Soil bulk density (BD), degree of compactness (DC), maximum bulk density (MBD), and critical water content (CWC) at which MBD is reached are commonly used to characterize soil compaction, and can be predicted from soil texture and organic matter content, omitting other components such as sand sub-classes and soil cementing agents and potential biases such as data redundancy and sub-compositiona...

This paper presents the laboratory test results of vertical infiltration on two soil columns of finer over coarser soils subject to simulated rainfalls under conditions of no-ponding at the surface and constant head at the bottom. The main objectives were to evaluate the effect of rainfall intensity and duration; and to provide experimental evidence for soil water redistribution and hysteresis....

Alpine ecosystems are quite sensitive to global climatic changes. Drawing from two sets of remote sensing data (1986 and 2000) and field investigations, the ecological index method was used to document ecosystem changes in the Yangtze and Yellow River source regions of central Qinghai–Tibet. Although crucial to understanding alpine ecosystem responses to global climatic changes, and in assessin...

Field tests were conducted to determine if differences in response to nematicide application (i.e., root-knot nematode (RKN) populations, cotton yield, and profitability) occurred among RKN management zones (MZ). The MZ were delineated using fuzzy clustering of five terrain (TR) and edaphic (ED) field features related to soil texture: apparent soil electrical conductivity shallow (ECa-shallow) ...

In the Brazilian Amazon, forest conversion to agricultural lands (slash-and-burn cultivation) contributes to soil mercury (Hg) release and to aquatic ecosystem contamination. Recent studies have shown that soil Hg loss occurs rapidly after deforestation, suggesting that Hg mobility could be related to the massive cation input resulting from biomass burning. The objective of this research was to...

Reverse subdivision aims at constructing a coarser representation of an object given by a fine polygon mesh. In this paper, we first derive a mask for reverse Loop subdivision that can be applied to both regular and extraordinary vertices. The mask is parameterized, and thus can also be used in reversing variants of Loop subdivision, such as those proposed by Warren and Litke. We apply this mas...

Introduction Optic neuritis (ON) is a retrobulbar inflammatory injury that occurs frequently in the context of multiple sclerosis (MS). Optic nerve structure and function can be independently quantified, which makes it an ideal system model for MS to understand consequences of central nervous system (CNS) inflammation. MRI texture analysis is a measure of the distribution pattern of image pixle...

Although subterranean termite (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) foraging behavior involves the construction of gallery systems in soil, few studies have examined how colony size or soil environmental factors influence rates of construction and morphology of gallery systems. In this study, we investigated the effects of soil texture, soil moisture, and termite density on the rate of tunnel constructio...

Information based agriculture (IBA) includes matching of agronomic practices with soil and water characteristics and their spatial variability for enhancing productivity. An attempt was made to derive agriculture management zones based on soil and water characteristics for sustainable agricultural production in Mansa district (Punjab, India). Based on physiographic analysis and semi detailed so...