Detailed soil survey of eight watercourse command areas in Chishtian and Hasalpur tehsils

Irrigation management / Hydraulics / Channel improvement / Watercourses / Soil surveys / Hydrology / Climate / Mapping / Hydraulics / Infiltration / Pakistan / Fordwah / Azim

Soil Series of the Gordon Natural Area

Official Soil Series Descriptions. Available URL: http://soils.usda.gov/technical/classification/osd/index.html [Accessed 28 April 2014]. USDA-NRCS, Lincoln, N

Environmental assay on the effect of poultry manure application on soil organisms in agroecosystems

This paper reports the effects produced on the organisms of the soil (plants, invertebrates and microorganisms), after the application of two types of poultry manure (sawdust and straw bed) on an agricultural land. The test was made using a terrestrial microcosm, Multi-Species Soil System (MS3) developed in INIA. There was no difference in the germination for any of the three species of plants considered in the study. The biomass was increased in the wheat (Triticum aestivum) coming from ground treated with both kinds of poultry manure. Oilseed rape (Brasica rapa) was not affected and regarding vetch (Vicia sativa) only straw poultry manure showed significant difference. For length only Vicia sativa was affected showing a reduction when straw was exposed to poultry manure. When the effect on invertebrates was studied, we observed a reduction in the number of worms during the test, especially from the ground control (13.7%), higher than in the ground with sawdust poultry manure (6.7%), whereas in the ground with straw poultry manure, there was no reduction. The biomass was affected and at the end of the test it was observed that while the reduction of worms in the ground control was about 48%, the number of those that were in the ground with sawdust poultry manure or straw poultry manure decreased by 41% and 22% respectively. Finally, the effects on microorganisms showed that the enzymatic activities: dehydrogenase (DH) and phosphatase and basal respiration rate increased at the beginning of the test, and the differences were statistically significant compared with the values of the control group. During the test, all these parameters decreased (except DH activities) but they were always higher than in the ground control. This is why it is possible to deduce that the contribution of poultry manure caused an improvement in the conditions of fertilization and also for the soil

Significance of Soil Lightness Versus Physicochemical Soil Properties in Semiarid Areas

This is an author's accepted manuscript of an article published in " Arid Land Research and Management"; Volume 28, Issue 4, 2014; copyright Taylor & Francis; available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15324982.2014.882871Modern agriculture aims to encompass all soil attributes to optimize soil use and minimize environmental impacts. One of those attributes is soil color, which allows determining important soil variables for crop management and soil conservation. In this study, the relationships between lightness and several pedologic, topographic, and soil management variables were determined. One hundred and ten topsoil points were sampled in an area where the Mediterranean climate is the only homogeneous soil forming factor. Soil samples were air dried, crushed, and sieved, and lightness measurements were made using a trichromatic colorimeter. The relationships between lightness and soil-related parameters were carried out by means of bivariate linear correlation, and Mann-Witney and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Soil textural fractions (sand and silt), electrical conductivity and carbonates were statistically significant (p<0.001) and exhibited moderate correlation coefficients (0.32 0.45). Topographic variables (slope and aspect), soil organic carbon, iron, nitrogen, pH, and parent material (marls) exhibited lower effect on lightness. The response of lightness to clay content was highly conditioned by iron content. Stoniness, phosphorous, elevation, and soil management variables (irrigation and land use) were not statistically significant. The results obtained with calcareous samples from semiarid areas showed that soil lightness behavior agree with findings in developed soils, despite of the large differences in soil composition and the heterogeneity of the study area.Moreno-Ramón, H.; Marqués-Mateu, Á.; Ibañez Asensio, S. (2014). Significance of Soil Lightness Versus Physicochemical Soil Properties in Semiarid Areas. Arid Land Research and Management. 28(4):371-382. doi:10.1080/15324982.2014.882871S371382284Al-Mahawili , S. M. H. , M. F. Baumgardner , R. A. Weismiller , and W. N. Melhorn . 1983 . Satellite image interpretation and laboratory spectral reflectance measurements of saline and gypsiferous soils of West Baghdad, Iraq.LARS Technical Reports. Paper 104.Barrett, L. R. (2002). Spectrophotometric color measurement in situ in well drained sandy soils. Geoderma, 108(1-2), 49-77. doi:10.1016/s0016-7061(02)00121-0Bogrekci, I., & Lee, W. S. (2005). Spectral Phosphorus Mapping using Diffuse Reflectance of Soils and Grass. Biosystems Engineering, 91(3), 305-312. doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2005.04.015Buol, S. W., Southard, R. J., Graham, R. C., & McDaniel, P. A. (2011). Soil Genesis and Classification. doi:10.1002/9780470960622Christensen, L. K., Bennedsen, B. S., Jørgensen, R. N., & Nielsen, H. (2004). Modelling Nitrogen and Phosphorus Content at Early Growth Stages in Spring Barley using Hyperspectral Line Scanning. Biosystems Engineering, 88(1), 19-24. doi:10.1016/j.biosystemseng.2004.02.006Doi, R., Wachrinrat, C., Teejuntuk, S., Sakurai, K., & Sahunalu, P. (2009). Semiquantitative color profiling of soils over a land degradation gradient in Sakaerat, Thailand. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 170(1-4), 301-309. doi:10.1007/s10661-009-1233-xDuiker, S. W., Rhoton, F. E., Torrent, J., Smeck, N. E., & Lal, R. (2003). Iron (Hydr)Oxide Crystallinity Effects on Soil Aggregation. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 67(2), 606. doi:10.2136/sssaj2003.0606Ehsani, M. R., Upadhyaya, S. K., Slaughter, D., Shafii, S., & Pelletier, M. (1999). Precision Agriculture, 1(2), 219-236. doi:10.1023/a:1009916108990Gunal, H., Ersahin, S., Yetgin, B., & Kutlu, T. (2008). Use of Chromameter‐Measured Color Parameters in Estimating Color‐Related Soil Variables. Communications in Soil Science and Plant Analysis, 39(5-6), 726-740. doi:10.1080/00103620701879422Ibarra-F., F. A., Martin-R., M. H., Cox, J. R., Crowl, T. A., Post, D. F., Miller, R. W., & Rasmussen, G. A. (1995). Relationship between Buffelgrass Survival, Organic Carbon, and Soil Color in Mexico. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 59(4), 1120. doi:10.2136/sssaj1995.03615995005900040025xKonen, M. E., Burras, C. L., & Sandor, J. A. (2003). Organic Carbon, Texture, and Quantitative Color Measurement Relationships for Cultivated Soils in North Central Iowa. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 67(6), 1823. doi:10.2136/sssaj2003.1823Mouazen, A. M., Maleki, M. R., De Baerdemaeker, J., & Ramon, H. (2007). On-line measurement of some selected soil properties using a VIS–NIR sensor. Soil and Tillage Research, 93(1), 13-27. doi:10.1016/j.still.2006.03.009Pan, G., Xu, X., Smith, P., Pan, W., & Lal, R. (2010). An increase in topsoil SOC stock of China’s croplands between 1985 and 2006 revealed by soil monitoring. Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment, 136(1-2), 133-138. doi:10.1016/j.agee.2009.12.011Sánchez-Marañón, M., Martín-García, J. M., & Delgado, R. (2011). Effects of the fabric on the relationship between aggregate stability and color in a Regosol–Umbrisol soilscape. Geoderma, 162(1-2), 86-95. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2011.01.008Sánchez-Marañón, M., Ortega, R., Miralles, I., & Soriano, M. (2007). Estimating the mass wetness of Spanish arid soils from lightness measurements. Geoderma, 141(3-4), 397-406. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2007.07.005Sánchez-Marañón, M., Delgado, G., Melgosa, M., Hita, E., & Delgado, R. (1997). CIELAB COLOR PARAMETERS AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO SOIL CHARACTERISTICS IN MEDITERRANEAN RED SOILS. Soil Science, 162(11), 833-842. doi:10.1097/00010694-199711000-00007Singleton, P. (1991). Water tables and soil colour as an indicator of saturation in some soils of the Waikato, New Zealand. Soil Research, 29(4), 467. doi:10.1071/sr9910467Spielvogel, S., Knicker, H., & Kögel-Knabner, I. (2004). Soil organic matter composition and soil lightness. Journal of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, 167(5), 545-555. doi:10.1002/jpln.200421424Viscarra Rossel, R. A., Minasny, B., Roudier, P., & McBratney, A. B. (2006). Colour space models for soil science. Geoderma, 133(3-4), 320-337. doi:10.1016/j.geoderma.2005.07.017Webster, R., & Oliver, M. A. (2007). Geostatistics for Environmental Scientists. Statistics in Practice. doi:10.1002/978047051727

Improving Hurricane Power Outage Prediction Models Through the Inclusion of Local Environmental Factors

Tropical cyclones can significantly damage the electrical power system, so an accurate spatiotemporal forecast of outages prior to landfall can help utilities to optimize the power restoration process. The purpose of this article is to enhance the predictive accuracy of the Spatially Generalized Hurricane Outage Prediction Model (SGHOPM) developed by Guikema et al. (2014). In this version of the SGHOPM, we introduce a new two‐step prediction procedure and increase the number of predictor variables. The first model step predicts whether or not outages will occur in each location and the second step predicts the number of outages. The SGHOPM environmental variables of Guikema et al. (2014) were limited to the wind characteristics (speed and duration of strong winds) of the tropical cyclones. This version of the model adds elevation, land cover, soil, precipitation, and vegetation characteristics in each location. Our results demonstrate that the use of a new two‐step outage prediction model and the inclusion of these additional environmental variables increase the overall accuracy of the SGHOPM by approximately 17%.Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147200/1/risa12728_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147200/2/risa12728.pd

Assessing soil P fractions changes with long-term phosphorus fertilization related to crop yield of soybean and maize

Long-term P Fertiliser application increases soil phosphorus (P) labile fractions, which can be associated with crop P uptake and grain yield and are useful to improve fertilizer recommendations. Research aims were to evaluate in long-term experiments with different P Fertiliser application in a Mollisol and a Vertisol: (a) the changes of soil P fractions and (b) the relationship between soil P fractions with long-term P Fertiliser application, with accumulated apparent P budget, grain P, total P uptake, soybean (Glycine max L.Merr.) and maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield. Soil P fractions were measured after 1 and 9 year since the beginning of the long-term experiments. Experiments included an initial Fertiliser application rate of 200 kg P ha−1 and annual P Fertiliser application rate of 36 kg P ha−1. Bray1-P, total, organic, and inorganic P in fine (53 μm) (CF) soil fractions, and in NaHCO3 extract were measured. Initial P Fertiliser application increased inorganic and total P fractions. However, Bray1-P, total P in NaHCO3 extract and in the CF were the fractions that most increased with continuous long-term P Fertiliser application in both sites. In the Mollisol, maize grain yield was unrelated to long-term P Fertiliser application. In the Vertisol, total P in NaHCO3 extract, and total and organic P in the CF were more closely related to soybean grain yield than Bray1-P. We proposed soil P indices of labile inorganic and organic P that showed close relationships with soybean grain yield and may be useful to improve the diagnosis of P soil fertility.Fil: Appelhans, Stefania Carolina. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Barbagelata, Pedro Aníbal. Universidad Nacional de Entre Ríos. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; ArgentinaFil: Melchiori, Ricardo José Miguel. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro Regional Entre Ríos. Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Paraná; ArgentinaFil: Gutiérrez Boem, Flavio Hernán. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Departamento de Ingeniería Agrícola y Uso de la Tierra. Cátedra de Fertilidad y Fertilizantes; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Parque Centenario. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Agronomía. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biociencias Agrícolas y Ambientales; Argentin

Bridge distress caused by approach embankment settlement

Surtees Bridge, which carries the A66(T) over the River Tees near Thornaby-on-Tees in the UK, has been showing signs of distress that predate its opening in 1981. Subsequent investigations have shown that the bridge distress is related to unexpectedly large settlement of the eastern approach embankment. Recent ground investigations prompted by a proposed widening of the river crossing have produced many new data on the alluvial deposits underlying the site, and explain why embankment settlement was so much larger than originally anticipated. Comparison of the geotechnical parameters obtained from the original and more recent ground investigations suggests that the original investigation significantly underestimated the thickness of an alluvial clay layer underlying the site, and that its coefficient of consolidation was overestimated. Settlement analyses using geotechnical data from the original ground investigations predict moderate embankment settlements occurring principally during construction. Settlement analyses based on all the available data predict far larger embankment settlements occurring over extended time periods. The latter analyses predict an embankment settlement similar to that observed and of sufficient magnitude to cause the observed lateral displacement of the bridge due to lateral loading of its piled foundation