Combined tensiometer–solution sampling probe

Variables needed to characterize solute transport in soils are soil water pressure (SWP) and solute concentration, which are typically obtained from tensiometers and suction solution samplers, respectively. In this paper we describe a combined tension–solution sampling probe that measures SWP, and allows extraction of soil solution during or between SWP measurements. A separate porous ceramic cup and ring to be used for the tensiometer and suction solution sampler were built into a single unit. Laboratory soil column experiments were carried out to evaluate the performance of the combined tension–solution probe, and the data obtained were compared with those from using separate tensiometer and suction solution samplers. Differences in tensiometric measurements were attributed to differences in size between the tensiometers. An apparent increase in pore water solution concentration as soil water potential is decreased could be explained by anion exclusion.     

Field instrumentation for real-time measurement of soil-water characteristic curve

Suction measurement has a vital role in unsaturated soil analysis. However, measuring soil suction remains a challenging task due to a number of issues such as the limited range of suction measurement, cavitation, or long equilibrium time. It is even more challenging when the suction measurement is to be carried on the field. Hence, the development of a new suction measurement device which is able to measure high suction range for a long duration without tedious maintenance and yet portable enough for site measurement is required. In this study, a new sensor which is referred to as NTU Osmotic Tensiometer was developed along with the method to correct for decay and temperature. The NTU osmotic tensiometer is based on polymer swelling capacity in order to measure in-situ soil suction in real time for a very long duration. It requires minimum maintenance as the polymer-based sensor is not affected by the cavitation phenomenon. However, correction for decay and temperature is of paramount importance and therefore explained in this paper. Verification of the NTU osmotic tensiometer was carried out by comparing the field measurement results from the NTU osmotic tensiometer and the small tip tensiometer. The performance of the NTU osmotic tensiometer was found to be comparable with that of the small tip tensiometer, but the NTU osmotic tensiometer is able to measure more than 100 kPa soil suction. Therefore, it is possible to obtain the field soil-water characteristic curve by combining the measured in-situ soil suction from the NTU osmotic tensiometer with the measured in-situ water content from the moisture sensor as illustrated in the paper.     

The evaporation method: Extending the measurement range of soil hydraulic properties using the air‐entry pressure of the ceramic cup

Knowledge of hydraulic functions is required for various hydrological and plant‐physiological studies. The evaporation method is frequently used for the simultaneous determination of hydraulic functions of unsaturated soil samples, i.e., the water‐retention curve and hydraulic‐conductivity function. All methodic variants of the evaporation method suffer from the limitation that the hydraulic functions can only be determined to a mean tension of ≈ 60 kPa. This is caused by the limited measurement range of the tensiometers of typically 80 kPa on the dry end. We present a new, cost‐ and time‐saving approach which overcomes this restriction. Using the air‐entry pressure of the tensiometer's porous ceramic cup as additional defined tension value allows the quantification of hydraulic functions up to close to the wilting point. The procedure is described, uncertainties are discussed, and measured as well as simulated test results are presented for soil samples of various origins, different textures (sand, loam, silt, clay, and peat) and variable dry bulk density. The experimental setup followed the system HYPROP which is a commercial device with vertically aligned tensiometers that is optimized to perform evaporation measurements. During the experiment leaked water from the tensiometer interior wets the surrounding soil of the tensiometer cup and can lead to a tension retardation as shown by simulation results. This effect is negligible when the tensiometers are embedded vertically. For coarsely textured soils and horizontal tensiometer alignment, however, the retardation must be considered for data evaluation.     

残塬沟壑区不同果农复合模式对土壤理化性质及水源涵养功能的影响

为研究残塬沟壑区苹果园不同果农复合模式下土壤理化性质和水源涵养功能并筛选出水源涵养功能主导因素。以陕西省马坊塬果-荒(M0)、果-草(M1)、果-蔬(M2)、果-粮(M3)4种果农复合经营模式苹果园为研究对象,对比4种果农复合模式土壤理化特征差异性,并评估果农复合模式对土壤水源涵养功能指数的影响。使用逐步回归分析和通径分析探讨影响土壤水源涵养功能的主导因素。结果表明:生草处理、果蔬间作、果农间作下果园土壤容重、孔隙度、持水能力、养分含量等理化性质优于人工除草样地。其中生草处理、果蔬间作、果农间作土壤容重分比人工除草别降低了15.13%,11.84%,11.18%;有机质含量增加了143.76%,7.14%,120.46%。各果农复合模式下土壤水源涵养功能指数大小依次为M1(0.64)M3(0.59)M2(0.51)M0(0.38)。逐步回归分析表明,总孔隙度、容重和有机质含量是影响土壤水源涵养功能的主要因子,3个土壤因子可解释土壤水源涵养功能指数变异量的95%。通径分析表明,总孔隙度是影响土壤水源涵养功能的主要决策因素,容重是影响土壤水源涵养功能的主要限制因子。研究结果可为残塬沟壑区苹果园可持续土壤管理的选择提供科学依据。     

Use of an inverse method and geostatistics to estimate soil hydraulic conductivity for spatial variability analysis

A field method for determining the soil hydraulic properties using a parameter estimation technique is presented. Input data for the inverse problem are soil-water potentials and soil-water contents measured at different soil depths and different times during a field transient drainage experiment. For the water retention function the parametric relation suggested by Van Genuchten was adopted. For the hydraulic conductivity function the relation proposed by Van Genuchten and the exponential relation were adopted.

With the proposed method soil hydraulic properties along a transect of a volcanic Vesuvian soil were determined using as boundary condition the unit gradient of total potential at the bottom of the soil profile. Geostatistics were used to describe the spatial variability of hydraulic conductivity characteristics of the soil here considered.

Finally, results obtained using this method were compared with those of the simplified method suggested by Sisson and Van Genuchten based on a unit gradient water flow model.     

The elusive role of soil quality in nutrient cycling: a review

Cycling of nutrients, including nitrogen and phosphorus, is one of the ecosystem services we expect agricultural soils to deliver. Nutrient cycling incorporates the reuse of agricultural, industrial and municipal organic residues that, misleadingly, are often referred to as ‘wastes’. The present review disentangles the processes underlying the cycling of nutrients to better understand which soil properties determine the performance of that function. Four processes are identified (i) the capacity to receive nutrients, (ii) the capacity to make and keep nutrients available to crops, (iii) the capacity to support the uptake of nutrients by crops and (iv) the capacity to support their successful removal in harvested crop. Soil properties matter but it is imperative that, as constituents of ‘soil quality’, they should be evaluated in the context of management options and climate and not as ends in their own right. The effect of a soil property may vary depending on the prevailing climatic and hydrologic conditions and on other soil properties. We recognize that individual soil properties may be enhancing one of the processes underlying the cycling of nutrients but simultaneously weakening others. Competing demands on soil properties are even more obvious when considering other soil functions such as primary production, purification and flow regulation of water, climate modification and habitat provision, as shown by examples. Consequently, evaluations of soil properties and management actions need to be site‐specific, taking account of local aspects of their suitability and potential challenges.     

THE CORRECTION OF IN SITU TENSIOMETER READINGS FOR OVERBURDEN PRESSURES IN SWELLING SOILS

An outline is given of some basic concepts relevant to a proper understanding of overburden pressure. It is shown that for swelling soils the overburden pressure must be known in order to infer water contents from in situ tensiometer measurements, but that it need not be known for the determination of hydraulic potentials from tensiometer readings.     

Predicting watershed acidification under alternate rainfall conditions

The effect of alternate rainfall scenarios on acidification of a forested watershed subjected to chronic acidic deposition was assessed using the model of acidification of groundwater in catchments (MAGIC). The model was calibrated at the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, near Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A. using measured soil properties, wet and dry deposition, and modeled hydrologic routing. Model forecast simulations were evaluated to compare alternate temporal averaging of rainfall inputs and variations in rainfall amount and seasonal distribution. Soil water alkalinity was predicted to decrease to substantially lower concentrations under lower rainfall compared with current or higher rainfall conditions. Soil water alkalinity was also predicted to decrease to lower levels when the majority of rainfall occurred during the growing season compared with other rainfall distributions. Changes in rainfall distribution that result in decreases in net soil water flux will temporarily delay acidification. Ultimately, however, decreased soil water flux will result in larger increases in soil-adsorbed sulfur and soil-water sulfate concentrations and decreases in alkalinity when compared to higher water flux conditions. Potential climate change resulting in significant changes in rainfall amounts, seasonal distribution of rainfall, or evapotranspiration will change net soil water flux and, consequently, will affect the dynamics of the acidification response to continued sulfate loading.     

Simulation modelling of variable patterns of water movement through a cracking clay soil

Abstract. This paper describes the development and application of a simple empirical model describing differences in water movement through a cracking clay soil at Brimstone Farm, Wiltshire, UK. An extended data set comprising readings of soil water tension has been collected from an area of 9 m² instrumented with 4 nests each of 3 tensiometers. The cracks are responsible for considerable differences both in water pathway and flow magnitude. Variations in water flow suggested by changes in soil-water tension are described by a model developed using 'ModelMaker' and applied separately to each profile nest. The model envisages water flow to occur through three soil layers, and to be partitioned into matrix and macropore flow components. Water is lost via drainage to clay tile drains at 60 cm depth. Water flow between layers is described as a function of the hydraulic gradient using Darcy's Law, with additional drainage from structural voids within the soil. Differences in the effective hydraulic conductivity describing slow and rapid flow components equate to macro and matrix flow for each tensiometer profile. The results illustrate heterogeneous patterns of flow through a soil block and demonstrate that a comparatively simple model is able to represent satisfactorily water flow dynamics through a cracking clay soil.     

A prototype osmotic tensiometer with polymeric gel grains

An accurate field method that directly measures the entire range of relevant soil water potentials for periods of months to years is not yet available. The osmotic tensiometer (OT) has the potential to fulfil these demands but is still in an early stage of development. We have designed a novel OT that should overcome several drawbacks of former designs by the use of cross‐linked polymeric gel grains instead of an aqueous solution of linear chain polymers inside the porous ceramic cup. For this reason, the cup can have large pores without polymer leakage. This ensures that water exchanges rapidly with the soil, resulting in a negligible pressure lag with changing temperatures, which is the most important source of a systematic measurement error of an OT. A second reason for better performance might be the inherent elasticity of the grains which should inhibit formation of a polymer cake at the filter. To study several of the key variables of the new sensor, transient and stationary experiments were performed in an aqueous solution the temperature, salt type and salt concentration of which were varied. Under similar conditions the swelling of the polymer grains was studied in more detail. The OT that we developed responds rapidly to changes in water potential, but is very susceptible to the influence of salts. To study and minimize salt influence, swelling tests of unconfined grains are proposed in combination with tests of the OT itself.     

Nutritional status of ‘Hass’ and ‘Fuerte’ avocado (Persea americana Mill.) plants subjected to high soil moisture

Abstract

In this study, the effect of increased soil moisture on the nutritional status of two key commercial avocado (Persea americana Μill.) cultivars, ‘Fuerte’ and ‘Hass’, was examined. The results revealed that prolonged exposure of plants to high soil water content conditions (waterlogging) reduced the total nutrient content (absolute quantity) of almost all of the nutrients in scion’s tissues (leaves and stems) of both cultivars. The decrease of nutrient content in the ‘Fuerte’ leaves was more prominent/severe compared to the ‘Hass’ leaves, which could be the outcome of the reported higher sensitivity of the cultivar to soil waterlogged conditions in previous studies. Interestingly, the inability of ‘Fuerte’ avocado plants to withstand high soil moisture conditions was not reflected in the relative concentrations of most nutrients, both in leaves and stems. Indeed, significantly higher concentrations of P, K, B, Fe, and Zn were found in the leaves of ‘Fuerte’ waterlogged plants than in well-watered ones. This fact reveals that under marginal/stressful conditions, like waterlogging, nutrient concentration in tissues does not reflect potential negative effects on total nutrient uptake of avocado plants, obviously due to concentrated nutrient phenomena primarily created by the stress-dependent growth inhibition. Therefore, total nutrient content is proposed as a more representative indicator for assessing plant response to waterlogged conditions.     

根据土壤水分特征曲线推求土壤的导水参数

本文中描述了土壤水分特征曲线的一个相对简单的幂函数方程.当把这一方程代入Burdine或Mualem的预报土壤导水率的模式后,可以得到相对导水率的分析解.相对导水率的表达式中仅包含一个参数,该参数用实验资料拟合水分特征曲线模型而得到.并结合特征曲线方程,给出了土壤水分扩散率的表达式.从Burdine和Mualem模式获得分析解的结果,与具有较宽范围导水性质的四种土壤的导水参数实测资料进行了比较.非饱和土壤导水率的预报结果良好;土壤水分扩散率的预报结果对其中三种土壤良好.     

Estimating leaching losses from sub-surface drained soils

Abstract. Leaching losses of solutes can be calculated if two variables, the amount of water passing through the soil and the concentration of solute in that water (a flux concentration), are known. Two simple approaches, soil extraction and suction cup sampling, were used to estimate the concentration of solutes in the water moving through a silt loam soil. The results were compared with actual concentrations measured in the drainage water from a sub-surface (mole-pipe) drained soil.
Seasonal leaching losses were calculated as the sum of the products of estimated monthly drainage and the estimated average monthly solute concentration in the soil solution. These results were compared with the leaching losses measured in drainage water from the mole-pipe system. For non-reactive solutes such as bromide (an applied solute) and chloride (a resident solute), the suction cup data provided better estimates of the leaching losses than did the soil extraction data. The leaching losses calculated using volume-averaged soil solution concentrations (obtained by soil extraction) overestimated the loss for the resident solute, but under-estimated the loss for the surface-applied solute. On the other hand, the data for non-reactive solutes suggest that measurements on suction cup samples may be representative of the flux concentration of a solute during leaching. For nitrate, a biologically reactive solute, there was no clear pattern in the differences between the estimated and measured leaching losses. The flux-averaged concentration in the drainage water was about midway between those measured in the suction cup samples and in the soil solution.     

A METHOD FOR STUDYING SOIL-WATER PROPERTIES OF SOIL PROFILES

A method for studying the soil-water properties of soil profiles is described and its development for application in the field is suggested. The method consists of infiltrating water at a constant rate at the surface of the soil and determining the resulting steady-state suction and moisture profiles down the soil profile. It has been applied for relating the pore-water suction and hydraulic conductivity to the pore-water content of a a-m-long soil monolith.     

土壤探针阻抗计算方法的理论分析与实验研究

在基于TDR、FD和SWR等不同方法的土壤水分测量仪器中 ,多针土壤探头作为采样传感器的一个重要组成部分 ,深入研究它的阻抗计算方法对于改进这些仪器的测量精确度具有很高的理论与应用价值。由于描述多针土壤探头电磁特性的麦克斯韦尔方程的边界条件很难确定 ,所以试图利用麦氏方程的解析解分析其阻抗特性从理论上说是“可望而不可及”的。本文依据高频传输线阻抗变换理论与数学分析中夹逼定理的思想 ,提出了一种土壤探针阻抗计算模型。进一步通过对该模型的计算机仿真与实验研究 ,发现土壤探针的阻抗特性可随着测试频率与针长等相关参数的改变在感性负载与容性负载间相互转化。此外 ,当这些相关参数改变时 ,土壤探针的阻抗计算模型还存在着周期性的间断点。     

Bioavailability of hydrophobic organic contaminants in soils: fundamental concepts and techniques for analysis

Soils represent a major sink for organic xenobiotic contaminants in the environment. The degree to which organic chemicals are retained within the soil is controlled by soil properties, such as organic matter, and the physico‐chemical properties of the contaminant. Chemicals which display hydrophobic and lipophilic characteristics, as well as a recalcitrant chemical structure, will be retained within the soil, and depending on the ‘strength’ of the association may persist for long periods of time. This review describes the behaviour of hydrophobic organic contaminants in soils, focusing on the mechanisms controlling interactions between soil and contaminants. The bioavailability of contaminants in soil is also discussed, particularly in relation to contact time with the soil. It considers the degradation of organic contaminants in soil and the mechanisms microbes use to access contaminants. Finally, the review discusses the ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ of chemical and biological techniques available for assessing bioavailability of hydrophobic organic chemicals in soils, highlighting the need to quantify bioavailability by chemical techniques. It concludes by highlighting the need for understanding the interactions between the soil, contaminants and biota which is crucial to understanding the bioavailability of contaminants in soils.     

西藏“一江两河”地区土壤侵蚀现状及分布特征

基于土壤侵蚀遥感调查成果,分析了西藏“一江两河”地区（一江两河指雅鲁藏布江、拉萨河及年楚河）土壤侵蚀现状及分布特征,探讨了研究区土壤侵蚀的影响因素及水土流失防治思路。结果表明:（1）该地区侵蚀类型以冻融侵蚀为主,面积达2.2万km²,占总侵蚀面积的47.19%,水力侵蚀、风力侵蚀次之,分别占45.57%,7.24%;（2）土壤侵蚀强度以中度侵蚀为主,占42.65%,中度及以上侵蚀面积占80.36%;（3）土壤侵蚀面积广,空间分布差异明显,多种侵蚀形态相互交错,潜在危害大;（4）“一江两河”地区土壤侵蚀现状及特征是环境气候及人为活动共同影响下形成的,其中人为活动单一且影响较弱,恶劣的自然条件是土壤侵蚀的主导因素,该区水土流失防治可借鉴生态清洁小流域治理理论及经验,创新思路,综合治理。     

六盘山华北落叶松人工林地土壤水分动态研究

利用平衡式张力计和时域反射仪(TDR)定位监测方法,研究了六盘山山地华北落叶松人工林地土壤水分动态规律.结果表明:研究时段内,华北落叶松林内土壤水分时间动态变化可划分为土壤水分的相对湿润期、持续消耗期和快速恢复期;依据水分利用特征可将垂直土层划分为土壤水分的微弱利用层(0-20 cm)、利用层(20-60cm)和水分调节层(60 cm以下).华北落叶松林内0-60 cm各土层土壤蓄水量与太阳辐射、大气温度、VPD和液流通量均呈极显著相关(P<0.01),对各因子进行多元逐步回归分析,得到0-60 cm各土层土壤蓄水量与气象因子间的多元线性回归方程.     

A new approach for determining effective soil hydraulic functions

We investigated the possibility of inferring effective hydraulic properties of soil from the structure of the pore space. The aim was to identify structural properties, which are essential for water flow, so that physical experiments may be replaced by direct morphological measurements. The pore structure was investigated in three dimensions by serial sections through impregnated samples. The complex geometry of pore space was quantified in terms of two characteristics: pore-size distribution and pore connectivity. Only pores larger than 0.04 mm were considered. The results were used as input parameters for a pore-scale network model. The main desorption branch of the soil-water characteristic and the corresponding hydraulic conductivity function of the network model were calculated by numerical simulation. The simulation results, which are exclusively based on morphological investigations, were compared with independently measured results from a multi-step outflow experiment. This approach was demonstrated for two centrasting soil materials: the A and B horizons of a silty agricultural soil. The simulations were close to the experimental data, except for the absolute values of the hydraulic conductivity. The pore-size distribution and pore connectivity govern the shape of hydraulic functions and the applied morphometric methods are suitable for predicting essential characteristics of hydraulic soil properties.     

一种适于土壤水势定位观测的新仪器

SM-1型便携式土壤水势监测仪可以在田间定位观测土壤水势、地下水位,从而可进一步获取土壤水分特征曲线、导水率等土壤水力性质参数。该仪器利用张力计原理,采用一个传感器结合多个探头的方法,对传统技术进行了改进,其测定精度可达到±1KPa。