The CRSP will not be distributing this publication. Copies may be obtained by writing to the authors. A pilot study on the spatial and temporal soil moisture distribution in integrated crop-fishwetland and crop-wetland agroecosystems in Zomba-East, Malawi Daniel Jamu International Center for Living Aquatic Resources Management P.O. Box 229, Zomba, Malawi Integration of aquaculture into existing...

the influence of initial moisture content on wood decay at different levels of atmospheric oxygen concentration was studied. three fungi, coriolus versicolor (c. versicolor) a white rot, coniophora puteana (c. puteana) a brown rot, and chaetomium globosum (c. globosum) a soft rot, were chosen. the mycelia of the fungi were inoculated in to mini blocks of fagus sylvatica (beech) and pinus sy...

Moisture diffusion analysis (MDA) has been developed as a new non-destructive evaluation methodology to monitor the strength degradation of graphite-epoxy composite materials. Studies of composite strength degradation due to high moisture identify reversible strength loss due to current moisture content and irreversible strength loss related to prior moisture exposure with microstructure damage...

Interest in seed propagation of drumstick tree (Moringa oleifera) has created a need for information about the water relationships of its seeds. Thus, we studied the imbibition and desiccation kinetics and adsorption/ desorption isotherms of drumstick tree seeds. Seeds absorbed water readily when imbibed at 23oC. After 17 h of exposure to an atmosphere of 100% relative humidity (RH), seed moist...

The stabilization of slopes by vegetation has been a topical issue for many years. Root mechanical characteristics significantly influence soil reinforcement; therefore it is necessary to research into the indicators of root tensile properties. In this study, we explored the influence of root moisture content on tensile resistance and strength with different root diameters and for different tre...

This paper presents the development of a PC-based microwave five-port reflectometer for the determination of moisture content in oil palm fruits. The reflectometer was designed to measure both the magnitude and phase of the reflection coefficient of any passive microwave device. The stand-alone reflectometer consists of a PC, a microwave source, diode detectors and an analog to digital converte...

Bags of Pinus strobus wood chips with moisture contents of 38, 92, 164, and 217% (oven dry weight) were inoculated with Bursaphelenchus xylophilus and incubated at 30 C in order to determine the effect of wood moisture on nematode population development. Nematodes were extracted after 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Population levels were greatest in wood chips with a moisture content of 38% and decreas...

An experiment was performed in Northern Maine recently to evaluate the use of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data in the measurement of soil moisture content in small area plots with varying surface cover and at various subsurface depths. Ground preparation efforts involved defining six contiguous 30 m x 30 m plots with three surface cover conditions: bare tilled soil, short grass and forest. F...