Efeito de diferentes materiais no pH do solo

A grande maioria dos solos agrícolas brasileiros apresenta alta acidez (pH H2O < 5,5) sendo um dos principais responsáveis pela baixa produtividade das culturas. Estes solos exigem a aplicação de corretivos para elevar o seu pH, neutralizar os efeitos dos elementos tóxicos, fornecer Ca e Mg como nutrientes e aumentar a produtividade das culturas. Com o objetivo de verificar o efeito de diferentes materiais (calcário calcinado e dolomítico, escória e gesso) no pH do solo, em função da dose aplicada (2, 4 e 6 t/ha) e do tempo de incubação (25, 50 e 75 dias), foi conduzido trabalho em condições de laboratório. Após o período de incubação e determinação do pH em água, concluiu-se que: a) todos os materiais, com exeção do gesso, foram eficientes para elevar o pH do solo. b) o efeito corretivo do material foi função do seu poder de neutralização (PN), ou seja, para uma mesma dose e tempo, quando maior o PN, maior o efeito do material no pH do solo; c) dentre os materiais estudados, o calcário calcinado foi o que provocou o maior aumento de pH, seguido do calcário dolomítico e da escória; d) a maior dose aplicada de cada corretivo correspondeu maior elevação de pH do solo.The great majority of Brazilian agricultural soils presents high acidity (pH H2O < 5,5) which is one of the main causes of low crop yields. These soils demand lime materials to increase their pH, to neutralize the toxic element effects, to supply calcium and magnesium as nutrients and to increase crop yields. This laboratory experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of different materials (calcinated and dolomitic limestone, scoria and gypsum) on soil pH, as affected by the applied dosis (2, 4 and 6 tons per hectare) and the incubation time (25, 50 and 75 days). It was concluded that: a) all materials, except gypsum, were efficient in increasing the soil pH; b) the lime material effect was related to its neutralization power, i.e., for the same dosis and time, the highest neutralization power had the highest effect on soil pH; c) among the used materials, the calcinated limestone determined the highest increase in soil pH, followed by the dolomitic limestone and scoria; d) the highest dosis for each material corresponded to the highest pH increase

Avaliação da higroscopicidade de fertilizantes e corretivos

Visando determinar a quantidade de água absorvida em função da umidade do ambiente e do tempo de exposição por alguns fertilizantes simples, misturas de fertilizantes e corretivos, foram colocadas em três ambientes de umidade relativa constante de 70,4%, 80,5% e 88,8% . As amostras foram pesadas após 0, 3, 6, 24, 48 e 72 horas determinando a porcentagem de água absorvida. A absorção de água pelos produtos aumentou com o aumento da umidade relativa do ar e do tempo de exposição. Todos os materiais absorveram alguma umidade no menor tempo e na menor umidade relativa estudados, isto é, 3 horas de 70,4%, porém essa absorção foi insignificante nos casos do sulfato de amônio, fosfato diamônico, fosfato natural parcialmente acidulado, cloreto de potássio, sulfato de potássio, calcário calcinado. Os fertilizantes nitrogenados, uréia e nitrocálcio, foram os que apresentaram maior higroscopicidade dentre os materiais estudados. Foi possível verificar também que a presença de 5% de calcário calcinado ou de vermiculita nas misturas de grânulos diminuiu sensivelmente sua higroscopicidade.The percentual of water absorbed by fertilizer materials, bulk blend fertilizer mixtures and agricultural liming materials was determined as a function of the environment relative humidity and time of exposition. Samples of these were exposed to three relative humidity environments: 70,4%, 80,5% and 77,8%, during 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72 hours, after drying at 50&deg;C for 24 hours. The water absorbed by all products increased with air relative humidity and exposition time. All the materials absorbed some humidity for the lowest exposition time and lowest relative humidity (3 hours and 70,4%) but was insignificant in the case of ammonium sulphate, diammonium phosphate, natural phosphate parcially acidulated, potassium chloride, potassium sulphate, limestone and hidrated lime. The urea and calcium nitrate presented major higroscopicity among the materials studied. The presence of 5% hidrated lime or vermiculite in bulk blend mixtures decreases significatively the higroscopicity

Evaluation of turbulent dissipation rate retrievals from Doppler Cloud Radar

Turbulent dissipation rate retrievals from cloud radar Doppler velocity measurements are evaluated using independent, in situ observations in Arctic stratocumulus clouds. In situ validation data sets of dissipation rate are derived using sonic anemometer measurements from a tethered balloon and high frequency pressure variation observations from a research aircraft, both flown in proximity to stationary, ground-based radars. Modest biases are found among the data sets in particularly low- or high-turbulence regimes, but in general the radar-retrieved values correspond well with the in situ measurements. Root mean square differences are typically a factor of 4-6 relative to any given magnitude of dissipation rate. These differences are no larger than those found when comparing dissipation rates computed from tetheredballoon and meteorological tower-mounted sonic anemometer measurements made at spatial distances of a few hundred meters. Temporal lag analyses suggest that approximately half of the observed differences are due to spatial sampling considerations, such that the anticipated radar-based retrieval uncertainty is on the order of a factor of 2-3. Moreover, radar retrievals are clearly able to capture the vertical dissipation rate structure observed by the in situ sensors, while offering substantially more information on the time variability of turbulence profiles. Together these evaluations indicate that radar-based retrievals can, at a minimum, be used to determine the vertical structure of turbulence in Arctic stratocumulus clouds

Low-diffusion Xe-He gas mixtures for rare-event detection: electroluminescence yield

High pressure xenon Time Projection Chambers (TPC) based on secondary scintillation (electroluminescence) signal amplification are being proposed for rare event detection such as directional dark matter, double electron capture and double beta decay detection. The discrimination of the rare event through the topological signature of primary ionisation trails is a major asset for this type of TPC when compared to single liquid or double-phase TPCs, limited mainly by the high electron diffusion in pure xenon. Helium admixtures with xenon can be an attractive solution to reduce the electron diffu- sion significantly, improving the discrimination efficiency of these optical TPCs. We have measured the electroluminescence (EL) yield of Xe–He mixtures, in the range of 0 to 30% He and demonstrated the small impact on the EL yield of the addition of helium to pure xenon. For a typical reduced electric field of 2.5 kV/cm/bar in the EL region, the EL yield is lowered by ∼ 2%, 3%, 6% and 10% for 10%, 15%, 20% and 30% of helium concentration, respectively. This decrease is less than what has been obtained from the most recent simulation framework in the literature. The impact of the addition of helium on EL statistical fluctuations is negligible, within the experimental uncertainties. The present results are an important benchmark for the simulation tools to be applied to future optical TPCs based on Xe-He mixtures. [Figure not available: see fulltext.]