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

BACKGROUND: Removal of crop residues for bioenergy production can alter soil hydrologic properties, but there is little information on its impact on transport of herbicides and their degradation products to subsurface drains. The Root Zone Water Quality Model, previously calibrated using measured fl...

Performance Evaluation of Automated Passive Capillary Sampler for Estimating Water Drainage in the Vadose Zone

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Passive capillary samplers (PCAPs) are widely used to monitor, measure and sample drainage water under saturated and unsaturated soil conditions in the vadose zone. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance and accuracy of automated passive capillary sampler for estimating drainage...

Fate of trace organic compounds during vadose zone soil treatment in an onsite wastewater system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Conn, K.E.; Siegrist, R.L.; Barber, L.B.; Meyer, M.T.

2010-01-01

During onsite wastewater treatment, trace organic compounds are often present in the effluents applied to subsurface soils for advanced treatment during vadose zone percolation and groundwater recharge. The fate of the endocrine-disrupting surfactant metabolites 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxylate (NP1EO), and 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxycarboxylate (NP1EC), metal-chelating agents ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), antimicrobial agent triclosan, stimulant caffeine, and antibiotic sulfamethoxazole during transport through an unsaturated sandy loam soil was studied at a field-scale test site. To assess the effects of effluent quality and hydraulic loading rate (HLR) on compound fate in the soil profile, two effluents (septic tank or textile biofilter) were applied at two design HLRs (2 or 8 cm/d). Chemical concentrations were determined in the two effluents and soil pore water at 60, 120, and 240 cm below the soil infiltrative surface. Concentrations of trace organic compounds in septic tank effluent were reduced by more than 90% during transport through 240 cm (often within 60 cm) of soil, likely due to sorption and biotransformation. However, the concentration of NP increased with depth in the shallow soil profile. Additional treatment of anaerobic septic tank effluent with an aerobic textile biofilter reduced effluent concentrations of many compounds, but generally did not affect any changes in pore water concentrations. The soil profile receiving septic tank effluent (vs. textile biofilter effluent) generally had greater percent removal efficiencies. EDTA, NP, NP1EC, and sulfamethoxazole were measured in soil pore water, indicating the ability of some trace organic compounds to reach shallow groundwater. Risk is highly dependent on the degree of further treatment in the saturated zone and the types and proximity of uses for the receiving groundwater environment. ?? 2009 SETAC.

Fate of trace organic compounds during vadose zone soil treatment in an onsite wastewater system.

PubMed

Conn, Kathleen E; Siegrist, Robert L; Barber, Larry B; Meyer, Michael T

2010-02-01

During onsite wastewater treatment, trace organic compounds are often present in the effluents applied to subsurface soils for advanced treatment during vadose zone percolation and groundwater recharge. The fate of the endocrine-disrupting surfactant metabolites 4-nonylphenol (NP), 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxylate (NP1EO), and 4-nonylphenolmonoethoxycarboxylate (NP1EC), metal-chelating agents ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), antimicrobial agent triclosan, stimulant caffeine, and antibiotic sulfamethoxazole during transport through an unsaturated sandy loam soil was studied at a field-scale test site. To assess the effects of effluent quality and hydraulic loading rate (HLR) on compound fate in the soil profile, two effluents (septic tank or textile biofilter) were applied at two design HLRs (2 or 8 cm/d). Chemical concentrations were determined in the two effluents and soil pore water at 60, 120, and 240 cm below the soil infiltrative surface. Concentrations of trace organic compounds in septic tank effluent were reduced by more than 90% during transport through 240 cm (often within 60 cm) of soil, likely due to sorption and biotransformation. However, the concentration of NP increased with depth in the shallow soil profile. Additional treatment of anaerobic septic tank effluent with an aerobic textile biofilter reduced effluent concentrations of many compounds, but generally did not affect any changes in pore water concentrations. The soil profile receiving septic tank effluent (vs. textile biofilter effluent) generally had greater percent removal efficiencies. EDTA, NP, NP1EC, and sulfamethoxazole were measured in soil pore water, indicating the ability of some trace organic compounds to reach shallow groundwater. Risk is highly dependent on the degree of further treatment in the saturated zone and the types and proximity of uses for the receiving groundwater environment. Copyright 2009 SETAC.

Reviews and syntheses: on the roles trees play in building and plumbing the critical zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brantley, Susan L.; Eissenstat, David M.; Marshall, Jill A.; Godsey, Sarah E.; Balogh-Brunstad, Zsuzsanna; Karwan, Diana L.; Papuga, Shirley A.; Roering, Joshua; Dawson, Todd E.; Evaristo, Jaivime; Chadwick, Oliver; McDonnell, Jeffrey J.; Weathers, Kathleen C.

2017-11-01

Trees, the most successful biological power plants on earth, build and plumb the critical zone (CZ) in ways that we do not yet understand. To encourage exploration of the character and implications of interactions between trees and soil in the CZ, we propose nine hypotheses that can be tested at diverse settings. The hypotheses are roughly divided into those about the architecture (building) and those about the water (plumbing) in the CZ, but the two functions are intertwined. Depending upon one's disciplinary background, many of the nine hypotheses listed below may appear obviously true or obviously false. (1) Tree roots can only physically penetrate and biogeochemically comminute the immobile substrate underlying mobile soil where that underlying substrate is fractured or pre-weathered. (2) In settings where the thickness of weathered material, H, is large, trees primarily shape the CZ through biogeochemical reactions within the rooting zone. (3) In forested uplands, the thickness of mobile soil, h, can evolve toward a steady state because of feedbacks related to root disruption and tree throw. (4) In settings where h ≪ H and the rates of uplift and erosion are low, the uptake of phosphorus into trees is buffered by the fine-grained fraction of the soil, and the ultimate source of this phosphorus is dust. (5) In settings of limited water availability, trees maintain the highest length density of functional roots at depths where water can be extracted over most of the growing season with the least amount of energy expenditure. (6) Trees grow the majority of their roots in the zone where the most growth-limiting resource is abundant, but they also grow roots at other depths to forage for other resources and to hydraulically redistribute those resources to depths where they can be taken up more efficiently. (7) Trees rely on matrix water in the unsaturated zone that at times may have an isotopic composition distinct from the gravity-drained water that transits from the hillslope to groundwater and streamflow. (8) Mycorrhizal fungi can use matrix water directly, but trees can only use this water by accessing it indirectly through the fungi. (9) Even trees growing well above the valley floor of a catchment can directly affect stream chemistry where changes in permeability near the rooting zone promote intermittent zones of water saturation and downslope flow of water to the stream. By testing these nine hypotheses, we will generate important new cross-disciplinary insights that advance CZ science.

Reviews and syntheses: on the roles trees play in building and plumbing the critical zone

DOE PAGES

Brantley, Susan L.; Eissenstat, David M.; Marshall, Jill A.; ...

2017-11-17

Trees, the most successful biological power plants on earth, build and plumb the critical zone (CZ) in ways that we do not yet understand. To encourage exploration of the character and implications of interactions between trees and soil in the CZ, we propose nine hypotheses that can be tested at diverse settings. The hypotheses are roughly divided into those about the architecture (building) and those about the water (plumbing) in the CZ, but the two functions are intertwined. Depending upon one's disciplinary background, many of the nine hypotheses listed below may appear obviously true or obviously false. (1) Tree roots can onlymore » physically penetrate and biogeochemically comminute the immobile substrate underlying mobile soil where that underlying substrate is fractured or pre-weathered. (2) In settings where the thickness of weathered material, H, is large, trees primarily shape the CZ through biogeochemical reactions within the rooting zone. (3) In forested uplands, the thickness of mobile soil, h, can evolve toward a steady state because of feedbacks related to root disruption and tree throw. (4) In settings where h \\11 H and the rates of uplift and erosion are low, the uptake of phosphorus into trees is buffered by the fine-grained fraction of the soil, and the ultimate source of this phosphorus is dust. (5) In settings of limited water availability, trees maintain the highest length density of functional roots at depths where water can be extracted over most of the growing season with the least amount of energy expenditure. (6) Trees grow the majority of their roots in the zone where the most growth-limiting resource is abundant, but they also grow roots at other depths to forage for other resources and to hydraulically redistribute those resources to depths where they can be taken up more efficiently. (7) Trees rely on matrix water in the unsaturated zone that at times may have an isotopic composition distinct from the gravity-drained water that transits from the hillslope to groundwater and streamflow. (8) Mycorrhizal fungi can use matrix water directly, but trees can only use this water by accessing it indirectly through the fungi. (9) Even trees growing well above the valley floor of a catchment can directly affect stream chemistry where changes in permeability near the rooting zone promote intermittent zones of water saturation and downslope flow of water to the stream. By testing these nine hypotheses, we will generate important new cross-disciplinary insights that advance CZ science.« less

Reviews and syntheses: on the roles trees play in building and plumbing the critical zone

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Brantley, Susan L.; Eissenstat, David M.; Marshall, Jill A.

Trees, the most successful biological power plants on earth, build and plumb the critical zone (CZ) in ways that we do not yet understand. To encourage exploration of the character and implications of interactions between trees and soil in the CZ, we propose nine hypotheses that can be tested at diverse settings. The hypotheses are roughly divided into those about the architecture (building) and those about the water (plumbing) in the CZ, but the two functions are intertwined. Depending upon one's disciplinary background, many of the nine hypotheses listed below may appear obviously true or obviously false. (1) Tree roots can onlymore » physically penetrate and biogeochemically comminute the immobile substrate underlying mobile soil where that underlying substrate is fractured or pre-weathered. (2) In settings where the thickness of weathered material, H, is large, trees primarily shape the CZ through biogeochemical reactions within the rooting zone. (3) In forested uplands, the thickness of mobile soil, h, can evolve toward a steady state because of feedbacks related to root disruption and tree throw. (4) In settings where h \\11 H and the rates of uplift and erosion are low, the uptake of phosphorus into trees is buffered by the fine-grained fraction of the soil, and the ultimate source of this phosphorus is dust. (5) In settings of limited water availability, trees maintain the highest length density of functional roots at depths where water can be extracted over most of the growing season with the least amount of energy expenditure. (6) Trees grow the majority of their roots in the zone where the most growth-limiting resource is abundant, but they also grow roots at other depths to forage for other resources and to hydraulically redistribute those resources to depths where they can be taken up more efficiently. (7) Trees rely on matrix water in the unsaturated zone that at times may have an isotopic composition distinct from the gravity-drained water that transits from the hillslope to groundwater and streamflow. (8) Mycorrhizal fungi can use matrix water directly, but trees can only use this water by accessing it indirectly through the fungi. (9) Even trees growing well above the valley floor of a catchment can directly affect stream chemistry where changes in permeability near the rooting zone promote intermittent zones of water saturation and downslope flow of water to the stream. By testing these nine hypotheses, we will generate important new cross-disciplinary insights that advance CZ science.« less

Assessing the ecohydrological separation hypothesis and seasonal variations in water use by Ginkgo biloba L. in a subtropical riparian area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qian, Jin; Zheng, Hao; Wang, Peifang; Liao, Xiaolin; Wang, Chao; Hou, Jun; Ao, Yanhui; Shen, Mengmeng; Liu, Jingjing; Li, Kun

2017-10-01

In this study we used a dual stable isotope approach (δ18O and δ2H) to assess the ecohydrological separation hypothesis and to identify the seasonal variation in water sources of Ginkgo biloba L. in the riparian zone in the Taihu Lake basin, China. Three study sites located at 5, 10, and 30 m from a river bank were established. From August 2014 to July 2015, samples of rainwater, river water, groundwater, bulk soil water at five soil depths (i.e. 0-30, 30-60, 60-90, 90-120, 120-150 cm), and xylem water of G. biloba, were collected and their δ18O and δ2H values were measured. Generally, the δ18O and δ2H values for xylem water, groundwater, and soil water clustered together and separated from those of river water, suggesting the possible occurrence of ecohydrological separation. However, the line-conditioned excess (lc-excess) values of most xylem water were positive, indicating a mixture of different water sources. Significant correlations were observed between the contributions of precipitation, soil water, and groundwater to water uptake by G. biloba, further supporting ecohydrological connectivity rather than ecohydrological separation. G. biloba switched its major water sources from soil water at 0-60 cm depth and precipitation in the wet summer, to soil water from >90 cm depth and groundwater in the dry winter. The river water was a minor water source for G. biloba, but its contribution was comparatively greater at the site closest to the river bank. Our findings contribute to understanding of plant-soil-water relationships and the water balance, and may provide important information for investigations of nutrient sources and sinks in riparian zones. The present study suggests the need to rethink the application of ecohydrological connectivity and separation in different biomes, especially where river water and groundwater recharge each other over time.

Sample dimensions effect on prediction of soil water retention curve and saturated hydraulic conductivity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil water retention curve (SWRC) and saturated hydraulic conductivity (SHC) are key hydraulic properties for unsaturated zone hydrology and groundwater. Not only are the SWRC and SHC measurements time-consuming, their results are scale dependent. Although prediction of the SWRC and SHC from availab...

Creating deep soil core monoliths: Beyond the solum

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil monoliths serve as useful teaching aids in the study of the Earth’s critical zone where rock, soil, water, air, and organisms interact. Typical monolith preparation has so far been confined to the 1 to 2-m depth of the solum. Critical ecosystem services provided by soils include materials from ...

Investigating the water balance of on-farm techniques for improved crop productivity in rainfed systems: A case study of Makanya catchment, Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Makurira, H.; Savenije, H. H. G.; Uhlenbrook, S.; Rockström, J.; Senzanje, A.

Water scarcity is a perennial problem in sub-Saharan agricultural systems where extreme rainfall events dominate agricultural seasons. Dry spell occurrences between and during seasons negatively impact on crop yields especially if such dry spells exceed 14 days. The impact of dry spells is felt more at smallholder farming scales where subsistence farming is the only source of livelihood for many households. This paper presents results from on-going research to improve rainfed water productivity in arid and semi-arid regions. The study site is the Makanya catchment in northern Tanzania where rainfall rarely exceeds 400 mm/season. Rainwater alone is not sufficient to support maize which is the preferred crop. The research introduced new soil and water conservation measures to promote water availability into the root zone. The introduced techniques include deep tillage, runoff diversion, fanya juus (infiltration trenches with bunds) and infiltration pits. The research aims at understanding the effectiveness of these interventions in increasing moisture availability within the root zone. Time domain reflectometry (TDR) was used to measure soil moisture twice weekly at 10 cm depth intervals up to depths of 2 m. Soil moisture fluctuated in the range 5-25% of volume with the beginning of the season recording the driest moisture levels and periods after good rainfall/runoff events recording the highest moisture levels. From the field observations made, a spreadsheet model was developed to simulate soil moisture variations during different maize growth stages. The results obtained show that the zones of greatest soil moisture concentrations are those around the trenches and bunds. Soil moisture is least at the centre of the plots. The study confirms the effectiveness of the introduced techniques to help concentrate the little available rainfall into green water flow paths. Indirect benefits from these improved techniques are the creation of fertile and moist zones around the bunds where supplementary food crops (e.g. bananas and cassava) can be grown even in dry seasons.

Salinity control in a clay soil beneath an orchard irrigated with treated waste water in the presence of a high water table: A numerical study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Russo, David; Laufer, Asher; Bardhan, Gopali; Levy, Guy J.

2015-12-01

A citrus orchard planted on a structured, clay soil associated with a high water table, irrigated by drip irrigation system using treated waste water (TWW) and local well water (LWW) was considered here. The scope of the present study was to analyze transport of mixed-ion, interacting salts in a combined vadose zone-groundwater flow system focusing on the following issues: (i) long-term effects of irrigation with TWW on the response of the flow system, identifying the main factors (e.g., soil salinity, soil sodicity) that control these effects, and (ii) salinity control aiming at improving both crop productivity and groundwater quality. To pursue this two-fold goal, 3-D numerical simulations of field-scale flow and transport were performed for an extended period of time, considering realistic features of the soil, water table, crop, weather and irrigation, and the coupling between the flow and the transport through the dependence of the soil hydraulic functions, K(ψ) and θ(ψ), on soil solution concentration C, and sodium adsorption ratio, SAR. Results of the analyses suggest that in the case studied, the long-term effect of irrigation with TWW on the response of the flow system is attributed to the enhanced salinity of the TWW, and not to the increase in soil sodicity. The latter findings are attributed to: (i) the negative effect of soil salinity on water uptake, and the tradeoff between water uptake and drainage flux, and, concurrently, solute discharge below the root zone; and, (ii) the tradeoff between the effects of C and SAR on K(ψ) and θ(ψ). Furthermore, it was demonstrated that a data-driven protocol for soil salinity control, based on alternating irrigation water quality between TWW and desalinized water, guided by the soil solution salinity at the centroid of the soil volume active in water uptake, may lead to a substantial increase in crop yield, and to a substantial decrease in the salinity load in the groundwater.

Three-dimensional modeling of nitrate-N transport in vadose zone: Roles of soil heterogeneity and groundwater flux.

PubMed

Akbariyeh, Simin; Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon; Snow, Daniel; Li, Xu; Tang, Zhenghong; Li, Yusong

2018-04-01

Contamination of groundwater from nitrogen fertilizers in agricultural lands is an important environmental and water quality management issue. It is well recognized that in agriculturally intensive areas, fertilizers and pesticides may leach through the vadose zone and eventually reach groundwater. While numerical models are commonly used to simulate fate and transport of agricultural contaminants, few models have considered a controlled field work to investigate the influence of soil heterogeneity and groundwater flow on nitrate-N distribution in both root zone and deep vadose zone. In this work, a numerical model was developed to simulate nitrate-N transport and transformation beneath a center pivot-irrigated corn field on Nebraska Management System Evaluation area over a three-year period. The model was based on a realistic three-dimensional sediment lithology, as well as carefully controlled irrigation and fertilizer application plans. In parallel, a homogeneous soil domain, containing the major sediment type of the site (i.e. sandy loam), was developed to conduct the same water flow and nitrate-N leaching simulations. Simulated nitrate-N concentrations were compared with the monitored nitrate-N concentrations in 10 multi-level sampling wells over a three-year period. Although soil heterogeneity was mainly observed from top soil to 3 m below the surface, heterogeneity controlled the spatial distribution of nitrate-N concentration. Soil heterogeneity, however, has minimal impact on the total mass of nitrate-N in the domain. In the deeper saturated zone, short-term variations of nitrate-N concentration correlated with the groundwater level fluctuations. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Three-dimensional modeling of nitrate-N transport in vadose zone: Roles of soil heterogeneity and groundwater flux

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Akbariyeh, Simin; Bartelt-Hunt, Shannon; Snow, Daniel; Li, Xu; Tang, Zhenghong; Li, Yusong

2018-04-01

Contamination of groundwater from nitrogen fertilizers in agricultural lands is an important environmental and water quality management issue. It is well recognized that in agriculturally intensive areas, fertilizers and pesticides may leach through the vadose zone and eventually reach groundwater. While numerical models are commonly used to simulate fate and transport of agricultural contaminants, few models have considered a controlled field work to investigate the influence of soil heterogeneity and groundwater flow on nitrate-N distribution in both root zone and deep vadose zone. In this work, a numerical model was developed to simulate nitrate-N transport and transformation beneath a center pivot-irrigated corn field on Nebraska Management System Evaluation area over a three-year period. The model was based on a realistic three-dimensional sediment lithology, as well as carefully controlled irrigation and fertilizer application plans. In parallel, a homogeneous soil domain, containing the major sediment type of the site (i.e. sandy loam), was developed to conduct the same water flow and nitrate-N leaching simulations. Simulated nitrate-N concentrations were compared with the monitored nitrate-N concentrations in 10 multi-level sampling wells over a three-year period. Although soil heterogeneity was mainly observed from top soil to 3 m below the surface, heterogeneity controlled the spatial distribution of nitrate-N concentration. Soil heterogeneity, however, has minimal impact on the total mass of nitrate-N in the domain. In the deeper saturated zone, short-term variations of nitrate-N concentration correlated with the groundwater level fluctuations.

International Critical Zone Science: Opportunities to Build a Global Understanding of Land-Water Linkages

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McDowell, W. H.

2015-12-01

Critical Zone science examines the structure and properties of the thin veneer that links surface properties to deep geology, at time scales of seconds to millennia. One of the fundamental premises of the US Critical Zone Observatories program is that CZOs should include some measurements made in common at all sites, as these common measurements will enable us to make stronger inferences about how the structure and function of the critical zone interact to drive key processes such as soil formation, stream flow generation, and nutrient export. Recent advances in real-time sensors provide new opportunities to address some fundamental questions about how hillslope soils and streams are linked. Data from the Luquillo Critical Zone Observatory in Puerto Rico, for example, document a previously undescribed transition, or flipping, of stream and soil biogeochemistry in a tropical rain forest. Under typical conditions, soil moisture is high and soil oxygen content is often low, especially at depth. Streams, in contrast, are typically near oxygen saturation. Under severe drought, however, oxygen increases dramatically in soil air and declines to values that are well below saturation in streams. This flipping in redox conditions suggests that despite the strong hydrologic connection between hillslope and stream, gas dynamics and potentially solute dynamics are decoupled along the flow path. The international CZO community has the opportunity to develop a suite of sensor arrays to document soil air, groundwater chemistry, and stream water chemistry. Progress towards realizing the potential of these international networks to develop coherent sensor programs will be addressed based on the current status of sensor deployments in CZO networks in the US, China, and Europe.

Borehole environmental tracers for evaluating net infiltration and recharge through desert bedrock

USGS Publications Warehouse

Heilweil, V.M.; Solomon, D.K.; Gardner, P.M.

2006-01-01

Permeable bedrock aquifers in arid regions are being increasingly developed as water supplies, yet little is generally known about recharge processes and spatial and temporal variability. Environmental tracers from boreholes were used in this study to investigate net infiltration and recharge to the fractured Navajo Sandstone aquifer. Vadose zone tracer profiles at the Sand Hollow study site in southwestern Utah look similar to those of desert soils at other sites, indicating the predominance of matrix flow. However, recharge rates are generally higher in the Navajo Sandstone than in unconsolidated soils in similar climates because the sandstone matrix allows water movement but not root penetration. Water enters the vadose zone either as direct infiltration of precipitation through exposed sandstone and sandy soils or as focused infiltration of runoff. Net infiltration and recharge exhibit extreme spatial variability. High-recharge borehole sites generally have large amounts of vadose zone tritium, low chloride concentrations, and small vadose zone oxygen-18 evaporative shifts. Annual net-infiltration and recharge rates at different locations range from about 1 to 60 mm as determined using vadose zone tritium, 0 to 15 mm using vadose zone chloride, and 3 to 60 mm using groundwater chloride. Environmental tracers indicate a cyclical net-infiltration and recharge pattern, with higher rates earlier in the Holocene and lower rates during the late Holocene, and a return to higher rates during recent decades associated with anomalously high precipitation during the latter part of the 20th century. The slightly enriched stable isotopic composition of modern groundwater indicates this recent increase in precipitation may be caused by a stronger summer monsoon or winter southern Pacific El Nin??o storm track. ?? Soil Science Society of America.

Transpiration Response and Growth in Pearl Millet Parental Lines and Hybrids Bred for Contrasting Rainfall Environments

PubMed Central

Medina, Susan; Gupta, S. K.; Vadez, Vincent

2017-01-01

Under conditions of high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil drying, restricting transpiration is an important avenue to gain efficiency in water use. The question we raise in this article is whether breeding for agro-ecological environments that differ for the rainfall have selected for traits that control plant water use. These are measured in pearl millet materials bred for zones varying in rainfall (8 combinations of parent and F1-hybrids, 18 F1-hybrids and then 40 F1-hybrids). In all cases, we found an agro-ecological variation in the slope of the transpiration response to increasing VPD, and parental line variation in the transpiration response to soil drying within hybrids/parent combinations. The hybrids adapted to lower rainfall had higher transpiration response curves than those from the highest rainfall zones, but showed no variation in how transpiration responded to soil drying. The genotypes bred for lower rainfall zones showed lower leaf area, dry matter, thicker leaves, root development, and exudation, than the ones bred for high rainfall zone when grown in the low VPD environment of the greenhouse, but there was no difference in their root length neither on the root/shoot index in these genotypes. By contrast, when grown under high VPD conditions outdoors, the lower rainfall hybrids had the highest leaf, tiller, and biomass development. Finally, under soil drying the genotypes from the lower rainfall accumulated less biomass than the ones from higher rainfall zone, and so did the parental lines compared to the hybrids. These differences in the transpiration response and growth clearly showed that breeding for different agro-ecological zones also bred for different genotype strategies in relation to traits related to plant water use. Highlights: • Variation in transpiration response reflected breeding for agro-ecological zones • Different growth strategies depended on the environmental conditions • Different ideotypes reflected rainfall levels in specific agro-ecological zones PMID:29163578

Transpiration Response and Growth in Pearl Millet Parental Lines and Hybrids Bred for Contrasting Rainfall Environments.

PubMed

Medina, Susan; Gupta, S K; Vadez, Vincent

2017-01-01

Under conditions of high vapor pressure deficit (VPD) and soil drying, restricting transpiration is an important avenue to gain efficiency in water use. The question we raise in this article is whether breeding for agro-ecological environments that differ for the rainfall have selected for traits that control plant water use. These are measured in pearl millet materials bred for zones varying in rainfall (8 combinations of parent and F 1 -hybrids, 18 F 1 -hybrids and then 40 F 1 -hybrids). In all cases, we found an agro-ecological variation in the slope of the transpiration response to increasing VPD, and parental line variation in the transpiration response to soil drying within hybrids/parent combinations. The hybrids adapted to lower rainfall had higher transpiration response curves than those from the highest rainfall zones, but showed no variation in how transpiration responded to soil drying. The genotypes bred for lower rainfall zones showed lower leaf area, dry matter, thicker leaves, root development, and exudation, than the ones bred for high rainfall zone when grown in the low VPD environment of the greenhouse, but there was no difference in their root length neither on the root/shoot index in these genotypes. By contrast, when grown under high VPD conditions outdoors, the lower rainfall hybrids had the highest leaf, tiller, and biomass development. Finally, under soil drying the genotypes from the lower rainfall accumulated less biomass than the ones from higher rainfall zone, and so did the parental lines compared to the hybrids. These differences in the transpiration response and growth clearly showed that breeding for different agro-ecological zones also bred for different genotype strategies in relation to traits related to plant water use. Highlights : • Variation in transpiration response reflected breeding for agro-ecological zones • Different growth strategies depended on the environmental conditions • Different ideotypes reflected rainfall levels in specific agro-ecological zones.

Neural Network-Based Retrieval of Surface and Root Zone Soil Moisture using Multi-Frequency Remotely-Sensed Observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamed Alemohammad, Seyed; Kolassa, Jana; Prigent, Catherine; Aires, Filipe; Gentine, Pierre

2017-04-01

Knowledge of root zone soil moisture is essential in studying plant's response to different stress conditions since plant photosynthetic activity and transpiration rate are constrained by the water available through their roots. Current global root zone soil moisture estimates are based on either outputs from physical models constrained by observations, or assimilation of remotely-sensed microwave-based surface soil moisture estimates with physical model outputs. However, quality of these estimates are limited by the accuracy of the model representations of physical processes (such as radiative transfer, infiltration, percolation, and evapotranspiration) as well as errors in the estimates of the surface parameters. Additionally, statistical approaches provide an alternative efficient platform to develop root zone soil moisture retrieval algorithms from remotely-sensed observations. In this study, we present a new neural network based retrieval algorithm to estimate surface and root zone soil moisture from passive microwave observations of SMAP satellite (L-band) and AMSR2 instrument (X-band). SMAP early morning observations are ideal for surface soil moisture retrieval. AMSR2 mid-night observations are used here as an indicator of plant hydraulic properties that are related to root zone soil moisture. The combined observations from SMAP and AMSR2 together with other ancillary observations including the Solar-Induced Fluorescence (SIF) estimates from GOME-2 instrument provide necessary information to estimate surface and root zone soil moisture. The algorithm is applied to observations from the first 18 months of SMAP mission and retrievals are validated against in-situ observations and other global datasets.

Potential for ground-water contamination from movement of wastewater through the unsaturated zone, upper Mojave River Basin, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Umari, A.M.; Martin, P.M.; Schroeder, R.A.; Duell, L.F.; Fay, R.G.

1993-01-01

Septic-tank wastewater disposed in 30-foot-deep seepage pits (dry wells) at 46,000 residences is estimated to equal 18 percent of the natural recharge to the sole-source aquifer in the rapidly developing upper Mojave River Basin (Victor Valley) in the high desert northeast of Los Angeles. Vertical rates of movement of the wastewater wetting front through the unsaturated zone at three newly occupied residences ranged from 0.07 to 1.0 foot per day. These rates translate to traveltimes of several months to several years for the wastewater wetting front to reach the water table and imply that wastewater from many disposal systems already has reached the water table, which averages about 150 feet below land surface in the Victor Valley. As wastewater percolates from seepage pits into the adjacent unsaturated zone, the nitrogen present in reduced form is rapidly converted to nitrate. Analyses on soil-core extracts and soil moisturefrom suction lysimeters installed beneath the seepage pits at eight residences showed that nitrate concentrations and nitrate/ chloride ratios generally become lower with increasing depth. The intervals of greatest decline seemed to coincide with finer soil texture or were near the water table. Nitrate-reducing bacteria were tested for and found to be present in soil cores from two residences. Sparse nitrogen-15 data from suction lysimeters at one of these residences, where thenitrate concentration decreased by about one-half at a depth of 200 feet, indicate that the nitrate decline was accompanied by nitrogen-15 enrichment in the residual nitrate with an isotope-separation factor of about -10 permil. Despite the potential input of abundant nitrogen with the domestic wastewater recharge, nitrate concentrations in the area's ground water are generally low. The absence of high nitrate concentrations in the ground water is consistent with the existence of denitrification, a microbial nitrogen-removal mechanism, as wastewater moves through the thick unsaturated zone and mixes with the ground water. The observed low nitrate concentrations also could be explained by a dilution by vertical mixing in the saturated zone and retention of the wastewater in the unsaturated zone. Results of a single-cell mixing model that allows nitrate from wastewater to be mixedinstantaneously with the underlying ground water suggest that measurable increases in nitrate concentration should be expected within 5 to 10 years after wastewater reaches the water table if the mixing depth is less than 100 feet. Although high fecal-coliform densities were measured in wastewater from septic tanks and seepage pits, removal of these enteric bacteria in the unsaturated zone is very effective, as was indicated by their absence in soil only a few feet from the seepage pits. In testing for organic priority pollutants in wastewater, 17 of 85 compounds were detected. Most compounds detected were present in low concentrations, except at one residence where the concentration of three compounds exceeded 100 micrograms per liter. These high concentrations may be a consequence of disposal practices unique to this residence. Extractable organic priority pollutants were not found in any soil cores taken adjacent to seepage pits and, therefore, are not of concern.

Effect of water table dynamics on land surface hydrologic memory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lo, Min-Hui; Famiglietti, James S.

2010-11-01

The representation of groundwater dynamics in land surface models has received considerable attention in recent years. Most studies have found that soil moisture increases after adding a groundwater component because of the additional supply of water to the root zone. However, the effect of groundwater on land surface hydrologic memory (persistence) has not been explored thoroughly. In this study we investigate the effect of water table dynamics on National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Land Model hydrologic simulations in terms of land surface hydrologic memory. Unlike soil water or evapotranspiration, results show that land surface hydrologic memory does not always increase after adding a groundwater component. In regions where the water table level is intermediate, land surface hydrologic memory can even decrease, which occurs when soil moisture and capillary rise from groundwater are not in phase with each other. Further, we explore the hypothesis that in addition to atmospheric forcing, groundwater variations may also play an important role in affecting land surface hydrologic memory. Analyses show that feedbacks of groundwater on land surface hydrologic memory can be positive, negative, or neutral, depending on water table dynamics. In regions where the water table is shallow, the damping process of soil moisture variations by groundwater is not significant, and soil moisture variations are mostly controlled by random noise from atmospheric forcing. In contrast, in regions where the water table is very deep, capillary fluxes from groundwater are small, having limited potential to affect soil moisture variations. Therefore, a positive feedback of groundwater to land surface hydrologic memory is observed in a transition zone between deep and shallow water tables, where capillary fluxes act as a buffer by reducing high-frequency soil moisture variations resulting in longer land surface hydrologic memory.

Capturing Spatial Variability of Biogeochemical Mass Exchanges and Reaction Rates in Wetland Water and Soil through Model Compartmentalization

EPA Science Inventory

A common phenomenon observed in natural and constructed wetlands is short-circuiting of flow and formation of stagnant zones that are only indirectly connected with the incoming water. Biogeochemistry of passive areas is potentially much different than that of active zones. In ...

[Effects of land use type on diurnal dynamics of environment microclimate in Karst zone].

PubMed

Li, Sheng; Ren, Hua-Dong; Yao, Xiao-Hua; Zhang, Shou-Gong

2009-02-01

In June 2007, the diurnal dynamics of light intensity, air temperature, air relative humidity, soil temperature, and surface soil (0-5 cm) water content of five land use types in the typical Karst zone of Lingyun City in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region were observed. The results showed that different land use types altered the composition, coverage, and height of aboveground vegetation, which in turn changed the environment microclimate to different degree. The microclimate quality was in the order of forestland > shrub land > grassland > farmland > rock land. On rock land, the light intensity, air temperature, air relative humidity, soil temperature, and soil water content were higher, and the diurnal variation of the five climatic factors was notable, with the microclimatic conditions changed towards drier and hotter. Compared with those on rock land, the light intensity on forestland, shrub land, grassland, and farmland decreased by 96.4%, 52.0%, 17.0% and 44.2%, air temperature decreased by 30.1%, 20.2%, 12.7% and 17.8%, air relative humidity increased by 129.2%, 57.2%, 18.0% and 41.2%, soil temperature decreased by 11.5%, 8%, 2.5% and 5.5%, and soil water content increased by 42.6%, 33.2%, 15.7% and 14.0%, respectively. The five climatic factors on forestland and shrub land had lesser fluctuation, with the microclimate tended to cool and wet. Light intensity, air temperature, and soil temperature correlated positively with each other, and had negative correlations with air relative humidity and soil water content. A positive correlation was observed between air temperature and soil water content.

Monitoring technologies for the evaluation of a Soil-Aquifer-Treatment system in coastal aquifer environments.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kallioras, Andreas; Tsertou, Athanasia; Foglia, Laura; Bumberger, Jan; Vienken, Thomas; Dietrich, Peter; Schüth, Christoph

2014-05-01

Artificial recharge of groundwater has an important role to play in water reuse. Treated sewage effluent can be infiltrated into the ground for recharge of aquifers. As the effluent water moves through the soil and the aquifer, it undergoes significant quality improvements through physical, chemical, and biological processes in the underground environment. Collectively, these processes and the water quality improvement obtained are called soil-aquifer-treatment (SAT) or geopurification. Recharge systems for SAT can be designed as infiltration-recovery systems, where all effluent water is recovered as such from the aquifer, or after blending with native groundwater. SAT typically removes essentially all suspended solids, biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), and pathogens (viruses, bacteria, protozoa, and helminthic eggs). Concentrations of synthetic organic carbon, phosphorous, and heavy metals are greatly reduced. The pilot site of LTCP will involve the employment of infiltration basins, which will be using waters of impaired quality as a recharge source, and hence acting as a Soil-Aquifer-Treatment, SAT, system. T he LTCP site will be employed as a pilot SAT system complemented by new technological developments, which will be providing continuous monitoring of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of infiltrating groundwater through all hydrologic zones (i.e. surface, unsaturated and saturated zone). This will be achieved through the development and installation of an integrated system of prototype sensors, installed on-site, and offering a continuous evaluation of the performance of the SAT system. An integrated approach of the performance evaluation of any operating SAT system should aim at parallel monitoring of all hydrologic zones, proving the sustainability of all involved water quality treatment processes within unsaturated and saturated zone. Hence a prototype system of Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) sensors will be developed, in order to achieve continuous quantitative monitoring of the unsaturated zone through the entire soil column down to significant depths below the SAT basin. The above technique will offer continuous monitoring of infiltration rates and possible mechanical clogging effects. The qualitative monitoring of the unsaturated zone will be achieved through the installation of appropriate pore-water samplers within a multi-level basis, ensuring repeatability of sampling of infiltrating water of impaired quality. This study also involves the qualitative and quantitative assessment of the Lavrion multi-aquifer system through continuous monitoring of the performance of (i) the alluvial aquifer and its potential for additional water treatment as well as (ii) the effects of the SAT system for countermeasuring seawater intrusion in the area of Lavrion. Additionally, setup and calibration of numerical flow and transport models for evaluating and optimizing different operational modes of the SAT system within both saturated and unsaturated zones will be conducted. The monitoring system will be connected to an ad-hoc wireless network for continuous data transfer within the SAT facilities. It is envisaged that the development and combined application of all the above technologies will provide an integrated monitoring platform for the evaluation of SAT system performance.

Measuring and modeling of a three-dimensional tracer transport in a planted soil column

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schroeder, N.; Javaux, M.; Haber-Pohlmeier, S.; Pohlmeier, A. J.; Huber, K.; Vereecken, H.; Vanderborght, J.

2013-12-01

Water flow from soil to root is driven by the plant transpiration and an important component of the hydrological cycle. The model R-SWMS combines three-dimensional (3D) water flow and solute transport in soil with a detailed description of root structure in three dimensions [1,2]. This model offers the possibility to calculate root water and solute uptake and flow within the roots, which enables explicit studies with respect to the distribution of water and solutes around the roots as well as local processes at the root-soil interface. In this study, we compared measured data from a tracer experiment using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) with simulations in order to assess the distribution and magnitude of the water uptake of a young lupine plant. An aqueous solution of the Gadolinium-complex (Gd-DTPA2-) was chosen as a tracer, as it behaves conservatively and is ideally suited for MRI. Water flow in the soil towards the roots can thus be visualized by following the change in tracer concentrations over time. The data were obtained by MRI, providing high resolution 3D images of the tracer distribution and root architecture structures by using a spin echo pulse sequence, which is strongly T1- weighted to be tracer sensitive [3], and T2 -weighted for root imaging [4]. This experimental setup was simulated using the 3D high-resolution numerical model R-SWMS. The comparison between MRI data and the simulations showed extensive effects of root architecture parameters on solute spreading. Although the results of our study showed the strength of combining non-invasive measurements and 3D modeling of solute and water flow in soil-root systems, where the derivation of plant hydraulic parameters such as axial and radial root conductivities is possible, current limitations were found with respect to MRI measurements and process description. [1] Javaux, M., T. Schröder, J. Vanderborght, and H. Vereecken (2008), Use of a Three-Dimensional Detailed Modeling Approach for Predicting Root Water Uptake, Vadose Zone Journal, 7(3), 1079-1079. [2] Schröder, N., M. Javaux, J. Vanderborght, B. Steffen, and H. Vereecken (2012), Effect of Root Water and Solute Uptake on Apparent Soil Dispersivity: A Simulation Study, Vadose Zone Journal, 11(3). [3 ]Haber-Pohlmeier, S., Bechtold, M., Stapf, S., and Pohlmeier, A. (2010). Water Flow Monitored by Tracer Transport in Natural Porous Media Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Vadose Zone Journal (9),835-845. [4] Stingaciu, L. R., Schulz, H., Pohlmeier, A., Behnke, S., Zilken, H., Vereecken, H., and Javaux, M. (2013). In Situ Root System Architecture Extraction from Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Application to Water Uptake Modeling. Vadose Zone Journal.

Tracing long-term vadose zone processes at the Nevada Test Site, USA

PubMed Central

Hunt, James R.; Tompson, Andrew F. B.

2010-01-01

The nuclear weapons testing programme of the USA has released radionuclides to the subsurface at the Nevada Test Site. One of these tests has been used to study the hydrological transport of radionuclides for over 25 years in groundwater and the deep unsaturated zone. Ten years after the weapon’s test, a 16 year groundwater pumping experiment was initiated to study the mobility of radionuclides from that test in an alluvial aquifer. The continuously pumped groundwater was released into an unlined ditch where some of the water infiltrated into the 200 m deep vadose zone. The pumped groundwater had well-characterized tritium activities that were utilized to trace water migration in the shallow and deep vadose zones. Within the near-surface vadose zone, tritium levels in the soil water are modelled by a simple one-dimensional, analytical wetting front model. In the case of the near-surface soils at the Cambric Ditch experimental site, water flow and salt accumulation appear to be dominated by rooted vegetation, a mechanism not included within the wetting front model. Simulation results from a two-dimensional vadose groundwater flow model illustrate the dominance of vertical flow in the vadose zone and the recharge of the aquifer with the pumped groundwater. The long-time series of hydrological data provides opportunities to understand contaminant transport processes better in the vadose zone with an appropriate level of modelling. PMID:21785525

Improving soil moisture simulation to support Agricultural Water Resource Management using Satellite-based water cycle observations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gupta, Manika; Bolten, John; Lakshmi, Venkat

2016-04-01

Efficient and sustainable irrigation systems require optimization of operational parameters such as irrigation amount which are dependent on the soil hydraulic parameters that affect the model's accuracy in simulating soil water content. However, it is a scientific challenge to provide reliable estimates of soil hydraulic parameters and irrigation estimates, given the absence of continuously operating soil moisture and rain gauge network. For agricultural water resource management, the in-situ measurements of soil moisture are currently limited to discrete measurements at specific locations, and such point-based measurements do not represent the spatial distribution at a larger scale accurately, as soil moisture is highly variable both spatially and temporally (Wang and Qu 2009). In the current study, flood irrigation scheme within the land surface model is triggered when the root-zone soil moisture deficit reaches below a threshold of 25%, 50% and 75% with respect to the maximum available water capacity (difference between field capacity and wilting point) and applied until the top layer is saturated. An additional important criterion needed to activate the irrigation scheme is to ensure that it is irrigation season by assuming that the greenness vegetation fraction (GVF) of the pixel exceed 0.40 of the climatological annual range of GVF (Ozdogan et al. 2010). The main hypothesis used in this study is that near-surface remote sensing soil moisture data contain useful information that can describe the effective hydrological conditions of the basin such that when appropriately inverted, it would provide field capacity and wilting point soil moisture, which may be representative of that basin. Thus, genetic algorithm inverse method is employed to derive the effective parameters and derive the soil moisture deficit for the root zone by coupling of AMSR-E soil moisture with the physically based hydrological model. Model performance is evaluated using MODIS-evapotranspiration (ET) and MODIS land surface temperature (LST) products. The soil moisture estimates for the root zone are also validated with the in-situ field data, for three sites (2- irrigated and 1- rainfed) located at the University of Nebraska Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead, NE and monitored by three AmeriFlux installations (Verma et al., 2005) by evaluating the root mean square error (RMSE) and Mean Bias error (MBE).

SOIL ALUMINUM DISTRIBUTION IN THE NEAR-STREAM ZONE AT THE BEAR BROOK WATERSHED IN MAINE

EPA Science Inventory

Near-stream and upslope soil chemical properties were analyzed to infer linkages between soil and surface water chemistry at the Bear Brook Watershed in Maine [BBWM]. Organic and mineral soil samples were collected along six 20 m transects perpendicular to the stream and one 200 ...

DEMONSTRATION BULLETIN: IN-SITU THERMAL OXIDATION PROCESS - HRUBETZ ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES

EPA Science Inventory

The HRUBOUT process is a thermal, treatment process designed to remove VOCs and semi-VOCs from contaminated soils. Heated air is injected into the soil below the contamination zone, evaporating soil moisture and removing volatile and semivolatile hydrocarbons. As the water evapor...

Application of Data Assimilation with the Root Zone Water Quality Model for Soil Moisture Profile Estimation

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Estimation of soil moisture has received considerable attention in the areas of hydrology, agriculture, meteorology and environmental studies because of its role in the partitioning water and energy at the land surface. In this study, the Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF), a popular data assimilation te...

Efficacy of passive capillary samplers for estimating soil water drainage in the vadose zone

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The efficacy and accuracy of PCAP samplers were evaluated for continuous estimating of soil water drainage and fluxes below the rootzone of a sugarbeet-potato-barley rotation under two irrigation frequencies. Twelve automated PCAPs with outside sampling surface dimensions of 91 cm length x 31 cm wid...

Contrasting physiological effects of partial root zone drying in field-grown grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Monastrell) according to total soil water availability

PubMed Central

Romero, Pascual; Dodd, Ian C.; Martinez-Cutillas, Adrian

2012-01-01

Different spatial distributions of soil moisture were imposed on field-grown grapevines by applying the same irrigation volumes to the entire (DI; deficit irrigation) or part of the (PRD; partial root zone drying) root zone. Five treatments were applied: controls irrigated at 60% ETc (crop evapotranspiration) for the whole season (308 mm year−1); DI-1 and PRD-1 that received the same irrigation as controls before fruit set, 30% ETc from fruit set to harvest and 45% ETc post-harvest (192 mm year−1); and DI-2 and PRD-2 that were the same, except that 15% ETc was applied from fruit set to harvest (142 mm year−1). Compared with DI-1, PRD-1 maintained higher leaf area post-veraison and increased root water uptake, whole-plant hydraulic conductance, leaf transpiration, stomatal conductance, and photosynthesis, but decreased intrinsic gas exchange efficiency without causing differences in leaf xylem abscisic acid (ABA) concentration. Compared with DI-2, PRD-2 increased leaf xylem ABA concentration and decreased root water uptake, whole-plant hydraulic conductance, leaf transpiration, stomatal conductance, and photosynthesis, mainly at the beginning of PRD cycles. Distinctive PRD effects (e.g. greater stomatal closure) depended on the volumetric soil water content of the wet root zone, as predicted from a model of root-to-shoot ABA signalling. PMID:22451721

On site experiments of the slanted soil treatment systems for domestic gray water.

PubMed

Itayama, Tomoaki; Kiji, Masato; Suetsugu, Aya; Tanaka, Nobuyuki; Saito, Takeshi; Iwami, Norio; Mizuochi, Motoyuki; Inamori, Yuhei

2006-01-01

In order to make a breakthrough for the acute problem of water shortage in the world, the key words "decentralization and re-use" are very important for new sustainable sanitation systems that will be developed. Therefore, we focused on a new treatments system called "a slanted soil treatment system" which combines a biotoilet system with a domestic grey water treatment system. Because this system is a low cost and compact system, the system can be easily introduced to homes in urban areas or in the suburbs of cities in many developing countries. In this study, we performed on site experiments carried out on Shikoku Island, Japan, for several years. We obtained the following results. The slanted soil treatment system could remove organic pollutants and total nitrogen and total phosphorus in grey water effectively. Furthermore, the system performance became high in the case of the high concentration of the influent water. The nitrification reaction and denitrification reaction were speculated to exist due to aerobic zones and anaerobic zones present in the slanted soil treatment system. The slanted soil treatment system could perform for approximately 3 years with zero maintenance. The plug flow model of 1st order reaction kinetics could describe the reaction in the slanted soil treatment system. However, it is necessary to improve the system to maintain the performance in all seasons.

Runoff generation processes and fraction of young water for streamflow and groundwater in a pre-alpine forested catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuecco, Giulia; Penna, Daniele; van Meerveld, Ilja; Borga, Marco

2017-04-01

Understanding of runoff generation mechanisms and storage dynamics is needed for sustainable management of water resources, particularly in catchments characterized by marked seasonality in rainfall. However, temporal and spatial variability of hydrological processes can hinder a detailed comprehension of catchment functioning. In this study, we use hydrometric data and stable isotope data from a 2-ha forested catchment in the Italian pre-Alps to i) identify seasonal changes in runoff generation, ii) determine the factors that affect the hysteretic relations between streamflow and soil moisture and between streamflow and shallow groundwater, and iii) estimate the fraction of young water in stream water and shallow groundwater. Streamflow, soil moisture and groundwater levels were measured continuously between August 2012 and December 2015. Soil moisture was measured at 0-30 cm depth by four time domain reflectometers installed at different locations along a riparian-hillslope transect. Depth to water table was measured in two piezometers installed at a depth of 2.0 and 1.8 m in the riparian zone. Water samples for isotopic analysis were taken monthly from bulk precipitation and approximately biweekly from stream water and groundwater. The relations between streamflow (independent variable), soil moisture and depth to water table (dependent variables) were analyzed by computing a hysteresis index that provides information on the direction, the extent and the shape of the loops for 103 rainfall-runoff events. The temporal variability of the hysteresis index was related to event characteristics (mean and maximum rainfall intensity, rainfall amount and total stormflow) and antecedent soil moisture conditions. We observed threshold-like relations between stormflow and the sum of rainfall and the antecedent soil moisture index and an exponential relation between the change in groundwater level and stormflow. Clockwise hysteretic relations were common between streamflow and riparian soil moisture, suggesting quick contributions from shallow soil layers in the riparian zone to streamflow. The relations between streamflow and hillslope soil moisture and between streamflow and depth to water table in the riparian zone varied seasonally, with clockwise loops being typical for large rainfall events in autumn and anti-clockwise hysteresis being more common in spring and summer. This indicates that hillslope soil water and riparian groundwater dynamics and their contribution to stormflow varied seasonally and depended on event size and antecedent moisture conditions. There was a marked seasonal variability in the isotopic composition of precipitation but a much more damped variability in the isotopic signature of stream water and groundwater. A sine curve was fitted to the seasonal variation in isotopic composition of weighted precipitation, stream water and groundwater to estimate the fraction of young water in stream water and groundwater. The fraction of young water in streamflow was about 14% when considering baseflow conditions only (23% using the entire isotopic dataset). This was similar to the fraction of young water in riparian groundwater. Keywords: runoff generation; hysteresis; isotopes; young water fraction; forested catchment.

Impact of water overstock on groundwater quality of the Bassee plain area (France)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gourcy, L.; Pettenati, M.; Baran, N.; Durand, P. Y.

2009-04-01

The project, inspired by the structural flood plain management measures of the Rhine River, consists in the temporal removal of a maximum amount of water from the Seine River in order to leave priority to the water from the River Yonne. Yonne River and the Seine are presenting their maximum water flow usually at a same time. The space located between Bray-sur-Seine and Montereau-Fault-Yonne corresponding to the La Bassée plain (agricultural area of 23 km2) is well adapted to this project of temporary and artificial flood. The objective of the project financed by the Institution Interdépartementale des barrages Réservoirs du Bassin de la Seine (IIBRBS), the BRGM, the Seine-Normandie Water Agency, the European Communauty through the Interreg IIIB SAND project is the evaluation, at a local scale, of the impact on groundwater quality of the temporal Seine water storage. Indeed, the water over storage i) changes hydraulic conditions and therefore modify water and pollutants transfers through the unsaturated and saturated zones and ii) bring at soil surface a water (Seine River) potentially containing contaminants that may move to groundwater and consequently changed physico-chemicals conditions (redox) of groundwater. The estimation of the vulnerability of groundwater to changes and loads needs hydraulic and geochemical modelling of transfer through the unsaturated zone as well as the study of pollutants fate in static conditions. Retention properties of some metals (Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr, Zn) in soils and materials of the unsaturated zone by chemical processes were performed determining adsorption coefficient (Kd) by laboratory experiments. These experiments are showing that nickel mobility is lower in the argillous layers than in the sandy part of the unsaturated zone. Ni mobility is controlled by iron hydroxides and precipitation of other secondary minerals. Its complexation on organic ligands increases its mobility in soils. Copper concentration is influenced by CaCO3 presence and soluble organic ligands. Zinc is strongly adsorbed on the solid matrix at all tested soils. At basic condition, such as normally encountered at the Bassée floodplain, chromium adsorption is very low or null. Based on these results, batch modelling (without transport) were carried out for Cu and Ni. That confirms that nickel adsorption is controlled by iron hydroxides in porous media. For copper, the main processes controlling adsorption is organic ligands complexation that increases the mobility of this element in the soils. To complement the information acquired on metal comportment in the unsaturated zone and because pesticides were detected in soils and groundwater, laboratory experiments were performed using glyphosate alone and combining this pesticide with the tested heavy metals. The tests are highlighting the strong relationships between metals and pesticides. For the 5 soils used glyphosate adsorption is increased when metals are added to the solution. At the opposite, the experiences for the evaluation of the impact of the increase of glyphosate on the quantity of metals adsorbed (Cu, Ni, Ni) were not conclusive. The geochemical calculation code PHREEQC was used to model reactive transfer of solutes in a 1 D saturated column. Results obtained indicate that some contaminants (nickel) are mainly retained at the iron hydroxides surfaces even at very high concentration. Stability of metal depends then on the maintaining of oxic conditions in the porous media. After adsorption, nickel concentrations in soils remains well under average natural concentrations. Results of the project allowed the risk evaluation of a groundwater contamination by the Seine River during overstock episodes. During derivation of the Seine River into the Bassée floodplain, infiltration of water and solutes in the unsaturated zones will be done quickly. Some metals (Zn, Ni, Cu), and the glyphosate, will stay in the first centimetres of the soils due to their intrinsic properties. Even if a change of the physico-chemical conditions (mainly redox, organic matter contents) of the Bassée floodplain has very little probability to occur, this change may lead to very important changes in the comportment of heavy metals and pesticides. Other elements (Cr and other anionic metals) are not retained in the shallow soil horizons and, as water, will infiltrate very quickly in the unsaturated zone during inundation phases. Persistence time, estimated by modelling, of dissolved elements in the unsaturated zone is few years. The results showed that the probability of groundwater contamination due to overstock episodes is very low to null but consequences may be important. This assessment obliges to consider the installation of a water quality monitoring program for the control of the Seine River upstream the alluvial plain about 5 days before filling up the retention basins and up to the end of the replenishment procedure.

Soil Moisture: The Hydrologic Interface Between Surface and Ground Waters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Engman, Edwin T.

1997-01-01

A hypothesis is presented that many hydrologic processes display a unique signature that is detectable with microwave remote sensing. These signatures are in the form of the spatial and temporal distributions of surface soil moisture. The specific hydrologic processes that may be detected include groundwater recharge and discharge zones, storm runoff contributing areas, regions of potential and less than potential evapotranspiration (ET), and information about the hydrologic properties of soils. In basin and hillslope hydrology, soil moisture is the interface between surface and ground waters.

Identification and classification of structural soil conservation measures based on very high resolution stereo satellite data.

PubMed

Eckert, Sandra; Tesfay Ghebremicael, Selamawit; Hurni, Hans; Kohler, Thomas

2017-05-15

Land degradation affects large areas of land around the globe, with grave consequences for those living off the land. Major efforts are being made to implement soil and water conservation measures that counteract soil erosion and help secure vital ecosystem services. However, where and to what extent such measures have been implemented is often not well documented. Knowledge about this could help to identify areas where soil and water conservation measures are successfully supporting sustainable land management, as well as areas requiring urgent rehabilitation of conservation structures such as terraces and bunds. This study explores the potential of the latest satellite-based remote sensing technology for use in assessing and monitoring the extent of existing soil and water conservation structures. We used a set of very high resolution stereo Geoeye-1 satellite data, from which we derived a detailed digital surface model as well as a set of other spectral, terrain, texture, and filtered information layers. We developed and applied an object-based classification approach, working on two segmentation levels. On the coarser level, the aim was to delimit certain landscape zones. Information about these landscape zones is useful in distinguishing different types of soil and water conservation structures, as each zone contains certain specific types of structures. On the finer level, the goal was to extract and identify different types of linear soil and water conservation structures. The classification rules were based mainly on spectral, textural, shape, and topographic properties, and included object relationships. This approach enabled us to identify and separate from other classes the majority (78.5%) of terraces and bunds, as well as most hillside terraces (81.25%). Omission and commission errors are similar to those obtained by the few existing studies focusing on the same research objective but using different types of remotely sensed data. Based on our results, we estimate that the construction of the conservation structures in our study area in Eritrea required over 300,000 person-days of work, which underlines the huge efforts involved in soil and water conservation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Consequences of using different soil texture determination methodologies for soil physical quality and unsaturated zone time lag estimates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fenton, O.; Vero, S.; Ibrahim, T. G.; Murphy, P. N. C.; Sherriff, S. C.; Ó hUallacháin, D.

2015-11-01

Elucidation of when the loss of pollutants, below the rooting zone in agricultural landscapes, affects water quality is important when assessing the efficacy of mitigation measures. Investigation of this inherent time lag (tT) is divided into unsaturated (tu) and saturated (ts) components. The duration of these components relative to each other differs depending on soil characteristics and the landscape position. The present field study focuses on tu estimation in a scenario where the saturated zone is likely to constitute a higher proportion of tT. In such instances, or where only initial breakthrough (IBT) or centre of mass (COM) is of interest, utilisation of site and depth specific "simple" textural class or actual sand-silt-clay percentages to generate soil water characteristic curves with associated soil hydraulic parameters is acceptable. With the same data it is also possible to estimate a soil physical quality (S) parameter for each soil layer which can be used to infer many other physical, chemical and biological quality indicators. In this study, hand texturing in the field was used to determine textural classes of a soil profile. Laboratory methods, including hydrometer, pipette and laser diffraction methods were used to determine actual sand-silt-clay percentages of sections of the same soil profile. Results showed that in terms of S, hand texturing resulted in a lower index value (inferring a degraded soil) than that of pipette, hydrometer and laser equivalents. There was no difference between S index values determined using the pipette, hydrometer and laser diffraction methods. The difference between the three laboratory methods on both the IBT and COM stages of tu were negligible, and in this instance were unlikely to affect either groundwater monitoring decisions, or to be of consequence from a policy perspective. When tu estimates are made over the full depth of the vadose zone, which may extend to several metres, errors resulting from the use of hydraulic parameters generated from hand texture data will be resultantly greater, and may lead to flawed predictions regarding the achievability of water policy targets. For this reason laboratory analysis, regardless of method, should be preferred to simple field assessments.

Numerical simulation of infiltration and groundwater recharge using the Hydrus for Modflow package and the BEST model of soil hydraulic properties

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gumuła-Kawęcka, Anna; Szymkiewicz, Adam; Angulo-Jaramillo, Rafael; Šimůnek, Jirka; Jaworska-Szulc, Beata; Pruszkowska-Caceres, Małgorzata; Gorczewska-Langner, Wioletta; Leterme, Bertrand; Jacques, Diederik

2017-04-01

ABSTRACT Groundwater recharge is a complex process, which depends on several factors, including the hydraulic properties of soils in the vadose zone. On the other hand, the rate of recharge is one of the main input data in hydrogeological models for saturated groundwater flow. Thus, there is an increasing understanding of the need for more complete representation of vadose zone processes in groundwater modeling. One of the possible approaches is to use a 1D model of water flow in the unsaturated zone coupled with 3D groundwater model for the saturated zone. Such an approach was implemented in the Hydrus for Modflow package (Seo et al. 2007), which combines two well-known and thoroughly tested modeling tools: groundwater flow simulator MODFLOW (Harbaugh 2005) and one-dimensional vadose zone simulator HYDRUS 1D (Šimůnek et al. 2016), based on the Richards equation. The Hydrus for Modflow package has been recently enhanced by implementing the BEST model of soil hydraulic properties (Lassabatere et al. 2006), which is a combination of van Genuchten - type retention function with Brooks-Corey type hydraulic conductivity function. The parameters of these functions can be divided into texture-related and structure-related and can be obtained from relatively simple lab and field tests. The method appears a promising tool for obtaining input data for vadose zone flow models. The main objective of this work is to evaluate the sensitivity of the recharge rates to the values of various parameters of the BEST model. Simulations are performed for a range of soil textural classes and plant covers, using meteorological data typical for northern Poland. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work has been supported by National Science Centre, Poland in the framework of the project 2015/17/B/ST10/03233 "Groundwater recharge on outwash plain". REFERENCES [1]Harbaugh, A.W. (2005) MODFLOW-2005, the US Geological Survey modular ground-water model: the ground-water flow process. Reston, VA, USA. [2]Lassabatere L. et al. (2006) Beerkan estimation of soil transfer parameters through infiltration experiments—BEST. Soil Science Society of America Journal 70.2: 521-532. [3]Seo, H.S., Šimůnek J., Poeter E.P. (2007) Documentation of the Hydrus package for Modflow-2000, the US Geological Survey modular ground-water model. [4]Šimůnek, J., van Genuchten, M.Th., and Šejna, M. (2016) Recent developments and applications of the HYDRUS computer software packages, Vadose Zone Journal, 15(7), pp. 25, doi: 10.2136/vzj2016.04.0033.

Use of electromagnetic induction surveys to delimit zones of contrasting tree development in an irrigated olive orchard in Southern Spain.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedrera, Aura; Vanderlinden, Karl; Jesús Espejo-Pérez, Antonio; Gómez, José Alfonso; Giráldez, Juan Vicente

2014-05-01

Olives are historically closely linked to Mediterranean culture and have nowadays important societal and economical implications. Improving yield and preventing infestation by soil-borne pathogens are crucial issues in maintaining olive cropping competitive. In order to assess both issues properly at the farm or field scale, accurate knowledge of the spatial distribution of soil physical properties and associated water dynamics is required. Conventional soil surveying is generally prohibitive at commercial farms, but electromagnetic induction (EMI) sensors, measuring soil apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) provide a suitable alternative. ECa depends strongly on soil texture and water content and has been used exhaustively in precision agriculture to delimit management zones. The aim of this study was to delimit areas with unsatisfactory tree development in an olive orchard using EMI, and to identify the underlying relationships between ECa and the soil properties driving the spatial tree development pattern. An experimental catchment in S. Spain dedicated to irrigated olive cropping was surveyed for ECa under dry and wet soil conditions (0.06 vs. 0.22 g/g, respectively), using a Dualem 21-S EMI sensor. In addition, ECa and gravimetric soil water content (SWC) was measured at 45 locations throughout the catchment during each survey. At each of these locations, soil profile samples were collected to determine textural class including coarse particles content, organic matter (OM), and bulk density. Measurements for dry soil conditions with the perpendicular coil configuration with a separation of 2.1 m (P2.1) were chosen to make a first assessment of the orchard-growth variability. According to the shape of the histogram, the P2.1 ECa values were classified to delimit three areas in the field for which canopy coverage was estimated. Combining the 4 ECa signals for the wet and dry surveys, a principal component (PC) analysis showed that 91% of the total variance could be explained by the first PC, representing a common pattern in the ECa data and showing a correlation of 0.98 with the P2.1 signal. The spatial pattern of canopy coverage corresponded well with the pattern of the ECa P2.1 signal. The area with the lowest ECa (Zone A) showed optimal tree growth and presented significantly lower average clay content than the area with intermediate and highest ECa (Zones B and C, respectively). Zone B, located in the lowest area of the field, with the highest profile-averaged soil-water, stone and OM contents, showed deficient tree development and tree die-off as a result of soil-borne pathogens. EMI surveys reflecting subtle differences in soil properties provided a useful information to delimit areas with tree development problems. This information can be used in conjunction with topographic surveys to identify before planting areas with potential tree development problems, including soil-borne pathogens.

Estimating Soil and Root Parameters of Biofuel Crops using a Hydrogeophysical Inversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuhl, A.; Kendall, A. D.; Van Dam, R. L.; Hyndman, D. W.

2017-12-01

Transpiration is the dominant pathway for continental water exchange to the atmosphere, and therefore a crucial aspect of modeling water balances at many scales. The root water uptake dynamics that control transpiration are dependent on soil water availability, as well as the root distribution. However, the root distribution is determined by many factors beyond the plant species alone, including climate conditions and soil texture. Despite the significant contribution of transpiration to global water fluxes, modelling the complex critical zone processes that drive root water uptake remains a challenge. Geophysical tools such as electrical resistivity (ER), have been shown to be highly sensitive to water dynamics in the unsaturated zone. ER data can be temporally and spatially robust, covering large areas or long time periods non-invasively, which is an advantage over in-situ methods. Previous studies have shown the value of using hydrogeophysical inversions to estimate soil properties. Others have used hydrological inversions to estimate both soil properties and root distribution parameters. In this study, we combine these two approaches to create a coupled hydrogeophysical inversion that estimates root and retention curve parameters for a HYDRUS model. To test the feasibility of this new approach, we estimated daily water fluxes and root growth for several biofuel crops at a long-term ecological research site in Southwest Michigan, using monthly ER data from 2009 through 2011. Time domain reflectometry data at seven depths was used to validate modeled soil moisture estimates throughout the model period. This hydrogeophysical inversion method shows promise for improving root distribution and transpiration estimates across a wide variety of settings.

Do storage dynamics in hydropedological units control hydrological connectivity? (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tetzlaff, D.; Birkel, C.; Dick, J.; Geris, J.; Soulsby, C.

2013-12-01

In many northern landscapes, peat-dominated riparian wetlands often characterise the zone of connection between terrestrial drainage and the river network. In order to understand the relationship between connectivity and stream flow generation in a montane headwater catchment, we examined the storage dynamics and isotopic composition of soil water in major hydropedological units. These formed a classic catena sequence for northern catchments from free-draining podzols on steep upper hillslopes through to peaty gleysols in lower receiving slopes to deeper peats (Histosols) in the riparian zone. The peaty gleys and peats remained saturated throughout the year, whilst the podzols showed distinct wetting and drying cycles. In this climatic region, most precipitation events are less than 10mm in magnitude, storm runoff is mainly generated from the Histosols and Gleysols, with runoff coefficients (RCs) typically <10%. In larger events the podzolic soils become strongly connected to the saturated areas and RCs can exceed 40%. Isotopic variations in precipitation are significantly damped in the organic-rich surface horizons of the soils due to mixing with larger volumes of stored water. This damping is accentuated in the deeper soil profile and groundwater. Consequently, the isotopic composition of stream water is also damped, but the strongly reflects that of the near surface waters in the riparian peats. Old 'pre-event' water generally accounts for >80% of flow, even in large events, mainly reflecting the displacement of water stored in the riparian peats and peaty gleys. These riparian areas appear to be the dominant zone where different catchment source waters mix; acting as an 'isostat' that regulates the isotopic composition of stream waters and integrates the Transit Time Distribution (TTD) for the catchment.

High-resolution isotope measurements resolve rapid ecohydrological dynamics at the soil-plant interface.

PubMed

Volkmann, Till H M; Haberer, Kristine; Gessler, Arthur; Weiler, Markus

2016-05-01

Plants rely primarily on rainfall infiltrating their root zones - a supply that is inherently variable, and fluctuations are predicted to increase on most of the Earth's surface. Yet, interrelationships between water availability and plant use on short timescales are difficult to quantify and remain poorly understood. To overcome previous methodological limitations, we coupled high-resolution in situ observations of stable isotopes in soil and transpiration water. We applied the approach along with Bayesian mixing modeling to track the fate of (2) H-labeled rain pulses following drought through soil and plants of deciduous tree ecosystems. We resolve how rainwater infiltrates the root zones in a nonequilibrium process and show that tree species differ in their ability to quickly acquire the newly available source. Sessile oak (Quercus petraea) adjusted root uptake to vertical water availability patterns under drought, but readjustment toward the rewetted topsoil was delayed. By contrast, European beech (Fagus sylvatica) readily utilized water from all soil depths independent of water depletion, enabling faster uptake of rainwater. Our results demonstrate that species-specific plasticity and responses to water supply fluctuations on short timescales can now be identified and must be considered to predict vegetation functional dynamics and water cycling under current and future climatic conditions. © 2016 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2016 New Phytologist Trust.

The origin of high-nitrate ground waters in the Australian arid zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barnes, C. J.; Jacobson, G.; Smith, G. D.

1992-08-01

Nitrate concentrations beyond the drinking-water limit of 10 mg1 -1 NO 3-N, are common in Australian arid-zone ground waters and are often associated with otherwise potable waters. In some aquifers nitrate-N concentrations of up to 80 mg1 -1 have been found, and this is a severe constraint on water supply development for small settlements. Water-bore data indicate a correlation of high-nitrate ground waters with shallow unconfined aquifers. Aguifer hydrochemistry indicats that these ground waters were emplaced by episodic Holocene recharge events in an otherwise arid climate regime. Nitrate has been flushed through the unsaturated zone which apparently lacks denitrification activity. The nitrate originates by near-surface biological fixation and contributing organisms include cyanobacteria in soil crusts and bacteria in termite mounds with the highest soil nitrate concentrations found in the outer skin of termite mounds. Bacteria associated with the termites appear to fix nitrogen, which eventually appears in an inorganic form, principally as ammonia. Nitrate is produced by bacterial oxidation of the ammonia, and is leached to the outside of the termite mound by capillary action. Diffuse recharge from extreme rainfall events then flushes this nitrate to the water table.

Enhanced biogeochemical cycling and subsequent reduction of hydraulic conductivity associated with soil-layer interfaces in the vadose zone

PubMed Central

Hansen, David J.; McGuire, Jennifer T.; Mohanty, Binayak P.

2013-01-01

Biogeochemical dynamics in the vadose zone are poorly understood due to the transient nature of chemical and hydrologic conditions, but are nonetheless critical to understanding chemical fate and transport. This study explored the effects of a soil layer on linked geochemical, hydrological, and microbiological processes. Three laboratory soil columns were constructed: a homogenized medium-grained sand, a homogenized organic-rich loam, and a sand-over-loam layered column. Upward and downward infiltration of water was evaluated during experiments to simulate rising water table and rainfall events respectively. In-situ collocated probes measured soil water content, matric potential, and Eh while water samples collected from the same locations were analyzed for Br−, Cl−, NO3−, SO42−, NH4+, Fe2+, and total sulfide. Compared to homogenous columns, the presence of a soil layer altered the biogeochemistry and water flow of the system considerably. Enhanced biogeochemical cycling was observed in the layered column over the texturally homogeneous soil columns. Enumerations of iron and sulfate reducing bacteria showed 1-2 orders of magnitude greater community numbers in the layered column. Mineral and soil aggregate composites were most abundant near the soil-layer interface; the presence of which, likely contributed to an observed order-of-magnitude decrease in hydraulic conductivity. These findings show that quantifying coupled hydrologic-biogeochemical processes occurring at small-scale soil interfaces is critical to accurately describing and predicting chemical changes at the larger system scale. Findings also provide justification for considering soil layering in contaminant fate and transport models because of its potential to increase biodegradation and/or slow the rate of transport of contaminants. PMID:22031578

Comparing Flow Mechanism Hypothesis with Mobility Data of Natural Tracers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sanda, M.; Chárová, Z.; Zumr, D.; Císlerová, M.

2009-04-01

Hillslope rainfall-outflow interactions, groundwater fluxes and hydrological balance have been examined in the small mountainous headwater catchment Uhlířská (1.78 km2), Jizera Mountains, Czech Republic. The hillslope soil profile is formed by paleozolic crystalline bedrock overlaid by shallow highly permeable Cambisol, whereas the thick saturated glacial deposits in the valley are overlaid by Histosols. Quick communication of the vadose zone with the granite bedrock via preferential subsurface flowpaths is hypothesized, in agreement with the observation of instant water transformation through the permeable Cambisols, to outflow caused by storms. There is regularly a quick response of high magnitude, although surface runoff occurs very rarely. Standard climatic and hydrological monitoring is supplemented by measurements of the soil moisture, soil pore water suction, hillslope stormflow in the vadose zone and water table fluctuation in the saturated subsurface. Water sampling for analysis of the isotopes 18O and 2H and geochemical tracer silica in the form of SiO2 is performed throughout the catchment. The episode based isotopic data serve for the separation of the particular components of the outflow hydrograph and for the determination of the contribution of event and pre-event water in the hypodermic hillslope outflow and in the catchment outflow as a whole. Variation of silica content in the water cycle components was examined to assess contributions from the soil profile and the aquifer. Significant portion of event catchment runoff was assigned to pre-event water, partly stored in the shallow soil layers on hillslopes and partly in the valley aquifer. Here, a significant mixing (in form of attenuation of the input signal of 18O or 2H measured for precipitation) occurs as proven by sampling and modeling by means of physically based models for vadose and saturated zones. Hydrological balance of the catchment shows only minor discrepancies in averaged value of the either isotope in the whole balanced mass on the input (precipitation) and the output (streamflow). There is a strong mixing of water already in the root zone, where transpiration takes place. Preferential flow in the soil profile proved to be a major transporting mechanism for water in the form of quick subsurface runoff. The hypothesis that the hillslope soil layers controls the distribution of the flow into the groundwater recharge and/or the shallow subsurface flow during the rainfall-runoff episode, was confirmed. Porous structures of the catchment play dominant role in initial mixing of the water. We want to acknowledge projects GACR 205/09/0831 and 205/08/1174 of the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic for support of this contribution.

Vertical distribution of mercury and MeHg in Nandagang and Beidagang wetlands: Influence of microtopography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Ruhai; Zhang, Yanyan; Wang, Yan; Zhao, Jin; Shan, Huayao

2018-02-01

Wetlands often show different small-scale topography, such as riffle, habitat island, deep water, shallow water zone and dry zone. Core soils in different micro topographical landforms of Nandagang and Beidagang wetlands in North China were sampled for THg and MeHg to analyze the influence of microtopography. Results showed that THg content in surface soil (<2 cm) was little higher than that at depth 2-4 cm of all stations. There were several peaks in the profile, which reflected mercury pollution in past. High THg content in undisturbed natural wetland soil implied accumulation of mercury. Harvest of plant, drained water decreased the accumulation of mercury in wetlands. Water level caused by microtopography affected the production of MeHg. Depth of the highest MeHg content decreased from N1, N2, N6, N3 to N4 following the increase of water level. Plant type and coverage also affected the vertical distribution of MeHg. More detailed profiles of MeHg, organic matter and total phosphorus in different sites show strong differences in soil chemistry, suggesting a complex interplay among hydrology, biogeochemistry and microtopography.

Assessment of soil-gas, soil, and water contamination at the former hospital landfill, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2009-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Falls, Fred W.; Caldwell, Andral W.; Guimaraes, Wladmir B.; Ratliff, W. Hagan; Wellborn, John B.; Landmeyer, James E.

2011-01-01

Soil gas, soil, and water were assessed for organic and inorganic constituents at the former hospital landfill located in a 75-acre study area near the Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia, from April to September 2010. Passive soil-gas samplers were analyzed to evaluate organic constituents in the hyporheic zone of a creek adjacent to the landfill and soil gas within the estimated boundaries of the former landfill. Soil and water samples were analyzed to evaluate inorganic constituents in soil samples, and organic and inorganic constituents in the surface water of a creek adjacent to the landfill, respectively. This assessment was conducted to provide environmental constituent data to Fort Gordon pursuant to requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Part B Hazardous Waste Permit process. Results from the hyporheic-zone assessment in the unnamed tributary adjacent to the study area indicated that total petroleum hydrocarbons and octane were the most frequently detected organic compounds in groundwater beneath the creek bed. The highest concentrations for these compounds were detected in the upstream samplers of the hyporheic-zone study area. The effort to delineate landfill activity in the study area focused on the western 14 acres of the 75-acre study area where the hyporheic-zone study identified the highest concentrations of organic compounds. This also is the part of the study area where a debris field also was identified in the southern part of the 14 acres. The southern part of this 14-acre study area, including the debris field, is steeper and not as heavily wooded, compared to the central and northern parts. Fifty-two soil-gas samplers were used for the July 2010 soil-gas survey in the 14-acre study area and mostly detected total petroleum hydrocarbons, and gasoline and diesel compounds. The highest soil-gas masses for total petroleum hydrocarbons, diesel compounds, and the only valid detection of perchloroethene were in the southern part of the study area to the west of the debris field. However, all other detections of total petroleum hydrocarbons greater than 10 micrograms and diesel greater than 0.04 micrograms, and all detections of the combined mass of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene were found down slope from the debris field in the central and northern parts of the study area. Five soil-gas samplers were deployed and recovered from September 16 to 22, 2010, and were analyzed for organic compounds classified as chemical agents or explosives. Chloroacetophenones (a tear gas component) were the only compounds detected above a method detection level and were detected at the same location as the highest total petroleum hydrocarbons and diesel detections in the southern part of the 14-acre study area. Composite soil samples collected at five locations were analyzed for 35 inorganic constituents. None of the inorganic constituents exceeded the regional screening levels. One surface-water sample collected in the western end of the hyporheic-zone study area had a trichlorofluoromethane concentration above the laboratory reporting level and estimated concentrations of chloroform, fluoranthene, and isophorone below laboratory reporting levels.

Moving forward on remote sensing of soil salinity at regional scale

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil salinity undermines global agriculture by reducing crop yield and soil quality. Irrigation management can help control salinity levels within the root-zone. To best allocate water resources, accurate regional-scale inventories are needed. Two remote sensing approaches are currently used to moni...

Improving root-zone soil moisture estimations using dynamic root growth and crop phenology

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Water Energy Balance (WEB) Soil Vegetation Atmosphere Transfer (SVAT) modelling can be used to estimate soil moisture by forcing the model with observed data such as precipitation and solar radiation. Recently, an innovative approach that assimilates remotely sensed thermal infrared (TIR) observatio...

Water and salt dynamics and the hydraulic conductivity feedback: irreversible soil degradation and reclamation opportunities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mau, Yair; Porporato, Amilcare

2017-04-01

We present a model for the dynamics of soil water, salt concentration and exchangeable sodium fraction in the root zone, driven by irrigation water of various qualities and stochastic rainfall. The main nonlinear feedback is the decrease in hydraulic conductivity for low salinity and/or high sodicity levels. The three variables have quite disparate characteristic time scales: soil water can vary two or three orders of magnitude faster than the exchangeable sodium fraction. In certain limiting cases in which the input of water is constant, the system can be simplified by eliminating the equation for soil water, allowing a full description of the dynamics in the two-dimensional salinity-sodicity phase space. We estimate soil structure degradation time scales for high sodium-adsorption-ratio irrigation water, and delineate the regions in the salinity-sodicity phase space where sodium-induced degradation is effectively irreversible. This apparent irreversibility is the result of relatively long evolution time scales with respect to human activity. When we take into account stochastic rainfall—and the accompanying wetting and drying cycles—the system produces a myriad of statistical steady states. This means that equal environmental conditions can produce different outcomes, accessible to each other only by large interventions, such as temporary changes in the quality of irrigation water or one-time amendment use. Our characterization of the dynamics of water and salt in the root zone, and how it depends on environmental parameters, offers us opportunities to control and reclaim degraded states making optimal resource use. We show an example of sodic soil reclamation through calcium-based fertigation, with minimal time (and applied water) expenditure.

[Relationships between soil moisture and needle-fall in Masson pine forests in acid rain region of Chongqing, Southwest China].

PubMed

Wang, Yi-Hao; Wang, Yan-Hui; Li, Zhen-Hua; Yu, Peng-Tao; Xiong, Wei; Hao, Jia; Duan, Jian

2012-10-01

From March 2009 to November 2011, an investigation was conducted on the spatiotemporal variation of soil moisture and its effects on the needle-fall in Masson pine (Pinus massoniana) forests in acid rain region of Chongqing, Southeast China, with the corresponding soil moisture thresholds determined. No matter the annual precipitation was abundant, normal or less than average, the seasonal variation of soil moisture in the forests could be obviously divided into four periods, i.e., sufficient (before May), descending (from June to July), drought (from August to September), and recovering (from October to November). With increasing soil depth, the soil moisture content increased after an initial decrease, but the difference of the soil moisture content among different soil layers decreased with decreasing annual precipitation. The amount of monthly needle-fall in the forests in growth season was significantly correlated with the water storage in root zone (0-60 cm soil layer), especially in the main root zone (20-50 cm soil layer). Soil field capacity (or capillary porosity) and 82% of field capacity (or 80% of capillary porosity) were the main soil moisture thresholds affecting the litter-fall. It was suggested that in acid rain region, Masson pine forest was easily to suffer from water deficit stress, especially in dry-summer period. The water deficit stress, together with already existed acid rain stress, would further threaten the health of the Masson forest.

Field tracer investigation of unsaturated zone flow paths and mechanisms in agricultural soils of northwestern Mississippi, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Perkins, K.S.; Nimmo, J.R.; Rose, C.E.; Coupe, R.H.

2011-01-01

In many farmed areas, intensive application of agricultural chemicals and withdrawal of groundwater for irrigation have led to water quality and supply issues. Unsaturated-zone processes, including preferential flow, play a major role in these effects but are not well understood. In the Bogue Phalia basin, an intensely agricultural area in the Delta region of northwestern Mississippi, the fine-textured soils often exhibit surface ponding and runoff after irrigation and rainfall as well as extensive surface cracking during prolonged dry periods. Fields are typically land-formed to promote surface flow into drainage ditches and streams that feed into larger river ecosystems. Downward flow of water below the root zone is considered minimal; regional groundwater models predict only 5% or less of precipitation recharges the heavily used alluvial aquifer. In this study transport mechanisms within and below the root zone of a fallow soybean field were assessed by performing a 2-m ring infiltration test with tracers and subsurface monitoring instruments. Seven months after tracer application, 48 continuous cores were collected for tracer extraction to define the extent of water movement and quantify preferential flow using a mass-balance approach. Vertical water movement was rapid below the pond indicating the importance of vertical preferential flow paths in the shallow unsaturated zone, especially to depths where agricultural disturbance occurs. Lateral flow of water at shallow depths was extensive and spatially non-uniform, reaching up to 10. m from the pond within 2. months. Within 1. month, the wetting front reached a textural boundary at 4-5. m between the fine-textured soil and sandy alluvium, now a potential capillary barrier which, prior to extensive irrigation withdrawals, was below the water table. Within 10. weeks, tracer was detectable at the water table which is presently about 12. m below land surface. Results indicate that 43% of percolation may be through preferential flow paths and that any water breaking through the capillary barrier (as potential recharge) likely does so in fingers which are difficult to detect with coring methods. In other areas where water levels have declined and soils have similar properties, the potential for transport of agricultural chemicals to the aquifer may be greater than previously assumed. ?? 2010 .

An in situ approach to detect tree root ecology: linking ground-penetrating radar imaging to isotope-derived water acquisition zones

PubMed Central

Isaac, Marney E; Anglaaere, Luke C N

2013-01-01

Tree root distribution and activity are determinants of belowground competition. However, studying root response to environmental and management conditions remains logistically challenging. Methodologically, nondestructive in situ tree root ecology analysis has lagged. In this study, we tested a nondestructive approach to determine tree coarse root architecture and function of a perennial tree crop, Theobroma cacao L., at two edaphically contrasting sites (sandstone and phyllite–granite derived soils) in Ghana, West Africa. We detected coarse root vertical distribution using ground-penetrating radar and root activity via soil water acquisition using isotopic matching of δ18O plant and soil signatures. Coarse roots were detected to a depth of 50 cm, however, intraspecifc coarse root vertical distribution was modified by edaphic conditions. Soil δ18O isotopic signature declined with depth, providing conditions for plant–soil δ18O isotopic matching. This pattern held only under sandstone conditions where water acquisition zones were identifiably narrow in the 10–20 cm depth but broader under phyllite–granite conditions, presumably due to resource patchiness. Detected coarse root count by depth and measured fine root density were strongly correlated as were detected coarse root count and identified water acquisition zones, thus validating root detection capability of ground-penetrating radar, but exclusively on sandstone soils. This approach was able to characterize trends between intraspecific root architecture and edaphic-dependent resource availability, however, limited by site conditions. This study successfully demonstrates a new approach for in situ root studies that moves beyond invasive point sampling to nondestructive detection of root architecture and function. We discuss the transfer of such an approach to answer root ecology questions in various tree-based landscapes. PMID:23762519

Importance of Vertical Coupling in Agricultural Models on Assimilation of Satellite-derived Soil Moisture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mladenova, I. E.; Crow, W. T.; Teng, W. L.; Doraiswamy, P.

2010-12-01

Crop yield in crop production models is simulated as a function of weather, ground conditions and management practices and it is driven by the amount of nutrients, heat and water availability in the root-zone. It has been demonstrated that assimilation of satellite-derived soil moisture data has the potential to improve the model root-zone soil water (RZSW) information. However, the satellite estimates represent the moisture conditions of the top 3 cm to 5 cm of the soil profile depending on system configuration and surface conditions (i.e. soil wetness, density of the canopy cover, etc). The propagation of this superficial information throughout the profile will depend on the model physics. In an Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) data assimilation system, as the one examined here, the update of each soil layer is done through the Kalman Gain, K. K is a weighing factor that determines how much correction will be performed on the forecasts. Furthermore, K depends on the strength of the correlation between the surface and the root-zone soil moisture; the stronger this correlation is, the more observations will impact the analysis. This means that even if the satellite-derived product has higher sensitivity and accuracy as compared to the model estimates, the improvement of the RZSW will be negligible if the surface-root zone coupling is weak, where the later is determined by the model subsurface physics. This research examines: (1) the strength of the vertical coupling in the Environmental Policy Integrated Climate (EPIC) model over corn and soybeans covered fields in Iowa, US, (2) the potential to improve EPIC RZSW information through assimilation of satellite soil moisture data derived from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and (3) the impact of the vertical coupling on the EnKF performance.

Modelling and Evaluation of Non-Linear Rootwater Uptake for Winter Cropping of Wheat and Berseem

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

GS, K.; Prasad, K. S. H.

2017-12-01

The plant water uptake is significant for study to monitor the irrigation supplied to the plant. The Richards equation has been the key governing equation to quantify the root water uptake in the vadose zone and it takes all the sources and sink terms into consideration. The β parameter or the non linearity parameter is used in this modeling to bring the non linearity in the plant root water uptake. The soil parameters are obtained by experimentation and are employed in the Van-Genuchten equation for soil moisture study. Field experiments were carried out at Civil Engineering Department IIT Roorkee, Uttarakhand, India, during the winter season of 2013 and 2014 for berseem and 2016 for wheat as per the local cropping practices. Drainage type lysimeters were installed to study the soil water balance. Soil moisture was monitored using profile probe. Precipitation and all meteorological data were obtained from the nearby gauges located at the National Institute of Hydrology, Roorkee.The moisture data and the deep percolation data were collected on a daily basis and the irrigation supply was controlled and monitored to satisfy the moisture requirements of the crops respectively.In order to study the effect of water scarcity on the crops, the plot was divided and deficited irrigation was applied for the second cropping season for Berseem.The yields for both the seasons was also measured. The solution of Richards equation as applied to the moisture movement in the root zone was modeled. For estimation of root water uptake, the governing equation is the one-dimensional mixed form of Richards' equation is employed (Ji et al., 2007; Shankar et al., 2012).The sink term in the model accounts for the root water uptake, which is utilized by the plant for transpiration. Smaxor the maximum root water uptake for the root zone on a given day must be equal to the maximum transpiration on the corresponding day The model computed moisture content and pressure head is calibrated with the measured soil water content in the crop root zone. The Model output is compared with the output of the HYDRUS 1D software package. The complete calibrated model is now employed to determine the irrigation requirement of crops for a known initial moisture content and available precipitation and can be useful for economical agriculture in the semi-arid regions of India.

Parameterization and Modeling of Coupled Heat and Mass Transport in the Vadose Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohanty, B.; Yang, Z.

2016-12-01

The coupled heat and mass transport in the vadose zone is essentially a multiphysics issue. Addressing this issue appropriately has remarkable impacts on soil physical, chemical and biological processes. To data, most coupled heat and water transport modeling has focused on the interactions between liquid water, water vapor and heat transport in homogeneous and layered soils. Comparatively little work has been done on structured soils where preferential infiltration and evaporation flow occurs. Moreover, the traditional coupled heat and water model usually neglects the nonwetting phase air flow, which was found to be significant in the state-of-the-art modeling framework for coupled heat and water transport investigation. However, the parameterizations for the nonwetting phase air permeability largely remain elusive so far. In order to address the above mentioned limitations, this study aims to develop and validate a predictive multiphysics modeling framework for coupled soil heat and water transport in the heterogeneous shallow subsurface. To this end, the following research work is specifically conducted: (a) propose an improved parameterization to better predict the nonwetting phase relative permeability; (b) determine the dynamics, characteristics and processes of simultaneous soil moisture and heat movement in homogeneous and layered soils; and (c) develop a nonisothermal dual permeability model for heterogeneous structured soils. The results of our studies showed that: (a) the proposed modified nonwetting phase relative permeability models are much more accurate, which can be adopted for better parameterization in the subsequent nonisothermal two phase flow models; (b) the isothermal liquid film flow, nonwetting phase gas flow and liquid-vapor phase change non-equilibrium effects are significant in the arid and semiarid environments (Riverside, California and Audubon, Arizona); and (c) the developed nonisothermal dual permeability model is capable of characterizing the preferential evaporation path in the heterogeneous structured soils due to the fact that the capillary forces divert the pore water from coarse-textured soils (high temperature region) toward the fine-textured soils (low temperature region).

Distribution of petroleum hydrocarbons and toluene biodegradation, Knox Street fire pits, Fort Bragg, North Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harden, S.L.; Landmeyer, J.E.

1996-01-01

An investigation was conducted at the Knox Street fire pits, Fort Bragg, North Carolina, to monitor the distribution of toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (TEX) in soil vapor, ground water, and ground-water/vapor to evaluate if total concentrations of TEX at the site are decreasing with time, and to quantify biodegradation rates of toluene in the unsaturated and saturated zones. Soil-vapor and ground-water samples were collected around the fire pits and ground-water/vapor samples were collected along the ground-water discharge zone, Beaver Creek, on a monthly basis from June 1994 through June 1995. Concentrations of TEX compounds in these samples were determined with a field gas chro- matograph. Laboratory experiments were performed on aquifer sediment samples to measure rates of toluene biodegradation by in situ micro- organisms. Based on field gas chromatographic analytical results, contamination levels of TEX compounds in both soil vapor and ground water appear to decrease downgradient of the fire-pit source area. During the 1-year study period, the observed temporal and spatial trends in soil vapor TEX concentrations appear to reflect differences in the distribution of TEX among solid, aqueous, and gaseous phases within fuel-contaminated soils in the unsaturated zone. Soil temperature and soil moisture are two important factors which influence the distribution of TEX com- pounds among the different phases. Because of the short period of data collection, it was not possible to distinguish between seasonal fluc- tuations in soil vapor TEX concentrations and an overall net decrease in TEX concentrations at the study site. No seasonal trend was observed in total TEX concentrations for ground- water samples collected at the study site. Although the analytical results could not be used to determine if ground-water TEX concen- trations decreased during the study at a specific location, the data were used to examine rate constants of toluene biodegradation. Based on ground-water toluene concentration data, a maximum rate constant for anaerobic biodegradation of toluene in the saturated zone was estimated to be as low as 0.002 d-1 or as high as 0.026 d-1. Based on analyses of ground-water/vapor samples, toluene was the prin- cipal TEX compound identified in ground water discharging to Beaver Creek. Observed decreases in ground-water/vapor toluene concentrations during the study period may reflect a decrease in source inputs, an increase in dilution caused by higher ground-water flow, and(or) removal by biological or other physical processes. Rate constants of toluene anaerobic biodegradation determined by laboratory measurements illustrate a typical acclimation response of micro-organisms to hydrocarbon contamination in sediments collected from the site. Toluene biodegradation rate constants derived from laboratory microcosm studies ranged from 0.001 to 0.027 d-1, which is similar to the range of 0.002 to 0.026 d-1 for toluene biodegradation rate constants derived from ground-water analytical data. The close agreement of toluene biodegradation rate constants reported using both approaches offer strong evidence that toluene can be degraded at environmentally significant rates at the study site.

An Integrated Watershed and Receiving Water Model for Fecal Coliform Fate and Transport in Sinclair and Dyes Inlets, Puget Sound, WA

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-12-01

xix USLE Universal Soil Loss Equation UV Ultraviolet UZSN Upper Zone Nominal Storage WA-DOE Washington State Department of Ecology WA-DOH...Effective Impervious Area IMPLND Impervious Land Cover INFILT Interflow Inflow Parameter (related to infiltration capacity of the soil ) INSUR...within Watershed (#/Km) SCCWRP Southern California Coastal Water Research Project SCS Soil Conservation Service SGA Shellfish Growing Area SPAWAR

The role of vegetation in the stability of forested slopes

Treesearch

Robert R. Ziemer

1981-01-01

Summary - Vegetation helps stabilize forested slopes by providing root strength and by modifying the saturated soil water regime. Plant roots can anchor through the soil mass into fractures in bedrock, can cross zones of weakness to more stable soil, and can provide interlocking long fibrous binders within a weak soil mass. In Mediterranean-type climates, having warm...

Assessment of hyporheic zone, flood-plain, soil-gas, soil, and surface-water contamination at the Old Incinerator Area, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2009-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guimaraes, Wladmir B.; Falls, W. Fred; Caldwell, Andral W.; Ratliff, W. Hagan; Wellborn, John B.; Landmeyer, James E.

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army Environmental and Natural Resources Management Office of the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, Georgia, assessed the hyporheic zone, flood plain, soil gas, soil, and surface-water for contaminants at the Old Incinerator Area at Fort Gordon, from October 2009 to September 2010. The assessment included the detection of organic contaminants in the hyporheic zone, flood plain, soil gas, and surface water. In addition, the organic contaminant assessment included the analysis of explosives and chemical agents in selected areas. Inorganic contaminants were assessed in soil and surface-water samples. The assessment was conducted to provide environmental contamination data to the U.S. Army at Fort Gordon pursuant to requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Part B Hazardous Waste Permit process. Total petroleum hydrocarbons were detected above the method detection level in all 13 samplers deployed in the hyporheic zone and flood plain of an unnamed tributary to Spirit Creek. The combined concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and total xylene were detected at 3 of the 13 samplers. Other organic compounds detected in one sampler included octane and trichloroethylene. In the passive soil-gas survey, 28 of the 60 samplers detected total petroleum hydrocarbons above the method detection level. Additionally, 11 of the 60 samplers detected the combined masses of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and total xylene above the method detection level. Other compounds detected above the method detection level in the passive soil-gas survey included octane, trimethylbenzene, perchlorethylene, and chloroform. Subsequent to the passive soil-gas survey, six areas determined to have relatively high contaminant mass were selected, and soil-gas samplers were deployed, collected, and analyzed for explosives and chemical agents. No explosives or chemical agents were detected above their method detection levels, but those that were detected were above the nondetection level. The same six locations that were sampled for explosives and chemical agents were selected for the collection of soil samples. No metals that exceeded the Regional Screening Levels for Industrial Soils as classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were detected at any of the six Old Incinerator Area locations. The soil samples also were compared to values from the ambient, uncontaminated (background) levels for soils in South Carolina. Because South Carolina is adjacent to Georgia and the soils in the coastal plain are similar, these comparisons are valid. No similar values are available for Georgia to use for comparison purposes. The only metal detected above the ambient background levels for South Carolina was barium. A surface-water sample collected from a tributary west and north of the Old Incinerator Area was analyzed for volatile organic compounds, semivolatile organic compounds, and inorganic compounds (metals). The only volatile organic and (or) semivolatile organic compound that was detected above the laboratory reporting level was toluene. The compounds 4-isopropyl-1-methylbenzene and isophorone were detected above the nondetection level but below the laboratory reporting level and were estimated. These compounds were detected at levels below the maximum contaminant levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Primary Drinking Water Standard. Iron was the only inorganic compound detected in the surface-water sample that exceeded the maximum contaminant level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Secondary Drinking Water Standard. No other inorganic compounds exceeded the maximum contaminant levels for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency National Primary Drinking Water Standard, National Secondary Drinking Water Standard, or the Georgia In-Stream Water Quality Standard.

Ion association in water solution of soil and vadose zone of chestnut saline solonetz as a driver of terrestrial carbon sink

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batukaev, Abdul-Malik A.; Endovitsky, Anatoly P.; Andreev, Andrey G.; Kalinichenko, Valery P.; Minkina, Tatiana M.; Dikaev, Zaurbek S.; Mandzhieva, Saglara S.; Sushkova, Svetlana N.

2016-03-01

The assessment of soil and vadose zone as the drains for carbon sink and proper modeling of the effects and extremes of biogeochemical cycles in the terrestrial biosphere are the key components to understanding the carbon cycle, global climate system, and aquatic and terrestrial system uncertainties. Calcium carbonate equilibrium causes saturation of solution with CaCO3, and it determines its material composition, migration and accumulation of salts. In a solution electrically neutral ion pairs are formed: CaCO30, CaSO40, MgCO30, and MgSO40, as well as charged ion pairs CaHCO3+, MgHCO3+, NaCO3-, NaSO4-, CaOH+, and MgOH+. The calcium carbonate equilibrium algorithm, mathematical model and original software to calculate the real equilibrium forms of ions and to determine the nature of calcium carbonate balance in a solution were developed. This approach conducts the quantitative assessment of real ion forms of solution in solonetz soil and vadose zone of dry steppe taking into account the ion association at high ionic strength of saline soil solution. The concentrations of free and associated ion form were calculated according to analytical ion concentration in real solution. In the iteration procedure, the equations were used to find the following: ion material balance, a linear interpolation of equilibrium constants, a method of ionic pairs, the laws of initial concentration preservation, operating masses of equilibrium system, and the concentration constants of ion pair dissociation. The coefficient of ion association γe was determined as the ratio of ions free form to analytical content of ion γe = Cass/Can. Depending on soil and vadose zone layer, concentration and composition of solution in the ionic pair's form are 11-52 % Ca2+; 22.2-54.6 % Mg2+; 1.1-10.5 % Na+; 3.7-23.8 HCO3-, 23.3-61.6 % SO42-, and up to 85.7 % CO32-. The carbonate system of soil and vadose zone water solution helps to explain the evolution of salted soils, vadose and saturation zones, and landscape. It also helps to improve the soil maintenance, plant nutrition and irrigation. The association of ions in soil solutions is one of the drivers promoting transformation of solution, excessive fluxes of carbon in the soil, and loss of carbon from soil through vadose zone.

Annual report to W-2188 multi-state research project "Characterizing Mass and Energy Transport at Different Vadose Zone Scales"

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Results of our studies on soil water sensors were conveyed to manufacturers, including Acclima, Inc. and Decagon, Inc. Four invited presentations on soil water sensing for irrigation management were made to irrigation conferences in the Central and Southern High Plains (Nebraska and Texas). Eleven i...

Measurement and inference of profile soil-water dynamics at different hillslope positions in a semiarid agricultural watershed

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Green, Timothy R.; Erskine, Robert H.

2011-12-01

Dynamics of profile soil water vary with terrain, soil, and plant characteristics. The objectives addressed here are to quantify dynamic soil water content over a range of slope positions, infer soil profile water fluxes, and identify locations most likely influenced by multidimensional flow. The instrumented 56 ha watershed lies mostly within a dryland (rainfed) wheat field in semiarid eastern Colorado. Dielectric capacitance sensors were used to infer hourly soil water content for approximately 8 years (minus missing data) at 18 hillslope positions and four or more depths. Based on previous research and a new algorithm, sensor measurements (resonant frequency) were rescaled to estimate soil permittivity, then corrected for temperature effects on bulk electrical conductivity before inferring soil water content. Using a mass-conservation method, we analyzed multitemporal changes in soil water content at each sensor to infer the dynamics of water flux at different depths and landscape positions. At summit positions vertical processes appear to control profile soil water dynamics. At downslope positions infrequent overland flow and unsaturated subsurface lateral flow appear to influence soil water dynamics. Crop water use accounts for much of the variability in soil water between transects that are either cropped or fallow in alternating years, while soil hydraulic properties and near-surface hydrology affect soil water variability across landscape positions within each management zone. The observed spatiotemporal patterns exhibit the joint effects of short-term hydrology and long-term soil development. Quantitative methods of analyzing soil water patterns in space and time improve our understanding of dominant soil hydrological processes and provide alternative measures of model performance.

78 FR 42730 - Safety Zone; Old Mormon Slough, Stockton, CA

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-17

... Environmental Protection Agency to decontaminate soil, groundwater, and sediment in Old Mormon Slough and the... efforts of the EPA to rehabilitate soil, sediment, and ground water from contaminates of the McCormick... waste ponds were closed in 1981. Sampling has shown that soils throughout the site and groundwater in...

Time domain reflectometry measurements of solute transport across a soil layer boundary

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nissen, H.H.; Moldrup, P.; Kachanoski, R.G.

2000-02-01

The mechanisms governing solute transport through layered soil are not fully understood. Solute transport at, above, and beyond the interface between two soil layers during quasi-steady-state soil water movement was investigated using time domain reflectometry (TDR). A 0.26-m sandy loam layer was packed on top of a 1.35-m fine sand layer in a soil column. Soil water content ({theta}) and bulk soil electrical conductivity (EC{sub b}) were measured by 50 horizontal and 2 vertical TDR probes. A new TDR calibration method that gives a detailed relationship between apparent relative dielectric permittivity (K{sub s}) and {theta} was applied. Two replicate solutemore » transport experiments were conducted adding a conservative tracer (CCl) to the surface as a short pulse. The convective lognormal transfer function model (CLT) was fitted to the TDR-measured time integral-normalized resident concentration breakthrough curves (BTCs). The BTCs and the average solute-transport velocities showed preferential flow occurred across the layer boundary. A nonlinear decrease in TDR-measured {theta} in the upper soil toward the soil layer boundary suggests the existence of a 0.10-m zone where water is confined towards fingered flow, creating lateral variations in the area-averaged water flux above the layer boundary. A comparison of the time integral-normalized flux concentration measured by vertical and horizontal TDR probes at the layer boundary also indicates a nonuniform solute transport. The solute dispersivity remained constant in the upper soil layer, but increased nonlinearly (and further down, linearly) with depth in the lower layer, implying convective-dispersive solute transport in the upper soil, a transition zone just below the boundary, and stochastic-convective solute transport in the remaining part of the lower soil.« less

Leaf water status and root system water flux of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) seedlings in relation to new root growth after transplanting

Treesearch

John C. Brissette; Jim L. Chambers

1992-01-01

Water relations and root growth of shortleaf pine (Pinus echinata Mill.) were studied four weeks after seedlings from a half-sib family had been transplanted to one of three regimes of soil water availability at a root zone temperature of either 15 or 20 °C. About one-third of the variation in new root growth was explained by the root zone...

Storage dynamics in hydropedological units control hillslope connectivity, runoff generation, and the evolution of catchment transit time distributions

PubMed Central

Tetzlaff, D; Birkel, C; Dick, J; Geris, J; Soulsby, C

2014-01-01

We examined the storage dynamics and isotopic composition of soil water over 12 months in three hydropedological units in order to understand runoff generation in a montane catchment. The units form classic catena sequences from freely draining podzols on steep upper hillslopes through peaty gleys in shallower lower slopes to deeper peats in the riparian zone. The peaty gleys and peats remained saturated throughout the year, while the podzols showed distinct wetting and drying cycles. In this region, most precipitation events are <10 mm in magnitude, and storm runoff is mainly generated from the peats and peaty gleys, with runoff coefficients (RCs) typically <10%. In larger events the podzolic soils become strongly connected to the saturated areas, and RCs can exceed 40%. Isotopic variations in precipitation are significantly damped in the organic-rich soil surface horizons due to mixing with larger volumes of stored water. This damping is accentuated in the deeper soil profile and groundwater. Consequently, the isotopic composition of stream water is also damped, but the dynamics strongly reflect those of the near-surface waters in the riparian peats. “pre-event” water typically accounts for >80% of flow, even in large events, reflecting the displacement of water from the riparian soils that has been stored in the catchment for >2 years. These riparian areas are the key zone where different source waters mix. Our study is novel in showing that they act as “isostats,” not only regulating the isotopic composition of stream water, but also integrating the transit time distribution for the catchment. Key Points Hillslope connectivity is controlled by small storage changes in soil units Different catchment source waters mix in large riparian wetland storage Isotopes show riparian wetlands set the catchment transit time distribution PMID:25506098

Storage dynamics in hydropedological units control hillslope connectivity, runoff generation, and the evolution of catchment transit time distributions.

PubMed

Tetzlaff, D; Birkel, C; Dick, J; Geris, J; Soulsby, C

2014-02-01

We examined the storage dynamics and isotopic composition of soil water over 12 months in three hydropedological units in order to understand runoff generation in a montane catchment. The units form classic catena sequences from freely draining podzols on steep upper hillslopes through peaty gleys in shallower lower slopes to deeper peats in the riparian zone. The peaty gleys and peats remained saturated throughout the year, while the podzols showed distinct wetting and drying cycles. In this region, most precipitation events are <10 mm in magnitude, and storm runoff is mainly generated from the peats and peaty gleys, with runoff coefficients (RCs) typically <10%. In larger events the podzolic soils become strongly connected to the saturated areas, and RCs can exceed 40%. Isotopic variations in precipitation are significantly damped in the organic-rich soil surface horizons due to mixing with larger volumes of stored water. This damping is accentuated in the deeper soil profile and groundwater. Consequently, the isotopic composition of stream water is also damped, but the dynamics strongly reflect those of the near-surface waters in the riparian peats. "pre-event" water typically accounts for >80% of flow, even in large events, reflecting the displacement of water from the riparian soils that has been stored in the catchment for >2 years. These riparian areas are the key zone where different source waters mix. Our study is novel in showing that they act as "isostats," not only regulating the isotopic composition of stream water, but also integrating the transit time distribution for the catchment. Hillslope connectivity is controlled by small storage changes in soil unitsDifferent catchment source waters mix in large riparian wetland storageIsotopes show riparian wetlands set the catchment transit time distribution.

Statistical-physical model of the hydraulic conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Usowicz, B.; Marczewski, W.; Usowicz, J. B.; Lukowski, M. I.

2012-04-01

The water content in unsaturated subsurface soil layer is determined by processes of exchanging mass and energy between media of soil and atmosphere, and particular members of layered media. Generally they are non-homogeneous on different scales, considering soil porosity, soil texture including presence of vegetation elements in the root zone, and canopy above the surface, and varying biomass density of plants above the surface in clusters. That heterogeneity determines statistically effective values of particular physical properties. This work considers mainly those properties which determine the hydraulic conductivity of soil. This property is necessary for characterizing physically water transfer in the root zone and access of nutrient matter for plants, but it also the water capacity on the field scale. The temporal variability of forcing conditions and evolutionarily changing vegetation causes substantial effects of impact on the water capacity in large scales, bringing the evolution of water conditions in the entire area, spanning a possible temporal state in the range between floods and droughts. The dynamic of this evolution of water conditions is highly determined by vegetation but is hardly predictable in evaluations. Hydrological models require feeding with input data determining hydraulic properties of the porous soil which are proposed in this paper by means of the statistical-physical model of the water hydraulic conductivity. The statistical-physical model was determined for soils being typical in Euroregion Bug, Eastern Poland. The model is calibrated on the base of direct measurements in the field scales, and enables determining typical characteristics of water retention by the retention curves bounding the hydraulic conductivity to the state of water saturation of the soil. The values of the hydraulic conductivity in two reference states are used for calibrating the model. One is close to full saturation, and another is for low water content far from saturation, in a particular case of the soil type. Effects of calibrating a soil depends on assumed ranges of soil properties engaged to recognizing the soil type. Among those properties, the key role is for the bulk density, the porosity and its dependence on the specific area of the soil. The aim of this work is to provide such variables of auxiliary data to SMOS, which would bring a relation of the soil moisture to the water capacity, under retrieving SM from SMOS L1C data. * The work was financially supported in part by the ESA Programme for European Cooperating States (PECS), No.98084 "SWEX-R, Soil Water and Energy Exchange/Research", AO3275.

Application of digital soil mapping in Argentina: An example using apparent soil electrical conductivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Domenech, Marisa; Castro Franco, Mauricio; Costa, Jose Luis; Aparicio, Virginia

2017-04-01

Apparent soil electrical conductivity (ECa) has been used to capture soil data in several Argentinean Pampas locations. The aim of this study was to generate digital soil mapping on the basis of understanding the relation among ECa and soil properties in three farming fields of the southeast Buenos Aires province. We carried out a geostatistical analysis using ECa data obtained at two depths 0-30cm (ECa_30cm) and 0-90cm (ECa_90cm). Then, two zones derived from ECa measurements were delimited in each field. A soil-sampling scheme was applied in each zone using two depths: 0-30cm and 30-90cm. Texture, Organic Matter Content (OMC), cation-exchange capacity (CEC), pH, saturated paste electrical conductivity (ECe) and effective depth were analyzed. The relation between zones and soil properties were studied using nested factor ANOVA. Our results indicated that clay content and effective depth showed significant differences among ECa_30 zones in all fields. In Argentine Pampas, the presence of petrocalcic horizons limits the effective soil depth at field scale. These horizons vary in depth, structure, hardness and carbonates content. In addition, they influence the spatial pattern of clay content. The relation among other physical and chemical soil properties was not consistent. Two soil unit maps were delimited in each field. These results might support irrigation management due to clay content and effective depth would be controlling soil water storage. Our findings highlight the high accuracy use of soil sensors in developing digital soil mapping at field scale, irrigation management zones, precision agriculture and hydrological modeling in Pampas region conditions.

Experimental studies in natural groundwater-recharge dynamics: The analysis of observed recharge events

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sophocleous, M.; Perry, C.A.

1985-01-01

The amounts and time distribution of groundwater recharge from precipitation over an approximately 19-month period were investigated at two instrumented sites in south-central Kansas. Precipitation and evapotranspiration sequences, soil-moisture profiles and storage changes, water fluxes in the unsaturated zone and hydraulic gradients in the saturated zone at various depths, soil temperatures, water-table hydrographs, and water-level changes in nearby wells clearly depict the recharge process. Antecedent moisture conditions and the thickness and nature of the unsaturated zone were found to be the major factors affecting recharge. Although the two instrumented sites are located in sand-dune environments in areas characterized by shallow water table and subhumid continental climate, a significant difference was observed in the estimated effective recharge. The estimates ranged from less than 2.5 to approximately 154 mm at the two sites from February to June 1983. The main reasons for this large difference in recharge estimates were the greater thickness of the unsaturated zone and the lower moisture content in that zone resulting from lower precipitation and higher potential evapotranspiration for one of the sites. Effective recharge took place only during late winter and spring. No summer or fall recharge was observed at either site during the observation period of this study. ?? 1985.

Methane production correlates positively with methanogens, sulfate-reducing bacteria and pore water acetate at an estuarine brackish-marsh landscape scale

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tong, C.; She, C. X.; Jin, Y. F.; Yang, P.; Huang, J. F.

2013-11-01

Methane production is influenced by the abundance of methanogens and the availability of terminal substrates. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) also play an important role in the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. However, the relationships between methane production and methanogen populations, pore water terminal substrates in estuarine brackish marshes are poorly characterized, and even to our knowledge, no published research has explored the relationship between methane production rate and abundance of SRB and pore water dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentration. We investigated methane production rate, abundances of methanogens and SRB, concentrations of pore water terminal substrates and electron acceptors at a brackish marsh landscape dominated by Phragmites australis, Cyperus malaccensis and Spatina alterniflora marshes zones in the Min River estuary. The average rates of methane production at a soil depth of 30 cm in the three marsh zones were 0.142, 0.058 and 0.067 μg g-1 d-1, respectively. The abundance of both methanogens and SRB in the soil of the P. australis marsh with highest soil organic carbon content was higher than in the C. malaccensis and S. alterniflora marshes. The abundance of methanogens and SRB in the three soil layers was statistically indistinguishable. Mean pore water DMS concentrations at a soil depth of 30 cm under the S. alterniflora marsh were higher than those in the C. malaccensis and P. australis marshes. Methane production rate increased with the abundance of both methanogens and SRB across three marsh zones together at the landscape scale, and also increased with the concentration of pore water acetate, but did not correlate with concentrations of pore water DMS and dissolved CO2. Our results suggest that, provided that substrates are available in ample supply, methanogens can continue to produce methane regardless of whether SRB are prevalent in estuarine brackish marshes.

A Unified Multi-scale Model for Cross-Scale Evaluation and Integration of Hydrological and Biogeochemical Processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, C.; Yang, X.; Bailey, V. L.; Bond-Lamberty, B. P.; Hinkle, C.

2013-12-01

Mathematical representations of hydrological and biogeochemical processes in soil, plant, aquatic, and atmospheric systems vary with scale. Process-rich models are typically used to describe hydrological and biogeochemical processes at the pore and small scales, while empirical, correlation approaches are often used at the watershed and regional scales. A major challenge for multi-scale modeling is that water flow, biogeochemical processes, and reactive transport are described using different physical laws and/or expressions at the different scales. For example, the flow is governed by the Navier-Stokes equations at the pore-scale in soils, by the Darcy law in soil columns and aquifer, and by the Navier-Stokes equations again in open water bodies (ponds, lake, river) and atmosphere surface layer. This research explores whether the physical laws at the different scales and in different physical domains can be unified to form a unified multi-scale model (UMSM) to systematically investigate the cross-scale, cross-domain behavior of fundamental processes at different scales. This presentation will discuss our research on the concept, mathematical equations, and numerical execution of the UMSM. Three-dimensional, multi-scale hydrological processes at the Disney Wilderness Preservation (DWP) site, Florida will be used as an example for demonstrating the application of the UMSM. In this research, the UMSM was used to simulate hydrological processes in rooting zones at the pore and small scales including water migration in soils under saturated and unsaturated conditions, root-induced hydrological redistribution, and role of rooting zone biogeochemical properties (e.g., root exudates and microbial mucilage) on water storage and wetting/draining. The small scale simulation results were used to estimate effective water retention properties in soil columns that were superimposed on the bulk soil water retention properties at the DWP site. The UMSM parameterized from smaller scale simulations were then used to simulate coupled flow and moisture migration in soils in saturated and unsaturated zones, surface and groundwater exchange, and surface water flow in streams and lakes at the DWP site under dynamic precipitation conditions. Laboratory measurements of soil hydrological and biogeochemical properties are used to parameterize the UMSM at the small scales, and field measurements are used to evaluate the UMSM.

Vadose Zone as a Potential Carbon Source: a Look at Seasonal Spikes in Hyporheic Zone pCO2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brandes, J.

2016-12-01

Connections between soils, terrestrial streams and the atmosphere are not yet thoroughly understood as contributing factors to the global carbon budget. We collected data from an undisturbed soil column adjacent to a small stream in a forested watershed in the H. J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Western Cascades of Oregon in the United States. Our data includes: CO2 (ppm); temperature (oC); depth below water table (m); and soil moisture (cm3/cm3) and spans approximately one year. We are analyzing the data using the gradient method and have observed distinct seasonal patterns which may support previous research describing temporal processes. We can expect to see changing soil moisture characteristics which may promote either vertical CO2 diffusion out of the surface or vertical/lateral advection into subsurface flow. We hypothesize that there is flushing of soil CO2 into the hyporheic zone during precipitation events following soil CO2 buildup.

Water dynamics and nitrogen balance under different agricultural management practices in the low-lying plain of north-east Italy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camarotto, Carlo; Dal Ferro, Nicola; Piccoli, Ilaria; Polese, Riccardo; Furlan, Lorenzo; Chiarini, Francesca; Berti, Antonio; Morari, Francesco

2017-04-01

In the last decades the adoption of sustainable land management practices (e.g. conservation agriculture, use of cover crops) has been largely subsidized by the EU policy in an attempt to combine competitive agricultural production with environmental protection, e.g. reduce nitrogen losses and optimize water management. However, the real environmental benefits of these practices is still questioned since strongly dependent on local pedo-climatic variability. This study aimed to evaluate water and nitrogen balances in sustainable land management systems including conservation agriculture (CA) practices or use of cover crops (CC). The experimental fields, established in 2010, are localized in the low-lying plain of the Veneto Region (NE Italy), characterized by a shallow water table and identified as Nitrate Vulnerable Zone. In March 2016, a total of nine soil-water monitoring stations have been installed in CA, CC and conventional fields. The stations (three per each field) were set up with multi-sensors probes (10 cm, 30 cm and 60 cm depth) for the continuous monitoring of soil electrical conductivity (EC, dS m-1), soil temperature (T, °C) and volumetric water content (WC, m3 m-3). A wireless system in ISM band has been designed to connect the soil-water monitoring stations to a unique access point, where the data were sent to a cloud platform via GSM. Water samples at each station were collected every two weeks using a suction cups (installed at 60 cm depth) and a phreatic wells, which were also used to record the water table level. Climatic data, collected from a weather station located in the experimental field, were combined with soil-water data to estimate water and nitrogen fluxes in the root zone. During the first year, relevant differences in water and nitrogen dynamics were observed between the treatments. It can be hypothesized that the combined effect of undisturbed soil conditions and continuous soil cover were major factors to affect water distribution and N fluxes within the soil profile.

Current advancements and challenges in soil-root interactions modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schnepf, Andrea; Huber, Katrin; Abesha, Betiglu; Meunier, Felicien; Leitner, Daniel; Roose, Tiina; Javaux, Mathieu; Vanderborght, Jan; Vereecken, Harry

2015-04-01

Roots change their surrounding soil chemically, physically and biologically. This includes changes in soil moisture and solute concentration, the exudation of organic substances into the rhizosphere, increased growth of soil microorganisms, or changes in soil structure. The fate of water and solutes in the root zone is highly determined by these root-soil interactions. Mathematical models of soil-root systems in combination with non-invasive techniques able to characterize root systems are a promising tool to understand and predict the behaviour of water and solutes in the root zone. With respect to different fields of applications, predictive mathematical models can contribute to the solution of optimal control problems in plant recourse efficiency. This may result in significant gains in productivity, efficiency and environmental sustainability in various land use activities. Major challenges include the coupling of model parameters of the relevant processes with the surrounding environment such as temperature, nutrient concentration or soil water content. A further challenge is the mathematical description of the different spatial and temporal scales involved. This includes in particular the branched structures formed by root systems or the external mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi. Here, reducing complexity as well as bridging between spatial scales is required. Furthermore, the combination of experimental and mathematical techniques may advance the field enormously. Here, the use of root system, soil and rhizosphere models is presented through a number of modelling case studies, including image based modelling of phosphate uptake by a root with hairs, model-based optimization of root architecture for phosphate uptake from soil, upscaling of rhizosphere models, modelling root growth in structured soil, and the effect of root hydraulic architecture on plant water uptake efficiency and drought resistance.

Spatial structure of soil properties at different scales of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Tanzania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kühnel, Anna; Huwe, Bernd

2013-04-01

Soils of tropical mountain ecosystems provide important ecosystem services like water and carbon storage, water filtration and erosion control. As these ecosystems are threatened by global warming and the conversion of natural to human-modified landscapes, it is important to understand the implications of these changes. Within the DFG Research Unit "Kilimanjaro ecosystems under global change: Linking biodiversity, biotic interactions and biogeochemical ecosystem processes", we study the spatial heterogeneity of soils and the available water capacity for different land use systems. In the savannah zone of Mt. Kilimanjaro, maize fields are compared to natural savannah ecosystems. In the lower montane forest zone, coffee plantations, traditional home gardens, grasslands and natural forests are studied. We characterize the soils with respect to soil hydrology, emphasizing on the spatial variability of soil texture and bulk density at different scales. Furthermore soil organic carbon and nitrogen, cation exchange capacity and the pH-value are measured. Vis/Nir-Spectroscopy is used to detect small scale physical and chemical heterogeneity within soil profiles, as well as to get information of soil properties on a larger scale. We aim to build a spectral database for these soil properties for the Kilimanjaro region in order to get rapid information for geostatistical analysis. Partial least square regression with leave one out cross validation is used for model calibration. Results for silt and clay content, as well as carbon and nitrogen content are promising, with adjusted R² ranging from 0.70 for silt to 0.86 for nitrogen. Furthermore models for other nutrients, cation exchange capacity and available water capacity will be calibrated. We compare heterogeneity within and across the different ecosystems and state that spatial structure characteristics and complexity patterns in soil parameters can be quantitatively related to biodiversity and functional diversity parameters.

Current Advancements and Challenges in Soil-Root Interactions Modelling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schnepf, A.; Huber, K.; Abesha, B.; Meunier, F.; Leitner, D.; Roose, T.; Javaux, M.; Vanderborght, J.; Vereecken, H.

2014-12-01

Roots change their surrounding soil chemically, physically and biologically. This includes changes in soil moisture and solute concentration, the exudation of organic substances into the rhizosphere, increased growth of soil microorganisms, or changes in soil structure. The fate of water and solutes in the root zone is highly determined by these root-soil interactions. Mathematical models of soil-root systems in combination with non-invasive techniques able to characterize root systems are a promising tool to understand and predict the behaviour of water and solutes in the root zone. With respect to different fields of applications, predictive mathematical models can contribute to the solution of optimal control problems in plant recourse efficiency. This may result in significant gains in productivity, efficiency and environmental sustainability in various land use activities. Major challenges include the coupling of model parameters of the relevant processes with the surrounding environment such as temperature, nutrient concentration or soil water content. A further challenge is the mathematical description of the different spatial and temporal scales involved. This includes in particular the branched structures formed by root systems or the external mycelium of mycorrhizal fungi. Here, reducing complexity as well as bridging between spatial scales is required. Furthermore, the combination of experimental and mathematical techniques may advance the field enormously. Here, the use of root system, soil and rhizosphere models is presented through a number of modelling case studies, including image based modelling of phosphate uptake by a root with hairs, model-based optimization of root architecture for phosphate uptake from soil, upscaling of rhizosphere models, modelling root growth in structured soil, and the effect of root hydraulic architecture on plant water uptake efficiency and drought resistance.

Estimation of hectare-scale soil-moisture characteristics from aquifer-test data

USGS Publications Warehouse

Moench, A.F.

2003-01-01

Analysis of a 72-h, constant-rate aquifer test conducted in a coarse-grained and highly permeable, glacial outwash deposit on Cape Cod, Massachusetts revealed that drawdowns measured in 20 piezometers located at various depths below the water table and distances from the pumped well were significantly influenced by effects of drainage from the vadose zone. The influence was greatest in piezometers located close to the water table and diminished with increasing depth. The influence of the vadose zone was evident from a gap, in the intermediate-time zone, between measured drawdowns and drawdowns computed under the assumption that drainage from the vadose zone occurred instantaneously in response to a decline in the elevation of the water table. By means of an analytical model that was designed to account for time-varying drainage, simulated drawdowns could be closely fitted to measured drawdowns regardless of the piezometer locations. Because of the exceptional quality and quantity of the data and the relatively small aquifer heterogeneity, it was possible by inverse modeling to estimate all relevant aquifer parameters and a set of three empirical constants used in the upper-boundary condition to account for the dynamic drainage process. The empirical constants were used to define a one-dimensional (ID) drainage versus time curve that is assumed to be representative of the bulk material overlying the water table. The curve was inverted with a parameter estimation algorithm and a ID numerical model for variably saturated flow to obtain soil-moisture retention curves and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity relationships defined by the Brooks and Corey equations. Direct analysis of the aquifer-test data using a parameter estimation algorithm and a two-dimensional, axisymmetric numerical model for variably saturated flow yielded similar soil-moisture characteristics. Results suggest that hectare-scale soil-moisture characteristics are different from core-scale predictions and even relatively small amounts of fine-grained material and heterogeneity can dominate the large-scale soil-moisture characteristics and aquifer response. ?? 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Plant-based plume-scale mapping of tritium contamination in desert soils

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andraski, Brian J.; Stonestrom, David A.; Michel, R.L.; Halford, K.J.; Radyk, J.C.

2005-01-01

Plant-based techniques were tested for field-scale evaluation of tritium contamination adjacent to a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) facility in the Amargosa Desert, Nevada. Objectives were to (i) characterize and map the spatial variability of tritium in plant water, (ii) develop empirical relations to predict and map subsurface contamination from plant-water concentrations, and (iii) gain insight into tritium migration pathways and processes. Plant sampling [creosote bush, Larrea tridentata (Sessé & Moc. ex DC.) Coville] required one-fifth the time of soil water vapor sampling. Plant concentrations were spatially correlated to a separation distance of 380 m; measurement uncertainty accounted for <0.1% of the total variability in the data. Regression equations based on plant tritium explained 96 and 90% of the variation in root-zone and sub-root-zone soil water vapor concentrations, respectively. The equations were combined with kriged plant-water concentrations to map subsurface contamination. Mapping showed preferential lateral movement of tritium through a dry, coarse-textured layer beneath the root zone, with concurrent upward movement through the root zone. Analysis of subsurface fluxes along a transect perpendicular to the LLRW facility showed that upward diffusive-vapor transport dominates other transport modes beneath native vegetation. Downward advective-liquid transport dominates at one endpoint of the transect, beneath a devegetated road immediately adjacent to the facility. To our knowledge, this study is the first to document large-scale subsurface vapor-phase tritium migration from a LLRW facility. Plant-based methods provide a noninvasive, cost-effective approach to mapping subsurface tritium migration in desert areas.

Soil physical conditions as livestock treading effect in tropical Agroecosystem of dryland and strategies to mitigate desertification risk

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Florentino, A.; Torres, D.; Ospina, A.; Contreras, J.; Palma, Z.; Silvera, J.

2012-04-01

Soil degradation in natural ecosystem of arid and semi-arid zones of Venezuela due to livestock treading (goats) it is an important problem that affect their environment functions; increase soil erodibility, bulk density, water losses and reduce porosity, water infiltration rate and soil structural stability. The presence of biological crust (BSC) in this type of soil it is very common. The objective of this study was to evaluate the soil surface physical quality through the use of selected indicators, mainly some of that related to structural stability, infiltrability and the prediction of soil erosion risk in two zones of Lara state: 1) Quíbor (QUI) and 2) Humocaro Bajo (HB). The study was conducted on two selected plots (30 m x 20 m) in each zone, with natural vegetation and BSC cover, with areas affected by different degree of compaction due to treading in the paths where the goats are moving. Five sites per plot (50 cm x 50 cm) under vegetation cover and five sites over the path with bare soil were sampled (0-7,5 and 7,5-15 cm depth). The results showed that soil macroaggregate stability (equivalent diameter of aggregates >0,25 mm) was significantly higher (p<0,05 %) in soil with vegetation cover and BSC compared with bare soil. Sealing index, as a measure of aggregate stability, determined in laboratory under simulated rain and expressed as hydraulic conductivity of soil surface sealing (Kse), decreased with decreasing soil vegetation cover and the presence of BSC. However, Ksei (i: inicial) and Ksef (f: final) were significantly greater in soil with more than 75 % of BSC in comparison to bare soils. The sealing index it is used to for to estimate changes in soil water losses. As the sealing index increases, the susceptibility of the soil to undergo surface sealing or slaking decrease. These results suggested that soil physical properties are potential indicators of soil quality with regard to soil erodibility and showed that soils under vegetation cover had higher quality level than bare soils. Some predictive regression equation had a high R2 value and was a useful tool for to evaluate the risk of extreme climatic changes and to mitigate their detrimental effects. We conclude that the global climatic change (CCG) will have a negative effect on these agroecosystems functions, mainly in soil and water conservation, carbon sequestration, and productivity. Natural recovery of soil physical properties from treading damage of pastoral soils will be possible in the future with the implementation of soil management strategies, mainly through re-vegetation and recuperation of the BSC. Key word: Soil structure; aggregate stability; soil sealing index; hydraulic conductivity of surface sealing.

Intermittent flux from a sand filter for household wastewater and integrated solute transfer to the vadose zone.

PubMed

Nasri, Behzad; Fouché, Olivier

2018-02-24

Depending on the actual number of soil-based on-site wastewater treatment system (OWTS) in an area, on-site sanitation may be a significant source of pollutants and a threat to groundwater. Even in the case of a system functioning correctly, here, a sand filter substituted for the in-situ soil, as the treated effluent may reach to the water table, it is necessary evaluating in situ how much the sand and underneath soil respectively contribute to pollutant removal. On the plot of a household in a small rural community, the functioning of a real scale OWTS was monitored for 1.5 years. This system, composed of a septic tank connected to a 5 × 5 m 2 and 0.7-m thick aerobic sand filter was equipped with soil hydrodynamic probes (water content and matrix potential) during construction. By using the instantaneous profile method of water content, the intermittent infiltrated flux was determined across the sand-pack according to position and time. Treated water infiltrates into underneath soil acting as post-treatment. Quality of interstitial liquid from the sand and the soil was analysed each month on a 12-h pumping sample obtained through porous plates. Results of water fluxes and concentrations provide an estimate of the annual flux to the vadose zone and groundwater of metals, nutrients and some organic micro-pollutants (parabens and triclosan) through the OWTS and subsoil.

Water flow and solute transport in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum: Upscaling from rhizosphere to root zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazarovitch, Naftali; Perelman, Adi; Guerra, Helena; Vanderborght, Jan; Pohlmeier, Andreas

2016-04-01

Root water and nutrient uptake are among the most important processes considered in numerical models simulating water content and fluxes in the subsurface, as they control plant growth and production as well as water flow and nutrient transport out of the root zone. Root water uptake may lead to salt accumulation at the root-soil interface, resulting in rhizophere salt concentrations much higher than in the bulk soil. This salt accumulation is caused by soluble salt transport towards the roots by mass flow through the soil, followed by preferential adsorption of specific nutrients by active uptake, thereby excluding most other salts at the root-soil interface or in the root apoplast. The salinity buildup can lead to large osmotic pressure gradients across the roots thereby effectively reducing root water uptake. The initial results from rhizoslides (capillary paper growth system) show that sodium concentration is decreasing with distance from the root, compared with the bulk that remained more stable. When transpiration rate was decreased under high salinity levels, sodium concentration was more homogenous compared with low salinity levels. Additionally, sodium and gadolinium distributions were measured nondestructively around tomato roots using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). This technique could also observe the root structure and water content around single roots. Results from the MRI confirm the solutes concentration pattern around roots and its relation to their initial concentration. We conclude that local water potentials at the soil-root interface differ from bulk potentials. These relative differences increase with decreasing root density, decreasing initial salt concentration and increasing transpiration rate. Furthermore, since climate may significantly influence plant response to salinity a dynamic climate-coupled salinity reduction functions are critical in while using macroscopic numerical models.

Modelling the diurnal and seasonal dynamics of soil CO2 exchange in a semiarid ecosystem with high plant-interspace heterogeneity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gong, Jinnan; Wang, Ben; Jia, Xin; Feng, Wei; Zha, Tianshan; Kellomäki, Seppo; Peltola, Heli

2018-01-01

We used process-based modelling to investigate the roles of carbon-flux (C-flux) components and plant-interspace heterogeneities in regulating soil CO2 exchanges (FS) in a dryland ecosystem with sparse vegetation. To simulate the diurnal and seasonal dynamics of FS, the modelling considered simultaneously the CO2 production, transport and surface exchanges (e.g. biocrust photosynthesis, respiration and photodegradation). The model was parameterized and validated with multivariate data measured during the years 2013-2014 in a semiarid shrubland ecosystem in Yanchi, northwestern China. The model simulation showed that soil rewetting could enhance CO2 dissolution and delay the emission of CO2 produced from rooting zone. In addition, an ineligible fraction of respired CO2 might be removed from soil volumes under respiration chambers by lateral water flows and root uptakes. During rewetting, the lichen-crusted soil could shift temporally from net CO2 source to sink due to the activated photosynthesis of biocrust but the restricted CO2 emissions from subsoil. The presence of plant cover could decrease the root-zone CO2 production and biocrust C sequestration but increase the temperature sensitivities of these fluxes. On the other hand, the sensitivities of root-zone emissions to water content were lower under canopy, which may be due to the advection of water flows from the interspace to canopy. To conclude, the complexity and plant-interspace heterogeneities of soil C processes should be carefully considered to extrapolate findings from chamber to ecosystem scales and to predict the ecosystem responses to climate change and extreme climatic events. Our model can serve as a useful tool to simulate the soil CO2 efflux dynamics in dryland ecosystems.

Dependence of shear wave seismoelectrics on soil textures: a numerical study in the vadose zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zyserman, F. I.; Monachesi, L. B.; Jouniaux, L.

2017-02-01

In this work, we study seismoelectric conversions generated in the vadose zone, when this region is traversed by a pure SH wave. We assume that the soil is a 1-D partially saturated lossy porous medium and we use the van Genuchten's constitutive model to describe the water saturation profile. Correspondingly, we extend Pride's formulation to deal with partially saturated media. In order to evaluate the influence of different soil textures we perform a numerical analysis considering, among other relevant properties, the electrokinetic coupling, coseismic responses and interface responses (IRs). We propose new analytical transfer functions for the electric and magnetic field as a function of the water saturation, modifying those of Bordes et al. and Garambois & Dietrich, respectively. Further, we introduce two substantially different saturation-dependent functions into the electrokinetic (EK) coupling linking the poroelastic and the electromagnetic wave equations. The numerical results show that the electric field IRs markedly depend on the soil texture and the chosen EK coupling model, and are several orders of magnitude stronger than the electric field coseismic ones. We also found that the IRs of the water table for the silty and clayey soils are stronger than those for the sandy soils, assuming a non-monotonous saturation dependence of the EK coupling, which takes into account the charged air-water interface. These IRs have been interpreted as the result of the jump in the viscous electric current density at the water table. The amplitude of the IR is obtained using a plane SH wave, neglecting both the spherical spreading and the restriction of its origin to the first Fresnel zone, effects that could lower the predicted values. However, we made an estimation of the expected electric field IR amplitudes detectable in the field by means of the analytical transfer functions, accounting for spherical spreading of the SH seismic waves. This prediction yields a value of 15 μV m-1, which is compatible with reported values.

Review on airflow in unsaturated zones induced by natural forcings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kuang, Xingxing; Jiao, Jiu Jimmy; Li, Hailong

2013-10-01

Subsurface airflow in unsaturated zones induced by natural forcings is of importance in many environmental and engineering fields, such as environmental remediation, water infiltration and groundwater recharge, coastal soil aeration, mine and tunnel ventilation, and gas exchange between soil and atmosphere. This review synthesizes the published literature on subsurface airflow driven by natural forcings such as atmospheric pressure fluctuations, topographic effect, water table fluctuations, and water infiltration. The present state of knowledge concerning the mechanisms, analytical and numerical models, and environmental and engineering applications related to the naturally occurring airflow is discussed. Airflow induced by atmospheric pressure fluctuations is studied the most because of the applications to environmental remediation and transport of trace gases from soil to atmosphere, which are very important in understanding biogeochemical cycling and global change. Airflow induced by infiltration is also an extensively investigated topic because of its implications in rainfall infiltration and groundwater recharge. Airflow induced by water table fluctuations is important in coastal areas because it plays an important role in coastal environmental remediation and ecological systems. Airflow induced by topographic effect is studied the least. However, it has important applications in unsaturated zone gas transport and natural ventilation of mines and tunnels. Finally, the similarities and differences in the characteristics of the air pressure and airflow are compared and future research efforts are recommended.

Simulating Heterogeneous Infiltration and Contaminant leaching Processes at Chalk River, Ontario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ali, M. A.; Ireson, A. M.; Keim, D.

2015-12-01

A study is conducted at a waste management area in Chalk River, Ontario to characterize flow and contaminant transport with the aim of contributing to improved hydrogeological risk assessment in the context of waste management. Field monitoring has been performed to gain insights into the unsaturated zone characteristics, moisture dynamics, and contaminant transport rates. The objective is to provide quantitative estimates of surface fluxes (quantification of infiltration and evaporation) and investigations of unsaturated zone processes controlling water infiltration and spatial variability in head distributions and flow rates. One particular issue is to examine the effectiveness of the clayey soil cap installed to prevent infiltration of water into the waste repository and the top sand soil cover above the clayey layer to divert the infiltrated water laterally. The spatial variability in the unsaturated zone properties and associated effects on water flow and contaminant transport observed at the site, have led to a concerted effort to develop improved model of flow and transport based on stochastic concepts. Results obtained through the unsaturated zone model investigations are combined with the hydrogeological and geochemical components and develop predictive tools to assess the long term fate of the contaminants at the waste management site.

Enhanced agricultural drought monitoring using a soil water anomaly-based drought index in south-west India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hochstöger, Simon; Pfeil, Isabella; Amarnath, Giriraj; Pani, Peejush; Enenkel, Markus; Wagner, Wolfgang

2017-04-01

In India, agriculture accounts for roughly 17% of the GDP and employs around 50% of the total workforce. Especially in the western part of India, most of the agricultural fields are non-irrigated. Hence, agriculture is highly dependent on the monsoon in these areas. However, the absence of rainfall during the monsoon season increases the occurrence of drought periods, which is the main environmental factor affecting agricultural productivity. Rainfall is often not accessible to plants due to runoff or increased rates of evapotranspiration. Therefore, knowledge of the soil moisture state in the root zone of the soil is of great interest in the field of agricultural drought monitoring and operational decision-support. By introducing soil moisture, retrieved via active or passive microwave remote sensors, the gap between rainfall and the subsequent response of vegetation can be closed. Agricultural droughts are strongly influenced by a lack of water availability in the root zone of the soil, making anomalies of the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) soil water index (SWI), representing the water content in lower soil layers, a suitable measure to estimate the water deficit in the soil. These anomalies describe the difference of the actual soil moisture value to the long-term average calculated for the same period. The objective of the study is to investigate the usability of soil moisture anomalies for developing an indicator that is based on critical thresholds, which finally results in a classification with different drought severity levels. In order to evaluate the performance of the drought index, it is compared to the Integrated Drought Severity Index (IDSI), which is developed at the International Water Management Institute in Colombo, Sri Lanka and to rainfall data from the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). Overall, first analyses show a high potential of using SWI anomalies for agricultural drought monitoring. Most of the drought events detected by negative SWI anomalies correspond to IDSI drought events and also to reduced precipitation during that time.

Sensitivity of Vadose Zone Water Fluxes to Climate Shifts in Arid Settings

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Pfletschinger, H.; Prömmel, K.; Schüth, C.

2014-01-01

Vadose zone water fluxes in arid settings are investigated regarding their sensitivity to hydraulic soil parameters and meteorological data. The study is based on the inverse modeling of highly defined soil column experiments and subsequent scenario modeling comparing different climate projections for a defined arid region. In arid regions, groundwater resources are prone to depletion due to excessive water use and little recharge potential. Especially in sand dune areas, groundwater recharge is highly dependent on vadose zone properties and corresponding water fluxes. Nevertheless, vadose zone water fluxes under arid conditions are hard to determine owing to, among other reasons, deepmore » vadose zones with generally low fluxes and only sporadic high infiltration events. In this study, we present an inverse model of infiltration experiments accounting for variable saturated nonisothermal water fluxes to estimate effective hydraulic and thermal parameters of dune sands. A subsequent scenario modeling links the results of the inverse model with projections of a global climate model until 2100. The scenario modeling clearly showed the high dependency of groundwater recharge on precipitation amounts and intensities, whereas temperature increases are only of minor importance for deep infiltration. However, simulated precipitation rates are still affected by high uncertainties in the response to the hydrological input data of the climate model. Thus, higher certainty in the prediction of precipitation pattern is a major future goal for climate modeling to constrain future groundwater management strategies in arid regions.« less

Characterization of soil spatial variability for site-specific management using soil electrical conductivity and other remotely sensed data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bang, Jisu

Field-scale characterization of soil spatial variability using remote sensing technology has potential for achieving the successful implementation of site-specific management (SSM). The objectives of this study were to: (i) examine the spatial relationships between apparent soil electrical conductivity (EC a) and soil chemical and physical properties to determine if EC a could be useful to characterize soil properties related to crop productivity in the Coastal Plain and Piedmont of North Carolina; (ii) evaluate the effects of in-situ soil moisture variation on ECa mapping as a basis for characterization of soil spatial variability and as a data layer in cluster analysis as a means of delineating sampling zones; (iii) evaluate clustering approaches using different variable sets for management zone delineation to characterize spatial variability in soil nutrient levels and crop yields. Studies were conducted in two fields in the Piedmont and three fields in the Coastal Plain of North Carolina. Spatial measurements of ECa via electromagnetic induction (EMI) were compared with soil chemical parameters (extractable P, K, and micronutrients; pH, cation exchange capacity [CEC], humic matter or soil organic matter; and physical parameters (percentage sand, silt, and clay; and plant-available water [PAW] content; bulk density; cone index; saturated hydraulic conductivity [Ksat] in one of the coastal plain fields) using correlation analysis across fields. We also collected ECa measurements in one coastal plain field on four days with significantly different naturally occurring soil moisture conditions measured in five increments to 0.75 m using profiling time-domain reflectometry probes to evaluate the temporal variability of ECa associated with changes in in-situ soil moisture content. Nonhierarchical k-means cluster analysis using sensor-based field attributes including vertical ECa, near-infrared (NIR) radiance of bare-soil from an aerial color infrared (CIR) image, elevation, slope, and their combinations was performed to delineate management zones. The strengths and signs of the correlations between ECa and measured soil properties varied among fields. Few strong direct correlations were found between ECa and the soil chemical and physical properties studied (r2 < 0.50), but correlations improved considerably when zone mean ECa and zone means of selected soil properties among ECa zones were compared. The results suggested that field-scale ECa survey is not able to directly predict soil nutrient levels at any specific location, but could delimit distinct zones of soil condition among which soil nutrient levels differ, providing an effective basis for soil sampling on a zone basis. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Precontact vegetation and soil nutrient status in the shadow of Kohala Volcano, Hawaii

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chadwick, Oliver A.; Kelly, Eugene F.; Hotchkiss, Sara C.; Vitousek, Peter M.

2007-09-01

Humans colonized Hawaii about 1200 years ago and have progressively modified vegetation, particularly in mesic to dry tropical forests. We use δ 13C to evaluate the contribution of C 3 and C 4 plants to deep soil organic matter to reconstruct pre-human contact vegetation patterns along a wet to dry climate transect on Kohala Mountain, Hawaii Island. Precontact vegetation assemblages fall into three distinct zones: a wet C 3 dominated closed canopy forest where annual rainfall is > 2000 mm, a dry C 4 dominated grassland with annual rainfall < 500 mm, and a broad transition zone between these communities characterized by either C 3 trees with higher water-use efficiency than the rainforest trees or C 3 trees with a small amount of C 4 grasses intermixed. The likelihood of C 4 grass understory decreases with increasing rainfall. We show that the total concentration of rock-derived nutrients in the < 2-mm soil fraction differs in each of these vegetation zones. Nutrient losses are driven by leaching at high rainfall and by plant cycling and wind erosion at low rainfall. By contrast, nutrients are best preserved in surface soils of the intermediate rainfall zone, where rainfall supports abundant plant growth but does not contribute large amounts of water in excess of evapotranspiration. Polynesian farmers exploited these naturally enriched soils as they intensified their upland agricultural systems during the last three centuries before European contact.

A novel representation of chalk hydrology in a land surface model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rahman, Mostaquimur; Rosolem, Rafael

2016-04-01

Unconfined chalk aquifers contain a significant portion of water in the United Kingdom. In order to optimize the assessment and management practices of water resources in the region, modelling and monitoring of soil moisture in the unsaturated zone of the chalk aquifers are of utmost importance. However, efficient simulation of soil moisture in such aquifers is difficult mainly due to the fractured nature of chalk, which creates high-velocity preferential flow paths in the unsaturated zone. In this study, the Joint UK Land Environment Simulator (JULES) is applied on a study area encompassing the Kennet catchment in Southern England. The fluxes and states of the coupled water and energy cycles are simulated for 10 consecutive years (2001-2010). We hypothesize that explicit representation for the soil-chalk layers and the inclusion of preferential flow in the fractured chalk aquifers improves the reproduction of the hydrological processes in JULES. In order to test this hypothesis, we propose a new parametrization for preferential flow in JULES. This parametrization explicitly describes the flow of water in soil matrices and preferential flow paths using a simplified approach which can be beneficial for large-scale hydrometeorological applications. We also define the overlaying soil properties obtained from the Harmonized World Soil Database (HWSD) in the model. Our simulation results are compared across spatial scales with measured soil moisture and river discharge, indicating the importance of accounting for the physical properties of the medium while simulating hydrological processes in the chalk aquifers.

Root zone water quality model (RZWQM2): Model use, calibration and validation

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ma, Liwang; Ahuja, Lajpat; Nolan, B.T.; Malone, Robert; Trout, Thomas; Qi, Z.

2012-01-01

The Root Zone Water Quality Model (RZWQM2) has been used widely for simulating agricultural management effects on crop production and soil and water quality. Although it is a one-dimensional model, it has many desirable features for the modeling community. This article outlines the principles of calibrating the model component by component with one or more datasets and validating the model with independent datasets. Users should consult the RZWQM2 user manual distributed along with the model and a more detailed protocol on how to calibrate RZWQM2 provided in a book chapter. Two case studies (or examples) are included in this article. One is from an irrigated maize study in Colorado to illustrate the use of field and laboratory measured soil hydraulic properties on simulated soil water and crop production. It also demonstrates the interaction between soil and plant parameters in simulated plant responses to water stresses. The other is from a maize-soybean rotation study in Iowa to show a manual calibration of the model for crop yield, soil water, and N leaching in tile-drained soils. Although the commonly used trial-and-error calibration method works well for experienced users, as shown in the second example, an automated calibration procedure is more objective, as shown in the first example. Furthermore, the incorporation of the Parameter Estimation Software (PEST) into RZWQM2 made the calibration of the model more efficient than a grid (ordered) search of model parameters. In addition, PEST provides sensitivity and uncertainty analyses that should help users in selecting the right parameters to calibrate.

Influence of Organic Amendment and Compaction on Nutrient Dynamics in a Saturated Saline-Sodic Soil from the Riparian Zone.

PubMed

Miller, J J; Bremer, E; Curtis, T

2016-07-01

Cattle grazing in wet riparian pastures may influence nutrient dynamics due to nutrient deposition in feces and urine, soil compaction, and vegetation loss. We conducted a lab incubation study with a saline-sodic riparian soil to study nutrient (N, P, S, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn) dynamics in soil pore water using Plant Root Simulator (PRS) probes and release of nutrients into the overlying ponded water during flooding. The treatment factors were organic amendment (manure, roots, and unamended control), compaction (compacted, uncompacted), and burial time (3, 7, and 14 d). Amendment treatment had the greatest impact on nutrient dynamics, followed by burial time, whereas compaction had little impact. The findings generally supported our hypothesis that organic amendments should first increase nitrate loss, then increase Mn mobility, then Fe mobility and associated release of P, and finally increase sulfate loss. Declines in nitrate due to amendment addition were small because nitrate was at low levels in all treatments due to high denitrification potential instead of being released to soil pore water or overlying water. Addition of organic amendment strongly increased Mn and Fe concentrations in overlying water and of adsorbed Fe on PRS probes but only increased Mn on PRS probes on Day 3 due to subsequent displacement from ion exchange membranes. Transport of P to overlying water was increased by organic amendment addition but less so for manure than roots despite higher P on PRS probes. The findings showed that saline-sodic soils in riparian zones are generally a nutrient source for P and are a nutrient sink for N as measured using PRS probes after 3 to 7 d of flooding. Copyright © by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, Inc.

Spatial variation of corn canopy temperature as dependent upon soil texture and crop rooting characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Choudhury, B. J.

1983-01-01

A soil plant atmosphere model for corn (Zea mays L.) together with the scaling theory for soil hydraulic heterogeneity are used to study the sensitivity of spatial variation of canopy temperature to field averaged soil texture and crop rooting characteristics. The soil plant atmosphere model explicitly solves a continuity equation for water flux resulting from root water uptake, changes in plant water storage and transpirational flux. Dynamical equations for root zone soil water potential and the plant water storage models the progressive drying of soil, and day time dehydration and night time hydration of the crop. The statistic of scaling parameter which describes the spatial variation of soil hydraulic conductivity and matric potential is assumed to be independent of soil texture class. The field averaged soil hydraulic characteristics are chosen to be representative of loamy sand and clay loam soils. Two rooting characteristics are chosen, one shallow and the other deep rooted. The simulation shows that the range of canopy temperatures in the clayey soil is less than 1K, but for the sandy soil the range is about 2.5 and 5.0 K, respectively, for the shallow and deep rooted crops.

Nitrate in groundwater and water sources used by riparian trees in an agricultural watershed: A chemical and isotopic investigation in southern Minnesota

USGS Publications Warehouse

Komor, Stephen C.; Magner, Joseph A.

1996-01-01

This study evaluates processes that affect nitrate concentrations in groundwater beneath riparian zones in an agricultural watershed. Nitrate pathways in the upper 2 m of groundwater were investigated beneath wooded and grass-shrub riparian zones next to cultivated fields. Because trees can be important components of the overall nitrate pathway in wooded riparian zones, water sources used by riparian trees and possible effects of trees on nitrate concentrations in groundwater were also investigated. Average nitrate concentrations in shallow groundwater beneath the cultivated fields were 5.5 mg/L upgradient of the wooded riparian zone and 3.5 mg/L upgradient of the grass-shrub zone. Shallow groundwater beneath the fields passed through the riparian zones and discharged into streams that had average nitrate concentrations of 8.5 mg/L (as N). Lateral variations of δD values in groundwater showed that mixing among different water sources occurred beneath the riparian zones. In the wooded riparian zone, nitrate concentrations in shallow groundwater were diluted by upwelling, nitrate-poor, deep groundwater. Upwelling deep groundwater contained ammonium with a δ15N of 5‰ that upon nitrification and mixing with nitrate in shallow groundwater caused nitrate δ15N values in shallow groundwater to decrease by as much as 19.5‰. Stream water penetrated laterally beneath the wooded riparian zone as far as 19 m from the stream's edge and beneath the grass-shrub zone as far as 27 m from the stream's edge. Nitrate concentrations in shallow groundwater immediately upgradient of where it mixed with stream water averaged 0.4 mg/L in the wooded riparian zone and 0.8 mg/L near the grass-shrub riparian zone. Nitrate concentrations increased toward the streams because of mixing with nitrate-rich stream water. Because nitrate concentrations were larger in stream water than shallow groundwater, concentrated nitrate in the streams cannot have come from shallow groundwater at these sites. Water sources of riparian trees were identified by comparing δD values of sap water, soil water, groundwater, and stream water. Soil water was the main water source for trees in the outer 4 to 6 m of one part of the wooded riparian zone and outer 10 m of another part. Groundwater was a significant water source for trees closer to the streams where the water table was less than about 2.1 to 2.7 m below the surface. No evidence was found in the nitrate concentration profiles that trees close to the streams that took up groundwater through their roots also took up nitrate from groundwater. The lack of such evidence is attributed to the nitrate concentration profiles being insufficiently sensitive indicators of nitrate removal by trees.

A numerical model for the movement of H 2O, H 218O, and 2HHO in the unsaturated zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shurbaji, Abdel-Rahman M.; Phillips, Fred M.

1995-09-01

Vertical profiles of H 218O and 2HHO concentrations have yielded useful information on evaporation and infiltration processes in soils. However, in the field, quantitative interpretation of such profiles has been limited by the restrictions inherent in the quasi-steady-state and transient analytical models available to describe the physical processes. This study presents a flexible numerical model that simulates transient fluxes of heat, liquid water, water vapor, and isotopic species. The model can simulate both infiltration and evaporation under fluctuating meteorological conditions and thus should be useful in reproducing changes in field isotope profiles. A transition factor is introduced in the isotope transport equation. This factor combines hydrologic and isotopic parameters and changes slowly with depth in the soil profile but strongly in the evaporation zone, owing to the rapid change in the dominant phase of water from liquid to vapor. Using the transition factor in the isotope transport equation facilitates obtaining the typical shape of the isotope profile (bulge at the evaporation zone). This factor also facilitates producing broad isotope enrichment peaks that may be seen in very dry soils.

Integrated monitoring technologies for the management of a Soil-Aquifer-Treatment (SAT) system.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Papadopoulos, Alexandros; Kallioras, Andreas; Kofakis, Petros; Bumberger, Jan; Schmidt, Felix; Athanasiou, Georgios; Uzunoglou, Nikolaos; Amditis, Angelos; Dietrich, Peter

2016-04-01

Artificial recharge of groundwater has an important role to play in water reuse as treated wastewater effluent can be infiltrated into the ground for aquifer recharge. As the effluent moves through the soil and the aquifer, it undergoes significant quality improvements through physical, chemical, and biological processes in the underground environment. Collectively, these processes and the water quality improvement obtained are called soil-aquifer-treatment (SAT) or geopurification. The pilot site of Lavrion Technological & Cultural Park (LTCP) of the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), involves the employment of plot infiltration basins at experimental scale, which will be using waters of impaired quality as a recharge source, and hence acting as a Soil-Aquifer-Treatment, SAT, system. Τhe LTCP site will be employed as a pilot SAT system complemented by new technological developments, which will be providing continuous monitoring of the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of infiltrating groundwater through all hydrologic zones (i.e. surface, unsaturated and saturated zone). This will be achieved by the development and installation of an integrated system of prototype sensing technologies, installed on-site, and offering a continuous evaluation of the performance of the SAT system. An integrated approach of the performance evaluation of any operating SAT system should aim at parallel monitoring of all hydrologic zones, proving the sustainability of all involved water quality treatment processes within unsaturated and saturated zone. Hence a prototype system of Time and Frequency Domain Reflectometry (TDR & FDR) sensors is developed and will be installed, in order to achieve continuous quantitative monitoring of the unsaturated zone through the entire soil column down to significant depths below the SAT basin. Additionally, the system contains two different radar-based sensing systems that will be offering (i) identification of preferential flow effects of the TDR/FDR sensors and (ii) monitoring of the water table within the shallow karst aquifer layer. The above technique will offer continuous monitoring of infiltration rates and identify possible mechanical or biological clogging effects. The monitoring system will be connected to an ad-hoc wireless network for continuous data transfer within the SAT facilities. It is envisaged that the development and combined application of all the above technologies will provide an integrated monitoring platform for the evaluation of SAT system performance.

Behavior of accidentally released radiocesium in soil-water environment: Looking at Fukushima from a Chernobyl perspective.

PubMed

Konoplev, A; Golosov, V; Laptev, G; Nanba, K; Onda, Y; Takase, T; Wakiyama, Y; Yoshimura, K

2016-01-01

Quantitative characteristics of dissolved and particulate radiocesium wash-off from contaminated watersheds after the FDNPP accident are calculated based on published monitoring data. Comparative analysis is provided for radiocesium wash-off parameters and distribution coefficients, Kd, between suspended matter and water in rivers and surface runoff on Fukushima and Chernobyl contaminated areas for the first years after the accidents. It was found that radiocesium distribution coefficient in Fukushima rivers is essentially higher (1-2 orders of magnitude) than corresponding values for rivers and surface runoff within the Chernobyl zone. This can be associated with two factors: first, the high fraction of clays in the predominant soils and sediments of the Fukushima area and accordingly a higher value of the radiocesium Interception Potential, RIP, in general, and secondly the presence of water insoluble glassy particles containing radiocesium in the accidental fallout at Fukushima. It was found also that normalized dissolved wash-off coefficients for Fukushima catchments are 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than corresponding values for the Chernobyl zone. Normalized particulate wash-off coefficients are comparable for Fukushima and Chernobyl. Results of the investigation of radiocesium's ((134)Cs and (137)Cs) vertical distribution in soils of the close-in area of the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP - Okuma town and floodplain of the Niida river are presented. The radiocesium migration in undisturbed forest and grassland soils at Fukushima contaminated area has been shown to be faster as compared to the Chernobyl 30-km zone during the first three years after the accidents. This may be associated with higher annual precipitation (by about 2.5 times) in Fukushima as compared to the Chernobyl zone, as well as the differences in the soil characteristics and temperature regime throughout a year. Investigation and analysis of Fukushima's radiocesium distribution in soils of Niida river catchment revealed accumulation zones of contaminated sediments on its floodplain. Average sediment deposition rates varied from 0.3 to 3.3 cm/year. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organic nitrogen components in soils from southeast China*

PubMed Central

Chen, Xian-you; Wu, Liang-huan; Cao, Xiao-chuang; Zhu, Yuan-hong

2013-01-01

Objective: To investigate the amounts of extractable organic nitrogen (EON), and the relationships between EON and total extractable nitrogen (TEN), especially the amino acids (AAs) adsorbed by soils, and a series of other hydrolyzed soil nitrogen indices in typical land use soil types from southeast China. Under traditional agricultural planting conditions, the functions of EON, especially AAs in the rhizosphere and in bulk soil zones were also investigated. Methods: Pot experiments were conducted using plants of pakchoi (Brassica chinensis L.) and rice (Oryza sativa L.). In the rhizosphere and bulk soil zone studies, organic nitrogen components were extracted with either distilled water, 0.5 mol/L K2SO4 or acid hydrolysis. Results: K2SO4-EON constituted more than 30% of TEN pools. K2SO4-extractable AAs accounted for 25% of EON pools and nearly 10% of TEN pools in rhizosphere soils. Overall, both K2SO4-EON and extractable AAs contents had positive correlations with TEN pools. Conclusions: EON represented a major component of TEN pools in garden and paddy soils under traditional planting conditions. Although only a small proportion of the EON was present in the form of water-extractable and K2SO4-extractable AAs, the release of AAs from soil exchangeable sites might be an important source of organic nitrogen (N) for plant growth. Our findings suggest that the content of most organic forms of N was significantly greater in rhizosphere than in bulk soil zone samples. However, it was also apparent that the TEN pool content was lower in rhizosphere than in bulk soil samples without added N. PMID:23549843

Hydrogeologic setting and simulation of pesticide fate and transport in the unsaturated zone of a regolith-mantled, carbonate-rock terrain near Newville, Pennsylvania

USGS Publications Warehouse

Hippe, D.J.; Hall, D.W.

1996-01-01

Physical and chemical data were collected from May 1991 through April 1993 at a 4.5 hectare field site in Cumberland County, Pa., about 5 kilometers southeast of Newville. These data were used to define the hydrogeologic setting of a field site representative of the intensively farmed carbonate valleys of southeastern and south-central Pennsylvania. The environmental processing of commonly used pesticides (herbicides, fungicides, and insecticides) in the unsaturated zone was simulated with a process- oriented digital model to evaluate the environmental fate and transport of pesticides to ground water. Site data and modelling results provide a basis for a discussion of water-quality implications of agricultural best-management practices. The carbonate valleys of Pennsylvania comprise regolith-mantled carbonate-rock terrains that consist of broad undulating upland areas dissected by mostly dry valleys and widely spaced spring-fed creeks. The upland areas are farmed and exhibit possess a doline karst topography with many closed depressions, sinkholes, and bedrock outcrops. Unsaturated materials at the field site consist of an almost continuous soil cover composed of fine-grained residuum underlain by an intermediate vadose zone composed of karstified limestone. Soils are absent on scattered bedrock outcrops and are more than 12 meters thick in other areas of the site. The soil profile stores appreciable quantities of water with a volumetric average of about 36 percent water at field capacity. Organic carbon content of soil materials is about 1.7 percent in the Ap-horizon and from 0.1 to 0.3 percent throughout the full thickness of the B- and C-horizons. Atrazine, metolachlor, simazine, and the atrazine soil metabolites deethylatrazine and deisopropylatrazine were detected at concentrations above 0.05 mg/L in just the upper 0.6 meters of soil materials. However, detectable concentrations of atrazine, simazine, and atrazine soil metabolites were measured in water samples from lysimeters installed in soil materials at depths of 1.2, 2.1, and 3.7 meters and from monitor wells completed in the saturated zone to depths of 122 meters. Data collected from the field site were used to configure a pesticide screening model based on the pesticide version of the leaching estimation and chemistry model (LEACHP) developed by Wagenet and Hutson (1987). Model simulations show that most field-applied pesticides volatilize to the atmosphere, accumulate in soils, degrade in the subsurface environment, or leach to ground water. Model results were used to rank the leaching potentials of 66 pesticides. Eighteen of 32 herbicides, 4 of 9 fungicides, and 10 of 25 insecticides have moderate to large potential for leaching to ground water. A review of available pesticide monitoring data suggests that many compounds given moderate or high leaching potentials have not been tested for in ground water and the presence of pesticides in Pennsylvania's ground water may be underreported. Monitoring data do not exist for more than two-thirds of the pesticide compounds currently used in agricultural, carbonate areas of Pennsylvania. Knowledge of processes that govern fate and transport of pesticides is needed to facilitate development of effective pesticide best-management practices. In addition to comprehensive monitoring for pesticides and pesticide degradation products in ground water downgradient of areas of pesticide use, improved (1) characterization of unsaturated flow and transport through regolith mantled carbonate rocks, (2) estimates of pesticide degradation rates, (3) understanding of soil-property controls on pesticide movement, and (4) management models developed from process-oriented research would aid in understanding the processes.

Modelling soil-water dynamics in the rootzone of structured and water-repellent soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Hamish; Carrick, Sam; Müller, Karin; Thomas, Steve; Sharp, Joanna; Cichota, Rogerio; Holzworth, Dean; Clothier, Brent

2018-04-01

In modelling the hydrology of Earth's critical zone, there are two major challenges. The first is to understand and model the processes of infiltration, runoff, redistribution and root-water uptake in structured soils that exhibit preferential flows through macropore networks. The other challenge is to parametrise and model the impact of ephemeral hydrophobicity of water-repellent soils. Here we have developed a soil-water model, which is based on physical principles, yet possesses simple functionality to enable easier parameterisation, so as to predict soil-water dynamics in structured soils displaying time-varying degrees of hydrophobicity. Our model, WEIRDO (Water Evapotranspiration Infiltration Redistribution Drainage runOff), has been developed in the APSIM Next Generation platform (Agricultural Production Systems sIMulation). The model operates on an hourly time-step. The repository for this open-source code is https://github.com/APSIMInitiative/ApsimX. We have carried out sensitivity tests to show how WEIRDO predicts infiltration, drainage, redistribution, transpiration and soil-water evaporation for three distinctly different soil textures displaying differing hydraulic properties. These three soils were drawn from the UNSODA (Unsaturated SOil hydraulic Database) soils database of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). We show how preferential flow process and hydrophobicity determine the spatio-temporal pattern of soil-water dynamics. Finally, we have validated WEIRDO by comparing its predictions against three years of soil-water content measurements made under an irrigated alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) trial. The results provide validation of the model's ability to simulate soil-water dynamics in structured soils.

Water-soluble low-molecular-weight organic acids in automorphic loamy soils of the tundra and taiga zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shamrikova, E. V.; Gruzdev, I. V.; Punegov, V. V.; Khabibullina, F. M.; Kubik, O. S.

2013-06-01

The formation features of water-soluble low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs) in a zonal series of automorphic soils on loose silicate rocks from the middle taiga to the southern tundra (typical podzolic, gley-podzolic, and surface-gley tundra soils) were first revealed by gas chromatography mass spectrometry and gas-liquid chromatography. The content of LMWOAs varies within the range of 1-14 mg/dm3, which corresponds to 1-5% of the total carbon of the water-soluble soil organic matter. It has been shown that a subzonal feature of gley-podzolic soils in the northern taiga is the high content of LMWOAs, including primarily the strongest aliphatic hydroxyl acids. Possible mechanisms of their formation and accumulation in soils have been considered.

Airflow dispersion in unsaturated soil.

PubMed

Gidda, T; Cann, D; Stiver, W H; Zytner, R G

2006-01-05

Dispersion data is abundant for water flow in the saturated zone but is lacking for airflow in unsaturated soil. However, for remediation processes such as soil vapour extraction, characterization of airflow dispersion is necessary for improved modelling and prediction capabilities. Accordingly, gas-phase tracer experiments were conducted in five soils ranging from uniform sand to clay at air-dried and wetted conditions. The disturbed soils were placed in one-dimensional stainless steel columns, with sulfur hexafluoride used as the inert tracer. The tested interstitial velocities were typical of those present in the vicinity of a soil vapour extraction well, while wetting varied according to the water-holding capacity of the soils. Results gave dispersivities that varied between 0.42 and 2.6 cm, which are typical of values in the literature. In air-dried soils, dispersion was found to increase with the pore size variability of the soil. For wetted soils, particle shape was an important factor at low water contents, while at high water contents, the proportion of macroporous space filled with water was important. The relative importance of diffusion decreased with increasing interstitial velocity and water content and was, in general, found to be minor compared to mechanical mixing across all conditions studied.

Root Zone Sensors for Irrigation Management in Intensive Agriculture

PubMed Central

Pardossi, Alberto; Incrocci, Luca; Incrocci, Giorgio; Malorgio, Fernando; Battista, Piero; Bacci, Laura; Rapi, Bernardo; Marzialetti, Paolo; Hemming, Jochen; Balendonck, Jos

2009-01-01

Crop irrigation uses more than 70% of the world’s water, and thus, improving irrigation efficiency is decisive to sustain the food demand from a fast-growing world population. This objective may be accomplished by cultivating more water-efficient crop species and/or through the application of efficient irrigation systems, which includes the implementation of a suitable method for precise scheduling. At the farm level, irrigation is generally scheduled based on the grower’s experience or on the determination of soil water balance (weather-based method). An alternative approach entails the measurement of soil water status. Expensive and sophisticated root zone sensors (RZS), such as neutron probes, are available for the use of soil and plant scientists, while cheap and practical devices are needed for irrigation management in commercial crops. The paper illustrates the main features of RZS’ (for both soil moisture and salinity) marketed for the irrigation industry and discusses how such sensors may be integrated in a wireless network for computer-controlled irrigation and used for innovative irrigation strategies, such as deficit or dual-water irrigation. The paper also consider the main results of recent or current research works conducted by the authors in Tuscany (Italy) on the irrigation management of container-grown ornamental plants, which is an important agricultural sector in Italy. PMID:22574047

EVALUATION OF UNSATURATED/VADOSE ZONE MODELS FOR SUPERFUND SITES

EPA Science Inventory

Mathematical models of water and chemical movement in soils are being used as decision aids for defining groundwater protection practices for Superfund sites. Numerous transport models exist for predicting movementand degradation of hazardous chemicals through soils. Many of thes...

EVALUATION OF UNSATURATED/VADOSE ZONE MODELS FOR SUPERFUND SITES

EPA Science Inventory

Mathematical models of water and chemical movement in soils are being used as decision aids for defining groundwater protection practices for Superfund sites. umerous transport models exist for predicting movement and degradation of hazardous chemicals through soil& Many of these...

Coupled stochastic soil moisture simulation-optimization model of deficit irrigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alizadeh, Hosein; Mousavi, S. Jamshid

2013-07-01

This study presents an explicit stochastic optimization-simulation model of short-term deficit irrigation management for large-scale irrigation districts. The model which is a nonlinear nonconvex program with an economic objective function is built on an agrohydrological simulation component. The simulation component integrates (1) an explicit stochastic model of soil moisture dynamics of the crop-root zone considering interaction of stochastic rainfall and irrigation with shallow water table effects, (2) a conceptual root zone salt balance model, and 3) the FAO crop yield model. Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm, linked to the simulation component, solves the resulting nonconvex program with a significantly better computational performance compared to a Monte Carlo-based implicit stochastic optimization model. The model has been tested first by applying it in single-crop irrigation problems through which the effects of the severity of water deficit on the objective function (net benefit), root-zone water balance, and irrigation water needs have been assessed. Then, the model has been applied in Dasht-e-Abbas and Ein-khosh Fakkeh Irrigation Districts (DAID and EFID) of the Karkheh Basin in southwest of Iran. While the maximum net benefit has been obtained for a stress-avoidance (SA) irrigation policy, the highest water profitability has been resulted when only about 60% of the water used in the SA policy is applied. The DAID with respectively 33% of total cultivated area and 37% of total applied water has produced only 14% of the total net benefit due to low-valued crops and adverse soil and shallow water table conditions.

Wildfire and aspect effects on hydrologic states after the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ebel, Brian A.

2013-01-01

Wildfire can change how soils take in, store, and release water. This study examined differences in how burned and unburned plots on north versus south-facing slope aspects respond to rainfall. The largest wildfire impacts were litter/duff combustion on burned north-facing slopes versus soil-water retention reduction on burned south-facing slopes.Wildfire is one of the most significant disturbances in mountainous landscapes, affecting water supply and ecologic function and setting the stage for natural hazards such as flash floods. The impacts of wildfire can affect the entire hydrologic cycle. Measurements of soil-water content and matric potential in the near surface (top 30 cm) captured the hydrologic state in both burned and unburned hillslopes during the first spring through fall period (1 June–1 Oct. 2011) after the 2010 Fourmile Canyon Fire near Boulder, CO. This time span included different hydrologic periods characterized by cyclonic frontal storms (low-intensity, long duration), convective storms (high-intensity, short duration), and dry periods. In mountainous environments, aspect can also control hydrologic states, so north- vs. south-facing slopes were compared. Wildfire tended to homogenize soil-water contents across aspects and with depth in the soil, yet it also may have introduced an aspect control on matric potential that was not observed in unburned soils. Post-wildfire changes in hydrologic state were observed in south-facing soils, probably reflecting decreased soil-water retention after wildfire. North-facing soils were impacted the most, in terms of hydrologic state, by the loss of water storage in the combusted litter–duff layer and forest canopy, which had provided a large “hydrologic buffering” capacity when unburned. Unsaturated zone measurements showed increased variability in hydrologic states and more rapid state transitions in wildfire-impacted soils. A simple, qualitative analysis suggested that the range of unsaturated-zone processes along the gravity–capillarity–adsorption continuum was expanded by wildfire for a given soil. The small number of experimental plots in this study suggests that further work is needed before these conclusions can be generalized to other geographic areas.

Consequences of using different soil texture determination methodologies for soil physical quality and unsaturated zone time lag estimates.

PubMed

Fenton, O; Vero, S; Ibrahim, T G; Murphy, P N C; Sherriff, S C; Ó hUallacháin, D

2015-11-01

Elucidation of when the loss of pollutants, below the rooting zone in agricultural landscapes, affects water quality is important when assessing the efficacy of mitigation measures. Investigation of this inherent time lag (t(T)) is divided into unsaturated (t(u)) and saturated (t(s)) components. The duration of these components relative to each other differs depending on soil characteristics and the landscape position. The present field study focuses on tu estimation in a scenario where the saturated zone is likely to constitute a higher proportion of t(T). In such instances, or where only initial breakthrough (IBT) or centre of mass (COM) is of interest, utilisation of site and depth specific "simple" textural class or actual sand-silt-clay percentages to generate soil water characteristic curves with associated soil hydraulic parameters is acceptable. With the same data it is also possible to estimate a soil physical quality (S) parameter for each soil layer which can be used to infer many other physical, chemical and biological quality indicators. In this study, hand texturing in the field was used to determine textural classes of a soil profile. Laboratory methods, including hydrometer, pipette and laser diffraction methods were used to determine actual sand-silt-clay percentages of sections of the same soil profile. Results showed that in terms of S, hand texturing resulted in a lower index value (inferring a degraded soil) than that of pipette, hydrometer and laser equivalents. There was no difference between S index values determined using the pipette, hydrometer and laser diffraction methods. The difference between the three laboratory methods on both the IBT and COM stages of t(u) were negligible, and in this instance were unlikely to affect either groundwater monitoring decisions, or to be of consequence from a policy perspective. When t(u) estimates are made over the full depth of the vadose zone, which may extend to several metres, errors resulting from the use of hydraulic parameters generated from hand texture data will be resultantly greater, and may lead to flawed predictions regarding the achievability of water policy targets. For this reason laboratory analysis, regardless of method, should be preferred to simple field assessments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Controls on ecohydrological dynamics of riparian zones in Alpine catchments: A comparison study of two rivers in the Eastern Italian Alps

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Engel, Michael; Penna, Daniele; Frentress, Jay; Andreoli, Andrea; Hecher, Peter; Van Meerveld, Ilja; Comiti, Francesco

2017-04-01

In recent decades, restauration actions have been implemented in mountain rivers to face widespread morphological changes. Such natural and anthropogenic modifications can have relevant impacts on the ecological and ecohydrological functioning of riparian vegetation. Understanding the water sources used by riparian vegetation is important for the implementation of effective river restoration initiatives. Therefore, more ecohydrological research is needed to quantify the complex interactions between hydrology and vegetation in different alpine river systems. In this study we used water stable isotopes and electrical conductivity (EC) as tracers to better understand the hydrological and ecohydrological relationship between the riparian vegetation and the river bed of alpine river systems. We choose two catchments, Ahr/Aurino River and Mareit/Ridanna River catchments (South Tyrol, Italy) as study sites. In both catchments, we selected two sites comprising a younger (< 5 years) and an older (> 10 years) alder (Alnus incana) stand. At each site, soil moisture at different depths and groundwater levels were monitored. Suction lysimeters were installed at the same depths than the soil moisture sensors. Samples for tracer analysis were collected since June 2016 on a bi-weekly or monthly basis from precipitation, soil water, groundwater and stream water. EC was continuously measured in a piezometer at the Mareit River. In addition, we extracted sap water for isotopic analysis from alder trees. First results show that all water types sampled in both catchments fell along the global meteoric water line showing no evaporative enrichments. Sap samples are expected to deviate from the meteoric line but they have not been analysed yet. At both sites in the Ahr catchment, soil water seemed to be more variable and isotopically more enriched at 10 cm depth (δ2H: - 34 to -69 ‰) than at 50 cm (δ2H: -45 to -71 ‰), indicating a decreasing influence of precipitation with increasing soil depth. In contrast, soil water at Mareit River seemed to depend stronger on the topographical location of the site than on the soil depth. Groundwater in the Ahr catchment at the end of July 2016 showed isotopic depletion (δ2H: -89 ‰), which occurred about one month later than the isotopic depletion observed in the stream (δ2H: -96 ‰). This may indicate a stream-groundwater connectivity with a specific time lag. These observations may provide a first insight into the main controls on the complex interactions between stream and vegetation in the riparian zone. Keywords: stable isotopes of water; sap; alpine rivers; riparian zone connectivity; ecohydrology

Spatial Variability of Soil-Water Storage in the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory: Measurement and Prediction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oroza, C.; Bales, R. C.; Zheng, Z.; Glaser, S. D.

2017-12-01

Predicting the spatial distribution of soil moisture in mountain environments is confounded by multiple factors, including complex topography, spatial variably of soil texture, sub-surface flow paths, and snow-soil interactions. While remote-sensing tools such as passive-microwave monitoring can measure spatial variability of soil moisture, they only capture near-surface soil layers. Large-scale sensor networks are increasingly providing soil-moisture measurements at high temporal resolution across a broader range of depths than are accessible from remote sensing. It may be possible to combine these in-situ measurements with high-resolution LIDAR topography and canopy cover to estimate the spatial distribution of soil moisture at high spatial resolution at multiple depths. We study the feasibility of this approach using six years (2009-2014) of daily volumetric water content measurements at 10-, 30-, and 60-cm depths from the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory. A non-parametric, multivariate regression algorithm, Random Forest, was used to predict the spatial distribution of depth-integrated soil-water storage, based on the in-situ measurements and a combination of node attributes (topographic wetness, northness, elevation, soil texture, and location with respect to canopy cover). We observe predictable patterns of predictor accuracy and independent variable ranking during the six-year study period. Predictor accuracy is highest during the snow-cover and early recession periods but declines during the dry period. Soil texture has consistently high feature importance. Other landscape attributes exhibit seasonal trends: northness peaks during the wet-up period, and elevation and topographic-wetness index peak during the recession and dry period, respectively.

[Nutrient Characteristics and Nitrogen Forms of Rhizosphere Soils Under Four Typical Plants in the Littoral Zone of TGR].

PubMed

Wang, Xiao-feng; Yuan, Xing-zhong; Liu, Hong; Zhang, Lei; Yu, Jian-jun; Yue, Jun-sheng

2015-10-01

The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), which is the largest water conservancy project ever built in tne world, produced a drawdown area of about 348.93 km2 because of water level control. The biological geochemical cycle of the soil in the drawdown zone has been changed as the result of long-term winter flooding and summer drought and vegetation covering. The loss of soil nitrogen in the drawdown zone poses a threat to the water environmental in TGR. Pengxi river, is an important anabranch, which has the largest drawdown area has been selected in the present study. The four typical vegetation, contained Cynodon dactylon, Cyperus rotundus, Anthium sibiricum and Zea mays L. as the control, were studied to measure nutrient characteristics and nitrogen forms of rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soils in three distribution areas with different soil types (paddy soil, purple soil and fluvo-aquic soils). The variables measured included organic matter (OM), total nitrogen (TN), total phosphorus (TP), total potassium (TK), hydrolysis N, available P and available K, pH, ion-exchangeable N (IEE-N), weak acid extractable N (CF-N) , iron-manganese oxides N (IMOF-N), organic matter sulfide N (OSF-N), added up four N forms for total transferable N (TF-N) and TN minus TF-N for non-transferable N (NTF-N). The results showed: (1) pH of rhizosphere soil was generally lower than that of non-rhizosphere soil under different vegetation in different type soils because the possible organic acid and H+ released form plant roots and cation absorption differences, and the OM, TP, TN and hydrolysis N of rhizosphere soil were generally higher than those of non-rhizosphere soil, and that the enrichment ratio (ER) of all the four nutrient indicators showed Cyperus rotundus > Cynodon dactylon > Zea mays L. > Anthium sibiricum. Available P showed enrichment in the rhizosphere of three natural vegetations but lose under corn, and available K, TK showed different ER in different conditions. (2) IEF-N CF-N, IMOF-N, OSF-N and TF-N of rhizosphere soil were generally higher than those of non-rhizosphere soil, but the TF-N to TN ratio in rhizosphere of Cyperus rotundus and Cynodon dactylon were lower than those of non-rhizosphere soil, and in rhizosphere of Anthium sibiricum and Zea mays L. were higher, the rhizosphere effect of different vegetations on the N cycle was significant difference. (3) the correlation between nutrient characteristics and nitrogen forms was evaluated to explore the influence factor for the N forms changing. There was a significant correlation between soil OM and four N forms, TP was significantly correlated with CF-N, OSF-N, TF-N, and soil available P content was significantly negatively correlated with IMOF-N, OSF-N, TF-N and TN. Our research could provide that the drawdown zone covered with Cyperus rotundus and Cynodon dactylon was better than Anthium sibiricum and Zea mays L. to improve soil N holding and fixation. The vegetation recovery in the drawdown zone should consider the rhizosphere effect of different vegetations on N cycle.

Movements of water, solutes, and stable isotopes in the unsaturated zones of two sand plains in the upper Midwest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Komor, Stephen C.; Emerson, Douglas G.

1994-01-01

Four month-long field experiments investigated movements of water and solutes through unsaturated sand plains near Princeton, Minnesota, and Oakes, North Dakota. Atrazine and bromide were applied to bare soils and soils planted with corn. The field plots were irrigated according to local farming practices. At the end of each experiment, unsaturated soils were analyzed for atrazine and bromide concentrations and oxygen and hydrogen isotope compositions of soil water. Most soil water was affected by evaporation but groundwater beneath the plots had no evaporative isotopic signature. Therefore most recharge consisted of water that was unaffected by evaporation. Sources of such water may have included snowmelt, prolonged or high-intensity rainfalls that were not interrupted by periods of drying, and water that moved through preferential flow paths. Preferential flow also was suggested by the detection of atrazine, deethylatrazine, and bromide in groundwater shortly after each application of irrigation water at Princeton and by isolated concentrations of atrazine and bromide in soil well below the main masses of chemicals at Oakes.

Vadose zone monitoring strategies to control water flux dynamics and changes in soil hydraulic properties.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Valdes-Abellan, Javier; Jiménez-Martínez, Joaquin; Candela, Lucila

2013-04-01

For monitoring the vadose zone, different strategies can be chosen, depending on the objectives and scale of observation. The effects of non-conventional water use on the vadose zone might produce impacts in porous media which could lead to changes in soil hydraulic properties, among others. Controlling these possible effects requires an accurate monitoring strategy that controls the volumetric water content, θ, and soil pressure, h, along the studied profile. According to the available literature, different monitoring systems have been carried out independently, however less attention has received comparative studies between different techniques. An experimental plot of 9x5 m2 was set with automatic and non-automatic sensors to control θ and h up to 1.5m depth. The non-automatic system consisted of ten Jet Fill tensiometers at 30, 45, 60, 90 and 120 cm (Soil Moisture®) and a polycarbonate access tube of 44 mm (i.d) for soil moisture measurements with a TRIME FM TDR portable probe (IMKO®). Vertical installation was carefully performed; measurements with this system were manual, twice a week for θ and three times per week for h. The automatic system composed of five 5TE sensors (Decagon Devices®) installed at 20, 40, 60, 90 and 120 cm for θ measurements and one MPS1 sensor (Decagon Devices®) at 60 cm depth for h. Installation took place laterally in a 40-50 cm length hole bored in a side of a trench that was excavated. All automatic sensors hourly recorded and stored in a data-logger. Boundary conditions were controlled with a volume-meter and with a meteorological station. ET was modelled with Penman-Monteith equation. Soil characterization include bulk density, gravimetric water content, grain size distribution, saturated hydraulic conductivity and soil water retention curves determined following laboratory standards. Soil mineralogy was determined by X-Ray difractometry. Unsaturated soil hydraulic parameters were model-fitted through SWRC-fit code and ROSETTA based on soil textural fractions. Simulation of water flow using automatic and non-automatic date was carried out by HYDRUS-1D independently. A good agreement from collected automatic and non-automatic data and modelled results can be recognized. General trend was captured, except for the outlier values as expected. Slightly differences were found between hydraulic properties obtained from laboratory determinations, and from inverse modelling from the two approaches. Differences up to 14% of flux through the lower boundary were detected between the two strategies According to results, automatic sensors have more resolution and then they're more appropriated to detect subtle changes of soil hydraulic properties. Nevertheless, if the aim of the research is to control the general trend of water dynamics, no significant differences were observed between the two systems.

Comparing dynamic recording of infiltration by X-Ray tomography to the results of a dual porosity model for structured soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lissy, Anne-Sophie; Sammartino, Stephane; Di Pietro, Liliana; Lecompte, François; Ruy, Stephane

2017-04-01

With climate change, preferential flow phenomenon in soil could be predominant in Mediterranean zone. Understanding this phenomenon becomes a fundamental issue for preserving the water resource in quantity (drinking water) and quality (pesticide content). Non-invasive imaging technics, as X-ray tomography, allow studying water infiltration in laboratory with time-lapse imaging to visualize preferential flow path in soil columns (Sammartino et al. 2012). The modeling of water flow with a dual porosity model (matrix and macropores) integrates these fast flow phenomena (Ilhem 2014). These models, however needs more explicit links with the soil structure. The comparison of experimental results of infiltration (dynamics images and mass data) and modeling could improve our comprehension of preferential flow phenomenon and allow a better integration of the functional macroporosity (i.e. which drains water infiltration during a rain event) in such mass transfer models (Sammartino et al. 2015). Soil columns (Ø 12 cm - hauteur 13 cm, clay-loamy & medium sandy loam) have been sampled in the field to preserve their structure (field plowed or not). Several rains have been simulated in the laboratory and the last one was performed in an X-ray medical scanner (Siemens Somatom® 128 slices) at the CIRE platform (INRA, Centre - Val de Loire). Total and functional macro porosities were identified from time lapse tridimensional images. Water dynamics in the porosities was characterized from the identification and analysis of voxels filled by water. With an image resolution of 350μm only water in the largest macropores can be identified. The modeling of these experiments was carried out via the VirtualSoil platform (UMR Emmah, Avignon; www6.inra.fr/vsoil) using a water flow model coupling Darcy-Richards and KDW equations (Di Pietro et al., 2003). The simulated water flux drained by macropores is similar to the experimental hydrograph obtained for rainfalls on soils close to the saturation. The model reproduced well the flow dynamics: (1) breakthrough time (arrival time of the first drop at the bottom of the column) and (2) the total drained water quantity. A sensitivity analysis of this model is in progress in order to determine the influence of each KDW parameters (two kinematic parameters and one dispersion parameter) and to probe where the functional soil structure could be accounted for in the model structure or in the model parameters. First results show that the kinematic parameters modify the breakthrough time and the slope of the drainage curve. Keywords: functional macroporosity, modeling, RX tomography, infiltration, Richards and KDW equations. Sammartino et al., 2012. A novel method to visualize and characterize preferential flow in undisturbed soil cores by using multislice helical CT. Vadose Zone Journal. Sammartino et Lissy, 2015. Identifying the functional macropore network related to preferential flow in structured soils, Vadose Zone Journal, vol. 14, no. 10. Di Pietro et al. 2003. Predicting preferential water flow in soils by traveling-dispersive waves. Journal of Hydrology (278), pp.64-75. Adel Ilhem (2014) - Modélisation des transferts d'eau dans les sols hétérogènes (internship report)

The Impact of Rhizosphere Processes on Water Flow and Root Water Uptake

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schwartz, Nimrod; Kroener, Eva; Carminati, Andrea; Javaux, Mathieu

2015-04-01

For many years, the rhizosphere, which is the zone of soil in the vicinity of the roots and which is influenced by the roots, is known as a unique soil environment with different physical, biological and chemical properties than those of the bulk soil. Indeed, in recent studies it has been shown that root exudate and especially mucilage alter the hydraulic properties of the soil, and that drying and wetting cycles of mucilage result in non-equilibrium water dynamics in the rhizosphere. While there are experimental evidences and simplified 1D model for those concepts, an integrated model that considers rhizosphere processes with a detailed model for water and roots flow is absent. Therefore, the objective of this work is to develop a 3D physical model of water flow in the soil-plant continuum that take in consideration root architecture and rhizosphere specific properties. Ultimately, this model will enhance our understanding on the impact of processes occurring in the rhizosphere on water flow and root water uptake. To achieve this objective, we coupled R-SWMS, a detailed 3D model for water flow in soil and root system (Javaux et al 2008), with the rhizosphere model developed by Kroener et al (2014). In the new Rhizo-RSWMS model the rhizosphere hydraulic properties differ from those of the bulk soil, and non-equilibrium dynamics between the rhizosphere water content and pressure head is also considered. We simulated a wetting scenario. The soil was initially dry and it was wetted from the top at a constant flow rate. The model predicts that, after infiltration the water content in the rhizosphere remained lower than in the bulk soil (non-equilibrium), but over time water infiltrated into the rhizosphere and eventually the water content in the rhizosphere became higher than in the bulk soil. These results are in qualitative agreement with the available experimental data on water dynamics in the rhizosphere. Additionally, the results show that rhizosphere processes affect the spatial distribution of root water uptake. This suggests that rhizosphere processes effect root water uptake at the plant scale. Overall, these preliminary results demonstrate the impact of rhizosphere on water flow and root water uptake, and the ability of the Rhizo-RSWMS to simulate these processes. References Javaux, M., Schröder, T., Vanderborght, J., & Vereecken, H. (2008). Use of a three-dimensional detailed modeling approach for predicting root water uptake. Vadose Zone Journal, 7(3), 1079-1088.‏ Kroener, E., Zarebanadkouki, M., Kaestner, A., & Carminati, A. (2014). Nonequilibrium water dynamics in the rhizosphere: How mucilage affects water flow in soils. Water Resources Research, 50(8), 6479-6495.‏

Root Water Uptake and Tracer Transport in a Lupin Root System: Integration of Magnetic Resonance Images and the Numerical Model RSWMS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pohlmeier, Andreas; Vanderborght, Jan; Haber-Pohlmeier, Sabina; Wienke, Sandra; Vereecken, Harry; Javaux, Mathieu

2010-05-01

Combination of experimental studies with detailed deterministic models help understand root water uptake processes. Recently, Javaux et al. developed the RSWMS model by integration of Doussańs root model into the well established SWMS code[1], which simulates water and solute transport in unsaturated soil [2, 3]. In order to confront RSWMS modeling results to experimental data, we used Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technique to monitor root water uptake in situ. Non-invasive 3-D imaging of root system architecture, water content distributions and tracer transport by MR were performed and compared with numerical model calculations. Two MRI experiments were performed and modeled: i) water uptake during drought stress and ii) transport of a locally injected tracer (Gd-DTPA) to the soil-root system driven by root water uptake. Firstly, the high resolution MRI image (0.23x0.23x0.5mm) of the root system was transferred into a continuous root system skeleton by a combination of thresholding, region-growing filtering and final manual 3D redrawing of the root strands. Secondly, the two experimental scenarios were simulated by RSWMS with a resolution of about 3mm. For scenario i) the numerical simulations could reproduce the general trend that is the strong water depletion from the top layer of the soil. However, the creation of depletion zones in the vicinity of the roots could not be simulated, due to a poor initial evaluation of the soil hydraulic properties, which equilibrates instantaneously larger differences in water content. The determination of unsaturated conductivities at low water content was needed to improve the model calculations. For scenario ii) simulations confirmed the solute transport towards the roots by advection. 1. Simunek, J., T. Vogel, and M.T. van Genuchten, The SWMS_2D Code for Simulating Water Flow and Solute Transport in Two-Dimensional Variably Saturated Media. Version 1.21. 1994, U.S. Salinity Laboratory, USDA, ARS: Riverside, California. 2. Javaux, M., et al., Use of a Three-Dimensional Detailed Modeling Approach for Predicting Root Water Uptake. Vadose Zone J., 2008. 7(3): p. 1079-1088. 3. Schröder, T., et al., Effect of Local Soil Hydraulic Conductivity Drop Using a Three Dimensional Root Water Uptake Model. Vadose Zone J., 2008. 7(3): p. 1089-1098.

Relative Water Uptake as a Criterion for the Design of Trickle Irrigation Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Communar, G.; Friedman, S. P.

2008-12-01

Previously derived analytical solutions to the 2- and 3-dimensional water flow problems describing trickle irrigation are not being widely used in practice because those formulations either ignore root water uptake or refer to it as a known input. In this lecture we are going to describe a new modeling approach and demonstrate its applicability for designing the geometry of trickle irrigation systems, namely the spacing between the emitters and drip lines. The major difference between our and previous modeling approaches is that we refer to the root water uptake as to the unknown solution of the problem and not as to a known input. We postulate that the solution to the steady-state water flow problem with a root sink that is acting under constant, maximum suction defines un upper bound to the relative water uptake (water use efficiency) in actual transient situations and propose to use it as a design criterion. Following previous derivations of analytical solutions we assume that the soil hydraulic conductivity increases exponentially with its matric head, which allows the linearization of the Richards equation, formulated in terms of the Kirchhoff matric flux potential. Since the transformed problem is linear, the relative water uptake for any given configuration of point or line sources and sinks can be calculated by superposition of the Green's functions of all relevant water sources and sinks. In addition to evaluating the relative water uptake, we also derived analytical expressions for the steam functions. The stream lines separating the water uptake zone from the percolating water provide insight to the dependence of the shape and extent of the actual rooting zone on the source- sink geometry and soil properties. A minimal number of just 3 system parameters: Gardner's (1958) alfa as a soil type quantifier and the depth and diameter of the pre-assumed active root zone are sufficient to characterize the interplay between capillary and gravitational effects on water flow and the competition between the processes of root water uptake and percolation. For accounting also for evaporation from the soil surface, when significant, another parameter is required, adopting the solution of Lomen and Warrick (1978).

Reactive Gas transport in soil: Kinetics versus Local Equilibrium Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geistlinger, Helmut; Jia, Ruijan

2010-05-01

Gas transport through the unsaturated soil zone was studied using an analytical solution of the gas transport model that is mathematically equivalent to the Two-Region model. The gas transport model includes diffusive and convective gas fluxes, interphase mass transfer between the gas and water phase, and biodegradation. The influence of non-equilibrium phenomena, spatially variable initial conditions, and transient boundary conditions are studied. The objective of this paper is to compare the kinetic approach for interphase mass transfer with the standard local equilibrium approach and to find conditions and time-scales under which the local equilibrium approach is justified. The time-scale of investigation was limited to the day-scale, because this is the relevant scale for understanding gas emission from the soil zone with transient water saturation. For the first time a generalized mass transfer coefficient is proposed that justifies the often used steady-state Thin-Film mass transfer coefficient for small and medium water-saturated aggregates of about 10 mm. The main conclusion from this study is that non-equilibrium mass transfer depends strongly on the temporal and small-scale spatial distribution of water within the unsaturated soil zone. For regions with low water saturation and small water-saturated aggregates (radius about 1 mm) the local equilibrium approach can be used as a first approximation for diffusive gas transport. For higher water saturation and medium radii of water-saturated aggregates (radius about 10 mm) and for convective gas transport, the non-equilibrium effect becomes more and more important if the hydraulic residence time and the Damköhler number decrease. Relative errors can range up to 100% and more. While for medium radii the local equilibrium approach describes the main features both of the spatial concentration profile and the time-dependence of the emission rate, it fails completely for larger aggregates (radius about 100 mm). From the comparative study of relevant scenarios with and without biodegradation it can be concluded that, under realistic field conditions, biodegradation within the immobile water phase is often mass-transfer limited and the local equilibrium approach assuming instantaneous mass transfer becomes rather questionable. References Geistlinger, H., Ruiyan Jia, D. Eisermann, and C.-F. Stange (2008): Spatial and temporal variability of dissolved nitrous oxide in near-surface groundwater and bubble-mediated mass transfer to the unsaturated zone, J. Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, in press. Geistlinger, H. (2009) Vapor transport in soil: concepts and mathematical description. In: Eds.: S. Saponari, E. Sezenna, and L. Bonoma, Vapor emission to outdoor air and enclosed spaces for human health risk assessment: Site characterization, monitoring, and modeling. Nova Science Publisher. Milano. Accepted for publication.

Modelling of agricultural diffuse pollution and mitigation measures effectiveness in Wallonia (Belgium)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sohier, C.; Deraedt, D.; Degré, A.

2012-04-01

Implementation of European directives in the environmental field and, specially, in the water management field, generates a request from policy-makers for news tools able to evaluate impact of management measures aiming at reducing pressures on ecosystems. In Wallonia (Southern Region of Belgium), the Nitrate Directive (EEC/676/91) was transposed into the "Walloon action plan for nitrogen sustainable management in agriculture" (PGDA1) in 2002. In 2007, a second plan was launched to reinforce some topics (PGDA2). Furthermore, the goal of "good quality" of surface waters and groundwater imposed by the Water Framework Directive poses new challenges in water management. In this context, a "soil and vadose" hydrological model is used in order to evaluate diffuse pollutions and efficiency of mitigation measures. This model, called EPICgrid, has been developed at catchment scale with an original modular concept on the basis of the field scale "water-soil-plant" EPIC model (Williams J.R., Jones C.A., Dyke P.T. (1984). A modelling approach to determining the relationship between erosion and soil productivity. Transactions of the ASAE. 27, 129-144). The model estimates, for each HRU identified into a 1km2 grid, water and nutrients flows into the plant-soil-vadose zone system (Sohier C., Degré A., Dautrebande S. (2009). From root zone modelling to regional forecasting of nitrate concentration in recharge flows - The case of the Walloon Region (Belgium). Journal of Hydrology, Volume 369, Issues 3-4, 15 May 2009, Pages 350-359). The model is used to make prospective simulations in order to evaluate the impact of measures currently performed to reduce the effect of diffuse pollution on water surface quality and groundwater quality, at regional scale. Response of the soil-vadose zone to agricultural practices modification is analyzed for the deadlines of the Water Framework Directive: 2015, 2021 and 2027, taking into account two climatic scenarios. Simulations results showed that actual measures are not sufficient in some areas and that new actions are necessary. The EPICgrid model was also used to evaluate effectiveness of further measures that could be implemented in order to reduce agricultural diffuse pollution. The increasing of catch crops in vulnerable zones has shown a limited impact in the Walloon context. The modifications of agricultural practices such as crop rotations or mineral fertilizing amounts have shown a more significant impact on water quality. Furthermore, the farmers' practices are evaluated each year by a measuring campaign of the soil nitrogen residue after harvest. These data allow us to improve the representativeness of the EPICgrid model in areas in which agricultural practices largely differs from regional statistics.

Three phase heat and mass transfer model for unsaturated soil freezing process: Part 1 - model development

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Fei; Zhang, Yaning; Jin, Guangri; Li, Bingxi; Kim, Yong-Song; Xie, Gongnan; Fu, Zhongbin

2018-04-01

A three-phase model capable of predicting the heat transfer and moisture migration for soil freezing process was developed based on the Shen-Chen model and the mechanisms of heat and mass transfer in unsaturated soil freezing. The pre-melted film was taken into consideration, and the relationship between film thickness and soil temperature was used to calculate the liquid water fraction in both frozen zone and freezing fringe. The force that causes the moisture migration was calculated by the sum of several interactive forces and the suction in the pre-melted film was regarded as an interactive force between ice and water. Two kinds of resistance were regarded as a kind of body force related to the water films between the ice grains and soil grains, and a block force instead of gravity was introduced to keep balance with gravity before soil freezing. Lattice Boltzmann method was used in the simulation, and the input variables for the simulation included the size of computational domain, obstacle fraction, liquid water fraction, air fraction and soil porosity. The model is capable of predicting the water content distribution along soil depth and variations in water content and temperature during soil freezing process.

Quantifying water requirements of riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia: Implications for the management of environmental flows

USGS Publications Warehouse

Doody, Tanya M.; Colloff, Matthew J.; Davies, Micah; Koul, Vijay; Benyon, Richard G.; Nagler, Pamela L.

2015-01-01

Water resource development and drought have altered river flow regimes, increasing average flood return intervals across floodplains in the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia, causing health declines in riparian river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) forests and woodlands. Environmental flow allocations helped to alleviate water stress during the recent Millennium Drought (1997–2010), however, quantification of the flood frequency required to support healthy E. camaldulensis communities is still needed. We quantified water requirements of E. camaldulensis for two years across a flood gradient (trees inundated at frequencies of 1:2, 1:5 and 1:10 years) at Yanga National Park, New South Wales to help inform management decision-making and design of environmental flows. Sap flow, evaporative losses and soil moisture measurements were used to determine transpiration, evapotranspiration and plant-available soil water before and after flooding. A formula was developed using plant-available soil water post-flooding and average annual rainfall, to estimate maintenance time of soil water reserves in each flood frequency zone. Results indicated that soil water reserves could sustain 1:2 and 1:5 trees for 15 months and six years, respectively. Trees regulated their transpiration rates, allowing them to persist within their flood frequency zone, and showed reduction in active sapwood area and transpiration rates when flood frequencies exceeded 1:2 years. A leaf area index of 0.5 was identified as a potential threshold indicator of severe drought stress. Our results suggest environmental water managers may have greater flexibility to adaptively manage floodplains in order to sustain E. camaldulensis forests and woodlands than has been appreciated hitherto.

Water movement in the unsaturated zone at a low-level radioactive-waste burial site near Barnwell, South Carolina

USGS Publications Warehouse

Dennehy, Kevin F.; McMahon, Peter B.

1989-01-01

Four unsaturated-zone monitoring sites and a meteorologic station were installed at the low-level radioactive-waste burial site near Barnwell, S.C., to investigate the geohydrologic and climatologic factors affecting water movement in the unsaturated zone. The study site is located in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. The unsaturated zone consists of a few centimeters to more than 1 meter of surface sand, underlain by up to 15 meters of clayey sand. Two monitoring sites were installed in experimental trenches, and two were installed in radioactive-waste trenches. Two different trench designs were evaluated at the monitoring sites. A meteorologic station was used to measure precipitation and to calculate actual evapotranspiration using the Bowen ratio method. Soil-moisture tensiometers, soil-moisture conductance probes, and temperature sensors were used to monitor soil-water movement in and adjacent to the trenches. Tracer tests using sodium chloride were conducted at each monitoring site. Hydrologic properties of unsaturated-zone materials were also determined. Data collection at the monitoring sites began in January 1982 and continued until early May 1984. Tensiometer data show that the unsaturated materials had their highest percent saturations in winter and spring. Saturations in the backfill sand varied from 20 to 100 percent, and in the adjacent undisturbed and overlying compacted clayey sand, from about 75 to 100 percent. The same pattern generally was observed at all four monitoring sites. The tracer-test data indicate that water movement occurred mainly during the recharge period, winter and spring. The tracer-test results enabled computation of rates of unsaturated flow in the compacted clayey-sand cap, the compacted clayey-sand barrier, and the backfill sand. A micro-scale hydrologic budget was determined for an undisturbed part of the site from July 1983 through June 1984.Total precipitation was 144 centimeters, and actual evapotranspiration was 101 centimeters. Additionally, because tensiometer data indicate negligible water-storage changes in the unsaturated zone, it is estimated that approximately 43 centimeters of recharge reached the water table. During 1984, the rise and fall of ponded water in an experimental trench was continuously monitored with a digital recorder. This water-level record was used to compute the rate of leakage of ponded water from that trench--1 x 10 -5 centimeter per second. A cross-sectional finite-element model of variably saturated flow was used to test the conceptual model of water movement in the unsaturated zone and to illustrate the effect of trench design on water movement into the experimental trenches. Monitoring and model results show that precipitation on trenches infiltrated the trench cap and moved vertically into the trench backfill material. Precipitation on the undisturbed material adjacent to the trenches moved vertically through the surface sand and continued either downward into undisturbed clayey sand or laterally along the sand/clayey-sand interface into the backfill sand, depending on trench design. The trench construction practice of placing a compacted clayey-sand barrier around the trench greatly inhibits soil water from entering the trench.

Quantifying the effects of wildfire on changes in soil properties by surface burning of soils from the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory

USGS Publications Warehouse

Wieting, Celeste; Ebel, Brian A.; Singha, Kamini

2017-01-01

Study regionThis study used intact soil cores collected at the Boulder Creek Critical Zone Observatory near Boulder, Colorado, USA to explore fire impacts on soil properties.Study focusThree soil scenarios were considered: unburned control soils, and low- and high-temperature burned soils. We explored simulated fire impacts on field-saturated hydraulic conductivity, dry bulk density, total organic carbon, and infiltration processes during rainfall simulations.New hydrological insights for the regionSoils burned to high temperatures became more homogeneous with depth with respect to total organic carbon and bulk density, suggesting reductions in near-surface porosity. Organic matter decreased significantly with increasing soil temperature. Tension infiltration experiments suggested a decrease in infiltration rates from unburned to low-temperature burned soils, and an increase in infiltration rates in high-temperature burned soils. Non-parametric statistical tests showed that field-saturated hydraulic conductivity similarly decreased from unburned to low-temperature burned soils, and then increased with high-temperature burned soils. We interpret these changes result from the combustion of surface and near-surface organic materials, enabling water to infiltrate directly into soil instead of being stored in the litter and duff layer at the surface. Together, these results indicate that fire-induced changes in soil properties from low temperatures were not as drastic as high temperatures, but that reductions in surface soil water repellency in high temperatures may increase infiltration relative to low temperatures.

Benzo(a)pyrene accumulation in soils of technogenic emission zone by subcritical water extraction method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sushkova, Svetlana; Minkina, Tatiana; Kizilkaya, Ridvan; Mandzhieva, Saglara; Batukaev, Abdulmalik; Bauer, Tatiana; Gulser, Coskun

2016-04-01

The purpose of research is the assessment of main marker of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons contamination, benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) content in soils of emission zone of the power complex plant in soils with use of ecologically clean and effective subcritical water extraction method. Studies were conducted on the soils of monitoring plots subjected to Novocherkassk Power Plant emissions from burning coal. In 2000, monitoring plots were established at different distances from the NPS (1.0-20.0 km). Soil samples for the determination of soil properties and the contents of BaP were taken from a depth of 0-20 cm. The soil cover in the region under study consisted of ordinary chernozems, meadow-chernozemic soils, and alluvial meadow soils. This soil revealed the following physical and chemical properties: Corg-3.1-5.0%, pH-7.3-7.6, ECE-31.2-47.6 mmol(+)/100g; CaCO3-0.2-1.0%, the content of physical clay - 51-67% and clay - 3-37%. BaP extraction from soils was carried out by a subcritical water extraction method. Subcritical water extraction of BaP from soil samples was conducted in a specially developed extraction cartridge made of stainless steel and equipped with screw-on caps at both ends. It was also equipped with a manometer that included a valve for pressure release to maintain an internal pressure of 100 atm. The extraction cartridge containing a sample and water was placed into an oven connected to a temperature regulator under temperature 250oC and pressure 60 atm. The BaP concentration in the acetonitrile extract was determined by HPLC. The efficiency of BaP extraction from soil was determined using a matrix spike. The main accumulation of pollutant in 20 cm layer of soils is noted directly in affected zone on the plots situated at 1.2, 1.6, 5.0, 8.0 km from emission source in the direction of prevailing winds. The maximum quantity of a pollutant was founded in the soil of the plot located mostly close to a source of pollution in the direction of prevailing winds. Value from 2012 to 2013 reached to 316.5 mkg/kg in 5 cm soil layer and 217.8 mkg/kg in 5-20 cm soil layer that exceeded the BaP maximum concentration limit level in the soil up to 15 times. The maximum limited concentration of BaP in soil is 20 mkg/kg according Russian Federation legislation. Thus, a method of BaP determination in soils has been approved as based upon the subcritical water extraction under the optimum conditions. The efficiency of the given method involves the use of subcritical water as an environmentally friendly solvent, a shorter time for environmental analysis. BaP distribution and accumulation tendencies were investigated during the 2 years of monitoring researches in studied soils. The main factor of technogenic influence on the soil the investigated area are toxic emissions of a power complex plant from burning coal. Despite the environmental activities of in the enterprise, the impact of emissions on the environment location nearby today is still primary. This research was supported by projects of the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia, no. 5.885.2014/K and Grant of President of Russian Federation no. MK-6827.2015.4, RFBR no. 15-35-21134.

[Effects of soil wetting pattern on the soil water-thermal environment and cotton root water consumption under mulched drip irrigation].

PubMed

Li, Dong-wei; Li, Ming-si; Liu, Dong; Lyu, Mou-chao; Jia, Yan-hui

2015-08-01

Abstract: To explore the effects of soil wetting pattern on soil water-thermal environment and water consumption of cotton root under mulched drip irrigation, a field experiment with three drip intensities (1.69, 3.46 and 6.33 L · h(-1)), was carried out in Shihezi, Xinjiang Autonomous Region. The soil matric potential, soil temperature, cotton root distribution and water consumption were measured during the growing period of cotton. The results showed that the main factor influencing the soil temperature of cotton under plastic mulch was sunlight. There was no significant difference in the soil temperature and root water uptake under different treatments. The distribution of soil matrix suction in cotton root zone under plastic mulch was more homogeneous under ' wide and shallow' soil wetting pattern (W633). Under the 'wide and shallow' soil wetting pattern, the average difference of cotton root water consumption between inner row and outer row was 0.67 mm · d(-1), which was favorable to the cotton growing trimly at both inner and outer rows; for the 'narrow and deep' soil wetting pattern (W169), the same index was 0.88 mm · d(-1), which was unfavorable to cotton growing uniformly at both inner and outer rows. So, we should select the broad-shallow type soil wetting pattern in the design of drip irrigation under mulch.

Salt and N leaching and soil accumulation due to cover cropping practices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabriel, J. L.; Quemada, M.

2012-04-01

Nitrate leaching beyond the root zone can increase water contamination hazards and decrease crop available N. Cover crops used in spite of fallow are an alternative to reduce nitrate contamination in the vadose zone, because reducing drainage and soil mineral N accumulation. Cover crops can improve important characteristics in irrigated land as water retention capacity or soil aggregate stability. However, increasing evapotranspiration and consequent drainage below the root system reduction, could lead to soil salt accumulation. Salinity affects more than 80 million ha of arable land in many areas of the world, and one of the principal causes for yield reduction and even land degradation in the Mediterranean region. Few studies dealt with both problems at the same time. Therefore, it is necessary a long-term evaluation of the potential effect on soil salinity and nitrate leaching, in order to ensure that potential disadvantages that could originate from soil salt accumulation are compensated with all advantages of cover cropping. A study of the soil salinity and nitrate leaching was conducted during 4 years in a semiarid irrigated agricultural area of Central Spain. Three treatments were studied during the intercropping period of maize (Zea mays L.): barley (Hordeum vulgare L.), vetch (Vicia villosa L.) and fallow. Cover crops were killed in March allowing seeding of maize of the entire trial in April, and all treatments were irrigated and fertilised following the same procedure. Before sowing, and after harvesting maize and cover crops, soil salt and nitrate accumulation was determined along the soil profile. Soil analysis was conducted at six depths every 0.20 m in each plot in samples from four 0 to 1.2-m depth holes dug. The electrical conductivity of the saturated paste extract and soil mineral nitrogen was measured in each soil sample. A numerical model based on the Richards water balance equation was applied in order to calculate drainage at 1.2 m depth, using daily soil water content measurements, based on calibrated capacitance probes. Our results showed that drainage during the irrigated period was minimized, because irrigation water was adjusted to crop needs, leading to soil salt and nitrate accumulation on the upper layers after maize harvest. Then, during the intercrop period, most of salt and nitrate leaching occurred. Cover crops use led to shorter drainage period, lower drainage water amount and lower nitrate and salt leaching than treatment with fallow. These effects were related with a larger nitrate accumulation in the upper layers of the soil after cover crop treatments. But there was not soil salt accumulation increase in treatments with cover crops, and even decreased after years with a large cover crop biomass production. Then, adoption of cover crops in this kind of irrigated cropping system reduced water drainage beyond the root zone, salt and nitrate leaching diminished as a consequence but did not lead to salt accumulation in the upper soil layers. Acknowledgements: Financial support by CICYT, Spain (ref. AGL2005-00163 and AGL 2011-24732) and Comunidad de Madrid (project AGRISOST, S2009/AGR-1630).

Climate-Induced Larch Growth Response Within the Central Siberian Permafrost Zone

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kharuk, Viacheslav I.; Ranson, Kenneth J.; Im, Sergei T.; Petrov, Il'ya A.

2015-01-01

Aim: estimation of larch (Larix gmelinii) growth response to current climate changes. Location: permafrost area within the northern part of Central Siberia (approximately 65.8 deg N, 98.5 deg E). Method: analysis of dendrochronological data, climate variables, drought index SPEI, GPP (gross primary production) and EVI vegetation index (both Aqua/MODIS satellite derived), and soil water content anomalies (GRACE satellite measurements of equivalent water thickness anomalies, EWTA). Results: larch tree ring width (TRW) correlated with previous year August precipitation (r = 0.63), snow accumulation (r = 0.61), soil water anomalies (r = 0.79), early summer temperatures and water vapor pressure (r = 0.73 and r = 0.69, respectively), May and June drought index (r = 0.68-0.82). There are significant positive trends of TRW since late 1980s and GPP since the year 2000. Mean TRW increased by about 50%, which is similar to post-Little Ice Age warming. TRW correlated with GPP and EVI of larch stands (r = 0.68-0.69). Main conclusions: within the permafrost zone of central Siberia larch TRW growth is limited by early summer temperatures, available water from snowmelt, water accumulated within soil in the previous year, and permafrost thaw water. Water stress is one of the limiting factors of larch growth. Larch TRW growth and GPP increased during recent decades.

Soil Water Retention as Indicator for Soil Physical Quality - Examples from Two SoilTrEC European Critical Zone Observatories

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rousseva, Svetla; Kercheva, Milena; Shishkov, Toma; Dimitrov, Emil; Nenov, Martin; Lair, Georg J.; Moraetis, Daniel

2014-05-01

Soil water retention is of primary importance for majority of soil functions. The characteristics derived from Soil Water Retention Curve (SWRC) are directly related to soil structure and soil water regime and can be used as indicators for soil physical quality. The aim of this study is to present some parameters and relationships based on the SWRC data from the soil profiles characterising the European SoilTrEC Critical Zone Observatories Fuchsenbigl and Koiliaris. The studied soils are representative for highly productive soils managed as arable land in the frame of soil formation chronosequence at "Marchfeld" (Fuchsenbigl CZO), Austria and heavily impacted soils during centuries through intensive grazing and farming, under severe risk of desertification in context of climatic and lithological gradient at Koiliaris, Crete, Greece. Soil water retention at pF ≤ 2.52 was determined using the undisturbed soil cores (100 cm3 and 50 cm3) by a suction plate method. Water retention at pF = 4.2 was determined by a membrane press method and at pF ≥ 5.6 - by adsorption of water vapour at controlled relative humidity, both using ground soil samples. The soil physical quality parameter (S-parameter) was defined as the slope of the water retention curve at its inflection point (Dexter, 2006), determined with the obtained parameters of van Genuhten (1980) water retention equation. The S-parameter values were categorised to assess soil physical quality as follows: S < 0.020 very poor, 0.020 ≤ S < 0.035 poor, 0.035 ≤ S < 0.050 good, S ≥ 0.050 very good (Dexter, 2004). The results showed that most of the studied topsoil horizons have good physical quality according to both the S-parameter and the Plant-Available Water content (PAW), with the exception of the soils from croplands at CZO Fuxenbigl (F4, F5) which are with poor soil structure. The link between the S-parameter and the indicator of soil structure stability (water stable soil aggregates with size 1-3 mm) is not well defined. The scattering is due to high values of S in subsoil, which does not always coincide with favourable physical properties, as it can be seen from the relationship with the PAW content. It was found that values of S ≥ 0.05 correspond to PAW > 20 % vol. in the topsoil horizons. The high values of S in subsoil horizons are due to the low PAW and restrict the application of the S categories in these cases. Well defined links are found between the PAW content and the S-parameter when the data from the topsoil horizons are grouped in 2 groups according to the ratio between air-filled pores (at pF 2.52) and plant available water: <2 and ≥ 2. The authors acknowledge gratefully the European Commission Research Directorate-General for funding the SoilTrEC project (Contract No 244118) under its 7th Framework Programme.

A comparison between evapotranspiration estimates based on remotely sensed surface energy balance and ground-based soil water balance analyses

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Remotely sensed and in-situ data were used to investigate dynamics of root zone soil moisture and evapotranspiration (ET) at four Mesonet stations in north-central Oklahoma over an 11-year period (2000-2010). Two moisture deficit indicators based on soil matric potential had spatial and temporal pat...

Vadose zone transport of natural and synthetic estrogen hormones at Penn State's "Living Filter" wastewater irrigation site

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The increase in endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) in the environment has generated new research focused on the behavior of these compounds in natural soil and water ecosystems. To understand how estrogens behave in the soil environment as a result of 25+ years of wastewater irrigation, soils fro...

Matching soil salinization and cropping systems in communally managed irrigation schemes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malota, Mphatso; Mchenga, Joshua

2018-03-01

Occurrence of soil salinization in irrigation schemes can be a good indicator to introduce high salt tolerant crops in irrigation schemes. This study assessed the level of soil salinization in a communally managed 233 ha Nkhate irrigation scheme in the Lower Shire Valley region of Malawi. Soil samples were collected within the 0-0.4 m soil depth from eight randomly selected irrigation blocks. Irrigation water samples were also collected from five randomly selected locations along the Nkhate River which supplies irrigation water to the scheme. Salinity of both the soil and the irrigation water samples was determined using an electrical conductivity (EC) meter. Analysis of the results indicated that even for very low salinity tolerant crops (ECi < 2 dS/m), the irrigation water was suitable for irrigation purposes. However, root-zone soil salinity profiles depicted that leaching of salts was not adequate and that the leaching requirement for the scheme needs to be relooked and always be adhered to during irrigation operation. The study concluded that the crop system at the scheme needs to be adjusted to match with prevailing soil and irrigation water salinity levels.

Nitrogen fluxes through unsaturated zones in five agricultural settings across the United States

USGS Publications Warehouse

Green, C.T.; Fisher, L.H.; Bekins, B.A.

2008-01-01

The main physical and chemical controls on nitrogen (N) fluxes between the root zone and the water table were determined for agricultural sites in California, Indiana, Maryland, Nebraska, and Washington from 2004 to 2005. Sites included irrigated and nonirrigated fields; soil textures ranging from clay to sand; crops including corn, soybeans, almonds, and pasture; and unsaturated zone thicknesses ranging from 1 to 22 m. Chemical analyses of water from lysimeters and shallow wells indicate that advective transport of nitrate is the dominant process affecting the flux of N below the root zone. Vertical profiles of (i) nitrogen species, (ii) stable isotopes of nitrogen and oxygen, and (iii) oxygen, N, and argon in unsaturated zone air and correlations between N and other agricultural chemicals indicate that reactions do not greatly affect N concentrations between the root zone and the capillary fringe. As a result, physical factors, such as N application rate, water inputs, and evapotranspiration, control the differences in concentrations among the sites. Concentrations of N in shallow lysimeters exhibit seasonal variation, whereas concentrations in lysimeters deeper than a few meters are relatively stable. Based on concentration and recharge estimates, fluxes of N through the deep unsaturated zone range from 7 to 99 kg ha-1 yr-1. Vertical fluxes of N in ground water are lower due to spatial and historical changes in N inputs. High N fluxes are associated with coarse sediments and high N application rates. Copyright ?? 2008 by the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America. All rights reserved.

Soil Organic Carbon Redistribution by Water Erosion – The Role of CO2 Emissions for the Carbon Budget

PubMed Central

Wang, Xiang; Cammeraat, Erik L. H.; Romeijn, Paul; Kalbitz, Karsten

2014-01-01

A better process understanding of how water erosion influences the redistribution of soil organic carbon (SOC) is sorely needed to unravel the role of soil erosion for the carbon (C) budget from local to global scales. The main objective of this study was to determine SOC redistribution and the complete C budget of a loess soil affected by water erosion. We measured fluxes of SOC, dissolved organic C (DOC) and CO2 in a pseudo-replicated rainfall-simulation experiment. We characterized different C fractions in soils and redistributed sediments using density fractionation and determined C enrichment ratios (CER) in the transported sediments. Erosion, transport and subsequent deposition resulted in significantly higher CER of the sediments exported ranging between 1.3 and 4.0. In the exported sediments, C contents (mg per g soil) of particulate organic C (POC, C not bound to soil minerals) and mineral-associated organic C (MOC) were both significantly higher than those of non-eroded soils indicating that water erosion resulted in losses of C-enriched material both in forms of POC and MOC. The averaged SOC fluxes as particles (4.7 g C m−2 yr−1) were 18 times larger than DOC fluxes. Cumulative emission of soil CO2 slightly decreased at the erosion zone while increased by 56% and 27% at the transport and depositional zone, respectively, in comparison to non-eroded soil. Overall, CO2 emission is the predominant form of C loss contributing to about 90.5% of total erosion-induced C losses in our 4-month experiment, which were equal to 18 g C m−2. Nevertheless, only 1.5% of the total redistributed C was mineralized to CO2 indicating a large stabilization after deposition. Our study also underlines the importance of C losses by particles and as DOC for understanding the effects of water erosion on the C balance at the interface of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. PMID:24802350

Investigation of remote sensing techniques of measuring soil moisture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newton, R. W. (Principal Investigator); Blanchard, A. J.; Nieber, J. L.; Lascano, R.; Tsang, L.; Vanbavel, C. H. M.

1981-01-01

Major activities described include development and evaluation of theoretical models that describe both active and passive microwave sensing of soil moisture, the evaluation of these models for their applicability, the execution of a controlled field experiment during which passive microwave measurements were acquired to validate these models, and evaluation of previously acquired aircraft microwave measurements. The development of a root zone soil water and soil temperature profile model and the calibration and evaluation of gamma ray attenuation probes for measuring soil moisture profiles are considered. The analysis of spatial variability of soil information as related to remote sensing is discussed as well as the implementation of an instrumented field site for acquisition of soil moisture and meteorologic information for use in validating the soil water profile and soil temperature profile models.

Investigation of Underground Hydrocarbon Leakage using Ground Penetrating Radar

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srigutomo, Wahyu; Trimadona; Agustine, Eleonora

2016-08-01

Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) survey was carried out in several petroleum plants to investigate hydrocarbon contamination beneath the surface. The hydrocarbon spills are generally recognized as Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (LNAPL) if the plume of leakage is distributed in the capillary fringe above the water table and as Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPL) if it is below the water table. GPR antennas of 200 MHz and 400 MHz were deployed to obtain clear radargrams until 4 m deep. In general, the interpreted radargram sections indicate the presence of surface concrete layer, the compacted silty soill followed by sand layer and the original clayey soil as well as the water table. The presence of hydrocarbon plumes are identified as shadow zones (radar velocity and intensity contrasts) in the radargram that blur the layering pattern with different intensity of reflected signal. Based on our results, the characteristic of the shadow zones in the radargram is controlled by several factors: types of hydrocarbon (fresh or bio-degraded), water moisture in the soil, and clay content which contribute variation in electrical conductivity and dielectric constants of the soil.

CAOS: the nested catchment soil-vegetation-atmosphere observation platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weiler, Markus; Blume, Theresa

2016-04-01

Most catchment based observations linking hydrometeorology, ecohydrology, soil hydrology and hydrogeology are typically not integrated with each other and lack a consistent and appropriate spatial-temporal resolution. Within the research network CAOS (Catchments As Organized Systems), we have initiated and developed a novel and integrated observation platform in several catchments in Luxembourg. In 20 nested catchments covering three distinct geologies the subscale processes at the bedrock-soil-vegetation-atmosphere interface are being monitored at 46 sensor cluster locations. Each sensor cluster is designed to observe a variety of different fluxes and state variables above and below ground, in the saturated and unsaturated zone. The numbers of sensors are chosen to capture the spatial variability as well the average dynamics. At each of these sensor clusters three soil moisture profiles with sensors at different depths, four soil temperature profiles as well as matric potential, air temperature, relative humidity, global radiation, rainfall/throughfall, sapflow and shallow groundwater and stream water levels are measured continuously. In addition, most sensors also measure temperature (water, soil, atmosphere) and electrical conductivity. This setup allows us to determine the local water and energy balance at each of these sites. The discharge gauging sites in the nested catchments are also equipped with automatic water samplers to monitor water quality and water stable isotopes continuously. Furthermore, water temperature and electrical conductivity observations are extended to over 120 locations distributed across the entire stream network to capture the energy exchange between the groundwater, stream water and atmosphere. The measurements at the sensor clusters are complemented by hydrometeorological observations (rain radar, network of distrometers and dense network of precipitation gauges) and linked with high resolution meteorological models. In this presentation, we will highlight the potential of this integrated observation platform to estimate energy and water exchange between the terrestrial and aquatic systems and the atmosphere, to trace water flow pathways in the unsaturated and saturated zone, and to understand the organization of processes and fluxes and thus runoff generation at different temporal and spatial scales.

Aspect as a Driver of Soil Carbon and Water Fluxes in Desert Environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sutter, L., Jr.; Barron-Gafford, G.; Sanchez-Canete, E. P.

2016-12-01

Within dryland environments, precipitation and incoming energy are the primary determinants of carbon and water cycling. We know aspect can influence how much sun energy reaches the ground surface, but how does this spatial feature of the landscape propagate into temporal moisture and carbon flux dynamics? We made parallel measurements across north and south-facing slopes to examine the effects of aspect on soil temperature and moisture and the resulting soil carbon and water flux rates within a low elevation, desert site in the Santa Catalina-Jemez Critical Zone Observatory. We coupled spatially distributed measurements at a single point in time with diel patterns of soil fluxes at singular point and in response to punctuated rain events. Reponses concerning aspect after spring El Niño rainfall events were complex, with higher cumulative carbon flux on the south-facing slope two weeks post rain, despite higher daily flux values starting on the north-facing slope ten days after the rain. Additional summer monsoon rain events and dry season measurements will give further insights into patterns under hotter conditions of periodic inter-storm drought. We will complete a year-round carbon and water flux budget of this site by measuring throughout the winter rainfall months. Ultimately, our work will illustrate the interactive effects of a range of physical factors on soil fluxes. Critical zone soil dynamics, especially within dryland environments, are very complex, but capturing the uncertainty around these flux is necessary to understand concerning vertical carbon and water exchange and storage.

Dissolved organic carbon and major and trace elements in peat porewater of sporadic, discontinuous, and continuous permafrost zones of western Siberia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raudina, Tatiana V.; Loiko, Sergey V.; Lim, Artyom G.; Krickov, Ivan V.; Shirokova, Liudmila S.; Istigechev, Georgy I.; Kuzmina, Daria M.; Kulizhsky, Sergey P.; Vorobyev, Sergey N.; Pokrovsky, Oleg S.

2017-07-01

Mobilization of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and related trace elements (TEs) from the frozen peat to surface waters in the permafrost zone is expected to enhance under ongoing permafrost thaw and active layer thickness (ALT) deepening in high-latitude regions. The interstitial soil solutions are efficient tracers of ongoing bio-geochemical processes in the critical zone and can help to decipher the intensity of carbon and metals migration from the soil to the rivers and further to the ocean. To this end, we collected, across a 640 km latitudinal transect of the sporadic to continuous permafrost zone of western Siberia peatlands, soil porewaters from 30 cm depth using suction cups and we analyzed DOC, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), and 40 major elements and TEs in 0.45 µm filtered fraction of 80 soil porewaters. Despite an expected decrease in the intensity of DOC and TE mobilization from the soil and vegetation litter to the interstitial fluids with the increase in the permafrost coverage and a decrease in the annual temperature and ALT, the DOC and many major and trace elements did not exhibit any distinct decrease in concentration along the latitudinal transect from 62.2 to 67.4° N. The DOC demonstrated a maximum of concentration at 66° N, on the border of the discontinuous/continuous permafrost zone, whereas the DOC concentration in peat soil solutions from the continuous permafrost zone was equal to or higher than that in the sporadic/discontinuous permafrost zone. Moreover, a number of major (Ca, Mg) and trace (Al, Ti, Sr, Ga, rare earth elements (REEs), Zr, Hf, Th) elements exhibited an increasing, not decreasing, northward concentration trend. We hypothesize that the effects of temperature and thickness of the ALT are of secondary importance relative to the leaching capacity of peat, which is in turn controlled by the water saturation of the peat core. The water residence time in peat pores also plays a role in enriching the fluids in some elements: the DOC, V, Cu, Pb, REEs, and Th were a factor of 1.5 to 2.0 higher in mounds relative to hollows. As such, it is possible that the time of reaction between the peat and downward infiltrating waters essentially controls the degree of peat porewater enrichments in DOC and other solutes. A 2° northward shift in the position of the permafrost boundaries may bring about a factor of 1.3 ± 0.2 decrease in Ca, Mg, Sr, Al, Fe, Ti, Mn, Ni, Co, V, Zr, Hf, Th, and REE porewater concentration in continuous and discontinuous permafrost zones, and a possible decrease in DOC, specific ultraviolet absorbency (SUVA), Ca, Mg, Fe, and Sr will not exceed 20 % of their current values. The projected increase in ALT and vegetation density, northward migration of the permafrost boundary, or the change of hydrological regime is unlikely to modify chemical composition of peat porewater fluids larger than their natural variations within different micro-landscapes, i.e., within a factor of 2. The decrease in DOC and metal delivery to small rivers and lakes by peat soil leachate may also decrease the overall export of dissolved components from the continuous permafrost zone to the Arctic Ocean. This challenges the current paradigm on the increase in DOC export from the land to the ocean under climate warming in high latitudes.

Wireless lysimeters for real-time online soil water monitoring

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Identification of nitrate-nitrogen (NO3-N) in drainage water allows accessing the effectiveness of water quality management. A passive capillary wick-type lysimeter (PCAPs) was used to monitor water flux and NO3-N leached below the root zone under an irrigated cropping system. Wireless lysimeters we...

Geochemical evolution of the Critical Zone across variable time scales informs concentration-discharge relationships: Jemez River Basin Critical Zone Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McIntosh, Jennifer C.; Schaumberg, Courtney; Perdrial, Julia; Harpold, Adrian; Vázquez-Ortega, Angélica; Rasmussen, Craig; Vinson, David; Zapata-Rios, Xavier; Brooks, Paul D.; Meixner, Thomas; Pelletier, Jon; Derry, Louis; Chorover, Jon

2017-05-01

This study investigates the influence of water, carbon, and energy fluxes on solute production and transport through the Jemez Critical Zone (CZ) and impacts on C-Q relationships over variable spatial and temporal scales. Chemical depletion-enrichment profiles of soils, combined with regolith thickness and groundwater data indicate the importance to stream hydrochemistry of incongruent dissolution of silicate minerals during deep bedrock weathering, which is primarily limited by water fluxes, in this highly fractured, young volcanic terrain. Under high flow conditions (e.g., spring snowmelt), wetting of soil and regolith surfaces and presence of organic acids promote mineral dissolution and provide a constant supply of base cations, Si, and DIC to soil water and groundwater. Mixing of waters from different hydrochemical reservoirs in the near stream environment during "wet" periods leads to the chemostatic behavior of DIC, base cations, and Si in stream flow. Metals transported by organic matter complexation (i.e., Ge, Al) and/or colloids (i.e., Al) during periods of soil saturation and lateral connectivity to the stream display a positive relationship with Q. Variable Si-Q relationships, under all but the highest flow conditions, can be explained by nonconservative transport and precipitation of clay minerals, which influences long versus short-term Si weathering fluxes. By combining measurements of the CZ obtained across different spatial and temporal scales, we were able to constrain weathering processes in different hydrological reservoirs that may be flushed to the stream during hydrologic events, thereby informing C-Q relationships.

Soil Moisture Dynamics in the Shallow Subsurface Near the Land/Atmospheric Interface- Challenges and New Research Approaches (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Illangasekare, T. H.; Smits, K. M.; Trautz, A.; Rice, A. K.; Cihan, A.; Davarzani, H.

2013-12-01

SSoil moisture processes in the subsurface/near-land-surface, play a crucial role in the hydrologic cycle and global water budget. This zone is subject to both natural and human induced disturbances, resulting in continually changing soil structure and hydraulic, thermal, and mechanical properties. Understanding of the dynamics of soil moisture distribution in this zone is of interest in various applications in hydrology such as land-atmospheric interaction, soil evaporation and evapotranspiration, as well as emerging problems on assessing the risk of leakage of sequestrated CO2 from deep geologic formations to the shallow subsurface, and potential leakage of methane to the atmosphere in shale gas development that contributes to global warming. Shallow subsurface soil moisture is highly influenced by diurnal temperature variations, evaporation/condensation, precipitation and liquid water and water vapor flow, all of which are strongly coupled. Modeling studies, have shown that soil moisture in this zone is highly sensitive to the heat and mass flux boundary conditions at the land surface. Hence, approximation of these boundary conditions without properly incorporating complex feedback between the land and the atmospheric boundary layer are expected to result in significant errors. Even though considerable knowledge exists on how soil moisture changes in response to the flux and energy boundary conditions, emerging problems involving land atmospheric interactions require the quantification of soil moisture variability at higher spatial and temporal resolutions than what is needed in traditional applications in soil physics and vadose zone hydrology. These factors lead to many modeling challenges, primarily of which is the issue of up-scaling. It is our contention that knowledge that will contribute to both improving our understanding of the fundamental processes and practical problem solutions cannot be obtained using only field data. Basic to this limitation is the inability to make field measurements at very fine scales at high temporal resolutions. Also, as the natural boundary conditions at the land/atmospheric interface are not controllable in the field, even in pilot scale studies, the developed theories and models cannot be validated for a diversity of conditions that could be expected. As an alternative, we propose an innovative testing approach that couples a low velocity boundary layer climate wind tunnel to intermediate scale porous media tanks. Intermediate scale testing using soil tanks packed to represent different heterogeneous test configurations provides an attractive and cost effective alternative to investigate a class of problems involving the shallow unsaturated zone. In this talk, we will present examples of studies we have conducted in a hierarchy of test systems, including the intermediate scale. The advantages and limitations of testing at this scale are discussed using these examples. The features and capabilities of newly developed test systems are presented with the goal of exploring opportunities to use them to study some of the challenging multi-scale problems in the near surface unsaturated zone.

Heat transfer and phase transitions of water in multi-layer cryolithozone-surface systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khabibullin, I. L.; Nigametyanova, G. A.; Nazmutdinov, F. F.

2018-01-01

A mathematical model for calculating the distribution of temperature and the dynamics of the phase transfor-mations of water in multilayer systems on permafrost-zone surface is proposed. The model allows one to perform calculations in the annual cycle, taking into account the distribution of temperature on the surface in warm and cold seasons. A system involving four layers, a snow or land cover, a top layer of soil, a layer of thermal-insulation materi-al, and a mineral soil, is analyzed. The calculations by the model allow one to choose the optimal thickness and com-position of the layers which would ensure the stability of structures built on the permafrost-zone surface.

Preferential Flow and Transport of Cryptosporidium Parvum Oocysts Through Vadose Zone: Experiments and Modeling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Darnault, C. J.; Darnault, C. J.; Garnier, P.; Kim, Y.; Oveson, K.; Jenkins, M.; Ghiorse, W.; Baveye, P.; Parlange, J.; Steenhuis, T.

2001-12-01

Oocysts of the protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum, when they contaminate drinking water supplies, can cause outbreaks of Cryptosporidiosis, a common waterborne disease. Of the different pathways by which oocysts can wind up in drinking water, one has received very little attention to date; because soils are often considered to be perfect filters, the transport of oocysts through the subsoil to groundwater by preferential flow is generally ignored. To evaluate its significance, three set of laboratory experiments investigated transport of oocysts through vadose zone. Experiment set I was carried out in a vertical 50 cm-long column filled with silica sand, under conditions known to foster fingered flow. Experiment set II investigates the effect of gas-water interfaces by modifying the hydrodynamical conditions in the sand columns with water-repellent sand barriers. Experiment III involved undisturbed soil columns subjected to macropores flow. The sand and soil columns were subjected to artificial rainfall and were allowed to reach steady-state. At that point, feces of contaminated calves were applied at the surface, along with a known amount of KCl to serve as tracer, and rainfall was continued at the same rate. The breakthrough of oocysts and Cl-, monitored in the effluent, demonstrate the importance of preferential flow - fingered flow and macropore flow - on the transport of oocysts through vadose zone. Peak oocyst concentrations were not appreciably delayed, compared to Cl-, and in some cases, occurred even before the Cl- peak. However, the numbers of oocysts present in the effluents were still orders of magnitude higher than the 5 to 10 oocysts per liter that are considerable sufficient to cause cryptosporidiosis in healthy adults. The transport of oocysts was simulated based on a partitioning the soil profile in both a distribution zone and a preferential zone, In particular, the model simulates accurately the markedly asymmetric breakthrough patterns, and the long exponential tailing. The spatial distribution of oocysts suggest a close relationship between oocyst retention and the extent of gas-water interfaces; sharp increases in oocyst numbers are consistently observed in regions of the sand where the water content has steep gradients, and therefore where one expects capillary meniscii to have maximal extent. These observations imply that oocyst transport in the vadose zone is likely to be very limited in the absence of preferential flow. However, experimental results suggest that the transport of oocysts in the subsurface via preferential flow may create a significant risk of groundwater contamination in some situations.

Farm scale application of EMI and FDR sensors to measuring and mapping soil water content

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rallo, Giovanni; Provenzano, Giuseppe

2017-04-01

Soil water content (SWC) controls most water exchange processes within and between the soil-plants-atmosphere continuum and can therefore be considered as a practical variable for irrigation farmer choices. A better knowledge of spatial SWC patterns could improve farmer's awareness about critical crop water status conditions and enhance their capacity to characterize their behavior at the field or farm scale. However, accurate soil moisture measurement across spatial and temporal scales is still a challenging task and, specifically at intermediate spatial (0.1-100 ha) and temporal (minutes to days) scales, a data gap remains that limits our understanding over reliability of the SWC spatial measurements and its practical applicability in irrigation scheduling. In this work we compare the integrated EM38 (Geonics Ltd. Canada) response, collected at different sensor positions above ground to that obtained by integrating the depth profile of volumetric SWC measured with Diviner 2000 (Sentek) in conjunction with the depth response function of the EM38 when operated in both horizontal and vertical dipole configurations. On a 1.0-ha Olive grove site in Sicliy (Italy), 200 data points were collected before and after irrigation or precipitation events following a systematic sampling grid with focused measurements around the tree. Inside two different zone of the field, characterized from different soil physical properties, two Diviner 2000 access tube (1.2 m) were installed and used for the EM38 calibration. After calibration, the work aimed to propose the combined use of the FDR and EMI sensors to measuring and mapping root zone soil water content. We found strong correlations (R2 = 0.66) between Diviner 2000 SWC averaged to a depth of 1.2 m and ECa from an EM38 held in the vertical mode above the soil surface. The site-specific relationship between FDR-based SWC and ECa was linear for the purposes of estimating SWC over the explored range of ECa monitored at field levels. Volumetric SWC changes in the root zone were observed by differencing the maps, where differences in the observed ECa are primarily the result of changes in soil water status. As with the data showed in the research, more structured patterns occur after wetting event, indicating the presence of subsurface flow or root water uptake paths. A vision for the future at hydrological watershed scale is to combine EMI measurements with FDR-based sensor networks, the last with the scope to constrain calibration of the EMI measurements.

Implementation of Solute Transport in the Vadose Zone into the `HYDRUS Package for MODFLOW'

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simunek, J.; Beegum, S.; Szymkiewicz, A.; Sudheer, K. P.

2017-12-01

The 'HYDRUS package for MODFLOW' was developed by Seo et al. (2007) and Twarakavi et al. (2008) to simultaneously evaluate transient water flow in both unsaturated and saturated zones. The package, which is based on the HYDRUS-1D model (Šimůnek et al., 2016) simulating unsaturated water flow in the vadose zone, was incorporated into MODFLOW (Harbaugh et al., 2000) simulating saturated groundwater flow. The HYDRUS package in the coupled model can be used to represent the effects of various unsaturated zone processes, including infiltration, evaporation, root water uptake, capillary rise, and recharge in homogeneous or layered soil profiles. The coupled model is effective in addressing spatially-variable saturated-unsaturated hydrological processes at the regional scale, allowing for complex layering in the unsaturated zone, spatially and temporarily variable water fluxes at the soil surface and in the root zone, and with alternating recharge and discharge fluxes (Twarakavi et al., 2008). One of the major limitations of the coupled model was that it could not be used to simulate at the same time solute transport. However, solute transport is highly dependent on water table fluctuations due to temporal and spatial variations in groundwater recharge. This is an important concern when the coupled model is used for analyzing groundwater contamination due to transport through the unsaturated zone. The objective of this study is to integrate the solute transport model (the solute transport part of HYDRUS-1D for the unsaturated zone and MT3DMS (Zheng and Wang, 1999; Zheng, 2009) for the saturated zone) into an existing coupled water flow model. The unsaturated zone component of the coupled model can consider solute transport involving many biogeochemical processes and reactions, including first-order degradation, volatilization, linear or nonlinear sorption, one-site kinetic sorption, two-site sorption, and two-kinetic sites sorption (Šimůnek and van Genuchten, 2008). Due to complex interactions at the groundwater table, certain modifications of the pressure head (compared to the original coupling) and solute concentration profiles were incorporated into the HYDRUS package. The developed integrated model is verified using HYDRUS-2D and analyzed for its computational time requirements.

Effects of soil water and heat relationship under various snow cover during freezing-thawing periods in Songnen Plain, China.

PubMed

Fu, Qiang; Hou, Renjie; Li, Tianxiao; Jiang, Ruiqi; Yan, Peiru; Ma, Ziao; Zhou, Zhaoqiang

2018-01-22

In this study, the spatial variations of soil water and heat under bare land (BL), natural snow (NS), compacted snow (CS) and thick snow (TS) treatments were analyzed. The relationship curve between soil temperature and water content conforms to the exponential filtering model, by means of the functional form of the model, it was defined as soil water and heat relation function model. On this basis, soil water and heat function models of 10, 20, 40, 60, 100, and 140 cm were established. Finally, a spatial variation law of the relationship effect was described based on analysising of the differences between the predicted and measured results. During freezing period, the effects of external factors on soil were hindered by snow cover. As the snow increased, the accuracy of the function model gradually improved. During melting period, infiltration by snowmelt affected the relationship between the soil temperature and moisture. With the increasing of snow, the accuracy of the function models gradually decreased. The relationship effects of soil water and heat increased with increasing depth within the frozen zone. In contrast, below the frozen layer, the relationship of soil water and heat was weaker, and the function models were less accurate.

Calibration parameters used to simulate streamflow from application of the Hydrologic Simulation Program-FORTRAN Model (HSPF) to mountainous basins containing coal mines in West Virginia

USGS Publications Warehouse

Atkins, John T.; Wiley, Jeffrey B.; Paybins, Katherine S.

2005-01-01

This report presents the Hydrologic Simulation Program-FORTRAN Model (HSPF) parameters for eight basins in the coal-mining region of West Virginia. The magnitude and characteristics of model parameters from this study will assist users of HSPF in simulating streamflow at other basins in the coal-mining region of West Virginia. The parameter for nominal capacity of the upper-zone storage, UZSN, increased from south to north. The increase in UZSN with the increase in basin latitude could be due to decreasing slopes, decreasing rockiness of the soils, and increasing soil depths from south to north. A special action was given to the parameter for fraction of ground-water inflow that flows to inactive ground water, DEEPFR. The basis for this special action was related to the seasonal movement of the water table and transpiration from trees. The models were most sensitive to DEEPFR and the parameter for interception storage capacity, CEPSC. The models were also fairly sensitive to the parameter for an index representing the infiltration capacity of the soil, INFILT; the parameter for indicating the behavior of the ground-water recession flow, KVARY; the parameter for the basic ground-water recession rate, AGWRC; the parameter for nominal capacity of the upper zone storage, UZSN; the parameter for the interflow inflow, INTFW; the parameter for the interflow recession constant, IRC; and the parameter for lower zone evapotranspiration, LZETP.

Concepts and data-collection techniques used in a study of the unsaturated zone at a low-level radioactive-waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois

USGS Publications Warehouse

Healy, R.W.; DeVries, M.P.; Striegl, Robert G.

1986-01-01

A study of water and radionuclide movement through the unsaturated zone is being conducted at the low level radioactive waste disposal site near Sheffield, Illinois. Included in the study are detailed investigations of evapotranspiration, movement of water through waste trench covers, and movement of water and radionuclides (dissolved and gaseous) from the trenches. An energy balance/Bowen ratio approach is used to determine evapotranspiration. Precipitation, net radiation, soil-heat flux, air temperature and water vapor content gradients, wind speed, and wind direction are measured. Soil water tension is measured with tensiometers which are connected to pressure transducers. Meteorological sensors and tensiometers which are connected to pressure transducers. Meteorological sensors and tensiometers are monitored with automatic data loggers. Soil moisture contents are measured through small-diameter access tubes with neutron and gamma-ray attenuation gages. Data beneath the trenches are obtained through a 130-meter-long tunnel which extends under four of the trenches. Water samples are obtained with suction lysimeters, and samples of the geologic material are obtained with core tubes. These samples are analyzed for radiometric and inorganic chemistry. Gas samples are obtained from gas piezometers and analyzed for partial pressures of major constituents, Radon-222, tritiated water vapor, and carbon-14 dioxide. (USGS)

A model framework to represent plant-physiology and rhizosphere processes in soil profile simulation models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanderborght, J.; Javaux, M.; Couvreur, V.; Schröder, N.; Huber, K.; Abesha, B.; Schnepf, A.; Vereecken, H.

2013-12-01

Plant roots play a crucial role in several key processes in soils. Besides their impact on biogeochemical cycles and processes, they also have an important influence on physical processes such as water flow and transport of dissolved substances in soils. Interaction between plant roots and soil processes takes place at different scales and ranges from the scale of an individual root and its directly surrounding soil or rhizosphere over the scale of a root system of an individual plant in a soil profile to the scale of vegetation patterns in landscapes. Simulation models that are used to predict water flow and solute transport in soil-plant systems mainly focus on the individual plant root system scale, parameterize single-root scale phenomena, and aggregate the root system scale to the vegetation scale. In this presentation, we will focus on the transition from the single root to the root system scale. Using high resolution non-invasive imaging techniques and methods, gradients in soil properties and states around roots and their difference from the bulk soil properties could be demonstrated. Recent developments in plant sciences provide new insights in the mechanisms that control water fluxes in plants and in the adaptation of root properties or root plasticity to changing soil conditions. However, since currently used approaches to simulate root water uptake neither resolve these small scale processes nor represent processes and controls within the root system, transferring this information to the whole soil-plant system scale is a challenge. Using a simulation model that describes flow and transport processes in the soil, resolves flow and transport towards individual roots, and describes flow and transport within the root system, such a transfer could be achieved. We present a few examples that illustrate: (i) the impact of changed rhizosphere hydraulic properties, (ii) the effect of root hydraulic properties and root system architecture, (iii) the regulation of plant transpiration by root-zone produced plant hormones, and (iv) the impact of salt accumulation at the soil-root interface on root water uptake. We further propose a framework how this process knowledge could be implemented in root zone simulation models that do not resolve small scale processes.

Dynamics of water mass in the Central Siberia permafrost zone based on gravity survey from the grace satellites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Im, S. T.; Kharuk, V. I.

2015-12-01

The GRACE gravimetric survey is applied to analyze the equivalent water mass anomalies (EWMAs) in the permafrost zone of Central Siberia. Variations in EWMAs are related to precipitation, air temperature, potential evapotranspiration, and soil composition (drainage conditions). The EWMA dynamics demonstrates two periods. The period of 2003-2008 is characterized by a positive trend. The one of 2008-2012 shows a decrease in the trend with a simultaneous increase by 30-70% of EWMA dispersion in the background of growth (up to 40%) of precipitation variability. The rate of water mass increment demonstrates a positive correlation with the sand and gravel contents in soil ( r = 0.72) and a negative one with clay content ( r =-0.69 to-0.77). For Taimyr Peninsula, there is a deficit of residual water mass (~250 mm for the period of 2012-2013) indicating the deeper thawing of permafrost soils. In the Central Siberian Plateau, the indicator of more intensive permafrost thawing (and that of an increase in active layer thickness) is a considerable trend of water mass increase (2003-2008). The increasing trend of the largest Siberian rivers (Yenisei and Lena) is revealed in the period of 2003-2012.

Linking river, floodplain, and vadose zone hydrology to improve restoration of a coastal river affected by saltwater intrusion.

PubMed

Kaplan, D; Muñoz-Carpena, R; Wan, Y; Hedgepeth, M; Zheng, F; Roberts, R; Rossmanith, R

2010-01-01

Floodplain forests provide unique ecological structure and function, which are often degraded or lost when watershed hydrology is modified. Restoration of damaged ecosystems requires an understanding of surface water, groundwater, and vadose (unsaturated) zone hydrology in the floodplain. Soil moisture and porewater salinity are of particular importance for seed germination and seedling survival in systems affected by saltwater intrusion but are difficult to monitor and often overlooked. This study contributes to the understanding of floodplain hydrology in one of the last bald cypress [Taxodium distichum (L.) Rich.] floodplain swamps in southeast Florida. We investigated soil moisture and porewater salinity dynamics in the floodplain of the Loxahatchee River, where reduced freshwater flow has led to saltwater intrusion and a transition to salt-tolerant, mangrove-dominated communities. Twenty-four dielectric probes measuring soil moisture and porewater salinity every 30 min were installed along two transects-one in an upstream, freshwater location and one in a downstream tidal area. Complemented by surface water, groundwater, and meteorological data, these unique 4-yr datasets quantified the spatial variability and temporal dynamics of vadose zone hydrology. Results showed that soil moisture can be closely predicted based on river stage and topographic elevation (overall Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency = 0.83). Porewater salinity rarely exceeded tolerance thresholds (0.3125 S m(-1)) for bald cypress upstream but did so in some downstream areas. This provided an explanation for observed vegetation changes that both surface water and groundwater salinity failed to explain. The results offer a methodological and analytical framework for floodplain monitoring in locations where restoration success depends on vadose zone hydrology and provide relationships for evaluating proposed restoration and management scenarios for the Loxahatchee River.

Interactive effects of ozone and climate on water use, soil moisture content and streamflow in a southern Appalachian forest in the USA

Treesearch

S.B. McLaughlin; S.D. Wullschleger; G. Sun; M. Nosal

2007-01-01

Documentation of the degree and direction of effects of ozone on transpiration of canopies of mature forest trees is critically needed to model ozone effects on forest water use and growth in a warmer future climate.Patterns of sap flow in stems and soil moisture in the rooting zones of mature trees, coupled with late-season...

Root growth and hydraulic conductivity of southern pine seedlings in response to soil temperature and water availability after planting

Treesearch

Mary Anne Sword Sayer; John C. Brissette; James P. Barnett

2005-01-01

Comparison of the root system growth and water transport of southern pine species after planting in different root-zone environments is needed to guide decisions regarding when, and what species to plant. Evaluation of how seed source affects root system responses to soil conditions will allow seed sources to be matched to planting conditions. The root growth and...

Spatio-temporal assessment of soil erosion risk in different agricultural zones of the Inle Lake region, southern Shan State, Myanmar.

PubMed

Htwe, Thin Nwe; Brinkmann, Katja; Buerkert, Andreas

2015-10-01

Myanmar is one of Southeast Asia's climatically most diverse countries, where sheet, rill, and gully erosion affect crop yields and subsequently livelihood strategies of many people. In the unique wetland ecosystem of Inle Lake, soil erosion in surrounding uplands lead to sedimentation and pollution of the water body. The current study uses the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE) to identify soil erosion risks of the Inle Lake region in space and time and to assess the relationship between soil erosion and degradation for different agricultural zones and cropping systems. Altogether, 85% of soil losses occurred on barren land along the steep slopes. The hotspot of soil erosion risk is situated in the western uplands characterized by unsustainable land use practices combined with a steep topography. The estimated average soil losses amounted to 19.9, 10.1, and 26.2 t ha(-1) yr(-1) in 1989, 2000, and 2009, respectively. These fluctuations were mainly the results of changes in precipitation and land cover (deforestation (-19%) and expansion of annual cropland (+35%) from 1989 to 2009). Most farmers in the study area have not yet adopted effective soil protection measures to mitigate the effects of soil erosion such as land degradation and water pollution of the lake reservoir. This urgently needs to be addressed by policy makers and extension services.

Loss of surface horizon of an irrigated soil detected by radiometric images of normalized difference vegetation index.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fabian Sallesses, Leonardo; Aparicio, Virginia Carolina; Costa, Jose Luis

2017-04-01

The use of the soil in the Humid Pampa of Argentina has changed since the mid-1990s from agricultural-livestock production (that included pastures with direct grazing) to a purely agricultural production. Also, in recent years the area under irrigation by central pivot has been increased to 150%. The waters used for irrigation are sodium carbonates. The combination of irrigation and rain increases the sodium absorption ratio of soil (SARs), consequently raising the clay dispersion and reducing infiltration. This implies an increased risk of soil loss. A reduction in the development of white clover crop (Trifolium repens L.) was observed at an irrigation plot during 2015 campaign. The clover was planted in order to reduce the impact of two maize (Zea mays L.) campaigns under irrigation, which had increased soil SAR and deteriorated soil structure. SPOT-5 radiometric normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) images were used to determine two zones of high and low production. In each zone, four random points were selected for further geo-referenced field sampling. Two geo-referenced measures of effective depth and surface soil sampling were carried out in each point. Texture of soil samples was determined by Pipette Method of Sedimentation Analysis. Data exploratory analysis showed that low production zone had a media effective depth = 80 cm and silty clay loam texture, while high production zone had a media effective depth > 140 cm and silt loam texture. The texture class of the low production zone did not correspond to prior soil studies carried out by the INTA (National Institute of Agricultural Technology), which showed that those soil textures were silt loam at surface and silty clay loam at sub-surface. The loss of the A horizon is proposed as a possible explanation, but further research is required. Besides, the need of a soil cartography actualization, which integrates new satellite imaging technologies and geo-referenced measurements with soil sensors is emphasized. Key words: soil use change, satellite images, erosion.

Environmental and physical controls on northern terrestrial methane emissions across permafrost zones

USGS Publications Warehouse

Olefeldt, David; Turetsky, Merritt R.; Crill, Patrick M.; McGuire, A. David

2013-01-01

Methane (CH4) emissions from the northern high-latitude region represent potentially significant biogeochemical feedbacks to the climate system. We compiled a database of growing-season CH4 emissions from terrestrial ecosystems located across permafrost zones, including 303 sites described in 65 studies. Data on environmental and physical variables, including permafrost conditions, were used to assess controls on CH4 emissions. Water table position, soil temperature, and vegetation composition strongly influenced emissions and had interacting effects. Sites with a dense sedge cover had higher emissions than other sites at comparable water table positions, and this was an effect that was more pronounced at low soil temperatures. Sensitivity analysis suggested that CH4 emissions from ecosystems where the water table on average is at or above the soil surface (wet tundra, fen underlain by permafrost, and littoral ecosystems) are more sensitive to variability in soil temperature than drier ecosystems (palsa dry tundra, bog, and fen), whereas the latter ecosystems conversely are relatively more sensitive to changes of the water table position. Sites with near-surface permafrost had lower CH4 fluxes than sites without permafrost at comparable water table positions, a difference that was explained by lower soil temperatures. Neither the active layer depth nor the organic soil layer depth was related to CH4 emissions. Permafrost thaw in lowland regions is often associated with increased soil moisture, higher soil temperatures, and increased sedge cover. In our database, lowland thermokarst sites generally had higher emissions than adjacent sites with intact permafrost, but emissions from thermokarst sites were not statistically higher than emissions from permafrost-free sites with comparable environmental conditions. Overall, these results suggest that future changes to terrestrial high-latitude CH4 emissions will be more proximately related to changes in moisture, soil temperature, and vegetation composition than to increased availability of organic matter following permafrost thaw.

Preferential flow in the vadose zone and interface dynamics: Impact of microbial exudates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Biting; Pales, Ashley R.; Clifford, Heather M.; Kupis, Shyla; Hennessy, Sarah; Liang, Wei-Zhen; Moysey, Stephen; Powell, Brian; Finneran, Kevin T.; Darnault, Christophe J. G.

2018-03-01

In the hydrological cycle, the infiltration process is a critical component in the distribution of water into the soil and in the groundwater system. The nonlinear dynamics of the soil infiltration process yield preferential flow which affects the water distribution in soil. Preferential flow is influenced by the interactions between water, soil, plants, and microorganisms. Although the relationship among the plant roots, their rhizodeposits and water transport in soil has been the subject of extensive study, the effect of microbial exudates has been studied in only a few cases. Here the authors investigated the influence of two artificial microbial exudates-catechol and riboflavin-on the infiltration process, particularly unstable fingered flow, one form of preferential flow. Flow experiments investigating the effects of types and concentrations of microbial exudates on unstable fingered flow were conducted in a two-dimensional tank that was filled with ASTM

Clay with Desiccation Cracks is an Advection Dominated Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baram, S.; Kurtzman, D.; Sher, Y.; Ronen, Z.; Dahan, O.

2012-04-01

Heavy clay sediments are regarded "safe" from the hydrological point of view due to their low hydraulic conductivities. However, the formation of desiccation cracks in dispersive clays may dramatically change their bulk hydraulic properties. The impact of desiccation cracks on water percolation, dissolved salts and contaminants transport and redox related reactions (microbial ammonium oxidation and denitrification) were investigated in 6 -12 m clay layer near a diary farm waste lagoon. The study implemented unique vadose-zone monitoring systems that enable in-situ measurements of the temporal variation of the sediment's water content along with frequent sampling of the sediment's pore water along the entire vadose zone (> 30 m). Results from four years of continuous measurements showed quick rises in sediment water content following rain events and temporal wastewater overflows. The percolation pattern indicated dominance of preferential flow through a desiccation-cracks network crossing the entire clay sediment layer. High water-propagation velocities (0.4 - 23.6 m h-1) were observed, indicating that the desiccation-crack network remains open and serves as a preferential flow pathway year-round, even at high sediment water content (~0.50 m3 m-3). The rapid percolation bypassed the most bio-geo-active parts of the soil, transporting even highly sorptive contaminants (testosterone and estrogen) in to the deep sections of the vadose zone, accelerating the underlying groundwater contamination. The ammonium and nitrate concentrations in the vadose zone and the high number of nitrifying and denitrifying bacteria (~108 gene copies gdry-sediemt-1, each) found in the sediment indicated that the entire vadose zone is aerated even at high water content conditions (~0.55 m3 m-3). The dissolved salts concentration in the pore-water and the δ2H-H2O and δ18O-H2O values of the pore-water substantially increased with depth (becoming less depleted) in the clay sediment, indicating deep soil evaporation. Daily fluctuation of the air temperature in the desiccation cracks supported thermally induced air convection within the cracks void and could explain the deep soil salinization process. Combination of all the abovementioned observations demonstrated that the formation of desiccation cracks network in dispersive clay sediments generates a bulk advection dominated environment for both air and water flow, and that the reference to clay sediments as "hydrologically safe" should to be reconsidered.

Regional and Detailed Survey for Radon Activities in Soil-Gas and Groundwater in the Okchon Zone, Korea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Je, H.-K.; Chon, H.-T.

2012-04-01

The Okchon zone in Korea provides a typical example of natural geological materials enriched in potentially toxic elements including uranium which is parent nuclide for radon gas. For the purpose of radon radioactivity risk assessment, making the map of radon risk grade from Okchon zone, regional and detailed field surveys were carried out during 3 years. The study area is located in the central part of Korea, called the Okchon zone (about 5,100 km2), which occur in a 80km wide, northeast-trending belt that extends across the Korean Peninsula. The Okchon zone is underlain by metasedimentary rocks of unknown age that are composed mainly of black slate, phyllite, shale, and limestone. The three research areas (defined as Boeun, Chungju, and Nonsan) for detailed survey were selected from the results of regional survey. Results of detailed radon survey indicated a wide range of radon activities for soil-gases (148-1,843 pCi/L) and ground waters (23-5,540 pCi/L). About 15 percent of soil-gas samples exceeded 1,000 pCi/L and 84 percent of ground water samples exceeded the MCL (maximum contaminant level) of drinking water, 300 pCi/L, which proposed by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1999. For detailed survey, radon activities of soil-gas and ground water were classified as bedrock geology, based on 1/50,000 geological map and field research. For soil-gas measurements, mean values of radon activity from black slate-shale (789 pCi/L) were highest among the other base rocks. And for groundwater measurements, mean value of radon activities were decreased in the order of granite (1,345 pCi/L) > black shale-slate (915 pCi/L) > metasediments (617 pCi/L). Result of indoor radon measurement from detailed survey areas showed that about 50% of houses exceeded the indoor guideline, 4 pCi/L. For the radon risk assessment in indoor environment showed that probability of lung cancer risk from the houses located on the granite base rock (3.0×10-2) was highest among the other base rocks. Finally, the maps of radon risk grade from detailed survey areas were developed by the application of field data and statistical simulation.

Formation and transport of deethylatrazine in the soil and vadose zone

USGS Publications Warehouse

Adams, C.D.; Thurman, E.M.

1991-01-01

Atrazine (2-chloro-4-ethylamino-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) and two degradation products were monitored at seven depths in the soil and vadose zone throughout the growing season in two experimental plots in which corn (Zea mays L.) was grown. The soils in these plots were a Kimo silty clay loam (clayey over loamy, montmorillonitic, mesic, Fluvaquentic Hapludoll) and a Eudora silt loam (course, silty, mixed, mesic, Fluventic Hapludoll). The purpose this field study was to identify and quantify the mobile and persistent degradation products of atrazine that comprise the input, or “source term,” to groundwater resulting from the application of atrazine to the soils. The formation of deethylatrazine (2-amino-4-chloro-6-isopropylamino-s-triazine) and deisopropylatrazine (2-amino-4-chloro-6-ethylamino-s-triazine) was monitored at vurious depths using suction lysimeters to determine the relative proportions at which these compounds enter the aquifer. Deethylatrazine was the major degradation product of atrazine identified in the soil water and appeared to enter the underlying aquifer at a concentration of 5.0 µg/L, which was greater than the concentration of atrazine entering the aquifer. Deisopropylatrazine also was detected in the soil water, bnt only in minor concentrations relative to atrazine and deethylatrazine. Because deethylatrazine was the major degradation product in the unsaturated zone, the deethylatrazine-to-atrazine ratio (DAR) may be a good indicator of transport of atrazine through the soil. The hypothesis is proposed that the DAR may be used to distinguish point-source from nonpoint-source contamination of an aquifer.

SUMMARY PAPER: IN SITU BIOREMEDIATION OF CONTAMINATED VADOSE ZONE SOIL

EPA Science Inventory

The Robert S. Kerr Environmental Research Laboratory (RSKERL) has developed a number of Issue Papers and Briefing Documents which are designed to exchange up-to-date information related to the remediation of contaminated soil and ground water at hazardous waste sites. In an attem...

Effect of aluminum, zinc, copper, and lead on the acid-base properties of water extracts from soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motuzova, G. V.; Makarychev, I. P.; Petrov, M. I.

2013-01-01

The potentiometric titration of water extracts from the upper horizons of taiga-zone soils by salt solutions of heavy metals (Pb, Cu, and Zn) showed that their addition is an additional source of the extract acidity because of the involvement of the metal ions in complexation with water-soluble organic substances (WSOSs). At the addition of 0.01 M water solutions of Al(NO3)3 to water extracts from soils, Al3+ ions are also involved in complexes with WSOSs, which is accompanied by stronger acidification of the extracts from the upper horizon of soddy soils (with a near-neutral reaction) than from the litter of bog-podzolic soil (with a strongly acid reaction). The effect of the Al3+ hydrolysis on the acidity of the extracts is insignificantly low in both cases. A quantitative relationship was revealed between the release of protons and the ratio of free Cu2+ ions to those complexed with WSOSs at the titration of water extracts from soils by a solution of copper salt.

From the surface to the deep critical zone: Linking soil carbon, fluid saturation and weathering rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Druhan, Jennifer; Lawrence, Corey; Oster, Jessica; Rempe, Daniella; Dietrich, William

2017-04-01

Shallow soils from a wide range of ecosystems demonstrate a clear and consistent relationship between effective fluid saturation and the rate at which organic carbon is converted to CO2. While the underlying mechanisms contributing to this dependence are diverse, a consistent pattern of maximum CO2 production at intermediate soil moisture supports a generalized functional relationship, which may be incorporated into a quantitative reactive transport framework. A key result of this model development is a prediction of the extent to which the inorganic carbon content of water in biologically active soils varies as a function of hydrologic parameters (i.e. moisture content and residence time), and in turn influences weathering reactions. Deeper in the CZ, the consistency of this relationship and the influence of hydrologically - regulated CO2 production on the rates of water - rock interaction are largely unknown. Here, we use a novel reactive transport model incorporating this functional relationship to consider how variations in the reactive potential of water entering the vadose zone influences subsurface weathering rates. We leverage two examples of variably saturated natural systems to consider (1) CO2 production and associated weathering potential regulated by seasonal hydrologic shifts and (2) the preservation of soil carbon signatures in the deep CZ over millennial timescales. First, at the Eel River CZ Observatory in Northern California, USA, a novel Vadose Zone Monitoring System (VMS) installed in a 14 - 20 m thick unsaturated section offers an unprecedented view into the physical, chemical and biological behavior of the depth profile separating soils from groundwater. Based on soil moisture, gas and fluid phase samples, we demonstrate a predictive relationship between seasonal hydrologic variations and the location and magnitude of geochemical weathering rates. Second, an environmental monitoring project in the Blue Springs Cave, Sparta, TN, USA, provides chemical and isotopic signatures of both soil and cave drip water, allowing constraint of a model for the evolution of fluid with depth through a karst system. The carbon isotope signatures of these speleothems have been suggested as a record of long term variations in CZ vegetation, soil respiration and carbon stability. Using our modeling approach, we offer a prediction of the extent to which hydrologically - driven variations in carbon respiration are converted to weathering rates in karst systems and ultimately preserved within the speleothem record. By combining this novel modeling approach with these two examples, we illustrate a quantitative framework for (1) the influence of hydro-biological coupling in shallow soils on deep weathering regimes in the Critical Zone, and (2) the preservation of these signals in the geologic record.

Ecohydrological dynamics of peatlands and adjacent upland forests in the Rocky Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Millar, D.; Parsekian, A.; Mercer, J.; Ewers, B. E.; Mackay, D. S.; Williams, D. G.; Cooper, D. J.; Ronayne, M. J.

2017-12-01

Mountain peatlands are susceptible to a changing climate via changes in the water cycle. Understanding the impacts of such changes requires knowledge of the hydrological processes within these peatlands and in the upland forests that supply them with water. We investigated hydrological processes in peatland catchments in the Rocky Mountains by developing empirical models of groundwater dynamics, and are working to improve subsurface water dynamics in a ecohydrological process model, the Terrestrial Regional Ecosystem Exchange Simulator (TREES). Results from empirical models showed major differences in water budget components between two peatlands with differing climate, vegetation, and hydrogeological settings. Several-fold higher rates of evapotranspiration from the saturated zone, and groundwater inflow were observed for a sloping fen in southern Wyoming than that of a basin fen in southwestern Colorado, where rainfall was two-fold higher due to stronger influence of the North American monsoon. We also present ongoing work coupling stable water isotope and borehole nuclear magnetic resonance analyses to test which soil water pools (bound or mobile) are used by dominant upland and peatland vegetation in two catchments in southern Wyoming. These data are being used to test whether the root hydraulic mechanisms in TREES can simulate water uptake from these two soil water pools, and sap flux measurements are being used to evaluate simulated transpiration. Preliminary results from this work suggest that upland vegetation utilize tightly-bound soil water pools, as these pools comprise the largest amount of subsurface water (> 80%) in the vadose zone long after snow melt. Conversely, it appears that herbaceous peatland hydrophytes may preferentially utilize mobile soil water pools, since their roots extend below the water table. The results of this work are expected to increase predictive understanding of hydrological processes in these important ecosystems.

Development of weathering profile of a forest hillslope in clay-rich sedimentary system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nicklas, R. W.; Kim, H.; Bishop, J. K.; Rempe, D. M.

2012-12-01

Hillslopes are an essential element to the understanding of landscape evolution, storm flow generation and biogeochemical processes. Since 2008, extensive studies of climate variables, vegetation, soil moisture, subsurface hydrology, and water chemistry have taken place at a small forested hillslope, "Rivendell", at the Angelo Coast Range Reserve located at the headwaters of the Eel River, California. Here we report on the signature of weathering processes through analysis of core and soil samples collected during well drilling campaigns. Core samples from multiple depths at four wells (at creek edge, mid-slope, up-slope, and ridge-top) were selected and include 1) soil; 2) unsaturated fractured/ weathered zone; 3) zone of seasonal water table fluctuation within weathered bedrock; and 4) chronically saturated fresh bedrock zone. We also include soil samples from a groundwater seep located at the toe of the slope. The mineralogy of these samples was identified using X-ray diffraction. Samples were analyzed for salt and Ca(Mg)CO3 concentrations, and cation exchange capacity using Milli-Q water and acetic acid extraction and BaCl2-NH4Cl treatments, respectively. To further quantify the mineral dissolution and secondary mineral precipitation, a sequential extraction of trace metals were conducted - 1) exchangeable using MgCl2; 2) bound to carbonates using NaOAc; 3) bound to Fe-Mn oxides using NH2OH HCl; and 4) bound to organic matters using H2O2 and HNO3. The total elemental contents were determined using HF-HNO3-HClO4 dissolution. The mineralogy of the fresh bedrock zone showed similar patterns throughout the site -for clay minerals, chlorite, illite, interstratified illite/smectite were dominant; K-feldspar dominated the primary minerals. Shallow (<30 cm) soils had kaolinite, and chlorite was absent in some samples. CaCO3 was also predominantly found in the fresh bedrock zone and progressively increased with depth. The depletion profile of major cations (Ca, Na, Mg, K, and Si) and trace metals (Fe, Mn and Al) show the mineral dissolution fronts. K-feldspar, chlorite and CaCO3 dissolution and secondary mineral precipitation are thus the major processes that are critical to the interpretation of groundwater chemistry.

Nitrogen loss by anaerobic ammonium oxidation in unconfined aquifer soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Shanyun; Radny, Dirk; Huang, Shuangbing; Zhuang, Linjie; Zhao, Siyan; Berg, Michael; Jetten, Mike S. M.; Zhu, Guibing

2017-01-01

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is recognized as an important process for nitrogen cycling, yet little is known about its role in the subsurface biosphere. In this study, we investigated the presence, abundance, and role of anammox bacteria in upland soil cores from Tianjin, China (20 m depth) and Basel, Switzerland (10 m depth), using isotope-tracing techniques, (q)PCR assays, and 16 S rRNA & hzsB gene clone libraries, along with nutrient profiles of soil core samples. Anammox in the phreatic (water-saturated) zone contributed to 37.5-67.6% of the N-loss (up to 0.675 gN m-2 d-1), with anammox activities of 0.005-0.74 nmolN g-1 soil h-1, which were even higher than the denitrification rates. By contrast, no significant anammox was measured in the vadose zone. Higher anammox bacterial cell densities were observed (0.75-1.4 × 107 copies g-1 soil) in the phreatic zone, where ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) maybe the major source of nitrite for anammox bacteria. The anammox bacterial cells in soils of the vadose zone were all <103 copies g-1 soil. We suggest that the subsurface provides a favorable niche for anammox bacteria whose contribution to N cycling and groundwater nitrate removal seems considerably larger than previously known.

Nitrogen loss by anaerobic ammonium oxidation in unconfined aquifer soils

PubMed Central

Wang, Shanyun; Radny, Dirk; Huang, Shuangbing; Zhuang, Linjie; Zhao, Siyan; Berg, Michael; Jetten, Mike S. M.; Zhu, Guibing

2017-01-01

Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is recognized as an important process for nitrogen cycling, yet little is known about its role in the subsurface biosphere. In this study, we investigated the presence, abundance, and role of anammox bacteria in upland soil cores from Tianjin, China (20 m depth) and Basel, Switzerland (10 m depth), using isotope-tracing techniques, (q)PCR assays, and 16 S rRNA & hzsB gene clone libraries, along with nutrient profiles of soil core samples. Anammox in the phreatic (water-saturated) zone contributed to 37.5–67.6% of the N-loss (up to 0.675 gN m−2 d−1), with anammox activities of 0.005–0.74 nmolN g−1 soil h−1, which were even higher than the denitrification rates. By contrast, no significant anammox was measured in the vadose zone. Higher anammox bacterial cell densities were observed (0.75–1.4 × 107 copies g−1 soil) in the phreatic zone, where ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) maybe the major source of nitrite for anammox bacteria. The anammox bacterial cells in soils of the vadose zone were all <103 copies g−1 soil. We suggest that the subsurface provides a favorable niche for anammox bacteria whose contribution to N cycling and groundwater nitrate removal seems considerably larger than previously known. PMID:28071702

Assessment of Hyporheic Zone, Flood-Plain, Soil-Gas, Soil, and Surface-Water Contamination at the McCoys Creek Chemical Training Area, Fort Gordon, Georgia, 2009-2010

USGS Publications Warehouse

Guimaraes, Wladmir B.; Falls, W. Fred; Caldwell, Andral W.; Ratliff, W. Hagan; Wellborn, John B.; Landmeyer, James E.

2011-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of the Army Environmental and Natural Resources Management Office of the U.S. Army Signal Center and Fort Gordon, Georgia, assessed the hyporheic zone, flood plain, soil gas, soil, and surface water for contaminants at the McCoys Creek Chemical Training Area (MCTA) at Fort Gordon, from October 2009 to September 2010. The assessment included the detection of organic contaminants in the hyporheic zone, flood plain, soil gas, and surface water. In addition, the organic contaminant assessment included the analysis of organic compounds classified as explosives and chemical agents in selected areas. Inorganic contaminants were assessed in soil and surface-water samples. The assessment was conducted to provide environmental contamination data to the U.S. Army at Fort Gordon pursuant to requirements of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Part B Hazardous Waste Permit process. Ten passive samplers were deployed in the hyporheic zone and flood plain, and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) and octane were detected above the method detection level in every sampler. Other organic compounds detected above the method detection level in the hyporheic zone and flood-plain samplers were trichloroethylene, and cis- and trans- 1, 2-dichloroethylene. One trip blank detected TPH below the method detection level but above the nondetection level. The concentrations of TPH in the samplers were many times greater than the concentrations detected in the blank; therefore, all other TPH concentrations detected are considered to represent environmental conditions. Seventy-one soil-gas samplers were deployed in a grid pattern across the MCTA. Three trip blanks and three method blanks were used and not deployed, and TPH was detected above the method detection level in two trip blanks and one method blank. Detection of TPH was observed at all 71 samplers, but because TPH was detected in the trip and method blanks, TPH was censored and, therefore, only 7 of the 71 samplers were reported as detecting TPH. In addition, benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and total xylene were detected above the method detection level in 22 samplers. Other compounds detected above the method detection level included naphthalene, octane, undecane, tridecane, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, trichloroethylene, perchloroethylene, chloroform, and 1,4-dichlorobenzene. Subsequent to the soil-gas survey, five locations with elevated contaminant mass were selected and a passive sampler was deployed at those locations to detect the presence of organic compounds classified as explosives or chemical agents. No explosives or chemical agents were detected above the method detection level, but some compounds were detected below the method detection level but above the nondetection level. Dimethyl disulfide, benzothiazole, chloroacetophenones, and para-chlorophenyl methyl sulfide were all detected below the method detection level but above the nondetection level. The compounds 2,4-dinitrotoluene, and para-chlorophenyl methyl sulfone were detected in samplers but also were detected in trip blanks and are not considered as present in the MCTA. The same five locations that were selected for sampling of explosives and chemical agents were selected for soil sampling. Metal concentrations in composite soil samples collected at five locations from land surface to a depth of 6 inches did not exceed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Screening Levels for Industrial Soil. Concentrations in some compounds were higher than the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control background levels for nearby South Carolina, including aluminum, arsenic, barium, beryllium, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, nickel, and potassium. A surface-water sample was collected from McCoys Creek and analyzed for volatile organic compounds, semivolatile organic compounds, and inorganic compounds (metals). No volatile organic compounds and (or) semivolatile organic compounds were detected at levels above the maximum contaminant level of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) National Primary Drinking Water Standard, and no inorganic compounds exceeded the maximum contaminant level of the USEPA National Primary Drinking Water Standard or the Georgia In-Stream Water-Quality Standard. Iron was the only inorganic compound detected in the surface-water sample (578 micrograms per liter) that exceeded the USEPA National Secondary Drinking Water Standard of 300 micrograms per liter.

Testing a full‐range soil‐water retention function in modeling water potential and temperature

USGS Publications Warehouse

Andraski, Brian J.; Jacobson, Elizabeth A.

2000-01-01

Recent work has emphasized development of full‐range water‐retention functions that are applicable under both wet and dry soil conditions, but evaluation of such functions in numerical modeling has been limited. Here we show that simulations using the Rossi‐Nimmo (RN) full‐range function compared favorably with those using the common Brooks‐Corey function and that the RN function can improve prediction of water potentials in near‐surface soil, particularly under dry conditions. Simulations using the RN function also improved prediction of temperatures throughout the soil profile. Such improvements could be important for calculations of liquid and vapor flow in near‐surface soils and in deep unsaturated zones of arid and semiarid regions.

Understanding Dynamic Soil Water Repellency and its Hydrological Implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beatty, S. M.; Smith, J. E.

2009-05-01

The adverse effects of water repellent soils on vadose zone hydrology are being increasingly identified worldwide in both rural and urban landscapes. Among the affected landscapes are agricultural fields, forests, effluent application sites, golf greens, wetlands, and wildfire sites. In spite of cross-discipline research efforts put forth in recent years, understanding of fundamental parameters controlling soil water behaviour in these systems is lacking. This is due, in part, to inherent complexities of water repellent soil systems and logistical shortcomings of methods commonly used by researchers in-situ and in the lab. As a result, modeling flow in these systems has further proven to be a difficult task. The objectives of our study were 1) to systematically measure and quantify water infiltration and distribution in dynamic water repellent systems and 2) to identify fundamental hydraulic behaviours that lead to the expression of changes in soil water repellency. To achieve this, we combined techniques to elucidate soil- water interactions at a post-wildfire site. Field tests and subsequent lab work reveal essential hydrological information on fire-affected water repellent soils at variable scales and under different burn conditions. Through the use of traditional and newer techniques, our work shows unique and previously unreported behaviour of soil water in these systems. We also address limitations of current field methods used to study repellency and associated infiltration behaviours.

Infinite slope stability under steady unsaturated seepage conditions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan W.

2008-01-01

We present a generalized framework for the stability of infinite slopes under steady unsaturated seepage conditions. The analytical framework allows the water table to be located at any depth below the ground surface and variation of soil suction and moisture content above the water table under steady infiltration conditions. The framework also explicitly considers the effect of weathering and porosity increase near the ground surface on changes in the friction angle of the soil. The factor of safety is conceptualized as a function of the depth within the vadose zone and can be reduced to the classical analytical solution for subaerial infinite slopes in the saturated zone. Slope stability analyses with hypothetical sandy and silty soils are conducted to illustrate the effectiveness of the framework. These analyses indicate that for hillslopes of both sandy and silty soils, failure can occur above the water table under steady infiltration conditions, which is consistent with some field observations that cannot be predicted by the classical infinite slope theory. A case study of shallow slope failures of sandy colluvium on steep coastal hillslopes near Seattle, Washington, is presented to examine the predictive utility of the proposed framework.

Dynamic surface water-groundwater exchange and nitrogen transport in the riparian aquifer of a tidal river

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sawyer, A. H.; Barnes, R.; Wallace, C.; Knights, D.; Tight, D.; Bayer, M.

2017-12-01

Tides in coastal rivers can propagate tens to hundreds of kilometers inland and drive large daily changes in water and nitrogen exchange across the sediment-water interface. We use field observations and numerical models to illuminate hydrodynamic controls on nitrogen export from the riparian aquifer to a fresh, tidal reach of White Clay Creek (Delaware, USA). In the banks, an aerobic zone with high groundwater nitrate concentrations occurs near the fluctuating water table. Continuous depth-resolved measurements of redox potential suggest that this zone is relatively stable over tidal timescales but moves up or down in response to storms. The main source of dissolved oxygen is soil air that is imbibed in the zone of water table fluctuations, and the source of nitrate is likely nitrification of ammonium produced locally from the mineralization of organic matter in floodplain soils. Much of the nitrate is removed by denitrification along oscillating flow paths towards the channel. Within centimeters of the sediment-water interface, denitrification is limited by the mixing of groundwater with oxygen-rich river water. Our models predict that the benthic zones of tidal rivers play an important role in removing new nitrate inputs from discharging groundwater but may be less effective at removing nitrate from river water. Nitrate removal and production rates are expected to vary significantly along tidal rivers as permeability, organic matter content, tidal range vary. It is imperative that we understand nitrogen dynamics along tidal rivers and their role in nitrogen export to the coast.

CMI Remedy Selection for HE- and Barium-Contaminated Vadose Zone and Alluvium at LANL

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hickmott, D.; Reid, K.; Pietz, J.; Ware, D.

2008-12-01

A high explosives (HE) machining building outfall at Los Alamos National Laboratory's Technical Area 16 discharged millions of gallons of HE- and barium-contaminated water into the Canon de Valle watershed. The effluent contaminated surface soils, the alluvial aquifer, vadose zone waters, and deep-perched and regional groundwaters with HE and barium, frequently at levels greater than regulatory standards. Site characterization studies began in 1995 and included extensive monitoring of surface water, groundwater, soils, and subsurface solid media. Hydrogeologic and geophysical studies were conducted to help understand contaminant transport mechanisms and pathways. Results from the characterization studies were used to develop a site conceptual model. In 2000 the principal source area was removed. The ongoing Corrective Measure Study (CMS) and Corrective Measure Implementation (CMI) focus on residual vadose zone contamination and on the contaminated alluvial system. Regulators recently selected a CMI remedy that combined: 1) augmented source removal; 2) grouting of an HE- contaminated surge bed; 3) deployment of Stormwater Management System (SMS) stormfilters in contaminated springs; and 4) permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) in contaminated alluvium. The hydrogeologic conceptual model for the vadose zone and alluvial system as well as the status of the canyon as habitat for the Mexican Spotted Owl were key factors in selection of these minimal-environmental-impact remedies. The heterogeneous vadose zone, characterized by flow and contaminant transport in fractures and in surge beds, requires contaminant treatment at a point of discharge. The canyon PRB is being installed to capture water and contaminants prior to infiltration into the vadose zone. Pilot-scale testing of the SMS and lab-scale batch and column tests of a range of media suggest that granular activated carbon, zeolite, and gypsum may be effective media for removal of HE and/or barium from contaminated waters.

Using Opposing Slope Aspects to Understand Water and Energy Flow Controls on Critical Zone Architecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, S. P.; Barnhart, K. R.; Kelly, P. K.; Foster, M. A.; Langston, A. L.

2014-12-01

A long-standing problem is to understand how climate controls the structure of the critical zone, including the depth of weathering, thickness and character of soils, and morphology of hillslopes. We exploit microclimates on opposing aspects in a watershed in the Boulder Creek CZO to investigate the role of water and energy fluxes on development of critical zone architectures. The 2.6 km2 Gordon Gulch, located at ~2500 m a.s.l. at 40°N latitude, is elongated east-west, and consequently is predominantly composed of north and south-facing soil-mantled slopes, dotted with tors, developed on Precambrian gneiss. The depth to fresh rock ranges from about 8 to 12 m, and is up to 2 m deeper on north-facing slopes. In addition to greater thickness, weathered rock is measurably lower in tensile strength on north-facing slopes. While characteristics of weathered rock vary with aspect, the overlying mobile regolith is relatively uniform in thickness at ~0.5 m across the catchment, and its mineralogy shows only minor chemical alteration from parent rock. These features of the critical zone architecture arise in the face of systematic differences in energy and water delivery by aspect. About 40-50% of the ~500 mm annual precipitation is delivered as snow. During spring, the south-facing slopes receive up to 50% greater direct solar radiation than the north-facing slopes. Consequently, snow cover is ephemeral in the open Ponderosa forests on south-facing slopes, and soil wetting and drying events are frequent. Frost penetration is shallow, and short lived. On north-facing slopes, less direct radiation and a dense Lodgepole pine forest cover leads to snowpack retention. Soils are colder and soil moisture stays elevated for long periods in spring on these slopes. We postulate that deeper and more sustained frost penetration on north-facing slopes enhances the damage rate by frost cracking. Deeper water delivery further aids this process, and supports chemical alteration processes. The uniformity of mobile regolith depths suggests equal mobility on these slopes despite differing conditions.

Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Show More Distinct Biogeographic Distribution Patterns than Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria across the Black Soil Zone of Northeast China.

PubMed

Liu, Junjie; Yu, Zhenhua; Yao, Qin; Sui, Yueyu; Shi, Yu; Chu, Haiyan; Tang, Caixian; Franks, Ashley E; Jin, Jian; Liu, Xiaobing; Wang, Guanghua

2018-01-01

Black soils (Mollisols) of northeast China are highly productive and agriculturally important for food production. Ammonia-oxidizing microbes play an important role in N cycling in the black soils. However, the information related to the composition and distribution of ammonia-oxidizing microbes in the black soils has not yet been addressed. In this study, we used the amoA gene to quantify the abundance and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) across the black soil zone. The amoA abundance of AOA was remarkably larger than that of AOB, with ratios of AOA/AOB in the range from 3.1 to 91.0 across all soil samples. The abundance of AOA amoA was positively correlated with total soil C content ( p < 0.001) but not with soil pH ( p > 0.05). In contrast, the abundance of AOB amoA positively correlated with soil pH ( p = 0.009) but not with total soil C. Alpha diversity of AOA did not correlate with any soil parameter, however, alpha diversity of AOB was affected by multiple soil factors, such as soil pH, total P, N, and C, available K content, and soil water content. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the AOA community was mainly affected by the sampling latitude, followed by soil pH, total P and C; while the AOB community was mainly determined by soil pH, as well as total P, C and N, water content, and sampling latitude, which highlighted that the AOA community was more geographically distributed in the black soil zone of northeast China than AOB community. In addition, the pairwise analyses showed that the potential nitrification rate (PNR) was not correlated with alpha diversity but weakly positively with the abundance of the AOA community ( p = 0.048), whereas PNR significantly correlated positively with the richness ( p = 0.003), diversity ( p = 0.001) and abundance ( p < 0.001) of the AOB community, which suggested that AOB community might make a greater contribution to nitrification than AOA community in the black soils when ammonium is readily available.

Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaea Show More Distinct Biogeographic Distribution Patterns than Ammonia-Oxidizing Bacteria across the Black Soil Zone of Northeast China

PubMed Central

Liu, Junjie; Yu, Zhenhua; Yao, Qin; Sui, Yueyu; Shi, Yu; Chu, Haiyan; Tang, Caixian; Franks, Ashley E.; Jin, Jian; Liu, Xiaobing; Wang, Guanghua

2018-01-01

Black soils (Mollisols) of northeast China are highly productive and agriculturally important for food production. Ammonia-oxidizing microbes play an important role in N cycling in the black soils. However, the information related to the composition and distribution of ammonia-oxidizing microbes in the black soils has not yet been addressed. In this study, we used the amoA gene to quantify the abundance and community composition of ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) across the black soil zone. The amoA abundance of AOA was remarkably larger than that of AOB, with ratios of AOA/AOB in the range from 3.1 to 91.0 across all soil samples. The abundance of AOA amoA was positively correlated with total soil C content (p < 0.001) but not with soil pH (p > 0.05). In contrast, the abundance of AOB amoA positively correlated with soil pH (p = 0.009) but not with total soil C. Alpha diversity of AOA did not correlate with any soil parameter, however, alpha diversity of AOB was affected by multiple soil factors, such as soil pH, total P, N, and C, available K content, and soil water content. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that the AOA community was mainly affected by the sampling latitude, followed by soil pH, total P and C; while the AOB community was mainly determined by soil pH, as well as total P, C and N, water content, and sampling latitude, which highlighted that the AOA community was more geographically distributed in the black soil zone of northeast China than AOB community. In addition, the pairwise analyses showed that the potential nitrification rate (PNR) was not correlated with alpha diversity but weakly positively with the abundance of the AOA community (p = 0.048), whereas PNR significantly correlated positively with the richness (p = 0.003), diversity (p = 0.001) and abundance (p < 0.001) of the AOB community, which suggested that AOB community might make a greater contribution to nitrification than AOA community in the black soils when ammonium is readily available. PMID:29497404

Electroosmosis remediation of DNAPLS in low permeability soils

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Ho, S V.

1996-08-01

Electroosmosis is the movement of water through a soil matrix induced by a direct current (DC) electric field. The technique has been used since the 1930s for dewatering and stabilizing fine-grained soils. More recently, electroosmosis has been considered as an in-situ method for soil remediation in which water is injected into the soil at the anode region to flush the contaminants to the cathode side for further treatment or disposal. The major advantage of electroosmosis is its inherent ability to move water uniformly through clayey, silty soils at 100 to 1000 times faster than attainable by hydraulic means, and withmore » very low energy usage. Drawbacks of electroosmosis as a stand-alone technology include slow speed, reliance on solubilizing the contaminants into the groundwater for removal, potentially an unstable process for long term operation, and necessary additional treatment and disposal of the collected liquid. Possible remediation applications of electroosmosis for DNAPLs would be primarily in the removal of residual DNAPLs in the soil pores by electroosmotic flushing. The future of electroosmosis as a broad remedial method lies in how well it can be coupled with complementary technologies. Examples include combining electroosmosis with vacuum extraction, with surfactant usage to deal with non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) through enhanced solubilization or mobilization, with permeability enhancing methods (hydrofracturing, pneumatic fracturing, etc.) to create recovery zones, and with in-situ degradation zones to eliminate aboveground treatment. 33 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.« less

Linking Water Table Dynamics to Carbon Cycling in Artificial Soil Column Incubations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geertje, Pronk; Adrian, Mellage; Tatjana, Milojevic; Fereidoun, Rezanezhad; Cappellen Philippe, Van

2016-04-01

The biogeochemistry of wetlands soils is closely tied to their hydrology. Water table fluctuations that cause flooding and drying of these systems may lead to enhanced degradation of organic matter and release of greenhouse gasses (e.g. CO2, CH4) to the atmosphere. However, predicting the influence of water table fluctuations on the biogeochemical functioning of soils requires an understanding of the interactions of soil hydrology with biogeochemical and microbial processes. To determine the effects of water table dynamics on carbon cycling, we are carrying out state-of-the-art automated soil column experiments with fully integrated monitoring of hydro-bio-geophysical process variables under both constant and oscillating water table conditions. An artificial, homogeneous mixture consisting of minerals and organic matter is used to provide a well-defined starting material. The artificial soils are composed of quartz sand, montmorillonite, goethite and humus from a forested riparian zone, from which we also extracted the microbial inoculum added to the soil mixture. The artificial soils are packed into 60 cm high, 7.5 cm wide columns. In the currently ongoing experiment, three replicate columns are incubated while keeping the water table constant water at mid-depth, while another three columns alternate between drained and saturated conditions. Micro-sensors installed at different depths below the soil surface record time-series redox potentials (Eh) varying between oxidizing (~+700 mV) and reducing (~-200 mV) conditions. Continuous O2 levels throughout the soil columns are monitored using high-resolution, luminescence-based, Multi Fiber Optode (MuFO) microsensors. Pore waters are collected periodically with MicroRhizon samplers from different depths, and analyzed for pH, EC, dissolved inorganic and organic carbon and ion/cation compositions. These measurements allow us to track the changes in pore water geochemistry and relate them to differences in carbon cycling between the contrasting water table regimes. Particular attention is given to the mobilization and redistribution of iron from the initially homogeneously distributed goethite. In addition, small solid-phase samples are collected monthly from the saturated and unsaturated zones of the soil columns to characterize the microbial communities and changes in soil microstructure and organo-mineral associations. Headspace gas measurements are used to derive the effluxes of CO2 and CH4 during the experiment. Together, the experimental data will provide a comprehensive picture of the early development of the soil and the accompanying establishment of biogeochemical gradients under dynamic hydrological conditions. They will allow us to relate the degradation of soil organic matter and greenhouse gas emissions to the saturation conditions and redox chemistry under controlled conditions. The experiment is in progress with an expected total duration of 6 months.

Long-Term Soil Experiments: A Key to Managing Earth's Rapidly Changing Critical Zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Richter, D., Jr.

2014-12-01

In a few decades, managers of Earth's Critical Zones (biota, humans, land, and water) will be challenged to double food and fiber production and diminish adverse effects of management on the wider environment. To meet these challenges, an array of scientific approaches is being used to increase understanding of Critical Zone functioning and evolution, and one amongst these approaches needs to be long-term soil field studies to move us beyond black boxing the belowground Critical Zone, i.e., to further understanding of processes driving changes in the soil environment. Long-term soil experiments (LTSEs) provide direct observations of soil change and functioning across time scales of decades, data critical for biological, biogeochemical, and environmental assessments of sustainability; for predictions of soil fertility, productivity, and soil-environment interactions; and for developing models at a wide range of temporal and spatial scales. Unfortunately, LTSEs globally are not in a good state, and they take years to mature, are vulnerable to loss, and even today remain to be fully inventoried. Of the 250 LTSEs in a web-based network, results demonstrate that soils and belowground Critical Zones are highly dynamic and responsive to human management. The objective of this study is to review the contemporary state of LTSEs and consider how they contribute to three open questions: (1) can soils sustain a doubling of food production in the coming decades without further impinging on the wider environment, (2) how do soils interact with the global C cycle, and (3) how can soil management establish greater control over nutrient cycling. While LTSEs produce significant data and perspectives for all three questions, there is on-going need and opportunity for reviews of the long-term soil-research base, for establishment of an efficiently run network of LTSEs aimed at sustainability and improving management control over C and nutrient cycling, and for research teams that provide for generation to generation transfer of new and historic LTSEs.

Impact of water quality and irrigation management on soil salinization in the Drâa valley of Morocco.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beff, L.; Descamps, C.; Dufey, J.; Bielders, C.

2009-04-01

Under the arid climatic conditions of the Drâa valley in southern Morocco, irrigation is essential for crop production. Two sources of water are available to farmers: (1) moderate salinity water from the Oued Drâa (classified as C3-S1 in the USDA irrigation water classification diagram) which is available only a few times per year following discrete releases from the Mansour Eddahbi dam, and (2) high salinity water from wells (C4-S2). Soil salinization is frequently observed, principally on plots irrigated with well water. As Oued water is available in insufficient amounts, strategies must be devised to use well and Oued water judiciously, without inducing severe salinization. The salinization risk under wheat production was evaluated using the HP1 program (Jacques and Šimůnek, 2005) for different combinations of the two main water sources, different irrigation frequencies and irrigation volumes. The soil was a sandy clay loam (topsoil) to sandy loam (40 cm depth). Soil hydrodynamic properties were derived from in situ measurements and lab measurements on undisturbed soil samples. The HP1 model was parameterized for wheat growth and 12 scenarios were run for 10 year periods using local climatic data. Water quality was measured or estimated on the basis of water samples in wells and various Oueds, and the soil chemical properties were determined. Depending on the scenario, soil salinity in the mean root zone increased from less than 1 meq/100g of soil to more than 5 meq/100g of soil over a ten year period. Salt accumulation was more pronounced at 45 cm soil depth, which is half of the maximum rooting depth, and when well water was preferentially used. Maximum crop yield (water transpired / potential water transpired) was achieved for five scenarios but this implied the use of well water to satisfy the crop water requirements. The usual Drâa Valley irrigation scenario, with five, 84 mm dam water applications per year, lead to a 25% yield loss. Adding the amount of well water needed to satisfy the crop water requirements as well as the leaching requirement had the lowest impact on soil salinization but resulted in a very low water use efficiency of 0.2 (water transpired / water added). This demonstrates the importance of using larger amounts of water than plant water requirements in this region in order to leach out salt of the root zone. However, in arid region, water is often limited and thus farmers can not afford to waste it. In that case, it is necessary to find a compromise between salinization, sodification and saving water. References: Jacques D., Šimůnek J. (2005). User Manual of the Multicomponent Variably-Saturated Flow and Transport Model HP1. Waste and Disposal Department, Mol, Belgium. USDA, United States Department of Agriculture (1969). Diagnosis and Improvement of Saline and Alkali Soils. United States Salinity Laboratory Staff, Agriculture Handbook No. 60, 160p.

Estimating soil matric potential in Owens Valley, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sorenson, Stephen K.; Miller, R.F.; Welch, M.R.; Groeneveld, D.P.; Branson, F.A.

1988-01-01

Much of the floor of the Owens Valley, California, is covered with alkaline scrub and alkaline meadow plant communities, whose existence is dependent partly on precipitation and partly on water infiltrated into the rooting zone from the shallow water table. The extent to which these plant communities are capable of adapting to and surviving fluctuations in the water table depends on physiological adaptations of the plants and on the water content, matric potential characteristics of the soils. Two methods were used to estimate soil matric potential in test sites in Owens Valley. The first was the filter-paper method, which uses water content of filter papers equilibrated to water content of soil samples taken with a hand auger. The other method of estimating soil matric potential was a modeling approach based on data from this and previous investigations. These data indicate that the base 10 logarithm of soil matric potential is a linear function of gravimetric soil water content for a particular soil. Estimates of soil water characteristic curves were made at two sites by averaging the gravimetric soil water content and soil matric potential values from multiple samples at 0.1 m depths derived by using the hand auger and filter paper method and entering these values in the soil water model. The characteristic curves then were used to estimate soil matric potential from estimates of volumetric soil water content derived from neutron-probe readings. Evaluation of the modeling technique at two study sites indicated that estimates of soil matric potential within 0.5 pF units of the soil matric potential value derived by using the filter paper method could be obtained 90 to 95% of the time in soils where water content was less than field capacity. The greatest errors occurred at depths where there was a distinct transition between soils of different textures. (Lantz-PTT)

Monitoring snowmelt and solute transport at Oslo airport by combining time-lapse electrical resistivity, soil water sampling and tensiometer measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bloem, E.; French, H. K.

2013-12-01

Monitoring contaminant transport at contaminated sites requires optimization of the configuration of a limited number of samplings points combined with heterogeneous flow and preferential flowpaths. Especially monitoring processes in the unsaturated zone is a major challenge due to the limited volume monitored by for example suction cups and their risk to clog in a highly active degradation zone. To make progress on soil contamination assessment and site characterization there is a strong need to integrate field-sale extensively instrumented tools, with non-invasive (geophysical) methods which provide spatially integrated measurements also in the unsaturated zone. Examples of sites that might require monitoring activities in the unsaturated zone are airports with winter frost where large quantities of de-icing chemicals are used each winter; salt and contaminant infiltration along roads; constructed infiltration systems for treatment of sewerage or landfill seepage. Electrical resistivity methods have proved to be useful as an indirect measurement of subsurface properties and processes at the field-scale. The non-uniqueness of the interpretation techniques can be reduced by constraining the inversion through the addition of independent geophysical measurements along the same profile. Or interpretation and understanding of geophysical images can be improved by the combination with classical measurements of soil physical properties, soil suction, contaminant concentration and temperatures. In our experiment, at the research field station at Gardermoen, Oslo airport, we applied a degradable de-icing chemical and an inactive tracer to the snow cover prior to snowmelt. To study the solute transport processes in the unsaturated zone time-lapse cross borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) measurements were conducted at the same time as soil water samples were extracted at multiple depths with suction cups. Measurements of soil temperature, and soil tension were also carried out during the monitoring period. We present a selection of results from the snowmelt experiments and how the combination of measurement techniques can help interpret and understand the relative importance of the various contributions to the bulk electrical conductivity during snowmelt and solute transport.

A comprehensive guide for designing more efficient irrigation systems with respect to application control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khaddam, Issam; Schuetze, Niels

2017-04-01

The worldwide water scarcity problems are expected to aggravate due to the increasing population and the need to produce more food. Irrigated agriculture is considered the highest consumer of fresh water resources with a rate exceeds 70% of global consumption. Consequently, an improvement in the efficiency of all irrigation methods, such as furrow or drip irrigation, becomes more necessary and urgent. Therefore, a more precise knowledge about soil water distribution in the root zone and the water balance components is required. For this purpose and as a part of the SAPHIR project (Saxonian Platform for high Performance Irrigation), a 2D simulation- based study was performed with virtual field conditions. The study investigates the most important design parameters of many irrigation systems, such as irrigation intensity and duration, and shows there influence on the water distribution efficiency. Furthermore, three main soil textures are used to test the impact of the soil hydraulic properties on irrigation effectiveness. A numerous number of irrigation scenarios of each irrigation system was simulated using HYDRUS 2D. Thereafter, the results were digitally calculated, compiled and made available online in the so called "Irrigation Atlases". The irrigation atlases provide graphical results of the soil moisture and pressure head distributions in the root zone. Moreover, they contain detailed information of the water balance for all simulated scenarios. The most studies evaluate the irrigation water demands on local, regional or global scales and for that an efficient water distribution is required. In this context, the irrigation atlases can serve as a valuable tool for the implementation of planned irrigation measures.

Reconnaissance investigation of petroleum products in soil and ground water at Longmire, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, 1990

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sumioka, S.S.

1995-01-01

The removal of an underground waste-oil storage tank in Mount Rainier National Park, at Longmire, Washington, led to the discovery that soil surrounding the tank was saturated with unidentified petroleum hydrocarbons. Subsequent investigations by the National Park Service indicated that a petroleum product smelling like diesel oil was present in the unsaturated zone as far as 120 feet from the tank site. A study was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the National Park Service to determine the extent to which the petroleum hydrocarbons have affected the unsaturated zone and ground water in the Longmire area. Measurements of water levels in wells and of water-surface elevations of the Nisqually River and a wetland west of Longmire indicate that ground water does not flow from the maintenance area to the river or to the wetland. Waste oil and diesel oil were detected in soil samples from the site closest to the waste-oil storage-tank site. Diesel oil was also detected in samples from a site about 200 feet northwest of the storage-tank site. Organic compounds of undetermined origin were detected in soil samples from all of the other sites. Waste oil was not conclusively detected in any of the ground-water samples. Diesel oil was detected in water samples from the well closest to the storage tank and from a well about 200 feet west of the storage-tank site. Ground-water samples from all of the other wells contained organic compounds of undetermined origin.

A vadose zone water fluxmeter with divergence control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gee, G. W.; Ward, A. L.; Caldwell, T. G.; Ritter, J. C.

2002-08-01

Unsaturated water flux densities are needed to quantify water and contaminant transfer within the vadose zone. However, water flux densities are seldom measured directly and often are predicted with uncertainties of an order or magnitude or more. A water fluxmeter was designed, constructed, and tested to directly measure drainage fluxes in field soils. The fluxmeter was designed to minimize divergence. It concentrates flow into a narrow sensing region filled with a fiberglass wick. The wick applies suction, proportional to its length, and passively drains the meter. The meter can be installed in an augured borehole at almost any depth below the root zone. Water flux through the meter is measured with a self-calibrating tipping bucket, with a sensitivity of ~4 mL tip-1. For our meter this is equivalent to detection limit of ~0.1 mm. Passive-wick devices previously have not properly corrected for flow divergence. Laboratory measurements supported predictions of a two-dimensional (2-D) numerical model, which showed that control of the collector height H and knowledge of soil hydraulic properties are required for improving divergence control, particularly at fluxes below 1000 mm yr-1. The water fluxmeter is simple in concept, is inexpensive, and has the capability of providing continuous and reliable monitoring of unsaturated water fluxes ranging from less than 1 mm yr-1 to more than 1000 mm yr-1.

A vadose zone water fluxmeter with divergence control

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gee, G.W.; Ward, A.L.; Caldwell, T.G.; Ritter, J.C.

2002-01-01

Unsaturated water flux densities are needed to quantify water and contaminant transfer within the vadose zone. However, water flux densities are seldom measured directly and often are predicted with uncertainties of an order or magnitude or more. A water fluxmeter was designed, constructed, and tested to directly measure drainage fluxes in field soils. The fluxmeter was designed to minimize divergence. It concentrates flow into a narrow sensing region filled with a fiberglass wick. The wick applies suction, proportional to its length, and passively drains the meter. The meter can be installed in an augured borehole at almost any depth below the root zone. Water flux through the meter is measured with a self‐calibrating tipping bucket, with a sensitivity of ∼4 mL tip−1. For our meter this is equivalent to detection limit of ∼0.1 mm. Passive‐wick devices previously have not properly corrected for flow divergence. Laboratory measurements supported predictions of a two‐dimensional (2‐D) numerical model, which showed that control of the collector height H and knowledge of soil hydraulic properties are required for improving divergence control, particularly at fluxes below 1000 mm yr−1. The water fluxmeter is simple in concept, is inexpensive, and has the capability of providing continuous and reliable monitoring of unsaturated water fluxes ranging from less than 1 mm yr−1 to more than 1000 mm yr−1.

Monitoring of Nitrate and Pesticide Pollution in Mnasra, Morocco Soil and Groundwater.

PubMed

Marouane, Bouchra; Dahchour, Abdelmalek; Dousset, Sylvie; El Hajjaji, Souad

2015-06-01

This study evaluates the levels of nitrates and pesticides occurring in groundwater and agricultural soil in the Mnasra, Morocco area, a zone with intensive agricultural activity. A set of 108 water samples and 68 soil samples were collected from ten selected sites in the area during agricultural seasons, from May 2010 to September 2012. The results reveal that 89.7% of water samples exceeded the standard limit of nitrate concentrations for groundwater (50 mg/L). These results can be explained by the prevailing sandy nature of the soil in the area, the frequency of fertilizer usage, and the shallow level of the water table, which favors the leaching of nitrate from field to groundwater. In contrast, the selected pesticide molecules were not detected in the analysed soil and water samples; levels were below the quantification limit in all samples. This situation could be explained by the probable partial or total transformation of the molecules in soil.

A thermal-based remote sensing modeling system for estimating evapotranspiration from field to global scales

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Thermal-infrared remote sensing of land surface temperature provides valuable information for quantifying root-zone water availability, evapotranspiration (ET) and crop condition. This paper describes a robust but relatively simple thermal-based energy balance model that parameterizes the key soil/s...

Pilot-scale vadose zone microbial biobarriers removed nitrate leaching from a cattle corral

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

activities that involve animal wastes can result in the contamination of subsurface soils by nitrates. In saturated or nearly saturated soils microbial biobarriers are a common method used to remove contaminants from water. This field study was conducted beneath a cattle pen in northeast Colorado a...

Complex terrain in the Critical Zone: How topography drives ecohydrological patterns of soil and plant carbon exchange in a semiarid mountainous system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Barron-Gafford, G.; Minor, R. L.; Heard, M. M.; Sutter, L. F.; Yang, J.; Potts, D. L.

2015-12-01

The southwestern U.S. is predicted to experience increasing temperatures and longer periods of inter-storm drought. High temperature and water deficit restrict plant productivity and ecosystem functioning, but the influence of future climate is predicted to be highly heterogeneous because of the complex terrain characteristic of much of the Critical Zone (CZ). Within our Critical Zone Observatory (CZO) in the Southwestern US, we monitor ecosystem-scale carbon and water fluxes using eddy covariance. This whole-ecosystem metric is a powerful integrating measure of ecosystem function over time, but details on spatial heterogeneity resulting from topographic features of the landscape are not captured, nor are interactions among below- and aboveground processes. We supplement eddy covariance monitoring with distributed measures of carbon flux from soil and vegetation across different aspects to quantify the causes and consequences of spatial heterogeneity through time. Given that (i) aspect influences how incoming energy drives evaporative water loss and (ii) seasonality drives temporal patterns of soil moisture recharge, we were able to examine the influence of these processes on CO2 efflux by investigating variation across aspect. We found that aspect was a significant source of spatial heterogeneity in soil CO2 efflux, but the influence varied across seasonal periods. Snow on South-facing aspects melted earlier and yielded higher efflux rates in the spring. However, during summer, North- and South-facing aspects had similar amounts of soil moisture, but soil temperatures were warmer on the North-facing aspect, yielding greater rates of CO2 efflux. Interestingly, aspect did not influence photosynthetic rates. Taken together, we found that physical features of the landscape yielded predictable patterns of levels and phenologies of soil moisture and temperature, but these drivers differentially influenced below- and aboveground sources of carbon exchange. Conducting these spatially distributed measurements are time consuming. Looking forward, we have begun using unmanned aerial vehicles outfitted with thermal and multi-spectral cameras to quantify patterns of water flux, NDVI, needle browning due to moisture stress, and overall phenology in the CZ.

Airborne Detection of Cosmic-Ray Albedo Neutrons for Regional-Scale Surveys of Root-Zone Soil Water on Earth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schrön, M.; Bannehr, L.; Köhli, M.; Zreda, M. G.; Weimar, J.; Zacharias, S.; Oswald, S. E.; Bumberger, J.; Samaniego, L. E.; Schmidt, U.; Zieger, P.; Dietrich, P.

2017-12-01

While the detection of albedo neutrons from cosmic rays became a standard method in planetary space science, airborne neutron sensing has never been conceived for hydrological research on Earth. We assessed the applicability of atmospheric neutrons to sense root-zone soil moisture averaged over tens of hectares using neutron detectors on an airborne vehicle. Large-scale quantification of near-surface water content is an urgent challenge in hydrology. Information about soil and plant water is crucial to accurately assess the risks for floods and droughts, to adjust regional weather forecasts, and to calibrate and validate the corresponding models. However, there is a lack of data at scales relevant for these applications. Most conventional ground-based geophysical instruments provide root-zone soil moisture only within a few tens of m2, while electromagnetic signals from conventional remote-sensing instruments can only penetrate the first few centimeters below surface, though at larger spatial areas.In the last couple of years, stationary and roving neutron detectors have been used to sense the albedo component of cosmic-ray neutrons, which represents the average water content within 10—15 hectares and 10—50 cm depth. However, the application of these instruments is limited by inaccessible terrain and interfering local effects from roads. To overcome these limitations, we have pioneered first simulations and experiments of such sensors in the field of airborne geophysics. Theoretical investigations have shown that the footprint increases substantially with height above ground, while local effects smooth out throughout the whole area. Campaigns with neutron detectors mounted on a lightweight gyrocopter have been conducted over areas of various landuse types including agricultural fields, urban areas, forests, flood plains, and lakes. The neutron signal showed influence of soil moisture patterns in heights of up to 180 m above ground. We found correlation with ground-truthing data, using mobile cosmic-ray neutron sensors, local soil samples, TDR, and buried wireless soil moisture monitoring networks. The work opens the path towards further systematic assessment of airborne neutron sensing, which could become a valuable addition - or even an alternative - to conventional remote-sensing methods.

Nitrate behaviors and its transportation time scale in unsaturated zone under farmlands with different fertilization log in Kumamoto region, southern Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Okumura, Azusa; Hosono, Takahiro; Shimada, Jun

2017-04-01

An application of fertilizers and manure often caused an increase of nitrate concentration in groundwater in the agricultural area. The study area, Kumamoto, is the field facing this type of problem. Previous studies using nitrogen-oxygen isotope ratios in nitrate showed that accumulation of chemical fertilizers is the major factor for observed nitrate contamination. However, once it loaded nitrogen compounds may change its form and isotopic composition during transportation within unsaturation zone prior to reach the aquifer. However, such kind of knowledge is still rarely accumulated. To clarify the behavior and transportation manner of nitrogen in the unsaturated zone, we analyzed the nitrogen-oxygen isotope ratios of the extracted soil water of the unsaturated zone soils from the farmland having different fertilization logs. In addition, we attempted to verify the origin of nitrate in soil water by comparing with previous isotopic results. The plateaus-like topography of the study area is consists of the pyroclastic flow deposits. Land use is mainly farmland and this area is a major source of nitrogen load and transport route into the aquifer. Nitrate concentration in groundwater at terraces recharge area has been reported about 40 mg/L. Drilling survey carried out in the unsaturated zone soil on 4 farmlands with the different land use logs in such terraces. Drilling points S1 and S2 were treated by both slurry and chemical fertilizers, on the other hand, point C1 and C2 were applied chemical fertilizers only. The drilling depth was up to 14-15 m, and soil samples were kept on evacuated condition after sectioning into 10 cm interval. The soil water was extracted using a centrifuge machine. The extracted soil water was measured for the nitrogen-oxygen isotope ratios in nitrate and major ions concentrations. All cores showed high nitrate concentrations in the surface layer (260, 440, 172 and 244 mg/L for S1, S2, C1, and C2 respectively). The concentrations became lower downwards for all cores. However, the concentrations were still high even at the point of 10 m (about 100-200 mg/L) for all cores. In the S1 and S2 cores nitrogen and oxygen isotopic results indicated occurrence of volatilization and nitrification in the surface layer, but in the C1 and C2 cores this signature was not clearly shown. The isotope compositions become homogenized downwards to have specific values depending on fertilization logs. This result is consistent with the previous studies. In the presentation, we will present detailed discussions regarding the behaviors of the isotope ratios in nitrate.

Regional Scale Simulations of Nitrate Leaching through Agricultural Soils of California

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Diamantopoulos, E.; Walkinshaw, M.; O'Geen, A. T.; Harter, T.

2016-12-01

Nitrate is recognized as one of California's most widespread groundwater contaminants. As opposed to point sources, which are relative easily identifiable sources of contamination, non-point sources of nitrate are diffuse and linked with widespread use of fertilizers in agricultural soils. California's agricultural regions have an incredible diversity of soils that encompass a huge range of properties. This complicates studies dealing with nitrate risk assessment, since important biological and physicochemical processes appear at the first meters of the vadose zone. The objective of this study is to evaluate all agricultural soils in California according to their potentiality for nitrate leaching based on numerical simulations using the Richards equation. We conducted simulations for 6000 unique soil profiles (over 22000 soil horizons) taking into account the effect of climate, crop type, irrigation and fertilization management scenarios. The final goal of this study is to evaluate simple management methods in terms of reduced nitrate leaching. We estimated drainage rates of water under the root zone and nitrate concentrations in the drain water at the regional scale. We present maps for all agricultural soils in California which can be used for risk assessment studies. Finally, our results indicate that adoption of simple irrigation and fertilization methods may significantly reduce nitrate leaching in vulnerable regions.

Soil Physical Constraints on Intrinsic Biodegradation of Petroleum Vapors in a Layered Subsurface

PubMed Central

Kristensen, Andreas H.; Henriksen, Kaj; Mortensen, Lars; Scow, Kate M.; Moldrup, Per

2011-01-01

Naturally occurring biodegradation of petroleum hydrocarbons in the vadose zone depends on the physical soil environment influencing field-scale gas exchange and pore-scale microbial metabolism. In this study, we evaluated the effect of soil physical heterogeneity on biodegradation of petroleum vapors in a 16-m-deep, layered vadose zone. Soil slurry experiments (soil/water ratio 10:30 w/w, 25°C) on benzene biodegradation under aerobic and well-mixed conditions indicated that the biodegradation potential in different textured soil samples was related to soil type rather than depth, in the order: sandy loam > fine sand > limestone. Similarly, O2 consumption rates during in situ respiration tests performed at the site were higher in the sandy loam than in the fine sand, although the difference was less significant than in the slurries. Laboratory and field data generally agreed well and suggested a significant potential for aerobic biodegradation, even with nutrient-poor and deep subsurface conditions. In slurries of the sandy loam, the biodegradation potential declined with increasing in situ water saturation (i.e., decreasing air-filled porosity in the field). This showed a relation between antecedent undisturbed field conditions and the slurry biodegradation potential, and suggested airfilled porosity to be a key factor for the intrinsic biodegradation potential in the field. PMID:21617737

Fractal behavior of soil water storage at multiple depths

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ji, Wenjun; Lin, Mi; Biswas, Asim; Si, Bing C.; Chau, Henry W.; Cresswell, Hamish P.

2016-08-01

Spatiotemporal behavior of soil water is essential to understand the science of hydrodynamics. Data intensive measurement of surface soil water using remote sensing has established that the spatial variability of soil water can be described using the principle of self-similarity (scaling properties) or fractal theory. This information can be used in determining land management practices provided the surface scaling properties are kept at deep layers. The current study examined the scaling properties of sub-surface soil water and their relationship to surface soil water, thereby serving as supporting information for plant root and vadose zone models. Soil water storage (SWS) down to 1.4 m depth at seven equal intervals was measured along a transect of 576 m for 5 years in Saskatchewan. The surface SWS showed multifractal nature only during the wet period (from snowmelt until mid- to late June) indicating the need for multiple scaling indices in transferring soil water variability information over multiple scales. However, with increasing depth, the SWS became monofractal in nature indicating the need for a single scaling index to upscale/downscale soil water variability information. In contrast, all soil layers during the dry period (from late June to the end of the growing season in early November) were monofractal in nature, probably resulting from the high evapotranspirative demand of the growing vegetation that surpassed other effects. This strong similarity between the scaling properties at the surface layer and deep layers provides the possibility of inferring about the whole profile soil water dynamics using the scaling properties of the easy-to-measure surface SWS data.

Mapping Soil Erosion Factors and Potential Erosion Risk for the National Park "Central Balkan"

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ilieva, Diliana; Malinov, Ilia

2014-05-01

Soil erosion is widely recognised environmental problem. The report aims at presenting the main results from assessment and mapping of the factors of sheet water erosion and the potential erosion risk on the territory of National Park "Central Balkan". For this purpose, the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE) was used for predicting soil loss from erosion. The influence of topography (LS-factor) and soil erodibility (K-factor) was assessed using small-scale topographic and soil maps. Rainfall erosivity (R-factor) was calculated from data of rainfalls with amounts exceeding 9.5 mm from 14 hydro-meteorological stations. The values of the erosion factors (R, K and LS) were presented for the areas of forest, sub-alpine and alpine zones. Using the methods of GIS, maps were plotted presenting the area distribution among the classes of the soil erosion factors and the potential risk in the respective zones. The results can be used for making accurate decisions for soil conservation and sustainable land management in the park.

Protecting water quality in the watershed

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

James, C.R.; Johnson, K.E.; Stewart, E.H.

1994-08-01

This article highlights the water quality component of a watershed management plan being developed for the San Francisco (CA) Water Department. The physical characteristics of the 63,000-acre watersheds were analyzed for source and transport vulnerability for five groups of water quality parameters--particulates, THM precursors, microorganisms (Giardia and cryptosporidium), nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus), and synthetic organic chemicals--and vulnerability zones were mapped. Mapping was achieved through the use of an extensive geographic information system (GIS) database. Each water quality vulnerability zone map was developed based on five watershed physical characteristics--soils, slope, vegetation, wildlife concentration, and proximity to water bodies--and their relationships tomore » each of the five groups of water quality parameters. An approach to incorporate the watershed physical characteristics information into the five water quality vulnerability zone maps was defined and verified. The composite approach was based in part on information gathered from existing watershed management plans.« less

Hydrogeological characterization of soil/weathered zone and underlying fractured bedrocks in DNAPL contaminated areas using the electromagnetic flowmeter

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kang, E.; Yeo, I.

2011-12-01

Flowmeter tests were carried out to characterize hydrogeology at DNAPL contaminated site in Wonju, Korea. Aquifer and slug tests determined hydraulic conductivity of soil/weathered zone and underlying fractured bed rocks to be 2.95×10-6 to 7.11×10-6 m/sec and 9.14×10-7 to 2.59×10-6 m/sec, respectively. Ambient flowmeter tests under natural hydraulic conditions revealed that the inflow and outflow take place through the borehole of soil/weathered zone with a tendency of down flow in the borehole. In particular, the most permeable layer of 22 to 30 m below the surface was found to form a major groundwater flow channel. On the contrary, a slight inflow and outflow was observed in the borehole, and the groundwater that inflows in the bottom section of the fractured bedrock flows up and exits through to the most permeable layer. Hydraulic heads measured at nearby multi-level boreholes confirmed the down flow in the soil/weathered zone and the up flow in fractured bedrocks. It was also revealed that the groundwater flow converges to the most permeable layer. TCE concentration in groundwater was measured at different depths, and in the borehole of the soil/weathered zone, high TCE concentration was found with higher than 10 mg/L near to the water table and decreased to about 6 mg/L with depth. The fractured bedrocks have a relatively constant low TCE concentration through a 20 m thick screen at less than l mg/L. The hydrogeology of the up flow in the soil/weathered zone and the down flow in underlying fractured bedrock leads the groundwater flow, and subsequently TCE plume, mainly to the most permeable layer that also restricts the advective transport of TCE plume to underlying fractured bedrocks. The cross borehole flowmeter test was carried out to find any hydrogeological connection between the soil/weathered zone and underlying fractured bedrocks. When pumping groundwater from the soil/weathered zone, no induced flow by groundwater extraction was observed at the underlying fractured bedrocks, and the hydraulic connection was identified only within the soil/weathered zone. However, when pumping groundwater from the fractured bedrocks, the hydraulic response was observed in the soil/weathered zone rather than another fractured bedrock borehole. Thus, when pump-and-treat is adopted for remediating the dissolved plume of DNAPL, the pumping well should be placed in the soil/weathered zone. Otherwise, the pumping of groundwater from the underlying fractured bedrocks will disperse the TCE plume into underlying fractured bedrocks.

Approach to the vadose zone monitoring in hazardous and solid waste disposal facilities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twardowska, Irena

2004-03-01

In the solid waste (SW)disposal sites, in particular at the unlined facilities, at the remediated or newly-constructed units equipped with novel protective/reactive permeable barriers or at lined facilities with leachate collection systems that are prone to failure, the vadose zone monitoring should comprise besides the natural soil layer beneath the landfill, also the anthropogenic vadose zone, i.e. the waste layer and pore solutions in the landfill. The vadose zone screening along the vertical profile of SW facilities with use of direct invasive soil-core and soil-pore liquid techniques shows vertical downward redistribution of inorganic (macroconstituents and heavy metals) and organic (PAHs) contaminant loads in water infiltrating through the waste layer. These loads can make ground water down-gradient of the dump unfit for any use. To avoid damage of protective/reactive permeable barriers and liners, an installation of stationary monitoring systems along the waste layer profile during the construction of a landfill, which are amenable to generate accurate data and information in a near-real time should be considered including:(i) permanent samplers of pore solution, with a periodic pump-induced transport of collected solution to the surface, preferably with instant field measurements;(ii)chemical sensors with continuous registration of critical parameters. These techniques would definitely provide an early alert in case when the chemical composition of pore solution percolating downward the waste profile shows unfavorable transformations, which indicate an excessive contaminant load approaching ground water. The problems concerning invasive and stationary monitoring of the vadose zone in SW disposal facilities will be discussed at the background of results of monitoring data and properties of permeable protective/reactive barriers considered for use.

The Effects of Salinity and Sodium Adsorption Ratio on the Water Retention and Hydraulic Conductivity Curves of Soils From The Pampa del Tamarugal, Chile

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lagos, M. S.; Munoz, J.; Suarez, F. I.; Fierro, V.; Moreno, C.

2015-12-01

The Pampa del Tamarugal is located in the Atacama Desert, the most arid desert of the world. It has important reserves of groundwater, which are probably fed by infiltration coming from the Andes Mountain, with groundwater levels fluctuating between 3 and 10-70 m below the land surface. In zones where shallow groundwater exists, the capillary rise allows to have a permanently moist vadose zone, which sustain native vegetation such as the Tamarugos (Prosopis tamarugo Phil.) and Algarrobos (Prosopis alba Griseb.). The native vegetation relies on the soil moisture and on the evaporative fluxes, which are controlled by the hydrodynamic characteristics of the soils. The soils associated to the salt flats of the Pampa del Tamarugal are a mixture of sands and clays, which have high levels of sulfates, chloride, carbonates, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and potassium, with high pH and electrical conductivity, and low organic matter and cationic exchange capacity. In this research, we are interested in evaluating the impact of salinity and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) on the hydrodynamic characteristics of the soil, i.e., water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves. Soils were collected from the Pampa del Tamarugal and brought to the laboratory for characterization. The evaporation method (HYPROP, UMS) was used to determine the water retention curve and the hydraulic conductivity curve was estimated combining the evaporation method with direct measurements using a variable head permeameter (KSAT, UMS). It was found that higher sodium concentrations increase the water retention capacity and decrease the soiĺs hydraulic conductivity. These changes occur in the moist range of the hydrodynamic characteristics. The soil's hydraulic properties have significant impact on evaporation fluxes, which is the mayor component of the water balance. Thus, it is important to quantify them and incorporate salt precipitation/dissolution effect on the hydrodynamic properties to correctly simulate evaporation in saline soils.

Field and Laboratory Studies of Radiocesium Transfers in Soil-Water Environment at Fukushima Prefecture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nanba, K.; Zheleznyak, M.; Konoplev, A.; Wakiyama, Y.; Golosov, V.; Wada, T.; Tsukada, H.

2015-12-01

The systematic monitoring studies of radiocesium concentrations in suspended sediments and water of the Abukuma River, the largest river of Fukushima prefecture, and its tributaries at the vicinity of Fukushima city have started in Fukushima University at the end of 2011. The scale of these field studies was extended after establishment in 2013 new Institute of Environmental Radioactivity at Fukushima University which posses the comprehensive laboratory base. The field measurements of hydrochemical water parameters and concentrations of radiocesium in water and sediments are provided in the rivers of northern coastal zone of Fukushima province with the most comprehensive program for Niida River basin. The radiocesium dynamics is studied in Sakashita Reservoir and heavily contaminated irrigation ponds of Okuma town in the vicinity of FDNPP, Takanokura Reservoir, Inawashiro Lake, Hibara Lake. Comparative analysis is provided for radiocaesium wash-off parameters and distribution coefficient in rivers and surface runoff on Fukushima and Chernobyl contaminated areas for the first years after the accidents. It is found that radiocaesium distribution coefficient in rivers of Fukushima is essentially higher (1-2 orders of magnitude) than correspondent values for rivers and surface runoff of the Chernobyl zone. Normalized dissolved wash-off coefficients for watersheds of Fukushima are at least 1 order of magnitude lower correspondent values for Chernobyl zone. Normalized particulate wash-off coefficients are comparable for Fukushima and Chernobyl. Presented are results of the investigation of radiocesium vertical distribution in soils of the close-in area of the FDNPP: Okuma town and Niida River basin. It is shown that radiocesium dispersion in undisturbed forest and grassland soils at Fukushima contaminated area is significantly faster as compared to the Chernobyl 30-km zone during the first three years after the accidents.

Plant species distribution in relation to water-table depth and soil redox potential in montane riparian meadows

Treesearch

Kathleen A. Dwire; J. Boone Kauffman; John E. Baham

2006-01-01

The distribution of riparian plant species is largely driven by hydrologic and soil variables, and riparian plant communities frequently occur in relatively distinct zones along streamside elevational and soil textural gradients. In two montane meadows in northeast Oregon, USA, we examined plant species distribution in three riparian plant communities¡ªdefined as wet,...

Advancing Analysis of Spatio-Temporal Variations of Soil Nutrients in the Water Level Fluctuation Zone of China’s Three Gorges Reservoir Using Self-Organizing Map

PubMed Central

Ye, Chen; Li, Siyue; Yang, Yuyi; Shu, Xiao; Zhang, Jiaquan; Zhang, Quanfa

2015-01-01

The ~350 km2 water level fluctuation zone (WLFZ) in the Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR) of China, situated at the intersection of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, experiences a great hydrological change with prolonged winter inundation. Soil samples were collected in 12 sites pre- (September 2008) and post submergence (June 2009) in the WLFZ and analyzed for soil nutrients. Self-organizing map (SOM) and statistical analysis including multi-way ANOVA, paired-T test, and stepwise least squares multiple regression were employed to determine the spatio-temporal variations of soil nutrients in relation to submergence, and their correlations with soil physical characteristics. Results showed significant spatial variability in nutrients along ~600 km long shoreline of the TGR before and after submergence. There were higher contents of organic matter, total nitrogen (TN), and nitrate (NO3-) in the lower reach and total phosphorus (TP) in the upper reach that were primarily due to the spatial variations in soil particle size composition and anthropogenic activities. Submergence enhanced soil available potassium (K), while significantly decreased soil N, possibly due to the alterations of soil particle size composition and increase in soil pH. In addition, SOM analysis determined important roles of soil pH value, bulk density, soil particle size (i.e., silt and sand) and nutrients (TP, TK, and AK) on the spatial and temporal variations in soil quality. Our results suggest that urban sewage and agricultural runoffs are primary pollutants that affect soil nutrients in the WLFZ of TGR. PMID:25789612

Form and function relationships revealed by long-term research in a semiarid mountain catchment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McNamara, J. P.; Benner, S. G.; Chandler, D. G.; Flores, A. N.; Marshall, H. P.; Seyfried, M. S.; Poulos, M. J.; Pierce, J. L.

2017-12-01

Fifteen years of cumulative research in the Dry Creek Experimental Watershed in southwest Idaho, USA has revealed relationships between catchment form and function and contributed to improved fundamental understanding of Critical Zone structure, function, and evolution that would not have been possible through independent short term projects alone. The impacts of aspect and elevation on incident energy and water, coupled with climate seasonality, has produced tightly connected landforms properties and hydrologic processes. North-facing hillslopes have steeper slopes, thicker soil mantles, and finer soil texture than their south-facing counterparts. Finer soils enable higher water holding capacities on north facing slopes, which when coupled with thicker soils produces higher soil water storage capacity. The storage of water first as snow, then as soil moisture determines how upland ecosystems survive the seasonal and persistent water stress that happens each year, and sustains streamflow throughout the year. The cumulative body of local knowledge has improved general understanding of catchment science, serves as a resource for developing, evaluating, and improving conceptual and numerical of process-based models, and for data-driven hydrologic education.

Application of remote sensing in South Dakota to provide accurate inventories of agricultural crops, enhance contrast in photographic products, monitor rangeland habitat loss, map Aspen, and prepare hydrogeologic surveys

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Myers, V. I. (Principal Investigator); Dalsted, K. J.; Best, R. G.; Smith, J. R.; Eidenshink, J. C.; Schmer, F. A.; Andrawis, A. S.; Rahn, P. H.

1977-01-01

The author has identified the following significant results. Digital analysis of LANDSAT CCT's indicated that two discrete spectral background zones occurred among the five soil zone. K-CLASS classification of corn revealed that accuracy increased when two background zones were used, compared to the classification of corn stratified by five soil zones. Selectively varying film type developer and development time produces higher contract in reprocessed imagery. Interpretation of rangeland and cropped land data from 1968 aerial photography and 1976 LANDSAT imagery indicated losses in rangeland habitat. Thermal imagery was useful in locating potential sources of sub-surface water and geothermal energy, estimating evapotranspiration, and inventorying the land.

Assessment of the soil water balance by the combination of cosmic ray neutron sensing and eddy covariance technique in an irrigated citrus orchard (Marrakesh, Morocco)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mroos, Katja; Baroni, Gabriele; Er-Raki, Salah; Francke, Till; Khabba, Said; Jarlan, Lionel; Hanich, Lahoucine; Oswald, Sascha E.

2014-05-01

Irrigation water requirement plays a crucial role in many agricultural areas and especially in arid and semi-arid landscapes. Improvements in the water management and the performance of the irrigation systems require a correct evaluation of the hydrological processes involved. However, some difficulties can arise due to the heterogeneity of the soil-plant system and of the irrigation scheme. To overcome these limitations, in this study, the soil water balance is analyzed by the combination of the Eddy Covariance technique (EC) and Cosmic Ray neutron Sensing (CRS). EC provides the measurement of the actual evapotranspiration over the area as it was presented in many field conditions. Moreover CRS showed to be a valuable approach to measure the root zone soil moisture integrated in a footprint of ~30 ha. In this way, the combination of the two methodologies should provide a better analysis of the soil water balance at field scale, as opposed to point observations, e.g. by TDR, evaporimeter and fluxmeter. Then, this could increase the capability to assess the irrigation efficiency and the agricultural water management. The study is conducted in a citrus orchard situated in a semi-arid region, 30 km southwest of Marrakesh (Morocco). The site is flat and planted with trees of same age growing in parallel rows with drip irrigation lines and application of fertilizer and pesticides. The original soil seems modified on the surface by the agricultural use, creating differences between trees, rows and lines. In addition, the drip irrigation creates also a spatial variability of the water flux distribution in the field, making this site an interesting area to test the methodology. Particular attention is given to the adaptation of the standard soil sampling campaign used for the calibration of the CRS and the introduction of a weighing function. Data were collected from June to December 2013, which corresponds to the high plant transpiration. Despite the intention of the farmer to maintain constant soil water contents in the root zone throughout the period, the CRS results showed a relatively strong dynamic of the soil water conditions at field scale and respond well to the EC measurements. Strong spatial heterogeneities and the difficulties of direct comparison between the different scales of measurements pose a challenge for full quantification of the water balance. Further analysis will address the assessment of the irrigation efficiency at different scales and of deep percolation. Keywords: Cosmic Ray Sensing, deep percolation, Eddy Covariance, evapotranspiration, irrigation, Morocco, soil moisture, semi-arid;

Transport of volatile organic compounds across the capillary fringe

USGS Publications Warehouse

McCarthy, Kathleen A.; Johnson, Richard L.

1993-01-01

Physical experiments were conducted to investigate the transport of a dissolved volatile organic compound (trichloroethylene, TCE) from shallow groundwater to the unsaturated zone under a variety of conditions including changes in the soil moisture profile and water table position. Experimental data indicated that at moderate groundwater velocities (0.1 m/d), vertical mechanical dispersion was negligible and molecular diffusion was the dominant vertical transport mechanism. Under these conditions, TCE concentrations decreased nearly 3 orders of magnitude across the capillary fringe and soil gas concentrations remained low relative to those of underlying groundwater. Data collected during a water table drop showed a short-term increase in concentrations throughout most of the unsaturated zone, but these concentrations quickly declined and approached initial values after the water table was returned to its original level. In the deep part of the unsaturated zone, the water table drop resulted in a long-term decrease in concentrations, illustrating the effects of hysteresis in the soil moisture profile. A two-dimensional random walk advection-diffusion model was developed to simulate the experimental conditions, and numerical simulations agreed well with experimental data. A simpler, one-dimensional finite-difference diffusion-dispersion model was also developed. One-dimensional simulations based on molecular diffusion also agreed well with experimental data. Simulations which incorporated mechanical dispersion tended to overestimate flux across the capillary fringe. Good agreement between the one- and two-dimensional models suggested that a simple, one-dimensional approximation of vertical transport across the capillary fringe can be useful when conditions are appropriate.

A field method for measurement of infiltration

USGS Publications Warehouse

Johnson, A.I.

1963-01-01

The determination of infiltration--the downward entry of water into a soil (or sediment)--is receiving increasing attention in hydrologic studies because of the need for more quantitative data on all phases of the hydrologic cycle. A measure of infiltration, the infiltration rate, is usually determined in the field by flooding basins or furrows, sprinkling, or measuring water entry from cylinders (infiltrometer rings). Rates determined by ponding in large areas are considered most reliable, but the high cost usually dictates that infiltrometer rings, preferably 2 feet in diameter or larger, be used. The hydrology of subsurface materials is critical in the study of infiltration. The zone controlling the rate of infiltration is usually the least permeable zone. Many other factors affect infiltration rate--the sediment (soil) structure, the condition of the sediment surface, the distribution of soil moisture or soil- moisture tension, the chemical and physical nature of the sediments, the head of applied water, the depth to ground water, the chemical quality and the turbidity of the applied water, the temperature of the water and the sediments, the percentage of entrapped air in the sediments, the atmospheric pressure, the length of time of application of water, the biological activity in the sediments, and the type of equipment or method used. It is concluded that specific values of the infiltration rate for a particular type of sediment are probably nonexistent and that measured rates are primarily for comparative use. A standard field-test method for determining infiltration rates by means of single- or double-ring infiltrometers is described and the construction, installation, and operation of the infiltrometers are discussed in detail.

The potential use of storm water and effluent from a constructed wetland for re-vegetating a degraded pyrite trail in Queen Elizabeth National Park, Uganda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Osaliya, R.; Kansiime, F.; Oryem-Origa, H.; Kateyo, E.

During the operation of the Kilembe Mines (copper mining) a cobaltiferous stockpile was constructed, which began to erode after the closure of the mines in the early 1970s. The erosion of the pyrite stockpile resulted in a large acid trail all the way to Lake George (a Ramsar site). The acid trail contaminated a large area of Queen Elizabeth National Park (QENP) resulting in the death of most of the shallow-rooted vegetation. Processes and conditions created by storm water and effluent from a constructed wetland were assessed for vegetation regeneration in the degraded QENP pyrite trail. Cynodon dactylon, Imperata cylindrica and Hyparrhenia filipendula dominated the regeneration zone (RZ) where storm water and effluent from a constructed wetland was flowing; and the adjacent unpolluted area (UP) with importance value indices of 186.4 and 83.3 respectively. Typha latifolia and C. dactylon formed two distinct vegetation sub-zones within the RZ with the former inhabiting areas with a higher water table. Soil pH was significantly higher in the RZ, followed by UP and bare pyrite trail (BPT) at both 0-15 cm and 16-30 cm depths. Soil electrical conductivity was not significantly different in the RZ and BPT but significantly higher than that in UP for both depths. For 0-15 cm depth, RZ had significantly higher concentrations of copper than BPT and UP which had similar concentrations. Still at this depth (0-15 cm), the unpolluted area had significantly higher concentrations of total phosphorus and total nitrogen than the regeneration zone and the bare pyrite trail which had similar concentrations. The RZ dominated by Typha had significantly higher concentrations of TP and TN compared to the RZ dominated by Cynodon. The concentrations of NH 4-N were significantly lower in Typha regeneration zone than in CRZ at 0-15 cm depth but similar at 16-30 cm depth. At 16-30 cm depth, concentrations of copper were significantly higher in the regeneration zone followed by the bare pyrite trail and the unpolluted zone. The concentration of lead in the regeneration zone and bare pyrite trail were similar but significantly higher in the unpolluted zone. Concentrations of TP and TN were significantly higher in unpolluted zone, followed by regeneration zone and bare pyrite trail. Storm water and effluent from a constructed wetland enhanced the revegetation process by modifying soil pH, making plant growth nutrients available and by providing a steady supply of moisture necessary for plant growth. T. latifolia and C. dactylon which seem to have tolerance of high concentrations of metals were the dominant species in the regeneration zone. If storm water and effluent supply continues, the aforementioned vegetation will colonize the pyrite trail and will eventually protect QENP and Lake George from metal contamination.

Uncertainty assessment and implications for data acquisition in support of integrated hydrologic models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brunner, Philip; Doherty, J.; Simmons, Craig T.

2012-07-01

The data set used for calibration of regional numerical models which simulate groundwater flow and vadose zone processes is often dominated by head observations. It is to be expected therefore, that parameters describing vadose zone processes are poorly constrained. A number of studies on small spatial scales explored how additional data types used in calibration constrain vadose zone parameters or reduce predictive uncertainty. However, available studies focused on subsets of observation types and did not jointly account for different measurement accuracies or different hydrologic conditions. In this study, parameter identifiability and predictive uncertainty are quantified in simulation of a 1-D vadose zone soil system driven by infiltration, evaporation and transpiration. The worth of different types of observation data (employed individually, in combination, and with different measurement accuracies) is evaluated by using a linear methodology and a nonlinear Pareto-based methodology under different hydrological conditions. Our main conclusions are (1) Linear analysis provides valuable information on comparative parameter and predictive uncertainty reduction accrued through acquisition of different data types. Its use can be supplemented by nonlinear methods. (2) Measurements of water table elevation can support future water table predictions, even if such measurements inform the individual parameters of vadose zone models to only a small degree. (3) The benefits of including ET and soil moisture observations in the calibration data set are heavily dependent on depth to groundwater. (4) Measurements of groundwater levels, measurements of vadose ET or soil moisture poorly constrain regional groundwater system forcing functions.

Effects of spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties on water dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gumiere, Silvio Jose; Caron, Jean; Périard, Yann; Lafond, Jonathan

2013-04-01

Soil hydraulic properties may present spatial variability and dependence at the scale of watersheds or fields even in man-made single soil structures, such as cranberry fields. The saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and soil moisture curves were measured at two depths for three cranberry fields (about 2 ha) at three different sites near Québec city, Canada. Two of the three studied fields indicate strong spatial dependence for Ksat values and soil moisture curves both in horizontal and vertical directions. In the summer of 2012, the three fields were equipped with 55 tensiometers installed at a depth of 0.10 m in a regular grid. About 20 mm of irrigation water were applied uniformly by aspersion to the fields, raising soil water content to near saturation condition. Soil water tension was measured once every hour during seven days. Geostatistical techniques such as co-kriging and cross-correlograms estimations were used to investigate the spatial dependence between variables. The results show that soil tension varied faster in high Ksat zones than in low Ksatones in the cranberry fields. These results indicate that soil water dynamic is strongly affected by the variability of saturated soil hydraulic conductivity, even in a supposed homogenous anthropogenic soil. This information may have a strong impact in irrigation management and subsurface drainage efficiency as well as other water conservation issues. Future work will involve 3D numerical modeling of the field water dynamics with HYDRUS software. The anticipated outcome will provide valuable information for the understanding of the effect of spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties on soil water dynamics and its relationship with crop production and water conservation.

Establishing a Critical Zone Observatory site in Turkey

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Demir, Gokben; Akyurek, Zuhal; Binley, Andrew; Yucel, Ismail; Kentel, Elcin; Merzi, Nuri; Yilmaz, Tugrul; Yanmaz, Melih

2017-04-01

The Earth's Critical Zone (CZ) is the planetary veneer that extends from the air above our treetops to the layers of rocks below, which supports human activity. This includes life-sustaining resources for energy, food, and water. The CZ also includes places where we dispose and store toxic materials, and expose to other contaminants. The fate of change in the CZ is important to the government and business planners to help respond to effects of disease, drought, and land degradation in agricultural and urban settings. Critical Zone Observatory's are outdoor laboratories that are highly instrumented and becoming integrated into a global network. Turkey has a diversified landscape, representing most terrestrial ecosystems on Earth. Turkey is unique because some regions have been subject to high-impact human influence for thousands of years. This millennial-scale anthropogenic affect on the CZ does not exist at most other CZO's. In this study the establishment of a CZO at a basin located in the south part of Turkey which the instrumentation that has been already completed is presented. The mean altitude of the basin is 1601 m and it has 526km2 area. The cherry trees along the river, agricultural areas and the natural vegetation composed of pasture and shrub are the main land cover in the basin. The brown forest and brown soil are the main soil types. The basin has a complex geology. There are two main tributaries of the stream: one of them is fed by gypsum ground waters and mine drainage and the other one is fed by shallow fresh ground water. Three meteorological stations were established within this project at 1246 m, 1580m and 1790m. At these stations besides the meteorological variables, soil water content are measured. The discharge observations are carried out at three discharge observation stations where the water stage, temperature and electrical conductivity values are measured. A CRS200B soil moisture probe is installed at 1459 m and the soil water content is monitored through the cosmic ray sensor and ML3 ThetaProbe soil moisture sensors established at several depths within the sensor. There is EC 150 open path eddy coveriance system with energy balance sensors installed at the field. We present the first analyses done to understand the hydrological processes in the basin. The project is funded by the Scientific and Technological Council of Turkey.

HydroCube mission concept: P-Band signals of opportunity for remote sensing of snow and root zone soil moisture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yueh, Simon; Shah, Rashmi; Xu, Xiaolan; Elder, Kelly; Chae, Chun Sik; Margulis, Steve; Liston, Glen; Durand, Michael; Derksen, Chris

2017-09-01

We have developed the HydroCube mission concept with a constellation of small satellites to remotely sense Snow Water Equivalent (SWE) and Root Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM). The HydroCube satellites would operate at sun-synchronous 3- day repeat polar orbits with a spatial resolution of about 1-3 Km. The mission goals would be to improve the estimation of terrestrial water storage and weather forecasts. Root-zone soil moisture and snow water storage in land are critical parameters of the water cycle. The HydroCube Signals of Opportunity (SoOp) concept utilizes passive receivers to detect the reflection of strong existing P-band radio signals from geostationary Mobile Use Objective System (MUOS) communication satellites. The SWE remote sensing measurement principle using the P-band SoOp is based on the propagation delay (or phase change) of radio signals through the snowpack. The time delay of the reflected signal due to the snowpack with respect to snow-free conditions is directly proportional to the snowpack SWE. To address the ionospheric delay at P-band frequencies, the signals from both MUOS bands (360-380 MHz and 250-270 MHz) would be used. We have conducted an analysis to trade off the spatial resolution for a space-based sensor and measurement accuracy. Through modeling analysis, we find that the dual-band MUOS signals would allow estimation of soil moisture and surface roughness together. From the two MUOS frequencies at 260 MHz and 370 MHz, we can retrieve the soil moisture from the reflectivity ratio scaled by wavenumbers using the two P-band frequencies for MUOS. A modeling analysis using layered stratified model has been completed to determine the sensitivity requirements of HydroCube measurements. For mission concept demonstration, a field campaign has been conducted at the Fraser Experimental Forest in Colorado since February 2016. The data acquired has provided support to the HydroCube concept.

Determination of degradation rates of organic substances in the unsaturated soil zone depending on the grain size fractions of various soil types

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fichtner, Thomas; Stefan, Catalin; Goersmeyer, Nora

2015-04-01

Rate and extent of the biological degradation of organic substances during transport through the unsaturated soil zone is decisively influenced by the chemical and physical properties of the pollutants such as water solubility, toxicity and molecular structure. Furthermore microbial degradation processes are also influenced by soil-specific properties. An important parameter is the soil grain size distribution on which the pore volume and the pore size depends. Changes lead to changes in air and water circulation as well as preferred flow paths. Transport capacity of water inclusive nutrients is lower in existing bad-drainable fine pores in soils with small grain size fractions than in well-drainable coarse pores in a soil with bigger grain size fractions. Because fine pores are saturated with water for a longer time than the coarse pores and oxygen diffusion in water is ten thousand times slower than in air, oxygen is replenished much slower in soils with small grain size fractions. As a result life and growth conditions of the microorganisms are negatively affected. This leads to less biological activity, restricted degradation/mineralization of pollutants or altered microbial processes. The aim of conducted laboratory column experiments was to study the correlation between the grain size fractions respectively pore sizes, the oxygen content and the biodegradation rate of infiltrated organic substances. Therefore two columns (active + sterile control) were filled with different grain size fractions (0,063-0,125 mm, 0,2-0,63 mm and 1-2 mm) of soils. The sterile soil was inoculated with a defined amount of a special bacteria culture (sphingobium yanoikuae). A solution with organic substances glucose, oxalic acid, sinaphylic alcohol and nutrients was infiltrated from the top in intervals. The degradation of organic substances was controlled by the measurement of dissolved organic carbon in the in- and outflow of the column. The control of different pore volumes respectively pore sizes in the soil samples occurred by air pycnometer measurement and determination of soil moisture characteristic by evaporation method according to Wind/Schindler. The present study results can be useful to find a correlation between various soil types with different grain size distributions and the suitability of these soils for example for the infiltration of treated wastewater in the context of managed aquifer recharge (MAR) measures.

Estimating soil matric potential in Owens Valley, California

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sorenson, Stephen K.; Miller, Reuben F.; Welch, Michael R.; Groeneveld, David P.; Branson, Farrel A.

1989-01-01

Much of the floor of Owens Valley, California, is covered with alkaline scrub and alkaline meadow plant communities, whose existence is dependent partly on precipitation and partly on water infiltrated into the rooting zone from the shallow water table. The extent to which these plant communities are capable of adapting to and surviving fluctuations in the water table depends on physiological adaptations of the plants and on the water content, matric potential characteristics of the soils. Two methods were used to estimate soil matric potential in test sites in Owens Valley. The first, the filter-paper method, uses water content of filter papers equilibrated to water content of soil samples taken with a hand auger. The previously published calibration relations used to estimate soil matric potential from the water content of the filter papers were modified on the basis of current laboratory data. The other method of estimating soil matric potential was a modeling approach based on data from this and previous investigations. These data indicate that the base-10 logarithm of soil matric potential is a linear function of gravimetric soil water content for a particular soil. The slope and intercepts of this function vary with the texture and saturation capacity of the soil. Estimates of soil water characteristic curves were made at two sites by averaging the gravimetric soil water content and soil matric potential values from multiple samples at 0.1-m depth intervals derived by using the hand auger and filter-paper method and entering these values in the soil water model. The characteristic curves then were used to estimate soil matric potential from estimates of volumetric soil water content derived from neutron-probe readings. Evaluation of the modeling technique at two study sites indicated that estimates of soil matric potential within 0.5 pF units of the soil matric potential value derived by using the filter-paper method could be obtained 90 to 95 percent of the time in soils where water content was less than field capacity. The greatest errors occurred at depths where there was a distinct transition between soils of different textures.

Characterizing Hydrological Processes in Vadose Zone by Direct Infiltration Water Sampling.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mori, Y.; Higashi, N.; Somura, H.; Takeda, I.; Inoue, M.

2007-12-01

These days, planted forest mountainside was roughly maintained due to the population descent and small birth rate. Because thinning operation would delayed, forest was always dark and floor weed was rare. Management induced non point source pollution like surface soil erosion was suspected, however, we could not approach to the source with the stream water analysis. Therefore, direct soil water sampling device using glass fiber capillary force was developed to examine hydrological processes in watershed. In our design, water was collected just by the capillary force and let the excess water down through so that infiltration water was truly sampled and solute concentration kept the same quality as in soil water. The experiment was conducted at two neighboring Japanese cedar planted forest under different management, i.e., south slope was roughly maintained and west slope was well maintained by thinning operation. Load discharges were higher in south slope and lower in west slope. Infiltration water analysis revealed that ion concentration was gradually decreased at west slope, however in south slope, it dropped to lower level in soil water and increased again in stream water. The trend showed that soil buffering function was poor in south slope. Actually, disk permeameter survey revealed that hydraulic conductivity was small in south slope; TOC and biological activity were lower. This entire soil environment explained the water environmental differences in stream water. Because changes in soil environment affects water environment in the future, monitoring or examination of soil environment was considered as preventive measure for environmentally sound water and solute circulation in watershed.

Variability in soil-water retention properties and implications for physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria

USGS Publications Warehouse

Thomas, Matthew A.; Mirus, Benjamin B.; Collins, Brian D.; Lu, Ning; Godt, Jonathan W.

2018-01-01

Rainfall-induced shallow landsliding is a persistent hazard to human life and property. Despite the observed connection between infiltration through the unsaturated zone and shallow landslide initiation, there is considerable uncertainty in how estimates of unsaturated soil-water retention properties affect slope stability assessment. This source of uncertainty is critical to evaluating the utility of physics-based hydrologic modeling as a tool for landslide early warning. We employ a numerical model of variably saturated groundwater flow parameterized with an ensemble of texture-, laboratory-, and field-based estimates of soil-water retention properties for an extensively monitored landslide-prone site in the San Francisco Bay Area, CA, USA. Simulations of soil-water content, pore-water pressure, and the resultant factor of safety show considerable variability across and within these different parameter estimation techniques. In particular, we demonstrate that with the same permeability structure imposed across all simulations, the variability in soil-water retention properties strongly influences predictions of positive pore-water pressure coincident with widespread shallow landsliding. We also find that the ensemble of soil-water retention properties imposes an order-of-magnitude and nearly two-fold variability in seasonal and event-scale landslide susceptibility, respectively. Despite the reduced factor of safety uncertainty during wet conditions, parameters that control the dry end of the soil-water retention function markedly impact the ability of a hydrologic model to capture soil-water content dynamics observed in the field. These results suggest that variability in soil-water retention properties should be considered for objective physics-based simulation of landslide early warning criteria.

DEVELOPMENT OF RECOMMENDATIONS AND METHODS TO SUPPORT ASSESSMENT OF SOIL VENTING PERFORMANCE AND CLOSURE: PUBLISHED REPORT

EPA Science Inventory

The purpose of this document is to improve the current "state of the art" and "state of the science" of soil venting application. A strategy is proposed for venting closure. A vadose zone paradigm is developed to dynamically link the performance of ground-water remediation to va...

Factors of the Development of Water Erosion in the Zone of Recreation Activity in the Ol'khon Region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Znamenskaya, T. I.; Vanteeva, J. V.; Solodyankina, S. V.

2018-02-01

Specific features of water erosion of thin soils under conditions of nonpercolative water regime and intense recreational loads were studied in the Ol'khon region (Irkutsk oblast). An experiment on the transfer of terrigenous particles under the impact of rainfall simulation was performed. A thorough description of landscape characteristics affecting water erosion development was made. As a result, a multiple regression equation linking the transported matter with the slope steepness, projective cover of vegetation, the degree of vegetation degradation, and the fine sand content in the upper soil horizon was developed; the multiple correlation coefficient R reached 0.86. On this basis, the map of water erosion assessment for the study area was compiled with the use of landscape and topographic maps. The maximum intensity of water erosion is typical of the anthropogenically transformed landscapes on steep slopes with the low vegetative cover on the mountainous noncalcareous steppe soils and on thin loamy sandy surface-gravelly chestnut-like soils.

Hydrochemical evolution of sodium-sulfate and sodium-chloride groundwater beneath the Northern Chihuahuan Desert, Trans-Pecos, Texas, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Fisher, R.S.; Mullican, W. F.

1997-01-01

Groundwater beneath the northern Chihuahuan Desert, Trans-Pecos, Texas, USA, occurs in both carbonate and siliciclastic aquifers beneath a thick unsaturated zone and in shallow Rio Grande alluvium. Groundwater hydrochemical evolution was investigated by analyzing soils, soil leachates, bolson-fill sediments, water from the unsaturated zone, and groundwater from three major aquifers. Ionic relations, mineral saturation states, and geochemical modeling show that groundwater compositions are controlled by reactions in the unsaturated zone, mineralogy of unsaturated sediments and aquifers, position in the groundwater flow system, and extensive irrigation. Recharge to aquifers unaffected by irrigation is initially a Ca-HCO3 type as a result of dissolving carbonate surficial salts. With continued flow and mineral-water interaction, saturation with calcite and dolomite is maintained, gypsum is dissolved, and aqueous Ca and Mg are exchanged for adsorbed Na to produce a Na-SO4 water. Groundwater in Rio Grande alluvium is a Na-Cl type, reflecting river-water composition and the effects of irrigation, evapotranspiration, and surficial salt recycling. These results document two hydrochemical evolution paths for groundwater in arid lands. If recharge is dilute precipitation, significant changes in water chemistry can occur in unsaturated media, ion exchange can be as important as dissolution-precipitation reactions in determining groundwater composition, and mineral-water reactions ultimately control groundwater composition. If recharge is return flow of irrigation water that already contains appreciable solutes, mineral-water reactions are less important than irrigation-water composition in determining groundwater chemistry.

Remote Monitoring of Soil Water Content, Temperature, and Heat Flow Using Low-Cost Cellular (3G) IoT Technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ham, J. M.

2016-12-01

New microprocessor boards, open-source sensors, and cloud infrastructure developed for the Internet of Things (IoT) can be used to create low-cost monitoring systems for environmental research. This project describes two applications in soil science and hydrology: 1) remote monitoring of the soil temperature regime near oil and gas operations to detect the thermal signature associated with the natural source zone degradation of hydrocarbon contaminants in the vadose zone, and 2) remote monitoring of soil water content near the surface as part of a global citizen science network. In both cases, prototype data collection systems were built around the cellular (2G/3G) "Electron" microcontroller (www.particle.io). This device allows connectivity to the cloud using a low-cost global SIM and data plan. The systems have cellular connectivity in over 100 countries and data can be logged to the cloud for storage. Users can view data real time over any internet connection or via their smart phone. For both projects, data logging, storage, and visualization was done using IoT services like Thingspeak (thingspeak.com). The soil thermal monitoring system was tested on experimental plots in Colorado USA to evaluate the accuracy and reliability of different temperature sensors and 3D printed housings. The soil water experiment included comparison opens-source capacitance-based sensors to commercial versions. Results demonstrate the power of leveraging IoT technology for field research.

Application of time-lapse ERT to characterize soil-water-disease interactions of young citrus trees

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peddinti, S. R.; Kbvn, D. P.; Ranjan, S.; R M, P. G.

2016-12-01

Vidarbha region in Maharashtra, India is witnessing a continuous decrease in orange crop due to the propagation of `Phytopthora root rot', a water mold disease. Under favorable conditions, the disease causing bacteria can attack the plant root system and propagates to the surface (where first visual impression is made), making difficult to regain the plant health. This research aims at co-relating eco-hydrological fluxes with disease sensing parameters of orange trees. Two experimental plots around a healthy-young and declined-young orange trees were selected for our analysis. A 3-dimentional electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) (Figure) was carried at each plot to quantify the soil moisture distribution at a vadose zone. Pedo-electric relations were obtained considering modified Archie's law parameters. ERT derived moisture data was validated with time domain reflectometry (TDR) point observations. Soil moisture profiles derived from ERT were observed to be differ marginally between the two plots. Disease quantification was done by estimating the density of Phytopthora spp. inoculum in soils sampled along the root zone. Identification of Phytopthora spp. was done in the laboratory using taxonomic and morphologic criteria of the colonies. Spatio-temporal profiles of soil moisture and inoculum density were then co-related to comment on the eco-hydrological fluxes contributing to the health propagation of root rot in orange tree for implementing effective water management practices.

Analysis of heterogeneous hydrological properties of a mountainous hillslope using intensive water flow measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Masaoka, Naoya; Kosugi, Ken'ichirou; Yamakawa, Yosuke; Mizuyama, Takahisa; Tsutsumi, Daizo

2013-04-01

Heterogeneous hydrological properties in a foot slope area of mountainous hillslopes should be assessed to understand hydrological phenomena and their effects on discharge and sediment transport. In this study, we analyzed the high-resolution and three-dimensional water movement data to clarify the hydrological process, including heterogeneous phenomena, in detail. We continuously monitored the soil matric pressure head, psi, using 111 tensiometers installed at grid intervals of approximately 1 meter within the soil mantle at the study hillslope. Under a no-rainfall condition, the existence of perennial groundwater seepage flow was detected by exfiltration flux and temporal psi waveforms, which showed delayed responses, only to heavy storm events, and gradual recession limbs. The seepage water spread in the downslope direction and supplied water constantly to the lower section of the slope. At some points in the center of the slope, a perched saturated area was detected in the middle of soil layer, while psi exhibited negative values above the bedrock surface. These phenomena could be inferred partly from the bedrock topography and the distribution of soil hydraulic conductivity assumed from the result of penetration test. At the peak of a rainfall event, on the other hand, continuous high pressure zones (i.e., psi > 50 cmH2O) were generated in the right and left sections of the slope. Both of these high pressure zones converged at the lower region, showing a sharp psi spike up to 100 cmH2O. Along the high pressure zones, flux vectors showed large values and water exfiltration, indicating the occurrence of preferential flow. Moreover, the preferential flow occurred within the area beneath the perched water, indicating the existence of a weathered bedrock layer. This layer had low permeability, which prevented the vertical infiltration of water in the upper part of the layer, but had high permeability as a result of the fractures distributed heterogeneously inside the layer. These fractures acted as a preferential flow channel and flushed the water derived from lateral flow accumulated from the upslope area during the rainfall event. These phenomena occurring at the peak of rainfall event could not be inferred from the parameters derived from the penetration test.

Does Jatropha curcas L. show resistance to drought in the Sahelian zone of West Africa? A case study from Burkina Faso

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayen, P.; Sop, T. K.; Lykke, A. M.; Thiombiano, A.

2015-05-01

Land degradation is an environmental problem which weakens agro-sylvo-pastoral productivity in sub-Saharan Africa. The most common manifestation of land degradation is the appearance of denuded land. We carried out an experiment to test the effect of three soil and water conservation techniques on survival and growth of Jatropha curcas seedlings transplanted onto two completely denuded lands in the Sahelian and Sudanian zones of Burkina Faso. We implemented an experimental design with three replicates per restoration technique. A total of 174 seedlings were planted in each study site. The results showed that the soil water content varied according to the restoration technique used (df = 2; F = 53.21; p < 0.00) as well as according to study site (df = 1; F = 74.48; p < 0.00). Soil water content was significantly lower in the Sahel than in the Sudanian zone. Seedling survival rate varied significantly according to technique used (df = 2; F = 8.91; p = 0.000) and study site (df = 1; F = 9.74; p = 0.003). Survival rate, diameter and seedling height were highest at the Sudanian site. At the Sahelian site, all seedlings died 2 years after establishment. These results suggest that J. curcas is unsuited to denuded land in the Sahelian zone. Most of the plants died in the Sahel between April and May, which is the peak of the dry season; this may be an indication that J. curcas may not be as drought-resistant as suggested by the prolific literature which has reported on diverse claims surrounding this plant.

Does Jatropha curcas L. show resistance to drought in the Sahelian zone of West Africa? A case study from Burkina Faso

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bayen, P.; Sop, T. K.; Lykke, A. M.; Thiombiano, A.

2015-02-01

Land degradation is an environmental problem which weakens agro-silvo-pastoral productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa. The most common manifestation of land degradation is the appearance of denuded land. We carried out an experiment to test the effect of three soil and water conservation techniques on survival and growth of Jatropha curcas seedlings transplanted onto two completely denuded lands in the Sahelian and Sudanian zones of Burkina Faso. We implemented an experimental design with three replicates per restoration technique. A total of 174 seedlings were planted in each study site. The results showed that soil water content varied according to the restoration technique used (df = 2; F = 53.21; p < 0.00) as well as according to study site (df = 1; F = 74.48; p < 0.00). Soil water content was significantly lower in the Sahel than in the Sudanian zone. Seedling survival rate varied significantly according to technique used (df = 2; F = 8.91; p = 0.000) and study site (df = 1; F = 9.74; p = 0.003). Survival rate, diameter and seedling height were highest at the Sudanian site. At the Sahelian site, all seedlings died two years after establishment. These results suggest that Jatropha curcas is unsuited to denuded land in the Sahelian zone. Most of the plants died in the Sahel between April and May, which is the peak of the dry season; this may be an indication that Jatropha may not be as drought-resistant as suggested by the prolific literature which has reported on diverse claims surrounding this plant.

User Requirements for the Application of Remote Sensing in the Planning and Management of Water Resource Systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burgy, R. H.

1972-01-01

Data relating to hydrologic and water resource systems and subsystems management are reported. Systems models, user application, and remote sensing technology are covered. Parameters governing water resources include evaportranspiration, vegetation, precipitation, streams and estuaries, reservoirs and lakes, and unsaturate and saturated soil zones.

The contribution of wetlands to stream nitrogen load in the Loch Vale Watershed, Colorado, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jian-hui, Huang; Baron, Jill S.; Binkley, Dan

1996-01-01

We explored the difference between the concentrations of different N forms and other chemical properties between stream water and riparian zone wetland soil water in the Loch Vale Watershed which is located on the eastern slope of the Continental Divide in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. The nitrate N concentration in stream water were significantly higher than in soil water of the three wetlands, while no significant difference appeared in ammonium N. The pH values were higher and conductivity values were lower in stream water than in wetland soil water. However, significant difference also appeared between nitrate N concentrations, pH and conductivity values in the water sampled from different positions of streams. The stream tributary water had higher nitrate N concentrations, higher pH and higher conducitity values. We also conducted experiments to compare the difference between the productivity, total N concentrations in biomass and soil of upper layers. At the end, we concluded that the wetlands distributed along the streams in Loch Vale Watershed had little effect on the nitrogen load of the stream water there.

Linking carbon and hydrologic fluxes in the critical zone: Observations from high-frequency monitoring of a weathered bedrock vadose zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tune, A. K.; Druhan, J. L.; Wang, J.; Cargill, S.; Murphy, C.; Rempe, D. M.

2017-12-01

A principle challenge in quantifying feedbacks between continental weathering and atmospheric CO2 is to improve understanding of how biogeochemical processes in the critical zone influence the distribution and mobility of organic and inorganic carbon. In particular, in landscapes characterized by thin soils and heterogeneous weathered and fractured bedrock, little data exist to inform and constrain predictive models for carbon dynamics. Here, we present the results of an intensive water and gas sampling campaign across an 18 m thick, variably saturated argillite weathering profile in the Eel River CZO. We monitor water content in situ and regularly collect samples of freely-draining water, tightly-held water, and gas through wet and dry seasons using a novel Vadose-zone Monitoring System (VMS) consisting of sensors and samplers distributed across a 20 m long inclined borehole. This novel approach facilitates the interception of gas and water during transport across the entire variably saturated weathering profile. The data demonstrate that seasonal changes in saturation control the vertical distribution and mobility of carbon in the fractured critical zone. Concentrations of gaseous CO2, O2, and dissolved organic and inorganic carbon fluctuate significantly and repeatably with seasonal additions of water infiltrating the weathered bedrock. A persistent vertical structure in the concentrations of dissolved phases and gas concentrations broadly corresponds to depths associated with unsaturated, seasonally saturated, and chronically saturated zones. Associated variations in the vertical structure of mineralogy and elemental composition, including solid phase organic carbon content, are observed in core obtained during drilling. Together, our observations indicate significant respiration of organic carbon at depths greater than the base of the soil, and thus motivate further investigation of the role of heterogeneous weathered, bedrock environments, which are needed to improve quantitative models for feedbacks between terrestrial and atmospheric CO2.

Spatial distribution of triazine residues in a shallow alluvial aquifer linked to groundwater residence time.

PubMed

Sassine, Lara; Le Gal La Salle, Corinne; Khaska, Mahmoud; Verdoux, Patrick; Meffre, Patrick; Benfodda, Zohra; Roig, Benoît

2017-03-01

At present, some triazine herbicides occurrence in European groundwater, 13 years after their use ban in the European Union, remains of great concern and raises the question of their persistence in groundwater systems due to several factors such as storage and remobilization from soil and unsaturated zone, limited or absence of degradation, sorption in saturated zones, or to continuing illegal applications. In order to address this problem and to determine triazine distribution in the saturated zone, their occurrence is investigated in the light of the aquifer hydrodynamic on the basis of a geochemical approach using groundwater dating tracers ( 3 H/ 3 He). In this study, atrazine, simazine, terbuthylazine, deethylatrazine, deisopropylatrazine, and deethylterbuthylazine are measured in 66 samples collected between 2011 and 2013 from 21 sampling points, on the Vistrenque shallow alluvial aquifer (southern France), covered by a major agricultural land use. The frequencies of quantification range from 100 to 56 % for simazine and atrazine, respectively (LQ = 1 ng L -1 ). Total triazine concentrations vary between 15 and 350 ng L -1 and show three different patterns with depth below the water table: (1) low concentrations independent of depth but related to water origin, (2) an increase in concentrations with depth in the aquifer related to groundwater residence time and triazine use prior to their ban, and (3) relatively high concentrations at low depths in the saturated zone more likely related to a slow desorption of these compounds from the soil and unsaturated zone. The triazine attenuation rate varies between 0.3 for waters influenced by surface water infiltration and 4.8 for water showing longer residence times in the aquifer, suggesting an increase in these rates with water residence time in the saturated zone. Increasing triazine concentrations with depth is consistent with a significant decrease in the use of these pesticides for the last 10 years on this area and highlights the efficiency of their ban.

Predicting Vegetation Condition from ASCAT Soil Water Index over Southwest India

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pfeil, Isabella Maria; Hochstöger, Simon; Amarnath, Giriraj; Pani, Peejush; Enenkel, Markus; Wagner, Wolfgang

2017-04-01

In India, extreme water scarcity events are expected to occur on average every five years. Record-breaking droughts affecting millions of human beings and livestock are common. If the south-west monsoon (summer monsoon) is delayed or brings less rainfall than expected, a season's harvest can be destroyed despite optimal farm management, leading to, in the worst case, life-threatening circumstances for a large number of farmers. Therefore, the monitoring of key drought indicators, such as the healthiness of the vegetation, and subsequent early warning is crucial. The aim of this work is to predict vegetation state from earth observation data instead of relying on models which need a lot of input data, increasing the complexity of error propagation, or seasonal forecasts, that are often too uncertain to be used as a regression component for a vegetation parameter. While precipitation is the main water supply for large parts of India's agricultural areas, vegetation datasets such as the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provide reliable estimates of vegetation greenness that can be related to vegetation health. Satellite-derived soil moisture represents the missing link between a deficit in rainfall and the response of vegetation. In particular the water available in the root zone plays an important role for near-future vegetation health. Exploiting the added-value of root zone soil moisture is therefore crucial, and its use in vegetation studies presents an added value for drought analyses and decision-support. The soil water index (SWI) dataset derived from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) on board the Metop satellites represents the water content that is available in the root zone. This dataset shows a strong correlation with NDVI data obtained from measurements of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), which is exploited in this study. A linear regression function is fit to the multi-year SWI and NDVI dataset with a temporal resolution of eight days, returning a set of parameters for every eight-day period of the year. Those parameters are then used to predict vegetation health based on the SWI up to 32 days after the latest available SWI and NDVI observations. In this work, the prediction was carried out for multiple eight-day periods in the year 2015 for three representative districts in India, and then compared to the actually observed NDVI during these periods, showing very similar spatial patterns in most analyzed regions and periods. This approach enables the prediction of vegetation health based on root zone soil moisture instead of relying on agro-meteorological models which often lack crucial input data in remote regions.

Soil moisture flow and nitrate transport through partially saturated zone considering mobile-immobile approach using 3D tank setup

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tomar, J.; Yadav, B. K.

2016-12-01

The aim of this study is to investigate the soil water flow and nitrate movement through vadose zone considering mobile-immobile approach using large scale three dimensional (3D) tank setup. The three dimensional sand tank setup was fabricated having dimension of 60 cm length, 30 cm width and 60 cm height and embedded with horizontal and vertical layers of sampling ports. The tank was filled with a porous media of average size of 0.5 to 1.0 mm homogeneous and nitrate concentration of 300 mg/l was applied with a distributed constant water flux of 150ml/hr. at the top using a sprinkler system. Pore water samples were collected hourly from the sampling ports and were analyzed using UV-spectrophotometer. The soil hydraulic and solute transport parameters were deduced from the laboratory experiments for simulating the considered 3D domain using the mobile-immobile approach. Soil moisture flow and contaminant transport equations are numerically solved for simulating the nitrate movement in the tank setup. The simulated break through curves (BTC) show the nitrate movement is rapid in mobile region by a factor of 1.2 as compared with the immobile region. The results show that the mobile-immobile approach of predicting solute transport in variably saturated zone can be used effectively in field after getting the required parameters using the laboratory experiments under similar environmental conditions. The high concentration 130 ppm was observed in lateral and transverse axis at 05 cm depth. This results will help in further investigation in field and in implementation of decontamination techniques.

Stream Channel Stability.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-04-01

Cycles of wetting and drying are also t ,v itiue swelling and shrinkage of the soil. S 11ied blocks or peds of soil fabric ,,ks. id downslope soil creep ...hydrographs of water and sediment at the point in question. By feeding the output from the hydrology-transport model into the finite element model...the banks as undercut banks fail. Channel irregularities such as seepage zones, cattle crossings, overbank drainage, buried channels, organic deposits

[Effects of Citric Acid on Activation and Methylation of Mercury in the Soils of Water-Level-Fluctuating Zone of the Three Gorges.Reservoir].

PubMed

Qin, Cai-qing; Liang, Li; You, Rui; Deng, Han; Wang, Ding-yong

2015-12-01

To investigate effects of the main component of vegetation root exudates-citric acid on activation and methylation of mercury in the soil of water-level-fluctuating zone (WLFZ) of the Three Gorges Reservoir area, simulation experiments were conducted by extracting and cultivating soil with different concentrations of citric acid. The results showed that after adding citric acid, the total mercury content in leaching solution before reaching peak were higher than that of the control, and increased with the increase of citric acid concentrations. The maximum amount of mercury complexes increased initially and then reached plateaus with the percentage against the total mercury in soil of 1.03%, 1.67%, 1.99%, 2.47%, 2.68%, 2.73% and 2.73% for different citric acid concentrations (0, 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 and 8 mmol · L⁻¹). In addition, concentrations of methylmercury ( MeHg) in soil remained stable in the first 3 hours, and then increased accompanying with the increasing rate rising with the concentration of citric acid ( besides the control group) . This result indicated that citric acid probably could promote the transformation process from inorganic mercury to MeHg in soil. which increased with the concentration of citric acid.

Illuminating hydrological processes at the soil-vegetation-atmosphere interface with water stable isotopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sprenger, Matthias; Leistert, Hannes; Gimbel, Katharina; Weiler, Markus

2016-09-01

Water stable isotopes (18O and 2H) are widely used as ideal tracers to track water through the soil and to separate evaporation from transpiration. Due to the technical developments in the last two decades, soil water stable isotope data have become easier to collect. Thus, the application of isotope methods in soils is growing rapidly. Studies that make use of soil water stable isotopes often have a multidisciplinary character since an interplay of processes that take place in the vadose zone has to be considered. In this review, we provide an overview of the hydrological processes that alter the soil water stable isotopic composition and present studies utilizing pore water stable isotopes. The processes that are discussed include the water input as precipitation or throughfall, the output as evaporation, transpiration, or recharge, and specific flow and transport processes. Based on the review and supported by additional data and modeling results, we pose a different view on the recently proposed two water world hypothesis. As an alternative to two distinct pools of soil water, where one pool is enriched in heavy isotopes and used by the vegetation and the other pool does not undergo isotopic fractionation and becomes recharge, the water gets successively mixed with newly introduced rainwater during the percolation process. This way, water initially isotopically enriched in the topsoil loses the fractionation signal with increasing infiltration depth, leading to unfractionated isotopic signals in the groundwater.

Assimilation of Smos Observations to Generate a Prototype SMAP Level 4 Surface and Root-Zone Soil Moisture Product

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Reichle, Rolf H.; De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.; Crow, Wade T.; Koster, Randal D.; Kimball, John

2012-01-01

The Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP; [1]) mission is being implemented by NASA for launch in October 2014. The primary science objectives of SMAP are to enhance understanding of land surface controls on the water, energy and carbon cycles, and to determine their linkages. Moreover, the high-resolution soil moisture mapping provided by SMAP has practical applications in weather and seasonal climate prediction, agriculture, human health, drought and flood decision support. The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS; [2]) mission was launched by ESA in November 2009 and has since been observing L-band (1.4 GHz) upwelling passive microwaves. In this paper we describe our use of SMOS brightness temperature observations to generate a prototype of the planned SMAP Level 4 Surface and Root-zone Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product [5].

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Japikse, C.

In January 1994, EPA signed an agreement with three private companies--Monsanto, DuPont, and General Electric (GE)--to develop a new remediation technology. Dubbed the ``lasagna`` process because of its layers, this technology cleans up liquid-borne organic and inorganic contaminants in dense, clay-like soils. Initial work is focused on removing chlorinated solvents. The lasagna process allows the soil to be remediated in situ by using low-voltage electric current to move contaminated ground water through treatment zones in the soil. Depending on the characteristics of the individual site, the process can be done in either a horizontal or vertical configuration. Lasagna partnership membersmore » are pursuing a range of options for developing the process for commercial use. Monsanto conducts research on the use of electric currents to move contaminants through soil. DuPont contributes expertise on the installation of vertical treatment zones and electrodes. GE performs computer-driven modeling of how contaminants move through soil.« less

Ancient Soils in a Sunburnt Country: Nutrient and Carbon Distributions in an Australian Dryland River System

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McIntyre, R. E.; Grierson, P. F.; Adams, M. A.

2005-05-01

Riparian systems are hotspots in dryland landscapes for nutrient supply and transformation. Biogeochemical fluxes in riparian systems are closely coupled to hydrological flowpaths, which, in dryland regions, are characterised by catastrophic flooding and long periods of erratic or no flow. Re-wetting of soils stimulates soil microbial processes that drive mineralization of nutrients necessary for plant growth. We present here the first data of a 3-year research project investigating biogeochemical processes in riparian systems in the semi-arid Pilbara region of Western Australia. Spatial patterns of nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon were closely related to topographic zone (across floodplain and channels) and vegetation type. NO3- and PCi concentrations were four-fold higher in channel, bank and riparian soils than in soils of floodplain and riparian-floodplain transition zones. Nitrogen distribution was highly heterogeneous in riparian soils (NO3- CV=102%, NH4+ CV=84%) while phosphorus was particularly heterogeneous in floodplain soils (PCi CV=153%, PCo CV=266%), in comparison to other zones. Phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) and enzymatic profiles will be used to assess microbial functional groups, combined with mineralisation experiments and stable isotope studies (15N and 13C). These data will improve understanding of biogeochemical cycling in dryland riparian systems, and contribute to improved regional management of water resources.

A soil-specific agro-ecological strategy for sustainable production in Argentina farm fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zamora, Martin; Barbera, Agustin; Castro-Franco, Mauricio; Hansson, Alejandro; Domenech, Marisa

2017-04-01

The continuous increment of frequencies and doses of pesticides, glyphosate and fertilizers, the deterioration of the structure, biotic balance and fertility of soils and the ground water pollution are characteristics of the current Argentinian agricultural model. In this context, agro-ecological innovations are needed to develop a real sustainable agriculture, enhancing the food supply. Precision agriculture technologies can strengthen the expansion of agro-ecological farming in experimental farm fields. The aim of this study was to propose a soil-specific agro-ecological strategy for sustainable production at field scale focused on the use of soil sensors and digital soil mapping techniques. This strategy has been developed in 15 hectares transition agro-ecological farm field, located at Barrow Experimental Station (Lat:-38.322844, Lon:-60.25572) Argentina. The strategy included five steps: (i) to measure apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) and elevation within agro-ecological farm field; (ii) to apply a clustering method using MULTISPATI-PCA algorithm to delimitate three soil-specific zones (Z1, Z2 and Z3); (iii) to determine three soil sampling points by zone, using conditioned Latin hypercube method, in addition to elevation and ECa as auxiliary information; (iv) to collect soil samples at 2-10 cm depth in each point and to determine in laboratory: total organic carbon content (TOC), cation-exchange capacity (CEC), pH and phosphorus availability (P-Bray). In addition, soil bulk density (SBD) was measured at 0-20 cm depth. Finally, (v) according to each soil-specific zone, a management strategy was recommended. Important differences in soil properties among zones could suggest that the strategy developed was able to apply an agro ecological soil-specific practice management. pH and P-Bray were significantly (p<0.05) higher in Z1 than in Z2 and Z3. TOC did not show significant difference among zones, but it was higher in Z2. CEC was significantly (p<0.05) lower in Z3 than in the other ones. SBD did not show significant difference among zones; however it had a higher content in Z1. From these results, we propose an agro ecology strategy which involves a continuous nutrient cycling. During the first two years, P-Bray levels will be adjusted among zones, by using different external phosphorous sources. Only in Z3, this strategy will be achieved adding P fertilizer and also rotating plots with high stocking rate. The aim is to increase soil organic matter content and CEC. Furthermore, P content will be supplied through manure because the animal nutrition will include wheat husk, in order to achieve similar P levels among zones. The proposed strategy demonstrated that the agro-ecology soil-specific management allows a sustainable scheme in Argentinian agro-productive systems.

A method for simulating transient ground-water recharge in deep water-table settings in central Florida by using a simple water-balance/transfer-function model

USGS Publications Warehouse

O'Reilly, Andrew M.

2004-01-01

A relatively simple method is needed that provides estimates of transient ground-water recharge in deep water-table settings that can be incorporated into other hydrologic models. Deep water-table settings are areas where the water table is below the reach of plant roots and virtually all water that is not lost to surface runoff, evaporation at land surface, or evapotranspiration in the root zone eventually becomes ground-water recharge. Areas in central Florida with a deep water table generally are high recharge areas; consequently, simulation of recharge in these areas is of particular interest to water-resource managers. Yet the complexities of meteorological variations and unsaturated flow processes make it difficult to estimate short-term recharge rates, thereby confounding calibration and predictive use of transient hydrologic models. A simple water-balance/transfer-function (WBTF) model was developed for simulating transient ground-water recharge in deep water-table settings. The WBTF model represents a one-dimensional column from the top of the vegetative canopy to the water table and consists of two components: (1) a water-balance module that simulates the water storage capacity of the vegetative canopy and root zone; and (2) a transfer-function module that simulates the traveltime of water as it percolates from the bottom of the root zone to the water table. Data requirements include two time series for the period of interest?precipitation (or precipitation minus surface runoff, if surface runoff is not negligible) and evapotranspiration?and values for five parameters that represent water storage capacity or soil-drainage characteristics. A limiting assumption of the WBTF model is that the percolation of water below the root zone is a linear process. That is, percolating water is assumed to have the same traveltime characteristics, experiencing the same delay and attenuation, as it moves through the unsaturated zone. This assumption is more accurate if the moisture content, and consequently the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity, below the root zone does not vary substantially with time. Results of the WBTF model were compared to those of the U.S. Geological Survey variably saturated flow model, VS2DT, and to field-based estimates of recharge to demonstrate the applicability of the WBTF model for a range of conditions relevant to deep water-table settings in central Florida. The WBTF model reproduced independently obtained estimates of recharge reasonably well for different soil types and water-table depths.

Field Scale Monitoring and Modeling of Water and Chemical Transfer in the Vadose Zone

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Natural resource systems involve highly complex interactions of soil-plant-atmosphere-management components that are extremely difficult to quantitatively describe. Computer simulations for prediction and management of watersheds, water supply areas, and agricultural fields and farms have become inc...

Delineation of ground-water contamination using soil-gas analyses near Jackson, Tennessee

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, R.W.

1991-01-01

An investigation of the ground-water resources near Jackson, West Tennessee, was conducted during 1988-89. The study included determination of the occurrence of contaminants in the shallow aquifer using soil-gas analyses in the unsaturated zone. Between 1980 and 1988, an underground fuel-storage tank leaked about 3,000 gallons of unleaded fuel to the water table about 4 feet below land surface. A survey of soil gas using a gas chromatograph equipped with a photoionization detector showed concentrations of volatile organic compounds greater than IO, 000 parts per million near the leak These compounds were detected in an area about 240 feet long and 110 feet wide extending west from the point source. The chromatograms provided two distinct 'fingerprints' of volatile organic compounds. The first revealed the presence of benzene, toluene, andxylenes, which are constituents of unleaded fuel, in addition to other volatile compounds, in soil gas in the area near the leak The second did not reveal any detectable benzene, toluene, or xylenes in the soil-gas samples, but showed the presence of other unidentified volatile organic compounds in soil gas north of the storage tank. The distribution of total concentrations of volatile organic compounds in the unsaturated zone indicated that a second plume about 200 feet long and 90 feet wide was present about 100 feet north of the storage tank The second plume could have been the result of previous activities at this site during the 1950's or earlier. Activities at the site are believed to have included storage of solvents used at the nearby railyard and flushing of tanks containing tar onto a gravel-covered parking area. The delineation of these plumes has shown that soil-gas analyses can be a useful technique for identifying areas of contamination with volatile organic compounds in shallow water-table aquifers and may have broad applications in similar situations where the water table is relatively close to the surface.

Exploring the role of mixing between subsurface flow paths on transit time distributions using a Lagrangian model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zehe, Erwin; Jackisch, Conrad; Rodriguez, Nicolas; Klaus, Julian

2017-04-01

Only a minute amount of global fresh water is stored in the unsaturated zone. Yet this tiny compartment controls soil microbial activity and associated trace gas emissions, transport and transformations of contaminants, plant productivity, runoff generation and groundwater recharge. To date, the processes controlling renewal and age of different fractions of the soil water stock are far from being understood. Current theories and process concepts were largely inferred either from over-simplified laboratory experiments, or non-exhaustive point observations and tracer data in the field. Tracer data provide key but yet integrated information about the distribution of travel times of the tracer molecules to a certain depth or on their travel depth distribution within a given time. We hence are able to observe the "effect" of soil structure i.e. partitioning of infiltrating water between fast preferential and slow flow paths and imperfect subsequent mixing between these flow paths in the subsurface and the related plant water uptake. However, we are not able to study the "cause" - because technologies for in-situ observations of flow, flow path topology and exchange processes at relevant interfaces have up to now not been at hand. In the present study we will make use of a Lagrangian model for subsurface water dynamics to explore how subsurface heterogeneity and mixing among different storage fractions affects residence time distribution in the unsaturated zone in a forward approach. Soil water is represented by particles of constant mass, which travel according to the Itô form of the Fokker Planck equation. The model concept builds on established soil physics by estimating the drift velocity and the diffusion term based on the soil water characteristics. The model has been shown to simulate capillary driven soil moisture dynamics in good accordance with a) the Richards equation and b) observed soil moisture data in different soil. The particle model may furthermore account for preferential non equilibrium infiltration in a straightforward manner by treating event water as different type of particle, which travel initially in a macropore/ coarse pore fraction and experience a slow diffusive mixing with the pre-event water particles within a characteristic mixing time. In the present study we will particularly use the last approach in combination with artificial tracer data and stable isotopes to explore how different assumptions on mixing between different flow paths affect the travel time and residence time distributions of water particles in different fractions of the pore space.

High-resolution monitoring across the soil-groundwater interface - Revealing small-scale hydrochemical patterns with a novel multi-level well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gassen, Niklas; Griebler, Christian; Stumpp, Christine

2016-04-01

Biogeochemical turnover processes in the subsurface are highly variable both in time and space. In order to capture this variability, high resolution monitoring systems are required. Particular in riparian zones the understanding of small-scale biogeochemical processes is of interest, as they are regarded as important buffer zones for nutrients and contaminants with high turnover rates. To date, riparian research has focused on influences of groundwater-surface water interactions on element cycling, but little is known about processes occurring at the interface between the saturated and the unsaturated zone during dynamic flow conditions. Therefore, we developed a new type of high resolution multi-level well (HR-MLW) that has been installed in the riparian zone of the Selke river. This HR-MLW for the first time enables to derive water samples both from the unsaturated and the saturated zone across one vertical profile with a spatial vertical resolution of 0.05 to 0.5 m to a depth of 4 m b.l.s. Water samples from the unsaturated zone are extracted via suction cup sampling. Samples from the saturated zone are withdrawn through glass filters and steel capillaries. Both, ceramic cups and glass filters, are installed along a 1" HDPE piezometer tube. First high resolution hydrochemical profiles revealed a distinct depth-zonation in the riparian alluvial aquifer. A shallow zone beneath the water table carried a signature isotopically and hydrochemically similar to the nearby river, while layers below 1.5 m were influenced by regional groundwater. This zonation showed temporal dynamics related to groundwater table fluctuations and microbial turnover processes. The HR-MLW delivered new insight into mixing and turnover processes between riverwater and groundwater in riparian zones, both in a temporal and spatial dimension. With these new insights, we are able to improve our understanding of dynamic turnover processes at the soil - groundwater interface and of surface -groundwater interactions in riparian zones. In the future, a better prediction and targeted management of buffer mechanisms in riparian zones will be possible.

What is the philosophy of modelling soil moisture movement?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, J.; Wu, Y.

2009-12-01

In laboratory, the soil moisture movement in the different soil textures has been analysed. From field investigation, at a spot, the soil moisture movement in the root zone, vadose zone and shallow aquifer has been explored. In addition, on ground slopes, the interflow in the near surface soil layers has been studied. Along the regions near river reaches, the expansion and shrink of the saturated area due to rainfall occurrences have been observed. From those previous explorations regarding soil moisture movement, numerical models to represent this hydrologic process have been developed. However, generally, due to high heterogeneity and stratification of soil in a basin, modelling soil moisture movement is rather challenging. Normally, some empirical equations or artificial manipulation are employed to adjust the soil moisture movement in various numerical models. In this study, we inspect the soil moisture movement equations used in a watershed model, SWAT (Soil and Water Assessment Tool) (Neitsch et al., 2005), to examine the limitations of our knowledge in such a hydrologic process. Then, we adopt the features of a topographic-information based on a hydrologic model, TOPMODEL (Beven and Kirkby, 1979), to enhance the representation of soil moisture movement in SWAT. Basically, the results of the study reveal, to some extent, the philosophy of modelling soil moisture movement in numerical models, which will be presented in the conference. Beven, K.J. and Kirkby, M.J., 1979. A physically based variable contributing area model of basin hydrology. Hydrol. Science Bulletin, 24: 43-69. Neitsch, S.L., Arnold, J.G., Kiniry, J.R., Williams, J.R. and King, K.W., 2005. Soil and Water Assessment Tool Theoretical Documentation, Grassland, soil and research service, Temple, TX.

Analysis of soil hydraulic and thermal properties for land surface modeling over the Tibetan Plateau

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhao, Hong; Zeng, Yijian; Lv, Shaoning; Su, Zhongbo

2018-06-01

Soil information (e.g., soil texture and porosity) from existing soil datasets over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is claimed to be inadequate and even inaccurate for determining soil hydraulic properties (SHP) and soil thermal properties (STP), hampering the understanding of the land surface process over TP. As the soil varies across three dominant climate zones (i.e., arid, semi-arid and subhumid) over the TP, the associated SHP and STP are expected to vary correspondingly. To obtain an explicit insight into the soil hydrothermal properties over the TP, in situ and laboratory measurements of over 30 soil property profiles were obtained across the climate zones. Results show that porosity and SHP and STP differ across the climate zones and strongly depend on soil texture. In particular, it is proposed that gravel impact on porosity and SHP and STP are both considered in the arid zone and in deep layers of the semi-arid zone. Parameterization schemes for porosity, SHP and STP are investigated and compared with measurements taken. To determine the SHP, including soil water retention curves (SWRCs) and hydraulic conductivities, the pedotransfer functions (PTFs) developed by Cosby et al. (1984) (for the Clapp-Hornberger model) and the continuous PTFs given by Wösten et al. (1999) (for the Van Genuchten-Mualem model) are recommended. The STP parameterization scheme proposed by Farouki (1981) based on the model of De Vries (1963) performed better across the TP than other schemes. Using the parameterization schemes mentioned above, the uncertainties of five existing regional and global soil datasets and their derived SHP and STP over the TP are quantified through comparison with in situ and laboratory measurements. The measured soil physical properties dataset is available at https://data.4tu.nl/repository/uuid:c712717c-6ac0-47ff-9d58-97f88082ddc0.

Ecohydrology of dry regions: storage versus pulse soil water dynamics

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lauenroth, William K.; Schlaepfer, Daniel R.; Bradford, John B.

2014-01-01

Although arid and semiarid regions are defined by low precipitation, the seasonal timing of temperature and precipitation can influence net primary production and plant functional type composition. The importance of precipitation seasonality is evident in semiarid areas of the western U.S., which comprise the Intermountain (IM) zone, a region that receives important winter precipitation and is dominated by woody plants and the Great Plains (GP), a region that receives primarily summer precipitation and is dominated by perennial grasses. Although these general relationships are well recognized, specific differences in water cycling between these regions have not been well characterized. We used a daily time step soil water simulation model and twenty sites from each region to analyze differences in soil water dynamics and ecosystem water balance. IM soil water patterns are characterized by storage of water during fall, winter, and spring resulting in relatively reliable available water during spring and early summer, particularly in deep soil layers. By contrast, GP soil water patterns are driven by pulse precipitation events during the warm season, resulting in fluctuating water availability in all soil layers. These contrasting patterns of soil water—storage versus pulse dynamics—explain important differences between the two regions. Notably, the storage dynamics of the IN sites increases water availability in deep soil layers, favoring the deeper rooted woody plants in that region, whereas the pulse dynamics of the Great Plains sites provide water primarily in surface layers, favoring the shallow-rooted grasses in that region. In addition, because water received when plants are either not active or only partially so is more vulnerable to evaporation and sublimation than water delivered during the growing season, IM ecosystems use a smaller fraction of precipitation for transpiration (47%) than GP ecosystems (49%). Recognizing the pulse-storage dichotomy in soil water regimes between the IM and GP regions may be useful for understanding the potential influence of climate changes on soil water patterns and resulting dominant plant functional groups in both regions.

Hydrologic functioning of the deep Critical Zone and contributions to streamflow in a high elevation catchment: testing of multiple conceptual models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dwivedi, R.; Meixner, T.; McIntosh, J. C.; Ferre, T. P. A.; Eastoe, C. J.; Minor, R. L.; Barron-Gafford, G.; Chorover, J.

2017-12-01

The composition of natural mountainous waters maintains important control over the water quality available to downstream users. Furthermore, the geochemical constituents of stream water in the mountainous catchments represent the result of the spatial and temporal evolution of critical zone structure and processes. A key problem is that high elevation catchments involve rugged terrain and are subject to extreme climate and landscape gradients; therefore, high density or high spatial resolution hydro-geochemical observations are rare. Despite such difficulties, the Santa Catalina Mountains Critical Zone Observatory (SCM-CZO), Tucson, AZ, generates long-term hydrogeochemical data for understanding not only hydrological processes and their seasonal characters, but also the geochemical impacts of such processes on streamflow chemical composition. Using existing instrumentation and hydrogeochemical observations from the last 9+ years (2009 through 2016 and an initial part of 2017), we employed a multi-tracer approach along with principal component analysis to identify water sources and their seasonal character. We used our results to inform hydrological process understanding (flow paths, residence times, and water sources) for our study site. Our results indicate that soil water is the largest contributor to streamflow, which is ephemeral in nature. Although a 3-dimensional mixing space involving precipitation, soil water, interflow, and deep groundwater end-members could explain most of the streamflow chemistry, geochemical complexity was observed to grow with catchment storage. In terms of processes and their seasonal character, we found soil water and interflow were the primary end-member contributors to streamflow in all seasons. Deep groundwater only contributes to streamflow at high catchment storage conditions, but it provides major ions such as Na, Mg, and Ca that are lacking in other water types. In this way, our results indicate that any future efforts aimed at explaining concentration-discharge behavior of our field site should consider at least three-dimensional mixing space or 4 end-members.

Using Isotopic Age of Water as a Constraint on Model Identification at a Critical Zone Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Duffy, C.; Thomas, E.; Bhatt, G.; George, H.; Boyer, E. W.; Sullivan, P. L.

2016-12-01

This paper presents an ecohydrologic model constrained by comprehensive space and time observations of water and stable isotopes of oxygen and hydrogen for an upland catchment, the Susquehanna/Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory (SSH_CZO). The paper first develops the theoretical basis for simulation of flow, isotope ratios and "age" as water moves through the canopy, to the unsaturated and saturated zones and finally to an intermittent stream. The model formulation demonstrates that the residence time and age of environmental tracers can be directly simulated without knowledge of the form of the underlying residence time distribution function and without the addition of any new physical parameters. The model is used to explore the observed rapid attenuation of event and seasonal isotopic ratios in precipitation over the depth of the soil zone and the impact of decreasing hydraulic conductivity with depth on the dynamics of streamflow and stream isotope ratios. The results suggest the importance of mobile macropore flow on recharge to groundwater during the non-growing cold-wet season. The soil matrix is also recharged during this season with a cold-season isotope signature. During the growing-dry season, root uptake and evaporation from the soil matrix along with a declining water table provides the main source of water for plants and determines the growing season signature. Flow path changes during storm events and transient overland flow is inferred by comparing the frequency distribution of groundwater and stream isotope histories with model results. Model uncertainty is evaluated for conditions of matrix-macropore partitioning and heterogeneous variations in conductivity with depth. The paper concludes by comparing the fully dynamical model with the simplified mixing model form in dynamic equilibrium. The comparison illustrates the importance of system memory on the time scales for flow and mixing processes and the limitations of the dynamic equilibrium assumption on estimated age and residence time.

Time-lapse electric resistivity in a stressed mangrove forest to image the role of the root zone in porewater salt distribution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Downs, C. M.; Krauss, K.; Kruse, S.

2017-12-01

The movement and storage of porewater salts is poorly understood in mangrove forests with limited surface water exchange between the forest and neighboring lagoon. These mangroves are often the most stressed, and have the most unfavorable salinity balance that often transition to mortality during extreme drought. A time-lapse resistivity survey was conducted in a stressed mangrove forest over a diel period. Resistivity is sensitive to the entire soil volume, including fine roots. The objective was to image changes in porewater salinity structures around both mangrove trees, where roots can be a prolific contributor to soil volume, and a salt pan with little or no vegetation. Throughout the diel period, salt pan conductivities remained relatively constant. The most significant temporal changes occur in the root zone around mangrove trees. Particularly interesting is a drop in resistivity (increased conductivity) at sunset when transpiration from individual trees decreases (or even ceases), potentially identifying a cumulative concentration of salts around the mangrove root zone after a full day of transpiration. The resistivity gradient decreases immediately after its peak at sunset, potentially identifying the consequences of hydraulic redistribution in diluting soils surrounding trees immediately after transpiration ceases. This is quicker than expected, and may imply a very strong and rapid eco-hydrological connection in the tree-facilitated salinity balance essential to their survival under the most salinity-stressed environments. At sunrise, resistivity increases, further suggesting dilution of salts via hydraulic redistribution of fresh water from the tree into the upper soil layers, or suggests an accumulation of salts within roots when presumably less water is moving through the trees. Repeated electric resistivity arrays provide spatial and temporal information about these salts and contribute to an overall understanding of how stressed mangrove forests behave. The mangrove ecophysiology literature has suggested that such a balance should exist between tree water use and soil salinity concentration. Here, we document the diel pattern from the perspective of the soil for the first time, but need more surveys to develop conclusive ecosystem level impacts.

An efficient soil water balance model based on hybrid numerical and statistical methods

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mao, Wei; Yang, Jinzhong; Zhu, Yan; Ye, Ming; Liu, Zhao; Wu, Jingwei

2018-04-01

Most soil water balance models only consider downward soil water movement driven by gravitational potential, and thus cannot simulate upward soil water movement driven by evapotranspiration especially in agricultural areas. In addition, the models cannot be used for simulating soil water movement in heterogeneous soils, and usually require many empirical parameters. To resolve these problems, this study derives a new one-dimensional water balance model for simulating both downward and upward soil water movement in heterogeneous unsaturated zones. The new model is based on a hybrid of numerical and statistical methods, and only requires four physical parameters. The model uses three governing equations to consider three terms that impact soil water movement, including the advective term driven by gravitational potential, the source/sink term driven by external forces (e.g., evapotranspiration), and the diffusive term driven by matric potential. The three governing equations are solved separately by using the hybrid numerical and statistical methods (e.g., linear regression method) that consider soil heterogeneity. The four soil hydraulic parameters required by the new models are as follows: saturated hydraulic conductivity, saturated water content, field capacity, and residual water content. The strength and weakness of the new model are evaluated by using two published studies, three hypothetical examples and a real-world application. The evaluation is performed by comparing the simulation results of the new model with corresponding results presented in the published studies, obtained using HYDRUS-1D and observation data. The evaluation indicates that the new model is accurate and efficient for simulating upward soil water flow in heterogeneous soils with complex boundary conditions. The new model is used for evaluating different drainage functions, and the square drainage function and the power drainage function are recommended. Computational efficiency of the new model makes it particularly suitable for large-scale simulation of soil water movement, because the new model can be used with coarse discretization in space and time.

FINAL REPORT: Temporal and Spatial Distribution of Soil Moisture in Heterogeneous Vadose Zone with Moisture Barriers as Affected by Atmospheric Boundary Conditions

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-12-07

Wallen, B., K.M. Smits and S.E. Howington. Thermal conductivity of binary sand mixtures evaluated through the full range of saturation. Hydrology Days...and T.H. Illangasekare. 2011. Thermal conductivity of soils as affected by temperature, Proceedings from Hydrology Days. Colorado State University...is mixed with very fine soil). Although it is well known that the apparent thermal conductivity (λ) of partially wet soil is a function of water (θ

A critical evaluation of soil water retention parameterizations with respect to their behaviour near saturation and in the dry range

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madi, Raneem; de Rooij, Gerrit; Mai, Juliane; Mielenz, Henrike

2016-04-01

Flow of liquid water and movement of water vapor in the unsaturated zone affect in-soil processes (e.g., root water uptake) and exchanges of water between the soil and the groundwater (e.g., aquifer recharge) and between the soil and the atmosphere (e.g., evaporation). Evapotranspiration in particular is a key factor in the way soils moderate weather and respond to climate change. Soil physicists typically model these processes at scales of individual fields and smaller. They solve Richards' equation using soil water retention curves and hydraulic conductivity curves (soil hydraulic property curves) that are typically valid for even smaller soil volumes. Over the years, many parametric expressions have been proposed as models for the soil hydraulic property curves. Before Richards' equation and the associated soil hydraulic properties can be upscaled or modified for use on scales that are more useful for climate modeling and other applications of practical relevance, the small scale soil hydraulic property curves should at least perform well on the scale for which they were originally developed. Research over the past couple of decades revealed that the fit of soil water retention curves in the dry end is often quite poor, which is particularly risky when vapor flow is a significant factor. It also emerged that the shape of the retention curve for matric potentials very close to zero can generate physically unrealistic behavior of the hydraulic conductivity near saturation when combined with a popular class of conductivity models. We critically examined most of the existing soil water retention parameterizations with respect to these two aspects, and introduced minor modifications to a few of them to improve their performance. The presentation will highlight the results of this review, and demonstrate the effect on calculated fluxes of liquid water and water vapor in soils for illustrative hypothetical scenarios.

Microbial transformations of azaarenes in creosite-contaminated soil and ground water: Laboratory and field studies

USGS Publications Warehouse

Pereira, W.E.; Rostad, C.E.; Updegraff, D.M.; Bennett, J.L.

1988-01-01

Azaarenes or aromatic nitrogen heterocycles are a class of compounds found in wood-preservative wastes containing creosote. The fate and movement of these compounds in contaminated aquifers is not well understood. Water-quality studies in an aquifer contaminated with creosote near Pensacola, Florida, indicated that ground water was contaminated with several azaarenes and their oxygenated and alkylated derivatives, suggesting that these oxygenated compounds may be products of microbial transformation reactions. Accordingly, laboratory studies were designed to investigate the fate of these compounds. Under aerobic conditions, soil pseudomonads isolated from creosote-contaminated soil converted quinoline to 2(1H)quinoline that subsequently was degraded to unknown products. A methanogenic consortium isolated from an anaerobic sewage digestor, in presence of ground-water and creosote-contaminated soil, converted quinoline, isoquinoline, and 4-methylquinoline to their respective oxygenated analogs. In addition, N-, C-, and O-methylated analogs of oxygenated azaarenes were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in aerobic cultures. Under the experimental conditions, 2-methylquinoline was biorefractory. Presence of similar biotransformation products in anaerobic cultures and contaminated ground water from the Pensacola site provided further evidence that these compounds indeed were mivrobial transformation products. Stable isotope labeling studies indicated that the source of the oxygen atom for this hydroxylation reaction under aerobic and anaerobic conditions was water. A mechanism was proposed for this hydroxylation reaction. Whereas parent azaarenes are biodegradable in both anaerobic and aerobic zones, oxygenated and alkylated analogs are more biorefractory and, hence, persistent in anaerobic zones of contaminated aquifers.

Complexation humic substances of soils with metal ions as the main way migration of matals from soil to water

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dinu, Marina

2013-04-01

Organic matter (OM) of natural waters can bind with the ions metals (IM) entering the system, thus reducing their toxic properties. OM in water consists predominantly (up to 80%) of humic acids (HA), represented by highmolecular, dyed, polyfunctional compounds. The natural-climatic zones feature various ratios of fulvic (FA) and humic acids. An important specific feature of metals as contamination elements is the fact that when they occur in the environment, their potential toxicity and bioavailability depend significantly on their speciation. In recent years, lakes have been continuously enriched in hazardous elements such as Pb, Cd, Al, and Cr on a global (regional) basis. The most important organic ligands are humic matter (HM) washed out from soils in water and metals occur in natural waters as free ions, simple complexes with inorganic and organic ligands, and mineral and organic particles of molecules and ions sorbed on the surface. The occurrence of soluble metal forms in natural waters depends on the presence of organic and inorganic anions. However, direct determinations are rather difficult. The goal was the calculation and analysis of the forms of metals in the system catchment basin, based on the chemical composition of the water body and the structural features of soil humic substances (HS).We used the following analytical techniques - leaching of humic substances from soil and sample preparation (Orlov DS, 1985), the functional characteristics of humic substances - spectral analysis methods, the definition of conditional stability constants of complexes - electrochemical methods of analysis. Our results show thet HAs of selected soil types are different in functions, and these differences effect substantially the complexing process. When analyzing the results obtained in the course of spectrometric investigation of HMs in selected soil types, we determined the following main HA characteristics: (1) predominance of oxygen bearing groups in HM of the northern taiga soils; (2) similar amounts of oxygen bearing fragments, hydrocarbon constituents, and nitrogen bearing components in the mixed forest zones; (3) occurrence of aromatic and aliphatic hydrocarbons in HM of steppe soils. The HM functional characteristics influence substantially the stability constants of complexes with metal ions and complex stoichiometry: Fe(III)>Cu(II)>Pb(II)>Al(III)>Co(II)>Ni(II)>Cd(II)>Zn(II)>Cr(III)>Mg(II)>Sr(II)>Ca(II)>Mn(II) - northern taiga soils; Cu(II)>Fe(III)>Al(III)>Ni(II)>Zn(II)>Pb(II)>Co(II)>Cd(II)>Sr(II)>Mn(II)>Cr(III)>Ca(II)>Mg(II) - mixed forest zones; Fe(III)>Cu(II)>Al(III)>Pb(II)>Ni(II)>Zn(II)>Co(II)>Ca(II)>Cd(II)>Sr(II)>Mg(II)>Cr(III)>Mn(II) - steppe soils. 1. T.I. Moiseenko, L.P. Kudryavtseva, and N.A. Gashkina, Scattered Element in Surface Land Waters: Technophility, Bioaccumulation, and Ecotoxicology (Nauka, Moscow, 2006) 2. G. M. Varshal, Ext. Abstr. Doct. Dis. Chem. (Inst. Geokh. Analit. Khim. RAN, Moscow, 1994).. 4. D.S. Orlov, Humic Acids (MGU, Moscow, 1986) 5. D.V. Kovalevsky, Ext. Abstr. Cand. Dis. Chem. (MGU, Moscow, 1998). 6. I.A. Linnik and B. I. Nabivanets, Metal Migration Forms in Surface Fresh Waters (Gidrometizdat, Leningrad, 1985) 7. Hartley, F., Burgess, C., and Alcoc, R., Solution Equilibria (Ellis Horwood, Chichester (UK), 1980). 8. Yu. Yu. Lur'e, Reference Book of Physicochemical Values (Nauka, Moscow, 2000)

Soil Water Adsorption and Evaporation During the Dry Season in an Arid Zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agam, N.; Berliner, P. R.

2004-12-01

The purpose of this study was to describe the daily pattern of changes in water content in the upper soil layers of a bare loess soil in the Negev desert throughout the dry season and to assess the corresponding relative magnitude of latent heat flux density. The measurements were carried out in the Northern Negev, Israel, over a bare loess soil, during nine 24-h field campaigns throughout the dry season of 2002. In addition to a micrometeorological station that was set up in the research site, an improved micro-lysimeter was installed. During each campaign, the 100-mm topsoil was sampled hourly, and water content at ten mm increments was obtained. A clear discernible daily cycle of water content in the upper soil layers was observed due to direct adsorption of water vapor by the soil and consequent evaporation. Although the water content of the uppermost soil is significantly lower than the wilting point, for which most of the commonly used meteorological models would assume no latent heat flux, the latter was ˜20% of the net-radiation during the night and 10-15% during the day. It is, therefore, concluded that latent heat flux plays a major role in the dissipation of the net radiation during the dry season in the Negev desert.

Effects of water level, shade and time on germination and growth of freshwater marsh plants along a simulated successional gradient

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kellogg, C.H.; Bridgham, S.D.; Leicht, S.A.

2003-01-01

1. We examined the effect of soil organic content (1.4, 3.6, 7.2% soil C), water level (+2, -1, -4 cm from soil surface) and duration (13 or 33 days) on 10 species that varied in abundance during succession in freshwater marshes. We also determined the effect of shade (0, 40, 80% shade) and soil organic content (1.4 and 7.2% soil C) on germination of six species over 62 days with water 0.5 cm below the soil surface. 2. Water level consistently affected species germination on both dates. Above-ground biomass was generally higher with increasing organic content of soil, but shade had little effect on germination or height. 3 The hydrologic zone in which species were found in the field was a good indicator of the response of germination to hydrology. Both early successional species and species wide-spread across the successional gradient show similar germination on all organic contents, while later successional species appear to germinate best at higher organic contents. 4. Successional changes in soils are capable of affecting plant community development, independent of disturbance.

Occurrence and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soils and sediment from Hanfeng Lake, Three Gorges, China.

PubMed

Cai, Jing; Gao, Shutao; Zhu, Like; Jia, Xuwei; Zeng, Xiangying; Yu, Zhiqiang

2017-11-10

This study was conducted to investigate the pollutant status and the retention mechanism of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soils and sediment from bank-water-level-fluctuating zone (WLFZ)-water systems in Hanfeng Lake, Three Gorges, China. The concentrations of the 16 PAHs ranged from 21.8 to 1324 ng g -1 dry wt for all 20 soil and sediment samples. These concentration levels were remarkably lower than those in soils and sediment collected domestically and worldwide. PAHs with two and three rings were found to be dominant in all the samples, with phenanthrene being most abundant. The spatial distribution of PAHs in bank soil, WLFZ soil, and sediment implied that the transfer and fate of PAHs in the bank soil-WLFZ soil-sediment systems were influenced by both water dynamic factors and physicochemical properties of PAHs. Diagnostic ratio analysis and principal component analysis suggested that the PAHs in the areas of Hanfeng Lake were primarily (>75%) derived from coal combustion and vehicle emissions . Use of natural gas, improving gasoline/diesel quality and phasing out old and nonstandard vehicles and ships are proposed to control PAH contamination and protect drinking water safety in the region.

Multisensor Capacitance Probes for Simultaneously Monitoring Rice Field Soil-Water- Crop-Ambient Conditions.

PubMed

Brinkhoff, James; Hornbuckle, John; Dowling, Thomas

2017-12-26

Multisensor capacitance probes (MCPs) have traditionally been used for soil moisture monitoring and irrigation scheduling. This paper presents a new application of these probes, namely the simultaneous monitoring of ponded water level, soil moisture, and temperature profile, conditions which are particularly important for rice crops in temperate growing regions and for rice grown with prolonged periods of drying. WiFi-based loggers are used to concurrently collect the data from the MCPs and ultrasonic distance sensors (giving an independent reading of water depth). Models are fit to MCP water depth vs volumetric water content (VWC) characteristics from laboratory measurements, variability from probe-to-probe is assessed, and the methodology is verified using measurements from a rice field throughout a growing season. The root-mean-squared error of the water depth calculated from MCP VWC over the rice growing season was 6.6 mm. MCPs are used to simultaneously monitor ponded water depth, soil moisture content when ponded water is drained, and temperatures in root, water, crop and ambient zones. The insulation effect of ponded water against cold-temperature effects is demonstrated with low and high water levels. The developed approach offers advantages in gaining the full soil-plant-atmosphere continuum in a single robust sensor.

Using a spatially-distributed hydrologic biogeochemistry model to study the spatial variation of carbon processes in a Critical Zone Observatory

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Y.; Eissenstat, D. M.; Davis, K. J.; He, Y.

2016-12-01

Forest carbon processes are affected by, among other factors, soil moisture, soil temperature, soil nutrients and solar radiation. Most of the current biogeochemical models are 1-D and represent one point in space. Therefore, they cannot resolve the topographically driven hill-slope land surface heterogeneity or the spatial pattern of nutrient availability. A spatially distributed forest ecosystem model, Flux-PIHM-BGC, has been developed by coupling a 1-D mechanistic biogeochemical model Biome-BGC (BBGC) with a spatially distributed land surface hydrologic model, Flux-PIHM. Flux-PIHM is a coupled physically based model, which incorporates a land-surface scheme into the Penn State Integrated Hydrologic Model (PIHM). The land surface scheme is adapted from the Noah land surface model. Flux-PIHM is able to represent the link between groundwater and the surface energy balance, as well as the land surface heterogeneities caused by topography. In the coupled Flux-PIHM-BGC model, each Flux-PIHM model grid couples a 1-D BBGC model, while soil nitrogen is transported among model grids via subsurface water flow. In each grid, Flux-PIHM provides BBGC with soil moisture, soil temperature, and solar radiation information, while BBGC provides Flux-PIHM with leaf area index. The coupled Flux-PIHM-BGC model has been implemented at the Susquehanna/Shale Hills critical zone observatory (SSHCZO). Model results suggest that the vegetation and soil carbon distribution is primarily constrained by nitorgen availability (affected by nitorgen transport via topographically driven subsurface flow), and also constrained by solar radiation and root zone soil moisture. The predicted vegetation and soil carbon distribution generally agrees with the macro pattern observed within the watershed. The coupled ecosystem-hydrologic model provides an important tool to study the impact of topography on watershed carbon processes, as well as the impact of climate change on water resources.

Biogeosystem technique as a base of Sustainable Irrigated Agriculture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Batukaev, Abdulmalik

2016-04-01

The world water strategy is to be changed because the current imitational gravitational frontal isotropic-continual paradigm of irrigation is not sustainable. This paradigm causes excessive consumption of fresh water - global deficit - up to 4-15 times, adverse effects on soils and landscapes. Current methods of irrigation does not control the water spread throughout the soil continuum. The preferable downward fluxes of irrigation water are forming, up to 70% and more of water supply loses into vadose zone. The moisture of irrigated soil is high, soil loses structure in the process of granulometric fractions flotation decomposition, the stomatal apparatus of plant leaf is fully open, transpiration rate is maximal. We propose the Biogeosystem technique - the transcendental, uncommon and non-imitating methods for Sustainable Natural Resources Management. New paradigm of irrigation is based on the intra-soil pulse discrete method of water supply into the soil continuum by injection in small discrete portions. Individual volume of water is supplied as a vertical cylinder of soil preliminary watering. The cylinder position in soil is at depth form 10 to 30 cm. Diameter of cylinder is 1-2 cm. Within 5-10 min after injection the water spreads from the cylinder of preliminary watering into surrounding soil by capillary, film and vapor transfer. Small amount of water is transferred gravitationally to the depth of 35-40 cm. The soil watering cylinder position in soil profile is at depth of 5-50 cm, diameter of the cylinder is 2-4 cm. Lateral distance between next cylinders along the plant raw is 10-15 cm. The soil carcass which is surrounding the cylinder of non-watered soil remains relatively dry and mechanically stable. After water injection the structure of soil in cylinder restores quickly because of no compression from the stable adjoining volume of soil and soil structure memory. The mean soil thermodynamic water potential of watered zone is -0.2 MPa. At this potential the stomatal apparatus of leaf regulate the water flow through plant, transpiration rate is reduced, soil solution concentration increases, plant nutrition supply rate becomes higher than at a stage of water field capacity. The rate of plant biomass growth is highest at water thermodynamic potential of -0.2-0.4 MPa. No excessive irrigation intra-soil mass transfer, nor excessive transpiration, evaporation and seepage. New intra-soil pulse discrete paradigm of irrigation optimizes the plant organogenesis, reduces consumption of water per unit of biological product. The biological productivity increases. Fresh water saving is up to 20 times. The new sustainable world strategy of Ecosystem Maintaining Productivity is to be based on the Biogeosystem Technique, it suits well the robotic nowadays noosphere technological platform and implements the principals of Geoethics in technologies of Biosphere. Key words: Paradigm, Biogeosystem technique, intra-soil pulse discrete watering. SSS8.1 Restoration and rehabilitation of degraded lands in arid, semi-arid and Mediterranean environments Batukaev Abdulmalik A. Chechen State University, Agrotechnological Institute, Dr Sc (Agric), Professor, Director, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia, batukaevmalik@mail.ru Kalinichenko Valery P. Institute of Fertility of Soils of South Russia, Dr Sc (Biol), Professor, Director, 346493, Krivoshlikova st., 2, Persianovka, Rostov region. Russia, kalinitch@mail.ru Minkina Tatiana M., Southern Federal University, Dr Sc (Biol), Head of the Soil Science Chair, 344006, Bolshaja Sadovaja st., 105/42, Rostov-on-Don, Russia, tminkina@mail.ru Zarmaev Ali A. Agrotechnological Institute of Chechen State University, Head of the Agrotechnology Chair, Dr Sc (Agric), Professor, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia, ali5073@mail.ru Skovpen Andrey N. Don State Agrarian University, PhD, Ass. Professor of Ecology Chair, 346493, Krivoshlikova st., 2, Persianovka, Rostov region, Russia, instit03@mail.ru Zaurbek Dikaev S. Chechen State University, Agrotechnological Institute, Ass. Professor of the Agrotechnology Chair, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia, dikaev-91@mail.ru Jusupov Vaha U. Chechen State University, Agrotechnological Institute, Ass. Professor of the Agrotechnology Chair, 364907, Sheripova st., 32, Grozny, Russia. knyaz-vakha@mail.ru Rykhlik Artem E. Institute of Fertility of Soils of South Russia, Expert, 346493, Krivoshlikova st., 2, Persianovka, Rostov region. Russia, tyoma-4444@yandex.ru Bauer Tatiana V. Southern Federal University, Academy of Biology and Biotechnology, Postgraduate, 344006, Bolshaja Sadovaja st., 105/42, Rostov-on-Don, Russia, tminkina@mail.ru

Soil-water content characterisation in a modified Jarvis-Stewart model: A case study of a conifer forest on a shallow unconfined aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guyot, Adrien; Fan, Junliang; Oestergaard, Kasper T.; Whitley, Rhys; Gibbes, Badin; Arsac, Margaux; Lockington, David A.

2017-01-01

Groundwater-vegetation-atmosphere fluxes were monitored for a subtropical coastal conifer forest in South-East Queensland, Australia. Observations were used to quantify seasonal changes in transpiration rates with respect to temporal fluctuations of the local water table depth. The applicability of a Modified Jarvis-Stewart transpiration model (MJS), which requires soil-water content data, was assessed for this system. The influence of single depth values compared to use of vertically averaged soil-water content data on MJS-modelled transpiration was assessed over both a wet and a dry season, where the water table depth varied from the surface to a depth of 1.4 m below the surface. Data for tree transpiration rates relative to water table depth showed that trees transpire when the water table was above a threshold depth of 0.8 m below the ground surface (water availability is non-limiting). When the water table reached the ground surface (i.e., surface flooding) transpiration was found to be limited. When the water table is below this threshold depth, a linear relationship between water table depth and the transpiration rate was observed. MJS modelling results show that the influence of different choices for soil-water content on transpiration predictions was insignificant in the wet season. However, during the dry season, inclusion of deeper soil-water content data improved the model performance (except for days after isolated rainfall events, here a shallower soil-water representation was better). This study demonstrated that, to improve MJS simulation results, appropriate selection of soil water measurement depths based on the dynamic behaviour of soil water profiles through the root zone was required in a shallow unconfined aquifer system.

The frontier beneath our feet

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grant, Gordon E.; Dietrich, William E.

2017-04-01

Following the simple question as to where water goes when it rains leads to one of the most exciting frontiers in earth science: the critical zone—Earth's dynamic skin. The critical zone extends from the top of the vegetation canopy through the soil and down to fresh bedrock and the bottom of the groundwater. Only recently recognized as a distinct zone, it is challenging to study because it is hard to observe directly, and varies widely across biogeoclimatic regions. Yet new ideas, instruments, and observations are revealing surprising and sometimes paradoxical insights, underscoring the value of field campaigns and long-term observatories. These insights bear directly on some of the most pressing societal problems today: maintaining healthy forests, sustaining streamflow during droughts, and restoring productive terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The critical zone is critical because it supports all terrestrial life; it is the nexus where water and carbon is cycled, vegetation (hence food) grows, soil develops, landscapes evolve, and we live. No other frontier is so close to home.

Comment on 'Shang S. 2012. Calculating actual crop evapotranspiration under soil water stress conditions with appropriate numerical methods and time step. Hydrological Processes 26: 3338-3343. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.8405'

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Yatheendradas, Soni; Narapusetty, Balachandrudu; Peters-Lidard, Christa; Funk, Christopher; Verdin, James

2014-01-01

A previous study analyzed errors in the numerical calculation of actual crop evapotranspiration (ET(sub a)) under soil water stress. Assuming no irrigation or precipitation, it constructed equations for ET(sub a) over limited soil-water ranges in a root zone drying out due to evapotranspiration. It then used a single crop-soil composite to provide recommendations about the appropriate usage of numerical methods under different values of the time step and the maximum crop evapotranspiration (ET(sub c)). This comment reformulates those ET(sub a) equations for applicability over the full range of soil water values, revealing a dependence of the relative error in numerical ET(sub a) on the initial soil water that was not seen in the previous study. It is shown that the recommendations based on a single crop-soil composite can be invalid for other crop-soil composites. Finally, a consideration of the numerical error in the time-cumulative value of ET(sub a) is discussed besides the existing consideration of that error over individual time steps as done in the previous study. This cumulative ET(sub a) is more relevant to the final crop yield.

Fatty acid methyl ester analysis to identify sources of soil in surface water.

PubMed

Banowetz, Gary M; Whittaker, Gerald W; Dierksen, Karen P; Azevedo, Mark D; Kennedy, Ann C; Griffith, Stephen M; Steiner, Jeffrey J

2006-01-01

Efforts to improve land-use practices to prevent contamination of surface waters with soil are limited by an inability to identify the primary sources of soil present in these waters. We evaluated the utility of fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) profiles of dry reference soils for multivariate statistical classification of soils collected from surface waters adjacent to agricultural production fields and a wooded riparian zone. Trials that compared approaches to concentrate soil from surface water showed that aluminum sulfate precipitation provided comparable yields to that obtained by vacuum filtration and was more suitable for handling large numbers of samples. Fatty acid methyl ester profiles were developed from reference soils collected from contrasting land uses in different seasons to determine whether specific fatty acids would consistently serve as variables in multivariate statistical analyses to permit reliable classification of soils. We used a Bayesian method and an independent iterative process to select appropriate fatty acids and found that variable selection was strongly impacted by the season during which soil was collected. The apparent seasonal variation in the occurrence of marker fatty acids in FAME profiles from reference soils prevented preparation of a standardized set of variables. Nevertheless, accurate classification of soil in surface water was achieved utilizing fatty acid variables identified in seasonally matched reference soils. Correlation analysis of entire chromatograms and subsequent discriminant analyses utilizing a restricted number of fatty acid variables showed that FAME profiles of soils exposed to the aquatic environment still had utility for classification at least 1 wk after submersion.

Soil Properties and the Conditions for Recurring Earthflow Failure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davila Olivera, S.; Nereson, A. L.; Finnegan, N. J.

2017-12-01

In the California Coast Ranges, earthflows are major contributors to sediment transport on hillslopes and have dramatic impacts on rivers and infrastructure. Earthflows are notable for slow-movement (1-10 m/yr) that can be persistent or recurring over long periods of time (102 -103 yrs). While the physical underpinnings for this type of movement remain difficult to determine in natural settings, the slow, steady motion of an earthflow implies that at least two mechanisms must be at work: 1) a mechanism that localizes failure at the same place on the hillslope year-after-year, and 2) a mechanism that arrests the motion of the landslide and prevents runaway acceleration. In this study, we focused on the first mechanism and test the "bathtub model" (Baum and Reid,2000). According to this model, a concentration of fine-grained material in the shear zone of a slide locally reduces soil shear strength and lowers hydraulic conductivity. These effects result in the hydrologic and mechanical isolation of the slide mass, causing the landslide to fill with water (like a bathtub) during precipitation events. We wanted to investigate the role of `bathtub-like" conditions at a long-lived (>80 yrs) earthflow located 20 km northeast of San Jose, CA known as the Oak Ridge Earthflow. Towards that end, we collected and analyzed soil samples. Our work included 1) measurements of the soil particle size distribution in the shear zone, landslide body, and stable ground (given that soil grain size exerts a first-order control on hydraulic conductivity), 2) measurements of water content at the end of the dry season to observe patterns of water retention within the slide and 3) determination of Atterberg limits and soil textures that can be empirically correlated with other useful soil properties, such as strength and hydraulic conductivity, two qualities that define this hypothesis. In the shear zone, we found the soil to be weak, fine-grained (D10 = 0.04 mm), and of low-hydraulic conductivity (calculated K = 6.25x10-8 m/s), relative to the coarse (D10 = 0.14-1.4 mm), permeable (calculated K = 6.0x10-7 m/s) sediments in the slide body and stable slopes adjacent to the earthflow. Overall, soil textural data and soil properties determined by correlation with the Atterberg limits tentatively support the influence of 'bathtub-like" conditions at this site.

Comparing hydraulic properties of soil-less substrates with natural soils: a more detailed look at hydraulic properties and their impact on plant water availability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crawford, L.; Rivera, L. D.; van Iersel, M.

2013-12-01

Moisture release curves are often used when assessing plant-water relationships in soil-less substrates. However, differences between natural soils and soilless substrates make traditional assumptions about plant available water potentially invalid. If soil-less substrates are supposed to be treated like natural soils; why do plants begin wilting at very low water potentials (-10 to -30 kPa) and there is anywhere between 20 to 40 % water left (on a volumetric basis) in the soil (Abad et al., 2005; Arguedas et al., 2006; Ristvey et al, 2008) . We hypothesize that the fault lies in the methods used and the assumption that water potential is the only limiting factor in water availability to plants. Hydraulic properties, including the relationships that exist between plant available water, water content, and hydraulic conductivity of soil-less substrates have traditionally been characterized using instrumentation such as pressure plates, hanging water columns, and tempe cells. These approaches typically take a months and only provide data on select segments of the soil moisture release curve, and in the case of pressure plates and hanging water columns hydraulic conductivity is ignored and not very well understood. Using the Wind/Schindler Evaporation method more detailed measurements of these hydraulic properties can be measured in a less than a week. A more detailed look at the hydraulic properties of soil-less substrates and how they compare with natural soils may give us more insight into soil-plant-water-relations and what limits availability of water to plants. Soil moisture release curves and hydraulic conductivity curves of different soil-less substrates were compared with curves from typical agriculture soils to give insight into how these properties compare. Results of the soil moisture release curves showed that some soil-less substrates had comparable moisture release curves to agricultural soils while others had bi-modal curves indicating gap-gradation in the pore size distribution. These soils that showed this non-typical curve had hydraulic conductivities that dropped very low (500 times lower than agricultural soils) at low water potentials (around 10 kPa). This dramatically lower hydraulic conductivity could lead to zones of depletion around the roots hindering plant water uptake.

Carbon dioxide, ground air and carbon cycling in Gibraltar karst

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mattey, D. P.; Atkinson, T. C.; Barker, J. A.; Fisher, R.; Latin, J.-P.; Durrell, R.; Ainsworth, M.

2016-07-01

We put forward a general conceptual model of CO2 behaviour in the vadose zone of karst aquifers, based on physical principles of air flow through porous media and caves, combined with a geochemical interpretation of cave monitoring data. This 'Gibraltar model' links fluxes of water, air and carbon through the soil with the porosity of the vadose zone, the circulation of ground air and the ventilation of caves. Gibraltar hosts many natural caves whose locations span the full length and vertical range of the Rock. We report results of an 8-year monitoring study of carbon in soil organic matter and bedrock carbonate, dissolved inorganic carbon in vadose waters, and gaseous CO2 in soil, cave and ground air. Results show that the regime of cave air CO2 results from the interaction of cave ventilation with a reservoir of CO2-enriched ground air held within the smaller voids of the bedrock. The pCO2 of ground air, and of vadose waters that have been in close contact with it, are determined by multiple factors that include recharge patterns, vegetation productivity and root respiration, and conversion of organic matter to CO2 within the soil, the epikarst and the whole vadose zone. Mathematical modelling and field observations show that ground air is subject to a density-driven circulation that reverses seasonally, as the difference between surface and underground temperatures reverses in sign. The Gibraltar model suggests that cave air pCO2 is not directly related to CO2 generated in the soil or the epikarstic zone, as is often assumed. Ground air CO2 formed by the decay of organic matter (OM) washed down into the deeper unsaturated zone is an important additional source of pCO2. In Gibraltar the addition of OM-derived CO2 is the dominant control on the pCO2 of ground air and the Ca-hardness of waters within the deep vadose zone. The seasonal regime of CO2 in cave air depends on the position of a cave in relation to the density-driven ground air circulation pattern which is itself determined by the topography, as well as by the high-permeability conduits for air movement provided by caves themselves. In the steep topography of Gibraltar, caves in the lower part of the Rock act as outflow conduits for descending ground air in summer, and so have higher pCO2 in that season. Caves in the upper Rock have high pCO2 in winter, when they act as outflow conduits for rising currents of CO2-enriched ground air. Understanding seasonal flows of ground air in the vadose zone, together with the origins and seasonal regimes of CO2 in cave air underpins robust interpretation of speleothem-based climate proxy records.

The effect of using a geotextile in a monolithic (evapotranspiration) alternative landfill cover on the resulting water balance.

PubMed

Sun, Jianlei; Yuen, Samuel T S; Fourie, Andy B

2010-11-01

This paper examines the potential effects of a geotextile layer used in a lysimeter pan experiment conducted in a monolithic (evapotranspiration) soil cover trial on its resulting water balance performance. The geotextile was added to the base of the lysimeter to serve as a plant root barrier in order to delineate the root zone depth. Both laboratory data and numerical modelling results indicated that the geotextile creates a capillary barrier under certain conditions and retains more water in the soil above the soil/geotextile interface than occurs without a geotextile. The numerical modelling results also suggested that the water balance of the soil cover could be affected by an increase in plant transpiration taking up this extra water retained above the soil/geotextile interface. This finding has a practical implication on the full-scale monolithic cover design, as the absence of the geotextile in the full-scale cover may affect the associated water balance and hence cover performance. Proper consideration is therefore required to assess the final monolithic cover water balance performance if its design is based on the lysimeter results. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Benchmark levels for the consumptive water footprint of crop production for different environmental conditions: a case study for winter wheat in China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhuo, La; Mekonnen, Mesfin M.; Hoekstra, Arjen Y.

2016-11-01

Meeting growing food demands while simultaneously shrinking the water footprint (WF) of agricultural production is one of the greatest societal challenges. Benchmarks for the WF of crop production can serve as a reference and be helpful in setting WF reduction targets. The consumptive WF of crops, the consumption of rainwater stored in the soil (green WF), and the consumption of irrigation water (blue WF) over the crop growing period varies spatially and temporally depending on environmental factors like climate and soil. The study explores which environmental factors should be distinguished when determining benchmark levels for the consumptive WF of crops. Hereto we determine benchmark levels for the consumptive WF of winter wheat production in China for all separate years in the period 1961-2008, for rain-fed vs. irrigated croplands, for wet vs. dry years, for warm vs. cold years, for four different soil classes, and for two different climate zones. We simulate consumptive WFs of winter wheat production with the crop water productivity model AquaCrop at a 5 by 5 arcmin resolution, accounting for water stress only. The results show that (i) benchmark levels determined for individual years for the country as a whole remain within a range of ±20 % around long-term mean levels over 1961-2008, (ii) the WF benchmarks for irrigated winter wheat are 8-10 % larger than those for rain-fed winter wheat, (iii) WF benchmarks for wet years are 1-3 % smaller than for dry years, (iv) WF benchmarks for warm years are 7-8 % smaller than for cold years, (v) WF benchmarks differ by about 10-12 % across different soil texture classes, and (vi) WF benchmarks for the humid zone are 26-31 % smaller than for the arid zone, which has relatively higher reference evapotranspiration in general and lower yields in rain-fed fields. We conclude that when determining benchmark levels for the consumptive WF of a crop, it is useful to primarily distinguish between different climate zones. If actual consumptive WFs of winter wheat throughout China were reduced to the benchmark levels set by the best 25 % of Chinese winter wheat production (1224 m3 t-1 for arid areas and 841 m3 t-1 for humid areas), the water saving in an average year would be 53 % of the current water consumption at winter wheat fields in China. The majority of the yield increase and associated improvement in water productivity can be achieved in southern China.

Propagation of hydroclimatic variability through the critical zone

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porporato, A. M.; Calabrese, S.; Parolari, A.

2016-12-01

The interaction between soil moisture dynamics and mineral-weathering reactions (e.g., ion exchange, precipitation-dissolution) affects the availability of nutrients to plants, composition of soils, soil acidification, as well as CO2 sequestration. Across the critical zone (CZ), this interaction is responsible for propagating hydroclimatic fluctuations to deeper soil layers, controlling weathering rates via leaching events which intermittently alter the alkalinity levels. In this contribution, we analyze these dynamics using a stochastic modeling approach based on spatially lumped description of soil hydrology and chemical weathering reactions forced by multi-scale temporal hydrologic variability. We quantify the role of soil moisture dynamics in filtering the rainfall fluctuations through its impacts on soil water chemistry, described by a system of ordinary differential equations (and algebraic equations, for the equilibrium reactions), driving the evolution of alkalinity, pH, the chemical species of the soil solution, and the mineral-weathering rate. A probabilistic description of the evolution of the critical zone is thus obtained, allowing us to describe the CZ response to long-term climate fluctuations, ecosystem and land-use conditions, in terms of key variables groups. The model is applied to the weathering rate of albite in the Calhoun CZ observatory and then extended to explore similarities and differences across other CZs. Typical time scales of response and degrees of sensitivities of CZ to hydroclimatic fluctuations and human forcing are also explored.

Hydrologic Triggering of Shallow Landslides in a Field-scale Flume

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, M. E.; Iverson, R. M.; Iverson, N. R.; Brien, D. L.; Lahusen, R. G.; Logan, M.

2006-12-01

Hydrologic Triggering of Shallow Landslides in a Field-scale Flume Mark E. Reid, Richard M. Iverson, Neal R. Iverson, Dianne L. Brien, Richard G. LaHusen, and Mathew Logan Shallow landslides are often triggered by pore-water pressure increases driven by 1) groundwater inflow from underlying bedrock or soil, 2) prolonged moderate-intensity rainfall or snowmelt, or 3) bursts of high-intensity rainfall. These shallow failures are difficult to capture in the field, limiting our understanding of how different water pathways control failure style or timing. We used the field-scale, USGS debris-flow flume for 7 controlled landslide initiation experiments designed to examine the influence of different hydrologic triggers and the role of soil density, relative to critical state, on failure style and timing. Using sprinklers and/or groundwater injectors, we induced failure in a 0.65m thick, 2m wide, 6m3 prism of loamy sand on a 31° slope, placed behind a retaining wall. We monitored ~50 sensors to measure soil deformation (tiltmeters & extensometers), pore pressure (tensiometers and transducers), and soil moisture (TDR probes). We also extracted soil samples for laboratory estimates of porosity, shear strength, saturated hydraulic conductivity at differing porosities, unsaturated moisture retention characteristics, and compressibility. Experiments with loose soil all resulted in abrupt failure along the concrete flume bed with rapid mobilization into a debris flow. Each of the 3 water pathways, however, resulted in slightly different pore-pressure fields at failure and different times to failure. For example, groundwater injection at the flume bed led to a saturated zone that advanced upward, wetting over half the soil prism before pressures at the bed were sufficient to provoke collapse. With moderate-intensity surface sprinkling, an unsaturated wetting front propagated downward until reaching the bed, then a saturated zone built upward, with the highest pressures at the bed. With the third trigger, soils were initially wetted (but not saturated) with moderate-intensity sprinkling and then subjected to a high-intensity burst, causing failure without widespread positive pressures. It appears that a small pressure perturbation from the burst traveled rapidly downward through tension-saturated soil and led to positive pressure development at the flume bed resulting in failure. In contrast, failures in experiments with stronger, denser soil were gradual and episodic, requiring both sprinkling and groundwater injection. Numerical simulations of variably saturated groundwater flow mimic the behaviors described above. Simulated rainfall with an intensity greater than soil hydraulic conductivity generates rapid pressure perturbations, whereas lower intensity rainfall leads to wetting front propagation and water table buildup. Our results suggest that transient responses induced by high intensity bursts require relatively high frequency monitoring of unsaturated zone changes; in this case conventional piezometers would be unlikely to detect failure-inducing pore pressure changes. These experiments also indicate that although different water pathways control the timing of failure, initial soil density controls the style of failure.

[Using ultraviolet-visible ( UV-Vis) absorption spectrum to estimate the dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentration in water, soils and sediments of typical water-level fluctuation zones of the Three Gorges Reservoir areas].

PubMed

Li, Lu-lu; Jiang, Tao; Lu, Song; Yan, Jin-long; Gao, Jie; Wei, Shi-qiang; Wang, Ding-yong; Guo, Nian; Zhao, Zhena

2014-09-01

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is a very important component in terrestrial ecosystem. Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) is a significant constituent of DOM, which can be measured by ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) absorption spectrum. Thus the relationship between CDOM and DOM was investigated and established by several types of models including single-wavelength model, double-wavelength model, absorption spectrum slope (S value) model and three-wavelength model, based on the UV-Vis absorption coefficients of soil and sediment samples (sampled in July of 2012) and water samples (sampled in November of 2012) respectively. The results suggested that the three-wavelength model was the best for fitting, and the determination coefficients of water, soil and sediment data were 0. 788, 0. 933 and 0. 856, respectively. Meanwhile, the nominal best model was validated with the UV-Vis data of 32 soil samples and 36 water samples randomly collected in 2013, showing the RRMSE and MRE were 16. 5% and 16. 9% respectively for soil DOM samples, 10. 32% and 9. 06% respectively for water DOM samples, which further suggested the prediction accuracy was higher in water DOM samples as compared with that in soil DOM samples.

Soil water capture trends over 50 years of single-cross maize (Zea mays L.) breeding in the US corn-belt

PubMed Central

Reyes, Andres; Messina, Carlos D.; Hammer, Graeme L.; Liu, Lu; van Oosterom, Erik; Lafitte, Renee; Cooper, Mark

2015-01-01

Breeders have successfully improved maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield for the conditions of the US corn-belt over the past 80 years, with the past 50 years utilizing single-cross hybrids. Long-term improvement for grain yield under water-limited conditions has also been reported. Grain yield under water-limited conditions depends on water use, water use efficiency, and harvest index. It has been hypothesized that long-term genetic gain for yield could be due, in part, to increased water capture from the soil. This hypothesis was tested using a set of elite single-cross hybrids that were released by DuPont Pioneer between 1963 and 2009. Eighteen hybrids were grown in the field during 2010 and 2011 growing seasons at Woodland, CA, USA. Crops grew predominantly on stored soil water and drought stress increased as the season progressed. Soil water content was measured to 300cm depth throughout the growing season. Significant water extraction occurred to a depth of 240–300cm and seasonal water use was calculated from the change in soil water over this rooting zone. Grain yield increased significantly with year of commercialization, but no such trend was observed for total water extraction. Therefore, the measured genetic gain for yield for the period represented by this set of hybrids must be related to either increased efficiency of water use or increased carbon partitioning to the grain, rather than increased soil water uptake. PMID:26428065

Precipitation v. River Discharge Controls on Water Availability to Riparian Trees in the Rhône River Delta

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singer, M. B.; Sargeant, C. I.; Vallet-Coulomb, C.; Evans, C.; Bates, C. R.

2014-12-01

Water availability to riparian trees in lowlands is controlled through precipitation and its infiltration into floodplain soils, and through river discharge additions to the hyporheic water table. The relative contributions of both water sources to the root zone within river floodplains vary through time, depending on climatic fluctuations. There is currently limited understanding of how climatic fluctuations are expressed at local scales, especially in 'critical zone' hydrology, which is fundamental to the health and sustainability of riparian forest ecosystems. This knowledge is particularly important in water-stressed Mediterranean climate systems, considering climatic trends and projections toward hotter and drier growing seasons, which have the potential to dramatically reduce water availability to riparian forests. Our aim is to identify and quantify the relative contributions of hyporheic (discharge) water v. infiltrated precipitation to water uptake by riparian Mediterranean trees for several distinct hydrologic years, selected to isolate contrasts in water availability from these sources. Our approach includes isotopic analyses of water and tree-ring cellulose, mechanistic modeling of water uptake and wood production, and physically based modeling of subsurface hydrology. We utilize an extensive database of oxygen isotope (δ18O) measurements in surface water and precipitation alongside recent measurements of δ18O in groundwater and soil water and in tree-ring cellulose. We use a mechanistic model to back-calculate source water δ18O based on δ18O in cellulose and climate data. Finally, we test our results via 1-D hydrologic modeling of precipitation infiltration and water table rise and fall. These steps enable us to interpret hydrologic cycle variability within the 'critical zone' and their potential impact on riparian trees.

Gypsum effects on crop yield and chemistry of soil, crop tissue, and vadose zone water: A meta-analysis.

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Gypsum has various potential benefits as a soil amendment, but data are lacking on gypsum effects on crop yields and on environmental impacts across diverse field sites. Gypsum studies were conducted in six states using a common design with three rates each of mined and flue gas desulfurization (FGD...

Critical Transition in Critical Zone of Intensively Managed Landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, P.

2017-12-01

Intensification of industrial agriculture has resulted in severe unintended global impacts, including degradation of arable land and eutrophication of receiving water bodies. Modern agricultural practices rely on significant direct and indirect human energy inputs, which have created imbalances between increased rates of biogeochemical processes related to production and background rates of natural processes. These imbalances have cascaded through the deep inter-dependencies between carbon, soil, water, nutrient and ecological processes, resulting in a critical transition of the Critical Zone and creating emergent dynamics and evolutionary trajectories. Understanding of these novel organization and function of the Critical Zone is vital for developing sustainable agricultural practices.

Modelling orange tree root water uptake active area by minimally invasive ERT data and transpiration measurements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vanella, Daniela; Boaga, Jacopo; Perri, Maria Teresa; Consoli, Simona; Cassiani, Giorgio

2015-04-01

The comprehension of the hydrological processes involving plant root dynamics is crucial for implementing water saving measures in agriculture. This is particular urgent in areas, like those Mediterranean, characterized by scarce water availability. The study of root water dynamics should not be separated from a more general analysis of the mass and energy fluxes transferred in the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. In our study, in order to carry this inclusive approach, minimal invasive 3D time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) for soil moisture estimation was combined with plant transpiration fluxes directly measured with Sap Flow (SF) techniques and Eddy Covariance methods, and volumetric soil moisture measurements by TDR probes. The main objective of this inclusive approach was to accurately define root-zone water dynamics and individuate the root-area effectively active for water and nutrient uptake process. The monitoring was carried out in Eastern Sicily (south Italy) in summers 2013 and 2014, within an experimental orange orchard farm. During the first year of experiment (October 2013), ERT measurements were carried out around the pertinent volume of one fully irrigated tree, characterized by a vegetation ground cover of 70%; in the second year (June 2014), ERT monitoring was conducted considering a cutting plant, thus to evaluate soil water dynamics without the significant plant transpiration contribution. In order to explore the hydrological dynamics of the root zone volume surrounded by the monitored tree, the resistivity data acquired during the ERT monitoring were converted into soil moisture content distribution by a laboratory calibration based on the soil electrical properties as a function of moisture content and pore water electrical conductivity. By using ERT data in conjunction with the agro-meteorological information (i.e. irrigation rates, rainfall, evapotranspiration by Eddy Covariance, transpiration by Sap Flow and soil moisture content by TRD) of the test area, a spatially distributed one-dimensional (1D) model that solves the Richards' equation was applied; in the model the van Genuchten parameters were obtained by laboratory analysis of soil water retention and soil permeability at saturation. Results of the 1D model were successfully compared with both ERT-based soil moisture dynamics and TDR measurements of soil moisture. The modelling allows to defining the soil volume interested by root water uptake process and its extent. In particular, this volume results significantly smaller (i.e. surface area of 1.75 m2, with 0.4 m cm thickness) than expected, considering the design of the drip irrigation scheme adopted in the farm. The obtained results confirm that ERT is a technique that (i) can provide a lot of information on small scale and vegetation related processes; (ii) the integration with physical modelling is essential to capture the meaning of space-time signal changes; (iii) in the case of the orange orchard, this approach shows that about half of the irrigated water is wasted.

Influence of colloids on the attenuation and transport of phosphorus in alluvial gravel aquifer and vadose zone media.

PubMed

Pang, Liping; Lafogler, Mark; Knorr, Bastian; McGill, Erin; Saunders, Darren; Baumann, Thomas; Abraham, Phillip; Close, Murray

2016-04-15

Phosphorous (P) leaching (e.g., from effluents, fertilizers) and transport in highly permeable subsurface media can be an important pathway that contributes to eutrophication of receiving surface waters as groundwater recharges the base-flow of surface waters. Here we investigated attenuation and transport of orthophosphate-P in gravel aquifer and vadose zone media in the presence and absence of model colloids (Escherichia coli, kaolinite, goethite). Experiments were conducted using repacked aquifer media in a large column (2m long, 0.19m in diameter) and intact cores (0.4m long, 0.24m in diameter) of vadose zone media under typical field flow rates. In the absence of the model colloids, P was readily traveled through the aquifer media with little attenuation (up to 100% recovery) and retardation, and P adsorption was highly reversible. Conversely, addition of the model colloids generally resulted in reduced P concentration and mass recovery (down to 28% recovery), and increased retardation and adsorption irreversibility in both aquifer and vadose zone media. The degree of colloid-assisted P attenuation was most significant in the presence of fine material and Fe-containing colloids at low flow rate but was least significant in the presence of coarse gravels and E. coli at high flow rate. Based on the experimental results, setback distances of 49-53m were estimated to allow a reduction of P concentrations in groundwater to acceptable levels in the receiving water. These estimates were consistent with field observations in the same aquifer media. Colloid-assisted P attenuation can be utilized to develop mitigation strategies to better manage effluent applications in gravelly soils. To efficiently retain P within soil matrix and reduce P leaching to groundwater, it is recommended to select soils that are rich in iron oxides, to periodically disturb soil preferential flow paths by tillage, and to apply a low irrigation rate. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Vadose Zone Fate and Transport Simulation of Chemicals Associated with Coal Seam Gas Extraction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Simunek, J.; Mallants, D.; Jacques, D.; Van Genuchten, M.

2017-12-01

The HYDRUS-1D and HYDRUS (2D/3D) computer software packages are widely used finite element models for simulating the one-, and two- or three-dimensional movement of water, heat, and multiple solutes in variably-saturated media, respectively. While the standard HYDRUS models consider only the fate and transport of individual solutes or solutes subject to first-order degradation reactions, several specialized HYDRUS add-on modules can simulate far more complex biogeochemical processes. The objective of this presentation is to provide an overview of the HYDRUS models and their add-on modules, and to demonstrate applications of the software to the subsurface fate and transport of chemicals involved in coal seam gas extraction and water management operations. One application uses the standard HYDRUS model to evaluate the natural soil attenuation potential of hydraulic fracturing chemicals and their transformation products in case of an accidental release. By coupling the processes of retardation, first-order degradation and convective-dispersive transport of the biocide bronopol and its degradation products, we demonstrated how natural attenuation reduces initial concentrations by more than a factor of hundred in the top 5 cm of the vadose zone. A second application uses the UnsatChem module to explore the possible use of coal seam gas produced water for sustainable irrigation. Simulations with different irrigation waters (untreated, amended with surface water, and reverse osmosis treated) provided detailed results regarding chemical indicators of soil and plant health, notably SAR, EC and sodium concentrations. A third application uses the coupled HYDRUS-PHREEQC module to analyze trace metal transport involving cation exchange and surface complexation sorption reactions in the vadose zone leached with coal seam gas produced water following some accidental water release scenario. Results show that the main process responsible for trace metal migration is complexation of naturally present trace metals with inorganic ligands such as (bi)carbonate that enter the soil upon infiltration with alkaline produced water.

Forest gradient response in Sierran landscapes: the physical template

USGS Publications Warehouse

Urban, Dean L.; Miller, Carol; Halpin, Patrick N.; Stephenson, Nathan L.

2000-01-01

Vegetation pattern on landscapes is the manifestation of physical gradients, biotic response to these gradients, and disturbances. Here we focus on the physical template as it governs the distribution of mixed-conifer forests in California's Sierra Nevada. We extended a forest simulation model to examine montane environmental gradients, emphasizing factors affecting the water balance in these summer-dry landscapes. The model simulates the soil moisture regime in terms of the interaction of water supply and demand: supply depends on precipitation and water storage, while evapotranspirational demand varies with solar radiation and temperature. The forest cover itself can affect the water balance via canopy interception and evapotranspiration. We simulated Sierran forests as slope facets, defined as gridded stands of homogeneous topographic exposure, and verified simulated gradient response against sample quadrats distributed across Sequoia National Park. We then performed a modified sensitivity analysis of abiotic factors governing the physical gradient. Importantly, the model's sensitivity to temperature, precipitation, and soil depth varies considerably over the physical template, particularly relative to elevation. The physical drivers of the water balance have characteristic spatial scales that differ by orders of magnitude. Across large spatial extents, temperature and precipitation as defined by elevation primarily govern the location of the mixed conifer zone. If the analysis is constrained to elevations within the mixed-conifer zone, local topography comes into play as it influences drainage. Soil depth varies considerably at all measured scales, and is especially dominant at fine (within-stand) scales. Physical site variables can influence soil moisture deficit either by affecting water supply or water demand; these effects have qualitatively different implications for forest response. These results have clear implications about purely inferential approaches to gradient analysis, and bear strongly on our ability to use correlative approaches in assessing the potential responses of montane forests to anthropogenic climatic change.

Impact of microwave derived soil moisture on hydrologic simulations using a spatially distributed water balance model

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lin, D. S.; Wood, E. F.; Famiglietti, J. S.; Mancini, M.

1994-01-01

Spatial distributions of soil moisture over an agricultural watershed with a drainage area of 60 ha were derived from two NASA microwave remote sensors, and then used as a feedback to determine the initial condition for a distributed water balance model. Simulated hydrologic fluxes over a period of twelve days were compared with field observations and with model predictions based on a streamflow derived initial condition. The results indicated that even the low resolution remotely sensed data can improve the hydrologic model's performance in simulating the dynamics of unsaturated zone soil moisture. For the particular watershed under study, the simulated water budget was not sensitive to the resolutions of the microwave sensors.

Predicting Plant-Accessible Water in the Critical Zone: Mountain Ecosystems in a Mediterranean Climate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Klos, P. Z.; Goulden, M.; Riebe, C. S.; Tague, C.; O'Geen, A. T.; Flinchum, B. A.; Safeeq, M.; Conklin, M. H.; Hart, S. C.; Asefaw Berhe, A.; Hartsough, P. C.; Holbrook, S.; Bales, R. C.

2017-12-01

Enhanced understanding of subsurface water storage, and the below-ground architecture and processes that create it, will advance our ability to predict how the impacts of climate change - including drought, forest mortality, wildland fire, and strained water security - will take form in the decades to come. Previous research has examined the importance of plant-accessible water in soil, but in upland landscapes within Mediterranean climates the soil is often only the upper extent of subsurface water storage. We draw insights from both this previous research and a case study of the Southern Sierra Critical Zone Observatory to: define attributes of subsurface storage, review observed patterns in its distribution, highlight nested methods for its estimation across scales, and showcase the fundamental processes controlling its formation. We observe that forest ecosystems at our sites subsist on lasting plant-accessible stores of subsurface water during the summer dry period and during multi-year droughts. This indicates that trees in these forest ecosystems are rooted deeply in the weathered, highly porous saprolite, which reaches up to 10-20 m beneath the surface. This confirms the importance of large volumes of subsurface water in supporting ecosystem resistance to climate and landscape change across a range of spatiotemporal scales. This research enhances the ability to predict the extent of deep subsurface storage across landscapes; aiding in the advancement of both critical zone science and the management of natural resources emanating from similar mountain ecosystems worldwide.

Hydrologic processes in deep vadose zones in interdrainage arid environments

USGS Publications Warehouse

Walvoord, Michelle Ann; Scanlon, Bridget R.; Hogan, James F.; Phillips, Fred M.; Scanlon, Bridget R.

2004-01-01

A unifying theory for the hydrology of desert vadose zones is particularly timely considering the rising population and water stresses in arid and semiarid regions. Conventional models cannot reconcile the apparent discrepancy between upward flow indicated by hydraulic gradient data and downward flow suggested by environmental tracer data in deep vadose zone profiles. A conceptual model described here explains both hydraulic and tracer data remarkably well by incorporating the hydrologic role of desert plants that encroached former juniper woodland 10 to 15 thousand years ago in the southwestern United States. Vapor transport also plays an important role in redistributing moisture through deep soils, particularly in coarse-grained sediments. Application of the conceptual model to several interdrainage arid settings reproduces measured matric potentials and chloride accumulation by simulating the transition from downward flow to upward flow just below the root zone initiated by climate and vegetation change. Model results indicate a slow hydraulic drying response in deep vadose zones that enables matric potential profiles to be used to distinguish whether precipitation episodically percolated below the root zone or was completely removed via evapotranspiration during the majority of the Holocene. Recharge declined dramatically during the Holocene in interdrainage basin floor settings of arid and semiarid basins. Current flux estimates across the water table in these environmental settings, are on the order of 0.01 to 0.1 mm yr-1 and may be recharge (downward) or discharge (upward) depending on vadose zone characteristics, such as soil texture, geothermal gradient, and water table depth. In summary, diffuse recharge through the basin floor probably contributes only minimally to the total recharge in arid and semiarid basins.

Effects of land use and climate change on ecosystem services in Central Asia's arid regions: A case study in Altay Prefecture, China.

PubMed

Fu, Qi; Li, Bo; Hou, Ying; Bi, Xu; Zhang, Xinshi

2017-12-31

The sustainable use of ecosystem services (ES) can contribute to enhancing human well-being. Understanding the effects of land use and climate change on ES can provide scientific and targeted guidance for the sustainable use of ES. The objective of this study was to reveal the way in which land use and climate change influence the spatial and temporal variations of ES in the mountain-oasis-desert system (MODS). In this study, we assessed water yield, soil conservation, crop production, and sand fixation in 1990, 2000, and 2010 in Altay Prefecture, which is representative of the MODS, based on widely used biophysical models. Moreover, we analyzed the effects of different land use and climate change conditions on ES. The results show that the area of forest and bare land decreased in Altay Prefecture. In contrast, the area of grassland with low coverage and cropland increased. The climate of this area presented an overall warming-wetting trend, with warming-drying and cooling-wetting phenomena in some areas. Soil conservation in the mountain zone, water yield in the oasis zone, and sand fixation in the desert zone all decreased under the influence of land use change alone. The warming-drying trend led to decreased water yield in the oasis zone and increased wind erosion in the desert zone. Based on the results, we recommend that local governments achieve sustainable use of ES by planting grasslands with high coverage in the oasis zone, increasing investment in agricultural science and technology, and establishing protected areas in the mountain and desert zones. The methodology in our study can also be applied to other regions with a MODS structure. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of factors affecting soil carbon sequestration services of stormwater wet retention ponds in varying climate zones.

PubMed

Merriman, L S; Moore, T L C; Wang, J W; Osmond, D L; Al-Rubaei, A M; Smolek, A P; Blecken, G T; Viklander, M; Hunt, W F

2017-04-01

The carbon sequestration services of stormwater wet retention ponds were investigated in four different climates: U.S., Northern Sweden, Southern Sweden, and Singapore, representing a range of annual mean temperatures, growing season lengths and rainfall depths: geographic factors that were not statistically compared, but have great effect on carbon (C) accumulation. A chronosequence was used to estimate C accumulations rates; C accumulation and decomposition rates were not directly measured. C accumulated significantly over time in vegetated shallow water areas (0-30cm) in the USA (78.4gCm -2 yr -1 ), in vegetated temporary inundation zones in Sweden (75.8gCm -2 yr -1 ), and in all ponds in Singapore (135gCm -2 yr -1 ). Vegetative production appeared to exert a stronger influence on relative C accumulation rates than decomposition. Comparing among the four climatic zones, the effects of increasing rainfall and growing season lengths (vegetative production) outweighed the effects of higher temperature on decomposition rates. Littoral vegetation was a significant source to the soil C pool relative to C sources draining from watersheds. Establishment of vegetation in the shallow water zones of retention ponds is vital to providing a C source to the soil. Thus, the width of littoral shelves containing this vegetation along the perimeter may be increased if C sequestration is a design goal. This assessment establishes that stormwater wet retention ponds can sequester C across different climate zones with generally annual rainfall and lengths of growing season being important general factors for C accumulation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparison of simulations of land-use specific water demand and irrigation water supply by MF-FMP and IWFM

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schmid, Wolfgang; Dogural, Emin; Hanson, Randall T.; Kadir, Tariq; Chung, Francis

2011-01-01

Two hydrologic models, MODFLOW with the Farm Process (MF-FMP) and the Integrated Water Flow Model (IWFM), are compared with respect to each model’s capabilities of simulating land-use hydrologic processes, surface-water routing, and groundwater flow. Of major concern among the land-use processes was the consumption of water through evaporation and transpiration by plants. The comparison of MF-FMP and IWFM was conducted and completed using a realistic hypothetical case study. Both models simulate the water demand for water-accounting units resulting from evapotranspiration and inefficiency losses and, for irrigated units, the supply from surface-water deliveries and groundwater pumpage. The MF-FMP simulates reductions in evapotranspiration owing to anoxia and wilting, and separately considers land-use-related evaporation and transpiration; IWFM simulates reductions in evapotranspiration related to the depletion of soil moisture. The models simulate inefficiency losses from precipitation and irrigation water applications to runoff and deep percolation differently. MF-FMP calculates the crop irrigation requirement and total farm delivery requirement, and then subtracts inefficiency losses from runoff and deep percolation. In IWFM, inefficiency losses to surface runoff from irrigation and precipitation are computed and subtracted from the total irrigation and precipitation before the crop irrigation requirement is estimated. Inefficiency losses in terms of deep percolation are computed simultaneously with the crop irrigation requirement. The seepage from streamflow routing also is computed differently and can affect certain hydrologic settings and magnitudes ofstreamflow infiltration. MF-FMP assumes steady-state conditions in the root zone; therefore, changes in soil moisture within the root zone are not calculated. IWFM simulates changes in the root zone in both irrigated and non-irrigated natural vegetation. Changes in soil moisture are more significant for non-irrigated natural vegetation areas than in the irrigated areas. Therefore, to facilitate the comparison of models, the changes in soil moisture are only simulated by IWFM for the natural vegetation areas, and soil-moisture parameters in irrigated regions in IWFM were specified at constant values . The IWFM total simulated changes in soil moisture that are related to natural vegetation areas vary from stress period to stress period but are small over the entire two-year period of simulation. In the hypothetical case study, IWFM simulates more evapotranspiration and return flows and less streamflow infiltration than MF-FMP. This causes more simulated surface-water diversions upstream and less simulated water available to downstream farms in IWFM compared to MF-FMP. The evapotranspiration simulated by the two models is well correlated even though the quantity is different. The different approaches used to simulate soil moisture, evapotranspiration, and inefficient losses yield different results for deep percolation and pumpage. In IWFM, deep percolation is a function of soil moisture; therefore, the constant soil-moisture requirement for irrigated regions, assumed for this comparison, results in a constant deep percolation rate. This led to poor correlation with the variable deep percolation rates simulated in MF-FMP, where the deep percolation rate, a fraction of inefficiency losses from precipitation and irrigation, is a function of quasi-steady state infiltration for each soil type and a function of groundwater head. Similarly, the larger simulated evapotranspiration in IWFM is mainly responsible for larger simulated groundwater pumpage demands and related lower groundwater levels in IWFM compared to MF-FMP. Because of the differences in features between MF-FMP and IWFM, the user may find that for certain hydrologic settings one model is better suited than the other. The performance of MF-FMP and IWFM in this particular hypothetical test case, with a fixed framework composed of common initial and boundary conditions and input parameter values, does not necessarily predict the performance of MF-FMP and IWFM in a real-world situation with variable framework and parameter values. These differences may affect the evaluation of policies, projects, or water-balance analysis for some hydrologic settings. Generally, both models are powerful tools that simulate a connected system of aquifer, stream networks, land surface, root zone, and runoff processes. MF-FMP simulated the hypothetical test case in about 4 minutes compared to about 58 minutes for IWFM.

Denatured ethanol release into gasoline residuals, Part 1: source behaviour.

PubMed

Freitas, Juliana G; Barker, James F

2013-05-01

With the increasing use of ethanol in fuels, it is important to evaluate its fate when released into the environment. While ethanol is less toxic than other organic compounds present in fuels, one of the concerns is the impact ethanol might have on the fate of gasoline hydrocarbons in groundwater. One possible concern is the spill of denatured ethanol (E95: ethanol containing 5% denaturants, usually hydrocarbons) in sites with pre-existing gasoline contamination. In that scenario, ethanol is expected to increase the mobility of the NAPL phase by acting as a cosolvent and decreasing interfacial tension. To evaluate the E95 behaviour and its impacts on pre-existing gasoline, a field test was performed at the CFB-Borden aquifer. Initially gasoline contamination was created releasing 200 L of E10 (gasoline with 10% ethanol) into the unsaturated zone. One year later, 184 L of E95 was released on top of the gasoline contamination. The site was monitored using soil cores, multilevel wells and one glass access tube. At the end of the test, the source zone was excavated and the compounds remaining were quantified. E95 ethanol accumulated and remained within the capillary fringe and unsaturated zone for more than 200 days, despite ~1m oscillations in the water table. The gasoline mobility increased and it was redistributed in the source zone. Gasoline NAPL saturations in the soil increased two fold in the source zone. However, water table oscillations caused a separation between the NAPL and ethanol: NAPL was smeared and remained in deeper positions while ethanol moved upwards following the water table rise. Similarly, the E95 denaturants that initially were within the ethanol-rich phase became separated from ethanol after the water table oscillation, remaining below the ethanol rich zone. The separation between ethanol and hydrocarbons in the source after water table oscillation indicates that ethanol's impact on hydrocarbon residuals is likely limited to early times. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A new automated passive capillary lysimeter for logging real-time drainage water fluxes

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Effective monitoring of chemical transport through the soil profile requires accurate and appropriate instrumentation to measure drainage water fluxes below the root zone of cropping system. The objectives of this study were to methodically describe in detail the construction and installation of a n...

Identifying riparian zones appropriate for installation of saturated buffers: A multi-watershed assessment

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Saturated riparian buffers are a new type of conservation practice that divert a portion of subsurface tile drainage from discharge to surface water into distribution pipes that discharge tile water into riparian soils. This enables natural processes of biological uptake and denitrification to decre...

Criteria for selecting fluorescent dye tracers for soil hydrological applications using Uranine as an example

EPA Science Inventory

Calibrating and verifying 2-D and 3-D vadose zone flow and transport models requires detailed information on water and solute redistribution. Among the different water flow and mass transfer determination methods, staining tracers have the best spatial resolution allowing visuali...