to measure soil water content (or soil matric suction) in thin layers of about 30mm, conventional gypsum blocks are not suitable. to carry out the task, mini-gypsum blocks were constructed using plaster of paris in an innovative fashion. a power relationship was found between the soil water content and the mini-gypsum blocks’ readings in kω. the calibration results showed that readings of m...

In this paper three transport models are applied to describe the vertical migration process of 137Cs in undisturbed soil. The same experimental data set is used for the calibration of each model. These data were obtained from areas in northeast Italy, where the 137Cs deposition following the Chernobyl accident ranged from 20 to 40 kBq m-2. A diffusion model (called DSF) is presented, which take...

Calibration of model is critical for hydrologic modeling of large watersheds in a mountain watershed. In this study Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) used to comparison a single-site calibration procedure that employed streamflow measurement at outlet of watershed to a multi-site calibration method that used streamflow measurements at three stations (Galinak, Joestan and Dehdar). Results sh...

In regions affected by seasonal and permanently frozen conditions soil moisture influences the thermal regime of the ground as well as its ice content, which is one of the main factors controlling the sensitivity of mountain permafrost to climate changes. In this study, several well established soil moisture monitoring techniques were combined with data from geophysical measurements to assess t...

Electromagnetic induction (EM) is a useful mean of assessing soil salinity in large areas, particularly after its calibration on different soils. Electromagnetic induction was used to monitor spatial and temporal changes of soil salinity within the saline irrigation district of Flumen, Spain. Soil salinity patterns in this region are entangled because of intensive land leveling and irrigation. ...

A cosmic-ray soil moisture probe is usually calibrated locally using soil samples collected within its support volume. But such calibration may be difficult or impractical, for example when soil contains stones, in presence of bedrock outcrops, in urban environments, or when the probe is used as a rover. Here we use the neutron transport code MCNPx with observed soil chemistries and pore water ...

The visible and near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy prediction model is an effective tool for the prediction of soil organic matter (SOM) content. The predictive accuracy of the VNIR model is highly dependent on the selection of the calibration set. However, conventional methods for selecting the calibration set for constructing the VNIR prediction model merely consider either the gradients of SO...

The use of nuclear backscatter moisture -density gages for soil compaction control has gained a great deal of favor during the past several years . However, before this type of equipment can be applied to routine field control, several factors influencing the operation of the gage must be investigated. Various techniques for expressing nuclear results were studied, and the results indicate that...

Accurate measurement of soil temperature gradients is important for the estimation of soil heat flux and latent heat flux, both major components of the surface energy balance. Soil temperature gradients are commonly measured using heat-pulse sensors equipped with thermistors. In this study, individual thermistors showed absolute temperature differences on the order of 0.2°C when placed under un...

During the past decades, large amounts of diffuse cadmium (Cd) and zinc (Zn) contaminated soil material have been deposited in the floodplains of the river Rhine in the Netherlands. As spatial information on soil quality is required at different scale levels covering the whole area, characterisation exclusively based on soil sampling and analysis is time-consuming and very expensive. A quicker ...