Physical Aspects of Soil Water and Salts in Ecosystems


Book Description

The papers collected in this book were given and discussed at the symposium on "Soil water physics and technology", which was held in Rehovot, Israel, from August 19th-September 4th, 1971. It was sponsored by the International Society of Soil Science (1.S.S.S.) through its Commissions I (soil physics) and VI (soil technology), and organized by the Israeli Soil Science Society. Thanks are due to the Editors for having assembled contributions and discussion remarks into a well-rounded, coherent book. The subjects covered in this book are the theoretical and practical aspects of the following topics: water movement in soils, soil-water interactions, evaporation from soil and plants, water requirements of crops, ion activity and migration in soils, soilwater management and salinity. In as much as these contributions were not solicited, they represent ideas and subjects considered important by the authors and debators. In science, one often finds a gap between basic research and practical application. If reading this book creates a feeling of an apparent lack of balance between theory and practice, this represents the state of our science today, and the thoughtful reader can and will recognize that much remains to be done. W. R. GARDNER T.]. MAR5HAL President, Commission I President, Commission VI 1.5.5.5.







Psychrophiles: From Biodiversity to Biotechnology


Book Description

Cold adaptation includes a complex range of structural and functional adaptations at the level of all cellular constituents, and these adaptations render cold-adapted organisms particularly useful for biotechnological applications. This book presents the most recent knowledge of (i) boundary conditions for microbial life in the cold, (ii) microbial diversity in various cold ecosystems, (iii) molecular cold adaptation mechanisms and (iv) the resulting biotechnological perspectives.




An Introduction to Frozen Ground Engineering


Book Description

Frozen Ground Engineering first introduces the reader to the frozen environment and the behavior of frozen soil as an engineering material. In subsequent chapters this information is used in the analysis and design of ground support systems, foundations, and embankments. These and other topics make this book suitable for use by civil engineering students in a one-semester course on frozen ground engineering at the senior or first-year-graduate level. Students are assumed to have a working knowledge of undergraduate mechanics (statics and mechanics of materials) and geotechnical engineering (usual two-course sequence). A knowledge of basic geology would be helpful but is not essential. This book will also be useful to advanced students in other disciplines and to engineers who desire an introduction to frozen ground engineering or references to selected technical publications in the field. BACKGROUND Frozen ground engineering has developed rapidly in the past several decades under the pressure of necessity. As practical problems involving frozen soils broadened in scope, the inadequacy of earlier methods for coping became increasingly apparent. The application of ground freezing to geotechnical projects throughout the world continues to grow as significant advances have been made in ground freezing technology. Freezing is a useful and versatile technique for temporary earth support, groundwater control in difficult soil or rock strata, and the formation of subsurface containment barriers suitable for use in groundwater remediation projects.




Applications of Soil Physics


Book Description

Applications of Soil Physics deals with the applications of soil physics and covers topics ranging from infiltration and surface runoff to groundwater drainage, evaporation from bare-surface soils, and uptake of soil moisture by plants. Water balance and energy balance in the field are also discussed, along with tillage and soil structure management. The development and extension of Penman's evaporation formula is also described. This book is comprised of 14 chapters and begins with a systematic description of the field-water cycle and its management, with emphasis on infiltration and runoff; redistribution and drainage; evaporation and transpiration; and irrigation and tillage. Subsequent chapters focus on transpiration from plant canopies; freezing phenomena in soils; scaling and similitude of soil-water phenomena; spatial variability of soil physical properties; and movement of solutes during infiltration into homogeneous soil. Concepts of soil-water availability to plants are considered, together with principles of irrigation management and the advantages and limitations of drip irrigation. This monograph is intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of the environmental, engineering, and agronomic sciences.




Satellite Soil Moisture Retrieval


Book Description

Satellite Soil Moisture Retrieval: Techniques and Applications offers readers a better understanding of the scientific underpinnings, development, and application of soil moisture retrieval techniques and their applications for environmental modeling and management, bringing together a collection of recent developments and rigorous applications of soil moisture retrieval techniques from optical and infrared datasets, such as the universal triangle method, vegetation indices based approaches, empirical models, and microwave techniques, particularly by utilizing earth observation datasets such as IRS III, MODIS, Landsat7, Landsat8, SMOS, AMSR-e, AMSR2 and the upcoming SMAP. Through its coverage of a wide variety of soil moisture retrieval applications, including drought, flood, irrigation scheduling, weather forecasting, climate change, precipitation forecasting, and several others, this is the first book to promote synergistic and multidisciplinary activities among scientists and users working in the hydrometeorological sciences. - Demystifies soil moisture retrieval and prediction - Links soil moisture retrieval techniques with new satellite missions for earth and environmental science oriented problems - Written to be accessible to a wider range of professionals with a common interest in geo-spatial techniques, remote sensing, sustainable water resource development, and earth and environmental issues




Geocryology


Book Description

This book provides a general survey of Geocryology, which is the study of frozen ground called permafrost. Frozen ground is the product of cold climates as well as a variety of environmental factors. Its major characteristic is the accumulation of large quantities of ice which may exceed 90% by volume. Soil water changing to ice results in ground heaving, while thawing of this ice produces ground subsidence often accompanied by soil flowage. Permafrost is very susceptible to changes in weather and climate as well as to changes in the microenvironment. Cold weather produces contraction of the ground, resulting in cracking of the soil as well as breakup of concrete, rock, etc. Thus permafrost regions have unique landforms and processes not found in warmer lands. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 provides an introduction to the characteristics of permafrost. Four chapters deal with its definition and characteristics, the unique processes operating there, the factors affecting it, and its general distribution. Part 2 consists of seven chapters describing the characteristic landforms unique to these areas and the processes involved in their formation. Part 3 discusses the special problems encountered by engineers in construction projects including settlements, roads and railways, the oil and gas industry, mining, and the agricultural and forest industries. The three authors represent three countries and three language groups, and together have over 120 years of experience of working in permafrost areas throughout the world. The book contains over 300 illustrations and photographs, and includes an extensive bibliography in order to introduce the interested reader to the large current literature. Finalist of the 2019 PROSE Awards.




Ground Freezing 2000 - Frost Action in Soils


Book Description

There has been increasing interest in the use of Artificial Ground Freezing (AGF) in forming efficient barriers to prevent pollution penetrating geological deposits. This volume includes papers on heat and mass transfer, frost susceptibility and frost heave, and mechanical properties.




Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice


Book Description

The definitive guide to unsaturated soil— from the world's experts on the subject This book builds upon and substantially updates Fredlund and Rahardjo's publication, Soil Mechanics for Unsaturated Soils, the current standard in the field of unsaturated soils. It provides readers with more thorough coverage of the state of the art of unsaturated soil behavior and better reflects the manner in which practical unsaturated soil engineering problems are solved. Retaining the fundamental physics of unsaturated soil behavior presented in the earlier book, this new publication places greater emphasis on the importance of the "soil-water characteristic curve" in solving practical engineering problems, as well as the quantification of thermal and moisture boundary conditions based on the use of weather data. Topics covered include: Theory to Practice of Unsaturated Soil Mechanics Nature and Phase Properties of Unsaturated Soil State Variables for Unsaturated Soils Measurement and Estimation of State Variables Soil-Water Characteristic Curves for Unsaturated Soils Ground Surface Moisture Flux Boundary Conditions Theory of Water Flow through Unsaturated Soils Solving Saturated/Unsaturated Water Flow Problems Air Flow through Unsaturated Soils Heat Flow Analysis for Unsaturated Soils Shear Strength of Unsaturated Soils Shear Strength Applications in Plastic and Limit Equilibrium Stress-Deformation Analysis for Unsaturated Soils Solving Stress-Deformation Problems with Unsaturated Soils Compressibility and Pore Pressure Parameters Consolidation and Swelling Processes in Unsaturated Soils Unsaturated Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice is essential reading for geotechnical engineers, civil engineers, and undergraduate- and graduate-level civil engineering students with a focus on soil mechanics.




Radar Interferometry


Book Description

This book is the product of five and a half years of research dedicated to the und- standing of radar interferometry, a relatively new space-geodetic technique for m- suring the earth’s topography and its deformation. The main reason for undertaking this work, early 1995, was the fact that this technique proved to be extremely useful for wide-scale, fine-resolution deformation measurements. Especially the interf- ometric products from the ERS-1 satellite provided beautiful first results—several interferometric images appeared as highlights on the cover of journals such as Nature and Science. Accuracies of a few millimeters in the radar line of sight were claimed in semi-continuous image data acquired globally, irrespective of cloud cover or solar illumination. Unfortunately, because of the relative lack of supportive observations at these resolutions and accuracies, validation of the precision and reliability of the results remained an issue of concern. From a geodetic point of view, several survey techniques are commonly available to measure a specific geophysical phenomenon. To make an optimal choice between these techniques it is important to have a uniform and quantitative approach for describing the errors and how these errors propagate to the estimated parameters. In this context, the research described in this book was initiated. It describes issues involved with different types of errors, induced by the sensor, the data processing, satellite positioning accuracy, atmospheric propagation, and scattering character- tics. Nevertheless, as the first item in the subtitle “Data Interpretation and Error Analysis” suggests, data interpretation is not always straightforward.