Estimating soil moisture and soil thermal and hydraulic properties by assimilating soil temperatures using a particle batch smoother

This study investigates the potential of estimating the soil moisture profile and the soil thermal and hydraulic properties by assimilating soil temperature at shallow depths using a particle batch smoother (PBS) using synthetic tests. Soil hydraulic properties influence the redistribution of soil moisture within the soil profile. Soil moisture, in turn, influences the soil thermal properties and surface energy balance through evaporation, and hence the soil heat transfer. Synthetic experiments were used to test the hypothesis that assimilating soil temperature observations could lead to improved estimates of soil hydraulic properties. We also compared different data assimilation strategies to investigate the added value of jointly estimating soil thermal and hydraulic properties in soil moisture profile estimation. Results show that both soil thermal and hydraulic properties can be estimated using shallow soil temperatures. Jointly updating soil hydraulic properties and soil states yields robust and accurate soil moisture estimates. Further improvement is observed when soil thermal properties were also estimated together with the soil hydraulic properties and soil states. Finally, we show that the inclusion of a tuning factor to prevent rapid fluctuations of parameter estimation, yields improved soil moisture, temperature, and thermal and hydraulic properties.     

Determination of the role of entrapped air in water flow in a closed soil pipe using a laboratory experiment

Soil pipes, continuous macropores parallel to the soil surface, are an important factor in hillslope hydrological processes. However, the water flow dynamics in soil pipes, especially closed soil pipes, are not well understood. In this study, the water and air dynamics within closed soil pipes have been investigated in a bench‐scale laboratory experiment by using a soil box with an artificial acrylic soil pipe. In order to grasp the state of water and air within the soil pipe, we directly measured the existing soil pipe flow and air pressure in the soil pipe. The laboratory experiment showed that air in the soil pipe had an important role in the water flow in the closed soil pipe. When air entrapment occurred in the soil pipe before the soil matrix around the soil pipe was saturated with water, water intrusion in the soil pipe was prevented by air entrapped in the pipe, which inhibited the soil pipe flow. This air entrapment in the soil pipe was controlled by the soil water and air flow. Moreover, after the soil pipe flow started, the soil pipe was not filled completely with water even when the soil pipe was completely submerged under the groundwater table. The entrapped air in the soil pipe prevented further water intrusion in the soil pipe.     

Soil property variation mapping through data mining of soil category maps

Spatial information on soil properties is an important input to hydrological models. In current hydrological modelling practices, soil property information is often derived from soil category maps by the linking method in which a representative soil property value is linked to each soil polygon. Limited by the area‐class nature of soil category maps, the derived soil property variation is discontinuous and less detailed than high resolution digital terrain or remote sensing data. This research proposed dmSoil, a data‐mining‐based approach to derive continuous and spatially detailed soil property information from soil category maps. First, the soil–environment relationships are extracted through data mining of a soil map. The similarity of the soil at each location to different soil types in the soil map is then estimated using the mined relationships. Prediction of soil property values at each location is made by combining the similarities of the soil at that location to different soil types and the representative soil property values of these soil types. The new approach was applied in the Raffelson Watershed and Pleasant Valley in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, United States to map soil A horizon texture (in both areas) and depth to soil C horizon (in Pleasant Valley). The property maps from the dmSoil approach capture the spatial gradation and details of soil properties better than those from the linking method. The new approach also shows consistent accuracy improvement at validation points. In addition to the improved performances, the inputs for the dmSoil approach are easy to prepare, and the approach itself is simple to deploy. It provides an effective way to derive better soil property information from soil category maps for hydrological modelling. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of Soil Rhizosphere Aeration on the Root Growth and Water Absorption of Tomato

Soil rhizosphere aeration status is an important aspect of soil quality and soil ecology. The objective of the current study was to determine the appropriate moisture environment that facilitates rhizosphere soil aeration and ensures normal root respiration in tomato. In the potted experiment, five treatments of soil aeration were used (0.4, 0.8, 1.2, 1.6 ventilation volume of 50% porosity of soil, and no ventilation) under conditions of the different soil moisture upper limits. The effects of different rhizosphere soil aerations on the physiological indicators and water absorption of tomato were studied. Under the same soil moisture condition, plant growth and root vitality initially increased, and then decreased when the soil ventilation volume increased. The combination of soil moisture with 80% of field capacity and 0.8 ventilation volume with 50% soil porosity raised the chlorophyll content by 29.98% and the root vitality by 61.55%, as compared with the non‐ventilated treatment. Therefore, the appropriate volume of rhizosphere ventilation can effectively improve the capacity of water absorption in tomato. The result provides a new view about soil quality and soil ecology in terms of soil–root system.     

Soil and water conservation measures improve soil carbon sequestration and soil quality under cashews

Land degradation is becoming a serious problem in the west coast region of India where one of the world's eight biodiversity hotspots,the‘Western Ghats’,is present.Poor land management practices and high rainfall have led to increasing problems associated with land degradation.A long-term(13-year)experiment was done to evaluate the impact of soil and water conservation measures on soil carbon sequestration and soil quality at three different depths under cashew nut cultivation on a 19%slope.Five soil and water conservation measures-continuous contour trenches,staggered contour trenches,halfmoon terraces,semi-elliptical trenches,and graded trenches all with vegetative barriers of Stylosanthes scabra and Vetiveria zizanoides and control were evaluated for their influence on soil properties,carbon sequestration,and soil quality under cashews.The soil and water conservation measures improved significantly the soil organic carbon,soil organic carbon stock,carbon sequestration rate and microbial activity compared to the control condition(without any measures).Among the measures tested,continuous contour trenches with vegetative barriers outperformed the others with respect to soil organic carbon stock,sequestration rate,and microbial activity.The lower metabolic quotient with the measures compared to the control indicated alleviation of environmental stress on microbes.Using principal component analysis and a correlation matrix,a minimum dataset was identified as the soil available nitrogen,bulk density,basal soil respiration,soil pH,acid phosphatase activity,and soil available boron and these were the most important soil properties controlling the soil quality.Four soil quality indices using two summation methods(additive and weighted)and two scoring methods(linear and non-linear)were developed using the minimum dataset.A linear weighted soil quality index was able to statistically differentiate the effect of soil and water conservation measures from that of the control.The highest value of the soil quality index of 0.98 was achieved with continuous contour trenches with a vegetative barrier.The results of the study indicate that soil and water conservation measures for cashews are a potential strategy to improve the soil carbon sequestration and soil quality along with improving crop productivity and reducing the erosion losses.     

不同土质条件下断层地表破裂对比研究

本文结合华北地区几个地震统计区的实例,探讨了地震统计区的重要地震活动性参数b值和v4不确定性的主要影响因素及其特征,并研究分析了其不确定性的大小。结果表明,地震活动性参数的不确定性主要影响因素为样本统计时段、样本处理方法、统计下限震级、高震级年平均发生率等。在郯庐地震统计区,b值变化可达0.2以上,v4的变化可达1.4以上,汾渭地震统计区的不确定性也基本相当,河北平原地震统计区因为地震样本相对丰富,不确定性要小许多。     

华北平原强震构造带与潜在震源区划分

在莫尔-库仑理论中引用Drucker-Prager准则,对于基岩断层及其上的覆盖土体建立相应的弹塑性模型,观察在不同力学条件下（张应力、压应力、剪应力）,以及在基岩断层分别为正断或逆断作用下,上覆粉砂质土体和粘土质土体的错动变形。结果表明：在张应力作用下,粘土比砂土更易变形;在压应力作用下,砂土更易变形;而在剪应力作用下,粘土比砂土更易变形,且粘土抗剪强度越大,变形越大。在正断层作用下,在粉砂土与粘性土中所发生的变形并没有大的不同,而在逆断层载荷作用下,粉砂质土体比粘土质土体更容易变形位错。     

地震荷载下土层变形等级预测方法研究

以计算结果可靠的土层反应结果为基础数据,基于随机森林算法(Random Forest,简称"RF"),建立地震动、场地土层参数特征量与土层变形特征的关系,提出一种依据常规地震动和场地土层参数为特征量的地震荷载下土层变形等级预测新方法,给出了典型场地土体发生大应变的地震动阈值.结果表明:基于RF模型对土体的变形程度预测结...     

Modelling the impacts of spatial heterogeneity in soil hydraulic properties on hydrological process in the upper reach of the Heihe River in the Qilian Mountains,Northwest China

Spatial heterogeneity of soil has great impacts on dynamic processes of the hydrological systems. However, it is challenging and expensive to obtain spatial distribution of soil hydraulic properties, which often requires extensive soil sampling and observations and intensive laboratory analyses, especially in high elevation, hard to access mountainous areas. This study evaluates the impacts of soil heterogeneity on hydrological process in a high elevation, topographically complex watershed in Northwest China. Two approaches were used to derive the spatial heterogeneity of soil properties in the study watershed: (1) the spatial clustering method, Full‐Order‐CLK was used to determine five soil heterogeneous clusters (configurations 97, 80, 60, 40 and 20) through large number of soil sampling and in situ observations, and (2) the average values of soil hydraulic properties for each soil type were derived from the coarse provincial soil data sets (Gansu Soil Handbook at 1 : 1 000 000 scale). Subsequently, Soil and Water Assessment Tool model was used to quantify the impact of the spatial heterogeneity of soil hydraulic properties on hydrological process in the study watershed. Results show the simulations by Soil and Water Assessment Tool with the spatially clustered soil hydraulic information from the field sampling data had much better representation of the soil heterogeneity and had more accurate performance than the model using the average soil property values for each soil type derived from the coarse soil data sets. Thus, incorporating detailed field sampling, soil heterogeneity data greatly improve performance in hydrological modelling. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

失水过程中的土壤孔隙比―含水量―吸力关系

当土体总应力状态保持不变时,基质吸力的提高是导致孔隙水排水、土样体积收缩、孔隙结构改变的根本原因,通过吸力可以将土壤收缩曲线和土水特征曲线联系起来进行比对研究。采用广义有效应力原理分析超固结土样和正常土样的失水过程,结果表明:超固结土样中存在着相应的先期固结压力的吸力值,称之为先期固结吸力ψc。当土样吸力小于ψc时,超固结土样和正常固结土样的收缩曲线、土水特征曲线不同:超固结土孔隙比随吸力提高而减小的坡度较缓,约等于土样的回弹再压缩指数,土样处于结构性收缩阶段;先期固结压力越大,土水特征曲线的进气值越高。当土样吸力高于ψc时,超固结土样和正常固结土样的收缩曲线、土水特征曲线重合。     

不同土压力模式下土钉受力特征探讨

土钉支护体系作为一种经济、有效的支护方式而得到广泛的应用。但关于土钉力计算的理论依然相对缺乏,远远落后于工程实践,严重制约了土钉技术的发展。基于杨光华提出的土钉力简化计算方法[1],以4种不同的土压力模式为背景进行简化,并对比分析不同土压力模式下的土钉力分布,结果表明:采用根据侧壁主动土压力与总土钉力相等并考虑施工过程的影响和增量法的土钉力简化计算方法简便,且采用三角形土压力分布模式与梯形土压力分布模式(二)较采用其他两种土压力分布模式简化计算得到的结果与监测结果更接近。     

Soil moisture variability of root zone profiles within SMEX02 remote sensing footprints

Remote sensing of soil moisture effectively provides soil moisture at a large scale, but does not explain highly heterogeneous soil moisture characteristics within remote sensing footprints. In this study, field scale spatio-temporal variability of root zone soil moisture was analyzed. During the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02), daily soil moisture profiles (i.e., 0–6, 5–11, 15–21, and 25–31 cm) were measured in two fields in Walnut Creek watershed, Ames, Iowa, USA. Theta probe measurements of the volumetric soil moisture profile data were used to analyze statistical moments and time stability and to validate soil moisture predicted by a simple physical model simulation. For all depths, the coefficient of variation of soil moisture is well explained by the mean soil moisture using an exponential relationship. The simple model simulated very similar variability patterns as those observed.As soil depth increases, soil moisture distributions shift from skewed to normal patterns. At the surface depth, the soil moisture during dry down is log-normally distributed, while the soil moisture is normally distributed after rainfall. At all depths below the surface, the normal distribution captures the soil moisture variability for all conditions. Time stability analyses show that spatial patterns of sampling points are preserved for all depths and that time stability of surface measurements is a good indicator of subsurface time stability. The most time stable sampling sites estimate the field average root zone soil moisture value within ±2.1% volumetric soil moisture.     

Modelling increased soil cohesion due to roots with EUROSEM

As organic root exudates cause soil particles to adhere firmly to root surfaces, roots significantly increase soil strength and therefore also increase the resistance of the topsoil to erosion by concentrated flow. This paper aims at contributing to a better prediction of the root effects on soil erosion rates in the EUROSEM model, as the input values accounting for roots, presented in the user manual, do not account for differences in root density or root architecture. Recent research indicates that small changes in root density or differences in root architecture considerably influence soil erosion rates during concentrated flow. The approach for incorporating the root effects into this model is based on a comparison of measured soil detachment rates for bare and for root‐permeated topsoil samples with predicted erosion rates under the same flow conditions using the erosion equation of EUROSEM. Through backwards calculation, transport capacity efficiencies and corresponding soil cohesion values can be assessed for bare and root‐permeated topsoils respectively. The results are promising and present soil cohesion values that are in accordance with reported values in the literature for the same soil type (silt loam). The results show that grass roots provide a larger increase in soil cohesion as compared with tap‐rooted species and that the increase in soil cohesion is not significantly different under wet and dry soil conditions, either for fibrous root systems or for tap root systems. Power and exponential relationships are established between measured root density values and the corresponding calculated soil cohesion values, reflecting the effects of roots on the resistance of the topsoil to concentrated flow incision. These relationships enable one to incorporate the root effect into the soil erosion model EUROSEM, through adapting the soil cohesion input value. A scenario analysis shows that the contribution of roots to soil cohesion is very important for preventing soil loss and reducing runoff volume. The increase in soil shear strength due to the binding effect of roots on soil particles is two orders of magnitude lower as compared with soil reinforcement achieved when roots mobilize their tensile strength during soil shearing and root breakage. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental study on the hydrological performance of green roofs in the application of novel biochar

Biochar has the potential to be a soil amendment in green roofs owing to its water retention, nutrient supply, and carbon sequestration application. The combined effects of biochar and vegetated soil on hydraulic performance (e.g., saturated hydraulic conductivity, retention and detention, and runoff delay) are the crucial factor for the application of the novel biochar in green roofs. Recent studies investigated soil water potential (i.e., suction) either on vegetated soil or on biochar-amended soil but rarely focused on their integrated application. With the purpose of investigating the hydraulic performance of green roofs in the application of biochar, the combined effect of biochar and vegetated soil on hydrological processes was explored. Artificial rainfall experiments were conducted on the four types of experimental soil columns, including natural soil, biochar-amended soil, vegetated natural soil, and vegetated biochar-amended soil. The surface ponding, bottom drainage and the volumetric water content were measured during the rainfall test. Simulation method by using HYDRUS-1D was adopted for estimating hydraulic parameters and developing modelling analysis. The results indicated that the saturated hydraulic conductivity of vegetated soil columns were higher than bare soil columns. The addition of biochar decreased the saturated hydraulic conductivity, and the magnitude of decrease was much significant in the case of vegetated soil. The influence of vegetation on permeability is more prominent than biochar. The vegetated biochar-amended soil has the highest retention and detention capacity, and shows a preferable runoff delay effect under heavy rain among the four soil columns. The results from the present study help to understand the hydrological processes in the green roof in the application of biochar, and imply that biochar can be an alternative soil amendment to improve the hydraulic performance.     

Physical mechanisms of plant roots affecting weathering and leaching of loess soil

Vegetation is an important factor in maintaining ecological balance and improving eco-environment. For improving environment, vegetation cover, as a substitute for the integrated action of stems and leaves, seems to be a crucial factor. However, recent st…     

On the interrelations between topography,soil depth,soil moisture,transpiration rates and species distribution at the hillslope scale

Relations between the spatial patterns of soil moisture, soil depth, and transpiration and their influence on the hillslope water balance are not well understood. When determining a water balance for a hillslope, small scale variations in soil depth are often ignored. In this study we found that these variations in soil depth can lead to distinct patterns in transpiration rates across a hillslope. We measured soil moisture content at 0.05 and 0.10 m depth intervals between the soil surface and the soil–bedrock boundary on 64 locations across the trenched hillslope in the Panola Mountain Research Watershed, Georgia, USA. We related these soil moisture data to transpiration rates measured in 14 trees across the hillslope using 28 constant heat sapflow sensors. Results showed a lack of spatial structure in soil moisture across the hillslope and with depth when the hillslope was in either the wet or the dry state. However, during the short transition period between the wet and dry state, soil moisture did become spatially organized with depth and across the hillslope. Variations in soil depth and thus total soil water stored in the soil profile at the end of the wet season caused differences in soil moisture content and transpiration rates between upslope and midslope sections at the end of the summer. In the upslope section, which has shallower soils, transpiration became limited by soil moisture while in the midslope section with deeper soils, transpiration was not limited by soil moisture. These spatial differences in soil depth, total water available at the end of the wet season and soil moisture content during the summer appear responsible for the observed spatial differences in basal area and species distribution between the upslope and midslope sections of the hillslope.     

Improving the estimation of hydrothermal state variables in the active layer of frozen ground by assimilating <Emphasis Type="Italic">in situ</Emphasis> observations and SSM/I data

The active layer of frozen ground data assimilation system adopts the SHAW (Simulteneous Heat and Water) model as the model operator. It employs an ensemble kalman filter to fuse state variables predicted by the SHAW model with in situ observation and the SSM/I 19 GHz brightness temperature for the purpose of optimizing model hydrothermal state variables. When there is little water movement in the frozen soil during the winter season, the unfrozen water content depends primarily on soil temperature. Thus, soil temperature is the crucial state variable to be improved. In contrast, soil moisture is heavily influenced by precipitation during the summer season. The simulation accuracy of soil moisture has a strong and direct impact on the soil temperature. In this case, the crucial state variable to be improved is soil moisture. One-dimensional assimilation experiments that have been carried out at AMDO station show that land data assimilation method can improve the estimation of hydrothermal state variables in the soil by fusing model information and observation information. The reasonable model error covariance matrix plays a key role in transferring the optimized surface state information to the deep soil, and it provides improved estimations of whole soil state profiles. After assimilating the 4-cm soil temperature by in situ observation, the soil temperature RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) of each soil layer decreased by 0.96°C on average relative to the SHAW simulation. After assimilating the 4-cm soil moisture in situ observation, the soil moisture RMSE of each soil layer decreased by 0.020 m³·m⁻³. When assimilating the SSM/I 19 GHz brightness temperature, the soil temperature RMSE of each soil layer during the winter decreased by 0.76°C, while the soil moisture RMSE of each soil layer during the summer decreased by 0.018 m³·m⁻³.     

Temporal variation of soil erosion resistance on sloping farmland during the growth stages of maize (Zea mays L.)

Maize growth has great effects on soil properties and thus likely induces the changes in soil erosion resistance on sloping farmland. However, temporal variation of soil erosion resistance during the growth stages of maize is still unclear in the mountainous yellow soil area where maize is the dominant crop. In this study, four maize plots (MP) and four bare land plots (CK) were conducted to investigate soil erosion resistance, and multiple indicators of soil erosion resistance were measured including the total soil anti-scourability (TAS), mean weight diameter (MWD), soil erodibility K factor and soil shear strength (SH). A comprehensive soil erosion resistance index (CSERI) was employed to quantify the temporal variation of soil erosion resistance during the growth stages of maize (seedling stage, SS; jointing stage, JS; tasselling stage, TS; maturing stage, MS). The results showed that TAS, MWD, SH increased significantly with maize growth and SH decreased when at MS. But K factor decreased significantly over time. CSERI increased significantly during the growth stages of maize and the CSERI of JS, TS, MS increased on average by 74.72, 180.68 and 234.57% than that of SS. Compared to CK, CSERI of MP increased by 49.90, 66.82, 55.60 and 38.61% during the growth stages of maize. The temporal variation of soil erosion resistance was closely related to the changes in maize cover, maize roots and soil organic carbon. The findings demonstrated that it is necessary to consider the temporal variation of soil erosion resistance in the mountainous yellow soil area.     

土壤中的含汞量与土壤中岩石粒径大小的关系

为弄清土壤中的含汞量与土壤中岩石粒径大小的关系，采集了内蒙古通辽市的130个第四系松散地层土样，用热释法测量了土壤中的含汞量，结果表明，土壤含汞量的大小主要受区域地质条件和构造活动强度的控制，同一地质区域内土壤含汞量的高低受岩石颗粒粒径大小的影响，岩石颗粒小，土壤含汞量高，反之，则相反。     

A land surface soil moisture data assimilation framework in consideration of the model subgrid-scale heterogeneity and soil water thawing and freezing

The Ensemble Kalman Filter (EnKF) is well known and widely used in land data assimilation for its high precision and simple operation. The land surface models used as the forecast operator in a land data assimilation system are usually designed to consider the model subgrid-heterogeneity and soil water thawing and freezing. To neglect their effects could lead to some errors in soil moisture assimilation. The dual EnKF method is employed in soil moisture data assimilation to build a soil moisture data as- similation framework based on the NCAR Community Land Model version 2.0 (CLM 2.0) in considera- tion of the effects of the model subgrid-heterogeneity and soil water thawing and freezing: Liquid volumetric soil moisture content in a given fraction is assimilated through the state filter process, while solid volumetric soil moisture content in the same fraction and solid/liquid volumetric soil moisture in the other fractions are optimized by the parameter filter. Preliminary experiments show that this dual EnKF-based assimilation framework can assimilate soil moisture more effectively and precisely than the usual EnKF-based assimilation framework without considering the model subgrid-scale heteroge- neity and soil water thawing and freezing. With the improvement of soil moisture simulation, the soil temperature-simulated precision can be also improved to some extent.