Comparison of methods for determining unsaturated hydraulic conductivity in the wet range to evaluate the sensitivity of detectors

The design of passive lysimeters or wetting front detectors determines the tensions at which they collect a water sample from an unsaturated soil. When deployed in the field to help manage irrigation, it is necessary to know the minimum flux of water that can be sampled by a passive lysimeter and how this relates to the drainage flux at field capacity. This requires a good estimate of the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity characteristic, K(h), in the wet range (< 10 kPa). We compared various field, laboratory and theoretical approaches for obtaining the K(h) function and compared these to a reference K(h) function derived by applying inverse modelling approaches to field drainage experimental data. The Van Genuchten model and three of the pedotransfer models produced K(h) functions with a root mean square error of less than 5% compared to the reference, and appear to be simple methods of obtaining a reasonable estimate of unsaturated hydraulic conductivity. However, despite the goodness of fit, there can be a 10-fold difference in conductivity at a given tension < 10 kPa estimated from the different methods. Moreover, water content at field capacity depends entirely on whether field capacity is defined as time elapsed after saturation, a set tension or a minimum flux.Funding for this research was provided by the Water Research Commission (WRC), South Africa, as part of the WRC research project entitled ‘Adapting the wetting front detector to the needs of small-scale furrow irrigators and providing a basis for the interpretation of salt and nutrient measurements from the water sample’.http://www.wrc.org.zanf201

Assessment of the impact of irrigation with low-quality mine water on virgin and rehabilitated soils in the upper Olifants basin

Low-quality mine water from collieries may be used in large quantities to irrigate agricultural crops on virgin (unmined) and rehabilitated soils in South Africa. Such a use could enhance crop production and allow environmentally sustainable mine water disposal. In this study, the volume and qualities of the runoff from two centre pivots irrigated with moderately saline mine water, as well as their soil water salinities, were monitored and used to determine water and salt balances, using the modified ACRU agrohydrological model, ACRU2000, and its salinity module, ACRUSalinity. At both sites, much of the water evaporated, while a significant part of the salt input either precipitated or remained with the water in the soil horizons. A higher percentage of drainage water (and salinity) were retained as ground water storage and a lower percentage of runoff occurred in the rehabilitated sandy loam soil, while a higher percentage of salts accompanied runoff in the virgin clayey soils. Simulated salt saturation values indicate that many crops could be successfully irrigated at 100% yield potential at either site. Electrical resistivity surveys were carried out at both sites. A general decrease in resistivities with depth in both the virgin and rehabilitated soils reflected the decreasing influence of the mine water used for irrigation with depth and the precipitation of salts in the soils close to the ground surface. The occurrence of a thicker, low-resistivity, near-surface layer near the exit of each pivot area indicates that the water and salt content of the subsurface increased in the direction that the surface and near-surface irrigation water flowed

Obtaining the parameters required to model labile phosphorus for South African soils

Modelling phosphorus (P) in the environment can increase our understanding of potential transfer pathways into receiving water bodies as well as the plant availability of this nutrient in soil. Many current models make use of algorithms originally developed for the EPIC model over two decades ago. These algorithms were developed primarily using continental USA soils. Obtaining the required input parameters can therefore be challenging when applying this approach to soils not classified according to the USA system, and for soils for which similar parameters are not available. In this paper, new equations for the estimation of labile P from Ambic P, Bray 2 P and the modified ISFEI method are proposed. Guidelines for the classification of South African soils as calcareous, slightly weathered and highly weathered are further suggested, and we propose that only topsoil properties be used for this purpose. Depending on the amount of soil information available, this classification can be achieved using the clay fraction SiO2:Al2O3 molecular ratio, the sum of exchangeable Ca, Mg, K and Na, or a newly proposed categorization system for South African soil forms. It is clear that the above approaches should be thoroughly tested and relevant local research carried out to improve our ability to model P in South African soils

Comparative assessment of widespread irrigation with low quality mine-water in undisturbed and rehabilitated mine-lands in the upper Olifants using the ACRU2000 model

The ACRU agrohydrological model, in the form of ACRU2000 and its salinity module, ACRUSalinity, was employed in catchment-scale assessment of widespread irrigation with low quality mine-water in undisturbed (un-mined) and rehabilitated soils in the Upper Olifants basin of South Africa. The study area comprised a small catchment of 4.7 km2 located in a coal-mine environment, known as the Tweefontein Pan catchment. The catchment drained to a surface reservoir (Tweefontein Reservoir) of maximum capacity and surface area 4 000 Mℓ and 1.5 km2, respectively. The catchment was instrumented to measure hydrodynamic responses and simulated as a hydrological system. Consideration was given to runoff, groundwater storage, evapotranspiration, baseflow, interception, irrigation water supply and rainfall, thereby accounting for all the dominant hydrological components of the system. Three scenarios were simulated using the available records for 5 years (1999 to 2004). The first was a baseline scenario representing the prevailing condition in the study area and the other 2 scenarios represented widespread irrigation with the mine-water on undisturbed and rehabilitated soils. In simulating the widespread irrigation on rehabilitated soils, a distinction was made between a rehabilitated irrigated area before and after the re-establishment of the equilibrium water table. Comparison of the results from the simulated scenarios indicated that a greater undisturbed area (max of 160 ha) than rehabilitated area (max of 120 ha) could be irrigated with mine-water from the Tweefontein Reservoir. Irrigation on rehabilitated soils depleted the water in the reservoir more rapidly than irrigation on undisturbed soils, due to lower runoff and higher ingress to groundwater in rehabilitated areas

Rainfall simulation to identify the storm-scale mechanisms of gully bank retreat

Gully erosion is one of the main causes of soil loss in dry lands. Understanding the dominant mechanisms of erosion is important to achieve effective erosion control, thus in this study our main objective was to \ quantify the mechanisms involved in gully bank retreat as a result of three processes, falling of entire soil aggregates, transport of soil material by splash and by water running along gully banks (runoff), during rainfall events. The study was conducted in the sloping lands of the KwaZulu-Natal province, a region that is highly affected by gully erosion. Artificial rain was applied at 60 mmh−1 for 45min at the vertical wall of a gully bank typical to the area. The splash material was collected by using a network of 0.045 m2 buckets. The sediments in the running water were assessed by sampling the runoff collected from a microplot inserted within the base of the bank, and collecting the fallen aggregates after the rainfall simulation was complete. Results indicated that the overall erosion for the simulation was 721gm−2 h−1. Runoff erosion proved to be the dominant mechanism and amounted to 450gm−2 h−1, followed by splash and fall down of aggregate (about 170 gm−2 h−1). Gully bank retreat occurred at a rate of 0.55 mmh−1 and assuming that the soil bulk density is 1.3gcm−3, this corresponds to a retreat of 8.8 mmy−1. Extra polations to the watershed level, where about 500 m2 of gully bank are observed per hectare, would lead to an erosion rate of 4.8 tha−1 y−1. These limited results based on a simulated storm show that the three main mechanisms (runoff, splash and fall down of aggregates) are responsible for the retreat of gully banks and that to mitigate gully erosion, appropriate measures are required to control all three mechanisms. Further research studies are needed to confirm and to scale up, both in time and space, as the sedata are obtained at one location and from a single artificial storm

Multi-messenger Observations of a Binary Neutron Star Merger

International audienceOn 2017 August 17 a binary neutron star coalescence candidate (later designated GW170817) with merger time 12:41:04 UTC was observed through gravitational waves by the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. The Fermi Gamma-ray Burst Monitor independently detected a gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) with a time delay of $\sim 1.7\,{\rm{s}}$ with respect to the merger time. From the gravitational-wave signal, the source was initially localized to a sky region of 31 deg(2) at a luminosity distance of ${40}_{-8}^{+8}$ Mpc and with component masses consistent with neutron stars. The component masses were later measured to be in the range 0.86 to 2.26 $\,{M}_{\odot }$. An extensive observing campaign was launched across the electromagnetic spectrum leading to the discovery of a bright optical transient (SSS17a, now with the IAU identification of AT 2017gfo) in NGC 4993 (at $\sim 40\,{\rm{Mpc}}$) less than 11 hours after the merger by the One-Meter, Two Hemisphere (1M2H) team using the 1 m Swope Telescope. The optical transient was independently detected by multiple teams within an hour. Subsequent observations targeted the object and its environment. Early ultraviolet observations revealed a blue transient that faded within 48 hours. Optical and infrared observations showed a redward evolution over ∼10 days. Following early non-detections, X-ray and radio emission were discovered at the transient’s position $\sim 9$ and $\sim 16$ days, respectively, after the merger. Both the X-ray and radio emission likely arise from a physical process that is distinct from the one that generates the UV/optical/near-infrared emission. No ultra-high-energy gamma-rays and no neutrino candidates consistent with the source were found in follow-up searches. These observations support the hypothesis that GW170817 was produced by the merger of two neutron stars in NGC 4993 followed by a short gamma-ray burst (GRB 170817A) and a kilonova/macronova powered by the radioactive decay of r-process nuclei synthesized in the ejecta