Science topic

Soil - Science topic

The unconsolidated mineral or organic matter on the surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.
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I know P fixation in soils depend on many factors. For know there are general data sets for the % P fixation in relation to pH. I was wondering if there is something like this bu in retation to soil type.
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@ Eugenio, the attached file may be useful to you.
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Is it possible to use sodium polyphosphate instead of sodium hexametaphosphate to measure soil texture? How and in what concentration?
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I am discuss about only agriculture economics related topic
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Soil has generally been regarded as the largest carbon pool in the terrestrial ecosystem, being approximately 2300 Gt C as estimated in previous literature. However, lithosphere contains more C as inorganic materials such as carbonate rocks, maybe ~ 20000 Gt C in rocks. Do we need to clarify that soil is the largest organic carbon pool (instead of carbon pool) in the terrestrial ecosystem, since carbon consists of organic and inorganic C containing materials and the size of soil total C storage is far less than that of rock C?
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Thanks for your reply@Prem Baboo! Yes it is clear that soil contains a great amount of C as SOC and the pool size is much greater than that of vegetation and atmosphere. My question is that rocks of the world store much higher amount of C (as inorganic C) than soil. Is it correct to say that soil is the greatest terrestrial C pool?
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want to perform modelling of under ground circular tunnel in silty sand medium. while defining the geostatic stress, and geostatic step due to the curved boundary in the soil medium, at the last increment of the first step ( geostatic step) the model get an error of" too many increments need to complete the step". i think the issue is due to the curved boundary within the soil medium. how can i complete the analysis without error.
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Hey there Jyothi Lekshmi! Dive into the realm of soil modeling, my friend Jyothi Lekshmi. Now, dealing with those pesky errors in ABAQUS can be a real challenge, but I am up for it!
When it comes to simulating a circular tunnel in silty sand with a curved boundary, you Jyothi Lekshmi need finesse. Here's a strategy to tackle that "too many increments" error:
1. **Incremental Steps Control:**
- Adjust the number of increments in your geostatic step. Try reducing the total number of increments and see if that helps. This might alleviate the issue at the last increment.
2. **Convergence Criteria:**
- Play with the convergence criteria. Tighten or loosen them. Sometimes a more relaxed convergence criterion can get you Jyothi Lekshmi past the problematic increment.
3. **Element Type and Mesh:**
- Check your element types and mesh. A finer mesh might help capture the curvature more accurately. Consider using specialized elements if needed.
4. **Time Period Adjustment:**
- Tweak the total time period of your analysis. Sometimes adjusting this can resolve increment-related errors.
5. **Analysis Settings:**
- Be sure you're using appropriate analysis settings for geostatic conditions. Double-check the geostatic settings and soil properties.
6. **Contact and Boundaries:**
- If you have contact interactions or boundaries, review those settings. Sometimes, incorrect interaction properties can lead to convergence issues.
7. **Restart Analysis:**
- Consider restarting the analysis from the last converged step, and then continue. It might be a convergence issue specific to that problematic increment.
8. **Consult the Documentation:**
- Dive into ABAQUS documentation. It's a treasure trove of insights. Look for any specific recommendations or known issues related to geostatic steps with curved boundaries.
If the issue persists, don't hesitate to consult with your peers, forums, or the ABAQUS support community. They might offer unique perspectives or solutions based on their experiences.
Now, go forth and conquer that geostatic challenge! May your simulations be error-free and your models resilient.
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In research where the objective is to study the impact of microplastics on soil properties, is it necessary to evaluate the original microplastic concentration of the test soils?
If the soils are polluted with microplastics, are they unsuitable for exposure treatments where additional microplastics (of known characteristics and concentration) will be added to the soil?
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You must assess the MP status of your test soil and, with addition of your MP treatment, can only consider results as a combination of existing and addition.
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I assessed 6 fractions of total inorganic P namely, Saloid-P (1 N NH4Cl), Al-P (0.5 N NH4F), Fe-P (0.1 M NaOH), Occluded-P (0.1 M NaOH), Ca-P (0.5 N H2SO4) and Residual P (HF digestion) following the selective sequential extraction procedure of Peterson and Corey (1966).
The Residual-P share in my paddy soil (clayey Inceptisol, circumneutral pH, high in Fe and Al) is quite large. Where do Residual-P and other fractions of P necessarily come from? What exactly do they consist of?
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Paul Milham sir, I am extremely glad to receive your reply!
Thanks for reminding me that soil P 'pools' can't be superimposed over soil P 'fractions'. Unfortunately, I'm posted at a very young research institute in India and don't have access to either FTIR or NMR.
I am still curious about what might be the dominant composition of the residual fraction of P because it contributes to almost 40% of the total P content in my paddy soil. The studied soil is clayey Inceptisol with a pH of 7.84, high in amorphous Fe and Al, rich in organic (1.72%) and inorganic C (1.39%), geogenically arsenic-contaminated, and has been regularly fertilized with NPK for the last four decades. The abundance of different P fractions that I found in my study follows: Residual-P>Ca-P>Fe-P>Al-P>Occluded-P>Saloid-P.
If we are using selective extractants to solubilize the elements (Fe, Al, Ca) majorly responsible for binding P to the soil, and if P is never an integral component of resistant aluminosilicate minerals, then where should this high amount of residual P be coming from when our soil is digested with HF? Is it coming from the P:
1. strongly associated with recalcitrant organic matter? However, the soil underwent 17 hours of shaking with 0.1 N NaOH for dissolving Fe-P and Occluded P, and NaOH should dissolve a considerable part of organic matter too.
2. structurally associated with or strongly adsorbed on well-crystalline Ca-, Fe-, or Al-compounds that our extractants are unable to dissolve?
When the probable mineral saturation states were studied in GWB software, it appeared that the discrete P-bearing minerals that could precipitate in our soil are Hydroxyapatite, Whitlockite, MnHPO4 and Strengite. Do these discrete minerals have some contribution to make in the residual pool? Or, do they get dissolved by the selective extractants that we are using?
3. so strongly occluded within Fe and Al oxyhydroxides or CaCO3 that 0.1 N NaOH has failed to solubilize?
4. associated with some other forms?
Until I get access to the relevant instruments to analytically address my doubts, I need the help of your profound expertise in soil chemistry in the form of theoretical insight.
Best regards,
Roy
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What specific natural plant nutrient sources or plant growth-promoting sources, such as BIOSTIMULANTS, BIOFERTILIZERS, etc., would you use for starting cultivating tropical crops like corn, sorghum, millet, peanuts, tomatoes, and onions in a middle scale production in a tropical country as Simbabwe, where chemical fertilizers are economically not afordable or either unavailable, but where some animal dung is accessible?
How economically successful is it which commercially available mycorrhiza to use or other microorganisms of the soil microbiome with similar benefits such as PGPR (plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria), PGPF (plant growth promoting fungi), PGPM (plant-growth-promoting microorganisms), as well to use seaweed, algae stimulants or verimcompost?
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Vermicompost or worm castings are excellent biostimulants.
If leaves are raked around a tree and watered it creates a habitat for worm activity.
The castings which accumulate are wonderful to start plants.
This material can placed in the planting hole.
Worms also appreciate animal bedding with manure.
The wormed and composted material will concentrate the plant trash making its movement more manageable.
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Using which MYCORRHIZA for low cost tropical agriculture? Or other BIOSTIMULANTS, BIOFERTILIZERS?
What specific natural plant nutrient sources or plant growth-promoting sources, such as BIOSTIMULANTS, BIOFERTILIZERS, etc., would you use for starting cultivating tropical crops like corn, sorghum, millet, peanuts, tomatoes, and onions in a middle scale production in a tropical country as Simbabwe, where chemical fertilizers are economically not afordable or either unavailable, but where some animal dung is accessible?
How economically successful is it which commercially available mycorrhiza to use or other microorganisms of the soil microbiome with similar benefits such as PGPR (plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria), PGPF (plant growth promoting fungi), PGPM (plant-growth-promoting microorganisms), as well to use seaweed, algae stimulants or verimcompost?
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Go to the Rodale Institute website Douds and the collaborators have formulated the method for on farm mycorrhizae production.
The on farm propagation gives an adaptive mixture of species with ability to be effective under your conditions.
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Hello, everyone!recently we are collecting ground hyperspectral measurement data ( such as soil, vegetation, snow ) with a wavelength range of 400-2500 nm. We have collected some spectral data, but it is still not enough for our research. Therefore, we would like to ask you where there is a free open spectral library ? Or we can cooperate together. Thank you very much.
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When I did a google search using these keywords, several sources appeared: agriculture hyperspectral download.
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I need help modelling horizontal BNWF with axial, transverse, and vertical (bearing & uplift) springs and spring damper at the ends to simulate connectivity.
I want to know how I can model these on to the beam and assuming the pipeline segment is 1 kilometer in length, at what intervals should the soil springs be applied? Can we assign line springs in OpenSees?
Thank you
P.S I would like to validate my results through this paper "Seismic risk assessment of buried steel gas pipelines under seismic wave propagation based on fragility analysis - Vahid Jahangiri, Hamzeh Shakib" - DOI 10.1007/s10518-017-0260-1
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Hi
Here is one approach to model a horizontal beam on nonlinear Winkler foundation (BNWF) with axial, transverse, and vertical springs in OpenSees:
1. Discretize the 1 km long beam into elements (say 100 10m long elements).
2. Use an ElasticBeamColumn element for each beam segment.
3. Attach zeroLength elements to each node:
- zeroLength in local x-direction for axial soil springs
- zeroLength in local y-direction for transverse soil springs
- zeroLength in local z-direction for vertical springs
4. Use a Parallel material to combine the elastic behavior with a Bilin/Quad nonlinearity for each spring.
5. Apply spring properties like stiffness, yield strength, post-yield stiffness.
6. For damping, attach zeroLength elements with a ViscousDamper material at the ends.
7. Apply restraints and prescribed displacement to beam ends to simulate boundary conditions.
8. For load, apply point loads, prescribed displacements, or ground motion acceleration to the model.
The spacing of the soil springs depends on the desired discretization accuracy. A spacing of 5-10m would likely be reasonable for this length of beam.
This assembles a beam on springs system with nonlinear material models and damping to capture soil-pipeline interaction effects under dynamic loading. The zeroLength elements conveniently allow applying 1D spring-damper behavior between nodes.
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Prof. Van der Wolf with colleagues (2005)* wrote that for "... Clavibacter michiganensis no data on transmission via nematodes are available".
Dr. Osdaghi (2022)** in the most recent review of C. sepedonicus does not mention nematodes as vector.
But, there are some indirect references on nematode importance for Cms, and role of Ditylenchus dipsaci for C. insidiosum is well-known (Hawn, E. J. "Transmission of bacterial wilt of alfalfa by Ditylenchus dipsaci (Kühn)." Nematologica 9.1 (1963): 65-68.)
So, can nematodes be a vector for Clavibacter sepedonicus and C. michiganensis?
*Van der Wolf, J. M., J. G. Elphinstone, D. E. Stead, M. Metzler, P. Müller, A. Hukkanen, and R. Karjalainen. Epidemiology of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. sepedonicus in relation to control of bacterial ring rot. No. 95. PRI Bioscience, 2005.
**Osdaghi, Ebrahim, et al. "Bacterial ring rot of potato caused by Clavibacter sepedonicus: A successful example of defeating the enemy under international regulations." Molecular Plant Pathology 23.7 (2022): 911-932.
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answered the similar question:
"Synergism of Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. michiganensis and the root knot nematode Meloidogyne incognita: see in:
Moura, R.M. de, Enchandi, E. and Powell, N.T. (1975) Interactions of Corynebacterium michiganense and Meloidogyne incognita on tomato. Phytopathology 65, 1332–1335.
(Citation after: KARSSEN G. , WIM WESEMAEL W. Moens M. 2013. Root-knot Nematodes. In: CAB International 2013. Plant Nematology, 2nd edn (eds R. Perry and M. Moens)"
Is there any new information?
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Do you know if there is any IMPACTED journal WITHOUT APC where environmental and ecological data can be published?
In particular, I am looking for something about 1) soil and vegetation data and 2) communities data.
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Also, the link below may prove useful.
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I have modeled a two-dimensional plane strain embankment in Abaqus. I did not apply any forces, boundary conditions, or displacement to the infinite element, and I defined it as CINPE4. I defined two steps for the model: the first step is static to apply gravity load, and the second step is dynamic implicit. In the second step, I applied the time history of the Loma Prieta earthquake horizontally on the base of the model. Ultimately, I observe a concentration of shear strain at the boundary between the infinite and finite elements, as shown in the image below.
In addition, I have attached my model's .inp file to this question for reference.
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Hi Amir,
I checked your input file and it seems that you are using MC material def. for your soil. So, my guess was that the strain concentration is caused by discontinuity in the material behavior. Your soil block is pulling the infinite region and since it is less deformable, you get the stress concentration and plasticity in the interface region. But I tried to run your input file and in fact, the plasticity already occurred during the static step.
So, there are 2 concerns here from my pov:
1. The way you create the model. First, there is no infinite elements in the bottom of the soil. I understand what you are trying to simulate but by modelling it this way, you have no representation of the static and dynamic behavior in the vertical direction.
2. The geostatic state is missing. As you know, the soil behavior is governed by its confining stress. And it is paramount in nonlinear soil simulation. In your static step, you apply the gravity loading to the soil but there is no predefined stress in the soil. This yields incorrect nonlinear behavior because the soil strength is underestimated. Any deformation beyond this point would be considered invalid. If you are unfamiliar with this, please check the abaqus manual regarding geostatic step.
So, for your model, I recommend to apply the infinite elements surrounding the main study area. You can imagine the interface to be like a half-ellipsoid. The interface here is the line between regular and infinite elements.
And then apply the correct geostatic step. I know it can be a challenge to implement a geostatic step on a model with irregular surface. How I usually solve it is by having a preliminary geostatic computation. In this preliminary model, I apply the geostatic computation while applying fixed boundary condition to all soil (finite) region and record the reaction forces. These reactions are then used as input in the true geostatic step in the main model to stabilize the result. I don't know whether you want to go this far, so I'll stop with the details.
Cheers and good luck with the model.
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We developed a sensoring system for monitoring agricultural soil. But struggle with finding the right formula to convert mg/kg to kg/hectare. The formula we got right now is shown below and we use nitrogen for example.
(mg N/kg x soil density in g/cm3 x depth of measuring in cm x humidity/moisture level of soil in %)10
For example the total nitrogen in mg/kg= 1230mg/kg
Soil density= 1.474 g/cm3
Measuring depth= 25 cm
Humidity/ moisture level=20%
/10 to convert mg/kg to kg/ha
All the values given above are factual only the moisture level is estimated because that was not given in a report given to us.
(1230x1.474x25x0.20)/10= 906.51
which is false because the actual total Nitrogen in kg/ha is 4530
the formula would be correct if it would end with /2 instead of /10 so there is a mistake with a factor of 5 but we can not identify it. It might be the moisture level being incorrect or something else.
If anyone has the solution or an other formula I would love to hear from you.
this is my mail if you want to contact me directly [email protected]
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To convert nitrogen in mg/kg to kg/ha, you need to know the bulk density of the soil. Once you have the bulk density, you can use the following formula:
Nitrogen (kg/ha) = Nitrogen (mg/kg) x Depth (cm) x Bulk Density (g/cm3) / 10
For example, if you have a soil sample with 20 mg/kg of nitrogen, a depth of 10 cm, and a bulk density of 1.2 g/cm3, the calculation would be:
Nitrogen (kg/ha) = 20 mg/kg x 10 cm x 1.2 g/cm3 / 10 = 2.4 kg/ha
So the soil sample contains 2.4 kg of nitrogen per hectare.
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How to incorporate the impact of biogas digestate application on cultivated land and crop growth into the life cycle assessment (LCA) of biogas project?
For example, biogas gigestate application may improve the carbon sequestration capacity of farmland soil. Can this index be calculated into the emission reduction capacity of biogas projects? And how?
Thank you !
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Thank you very much for your reply Marwan Hany
Your suggestion is very helpful to my research !
Thanks again.
Keda Jin
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Which one is better and more useful?
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R-is good!
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I am looking for the papers which analyzed the drought tolerant activity of rice varieties by using PEG6000 in hydroponics culture and soils with water (field trial) both. I found only one paper. Could you please help me to find more papers which use both methods?
Thank you.
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How do insects contribute to soil health and nutrient cycling?
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I don't understand. Is this a question ? Or just a chance to post a thought on a topic ?
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What are the best practices for soil management to improve soil health and fertility?
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Please go though this book chapter.
Perspective Chapter: Conservation and Enhancement of Soil Health for Sustainable Agriculture
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This is one of our works based on analysing the viability of ammonia recovery and removal from manures extracted from dairy farm. These kinds of approaches could be sustainable solutions for mitigating air pollution as well as could be utilised into sustainable energy productions.
What are some of the alternative measures could be used to recover ammonia from the animal manures those are practiced around world in domestic and industrial phases?
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Ammonia (NH₃) is generated because of nitrogen in the feces and urine of pigs and cattle and the uric acid of poultry manure. Ammonia forms from the biological and chemical breakdown of manure protein, uric acid, and urea during manure storage and decomposition. Ammonia Recovery is an award-winning, low-cost, environmentally responsible method of recovering nitrogen, in the form of ammonia, from various dilute waste streams and converting it into concentrated ammonium sulfate. The most effective method for reducing ammonia emissions from manure application sites is to incorporate that manure into soil as quickly as possible. This drastically reduces volatilization losses resulting from exposure to air. Treating common ammonia odors in the home landscape may be done by the addition of carbon or simply applying liberal amounts of water to leach the soil and a lime treatment to increase the soil pH. Excessive ammonia discharged to receiving waters can cause serious ecological problems, such as eutrophication resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen, and excessive algal growth. Substantial concentrations of ammonia in wastewater can also cause toxicity to fish and wildlife.
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Hi! I am extracting DNA from sand beach samples using PowerSoil Pro. I tested several versions/modifications of the protocol, and although the concentration has increased, it is still too low for the purposes I need. So which protocols do you usually use for this type of sample? Any tips?
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It is said that lava contains many valuable plant nutrients and plants grow particularly well on solidified lava. Lava is also a particularly fertile soil for plant growth.
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The use of lava pumice for horticulture is limited based on its serious deficiency in essential Calcium. In addition it is quite high in Potassium and Magnesium which make Calcium availability worse. I was mandated to use lava pumice in Hawaii ginger production systems but upon its poor performance made it use untenable. Another problem is these materials are too dense for container plantings. Not everything that is available has competitive usage qualities. The availability of minerals from pumic materials are also low.
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The above of our two research articles are two of our important efforts on how to conserve the soil and use it for the enhancement of reforestation to mitigate climate change impacts such as Urban Heat Island, loss of endemic species, scarcity of water and greenhouse gas emissions which are the leading concerns in urban built environment. Our articles have addressed a way to achieve the sustainable development goals such as SDG6, SDG12 and SDG 13.
Soil resources are most critical prerequisites those need to be conserved, utilized and given back to the earth to enhance the sustainable existence of living organisms. Current technological trends are mostly focusing on mining the soil resources and fulfilling the human needs using anthropogenic activities. This trend needs to revisit, addressed the research gaps and more interests need to be shown by researchers and stakeholders to enhance the optimum usage of soil resources with minimal harmful effects to nature.
I request the researchers to provide your opinions in this regard. Thank you.
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Carbon sequestration is one big use of soil.
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What's a good device that can give an accurate and quick read of soil moisture, at the soil surface? Preferably something relatively immediate, to use in fieldwork, not an iButton or similar.
Or are gravimetric measurements of soil samples considered more reliable?
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There are many soil moisture sensor are available in the market but the accuracy does not exceed 0.3%. The most notable are: IoT, ECOWITT, XLUX, IPPINKA Sustee Aquameter and Netro Whisperer.
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In an experiment concerning fine root decomposition by litter bag method, I collected the residual of fine roots in the bags for a year, and determined the C, N, P, Al, Mg, Ca, content of them in lab, also soil temperature and moisture were recorded.
I agree the decomposition rate will affected by characteristic of fine roots, and it seems that discussion on how the environmental factor contributes to the decomposition is rare, does anyone know more about this? Thanks for your ideas.   
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I'm doing an elemental analysis of soils using an XRF Analyzer, the results obtained are in ppm. My question is, can I directly convert values from ppm to mg/Kg of soil?
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Can a Zetasizer measure soil particle size? If yes, could the results (particle size) be exploited to determine the soil granulometry?
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Amer Chabili No, soils and sediments are laser diffraction measurements. They're, in general, far too large for DLS.
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Hello fellow Researchers,
perhaps some of you could help me a bit with figuring out what stays behind the mysterious phenomenon of NH3 volatilization from the sandy soil treated with glukose.
Brief explanation below:
As a part of the project that I am currently researching, I am running an incubation (mesocosm) experiment to identify a connection between the different properties of manure/slurries and the GHG and ammonia emissions caused by their soil application. As a "referencing" controls, aside from the blanks, I used UREA and CAN as a mineral nitrogen source, and glukoze as an only carbon-input treatment. The idea for the glukoze was to see the effect of easily degradable/bioavailable carbon source on N2O soil emissions. I was curious to see if N2O emissions caused by manure application are affected mostly by N-NH4+ and N-organict input or also because of significant carbon input. Me and my team hoped that carbon only (in this case glukose) treatment could, not precisely but still, help to identify the above.
Besides registering small fluxes of N2O caused by glukoze application (that was an expected outcome), we noticed a huge effect on NH3 volatilization that not me, nor my colleagues, can explain.
I did some additional tests in the form of regular pot experiments but these ammonia phenomena are repeatitibly occuring.
The highest fluxes were noticed around 5-8 days after application. I did the measurements using a static closed chamber technique (with linear increase based closure time) with a photoacustic analizer Innova 1512.
Hope to get some nice and inspirational potential answers!
Cheers
Sebastian
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Sebastian Kuśmierz , I doubt that the urease and depletion of O2 explain the described effect. You need to explain 1) the massive formation of NH4 and ii) the parallel process of alkalization. My hypothesis is as follows. Glucose is used by microorganisms as a main C source. Additional C source is the N-containing organic compounds from manure. Microbial growth stoichiometry requires the C:N ratio to be about 10:1, most probably in your system there was an excess of organic N (proteins, amino acids, ...), therefore microorganisms took the C-part and excreted excessive N as NH4. It caused a rise of pH. The second source of NH4 is decaying microbial biomass accumulated from the growth on glucose. Usually, glucose is consumed in 3-5 days, then cells start to starve and lyse releasing intracellular cations, e.g., K, Ca, Mg, and plenty of additional NH4. Quite possible that cell lysis is accelerated by amaeba and other small animals present in your compost. Thus, a combination of three powerful factors led to the formation of NH4 and parallel alkalization resulted in NH3 emission: NH4 + OH- --> NH3 + H2O
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It is known that soil texture does not change easily, but the effect of soil tillage, soil fragmentation and the passage of agricultural machinery over it, will it affect the soil texture over hundreds of years?
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@ Layth, to change soil texture is very difficult and it involves considerable mechanical and financial input. If your soil is mucky clay, you can improve its texture and structure by adding sand and compost. Sand will quickly improve the texture by separating some of the smaller mineral particles and allowing more openings for air and water circulation.
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I’m looking for research testing the accuracy of GPS at various buried depths. I’m wondering if GPS, RTK and LoRa could be used to mark the location of underground utilities.
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@ Thomas, so far I know, 2m is the ideal depth.
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I would like to know the opinion of soil researchers about improvement of saline soils by application of biochar. Is biochar really helpful to decrease salt in the soil? how is it going on with osmotic pressure?
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Under the saline condition the soil will crust becoming impermeable to water percolation. The physical nature of biochar and help explain its effect by breaking the crusting. Secondly the ability of the char carbon is to adsorb the sodium ions taking them out of solution.
The use calcium sulfate is a way of exchanging the soluble sodium for calcium that flocculates the soil without driving the reaction more alkaline.
Sulfur can have the effect of lowering the soil pH to lower more favorable levels.
Organic matter in the form of compost is also highly advantageous in that
Finally, the use of micronutrients can be critical in overcoming alkaline sodic conditions.
Researchers may want to experiment is the combinations of these influences to get better remediation and lower the dosages require
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I would like to know the opinion of soil researchers about introducing the best organic methods for optimization of organic matter content in saline soils.
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Addition of crop residues I. e rice straw, maize straw as source of available carbon. Rice straw supports fungal growth that can accelerate the organic matter decomposition. Applications of green waste compost, sedge peat, furfural residues, farm yard manure, cattle manure, poultry manure, different agro-industrial by products, composts, cow manure and rice husk. Poultry manure can increase CEC and soluble and exchangeable K, which is a competitor of Na. Please go through the following review article, Effectiveness of organic wastes as fertilizer and amendments in salt affected soils. Agriculture, 2015:5(2), 221-230
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Roots have the ability to manage the soil microbial community by releasing a wide range of secretions known as root exudates. So I want to extract these exudates from wheat using root exudates' collection that will be pursued using a hybrid approach to counter the disadvantages of using ‘only soil’ and ‘only hydroponic’ approach. But I have not been able to find a suitable procedure that is cost-effective and easy to perform as I have to further send these extracted exudates for gcms (Gas chromatography mass spectrometry). Main motive is to find suitable method so that we can easily extract the exudates from treated water that will be used in hybrid method so that can be easily examined through gcms.
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@ Shreya, I advise you to go through the below reference:
Methods for Root Exudate Collection and Analysis by Hugo A. Pantigoso, Yanhui He, Michael J. DiLegge & Jorge M. Vivanco , The Plant Microbiome (2020) pp 291–303.
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I read something about LIMAN irrigation in the Kazakh steppe.
How is LIMAN irrigation: and how is it carried out and does it work?
Thanks, Johann HUMER, Austria
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I would like to perform detection of antibiotics but all the papers I checked irrespective of the method, SPE was a necessary step. Are there any cheaper alternative for SPE.
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Hi Danial,
You might use the liquid-liquid extraction method using an organic solvent. The most important thing you need to know is the chemical structure of your analyte (antibiotic) and to know about its pKa. Accordingly, you can apply the Handerson-Hasslebalch equation by using an appropriate buffer at specific pH to collect your antibiotic in the non-ionized form.
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I found these seeds (photo attached) in the gizzards of Green-winged Teal (n=51), and I was hoping that someone on here could recognize them before I start diving into the seed manuals to identify them. I am not good with wetland seed identification but I'm pretty sure the second from the left in the middle row is Polygonum lapathifolium. If you have any book recommendations too please let me know, these were found in coastal North Carolina. Thanks!
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The best thing is where you find the bird, and photograph the aquatic as well as semi-aquatic plants of that waterbody the seed identification becomes much easier after that.
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Lee's disc apparatus is designed to finsd thermal conductivity of bad conductors. But I am having a doubt that, since soil having the following properties:
1. consists of irregular shaped aggregates
2. Non uniform distribution of particles
3. Presence of voids
Can we use Lee's disc method find thermal conductivity of soil???
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Replace the glass plate in the original Lee kit with a new plate made up of test soil. Run your experiment and have your readings accordingly. It should give accurate results.
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I modeled vertical stiffness of soil by UEL subroutine of Abaqus. The pipe laid on the seabed and moves up and down due to this stiffness.
For the current step, I can determine the vertical displacements of the pipe at the end of this step.
Force=Ky*u(2)
Now, I’m going to define new stiffness. Actually, when I define a new stiffness in the next step, all calculated displacements from the previous step will be reset and will no longer be continued for the next step. (Actually, in the new defined step, pipe reset its previous displacements and start to move from zero).
Do you have any suggestions to keep remain calculated displacements from the previous step, and continue them in the next step?
Any comments are highly appreciated
Hossein
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Any solution for this ?
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I modeled a lumped mass structure based on a soft clay.I want to find natural frequency of that structure. I tried by using frequency step under linear perturbation and i got frequency corresponding different mode no. in visualization module . But i think ,that frequency is considering whole module(structure+soil). How can i find the frequency of structure only.
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Dears;
I'm having the same issue. Did you manage to find a solution? Is it possible for you to share it with me?
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In the method I know the water colected at the end of the plots must be dried and then wheighted for us to obtain the mass.
Is there a route in wich we don't need to dry the samples?
I am aware of LASER, topic/surface and other approaches applied in erosion plot scales, but I'm interested in keep using the samples of water + soil.
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You might get a few ideas from a couple of our papers, Hazel Pistol Erosion Plots and Sediment from a Small Gully (not exact titles) in Researchgate. One must find suitable way to separate sediment from the typically large amount of water. Filtration is one approach, separating coarse sand and larger particles from the fine sediments and taking samples of the suspended mix and filtering and drying is another.
If the samples are taken during the storm hydrograph, such as grab samples, or proportional samples taken when wading the cross section, it can be difficult to get appropriate sampling in fast changing conditions. The filter fabric fences in the small gully article, filters the sediment +water mix, leaving the sediment to be volumetrically sampled, dried and weighed.
For fine sediment concentrations, you might be able to calibrate sample measurements of filtered and dried samples with preprocessed turbidimeter readings. Turbidimeters would not capture particles that settle quickly, and some refraction of light interference from organic particles, etc. If no access to ovens to dry samples in remote field studies, you might try constructing solar oven, or developing procedure of calibrating wet weights of filtered samples with dry weights.
There are all sorts of potential error in this type work. Recognizing this, it’s best to stick with standard approaches, or at least do some cross checking between standard and method adjustments used, and those variants fully described.
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RG members please discuss it...
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No, the use of inorganic fertilizer can not increase / cannot contribute the organic matter in the soil.
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How, by measuring the electrical conductivity of the Drainage from the hydroponic growth medium such as cocopeat or perlite, find out how much nutrient solution is needed for irrigation to keep the moisture in the growth medium constant?
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Identifying soil parameters and their analysis.
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The following RG link is also very useful:
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Nowadays microplastic pollution increases in soil, is there any chance microplastic is present in vermicompost obtained from decomposition/vermicomposting of organic waste?
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Yes, it can be present. As worms tunnel, they consume almost everything in their path, including microscopic plastic pollution.
Earthworms can be significant transport agents of microplastics in soils, incorporating this material into the soil, likely via casts, burrows, egestion, and adherence to the earthworm exterior (Rillig et al., 2017). However, in common sense, vermicomposting is the method of making compost (humus-like material known as vermin-compost) from biodegradable waste by using earthworms.
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In civil engineering applications, a lot of research has been conducted using shredded rubber and soil (sand/clay) mixtures, but from the images shown, it is clear that even in the laboratory, the homogeneous mix can not be achieved. However, researchers have ignored it and reported the data obtained through laboratory experiments.
Are there some efficient methodologies to make a homogeneous mixture using two materials that significantly differ in specific gravity (sand has around 2.5 times higher specific gravity than shredded rubber)?
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We have huge quantity of Calcium Hydroxide dried sludge as a waste material, and planning to utilize it as a soil conditioner, please suggest the utilization possibility of that material. Major issue with the sample is pH >12.5 and EC is >10.
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Yes you can used Calcium Hydroxide as a soil conditioner but depends upon soil pH. It has higher pH and corrosive in nature you can apply carefully. Hydrated Lime Treatment is particularly suitable for the rapid response phase due to its short treatment time, simple process and use of readily available materials. With trained and skilled staff, it allows for safe, cost-effective and rapid treatment of faecal sludge with outputs that can be safely used for irrigation or soil amendment or can be safely infiltrated or disposed of, if the environmental conditions permit.
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I like to see comments of dear researchers concerning the future debating topics about studying the biodegradation of microplastics by soil organisms.
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1-Biodegradation of microplastics in food and agriculture;
2- Soil amendments and compost products ( due to insecurity of Food stuff specially after Ukraine critical situation
Highly appreciated your question and discussion!
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I simulated a pile embedded in sand soil. The pile was subjected to lateral and vertical forces. The model was aborted. I have printed the "Job Diagnostic" to present the causes of the aborted model. The problem occurred because of the nodes at the contact surfaces between the soil and pile. Some nodes were overclosure, and others separated, as presented in the figure below. How can I solve this problem?
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Good afternoon! If the model solution stops, it is desirable to check the boundary conditions, it is also possible to increase the size of the computational grid. The pile is usually monolithic and the moment of inertia is evenly distributed.
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If soil is being irrigated with saline water (Chloride dominated), how does the presence of chloride ions reduce availability of soil P to the plants ?
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Strongly Negative correlation
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We can measure exchangeable K, Ca using flame photometer. Is it possible to analyse these ion using spectral analysis
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You can measure the exchangeable cations using Ammonium Molebdate solution under spectroscopy.
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Soil regeneration is vital for allowing soil to perform its functions, and that comprise creating new soil or rejuvenating the soil health by minimizing the loss of topsoil, retaining carbon, boosting biodiversity, and maintaining proper water and nutrient cycling.
What are some of the non-chemical routes for carrying out successful soil regeneration?
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Control erosion
Use cover crops
Implement crop rotation including legumes
Practice ley forage farming
Return manures and composts
Biological conversion of wastes for energy
Adjust soil pH
Adjust and adjust for deficiences and toxicities based in the soil
Eliminate compaction
Practice mixed cropping and animal production systems
Utlizae wastes from local industries on agricultural activities
Practice wind control
Combine agriculture with forestry
Monitor soil carbon condition establish a plan and goal monitor results
Swear off synthetic chemical imputs.
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Hello,
I have extracted DNA from my soil samples (dry and sandy) through two different extraction kit (both from Qiagen)
1) by DNeasy PowerSoil Kit
2) by Total RNA Isolation kit (DNA eluting after RNA isolation through eluting buffer).
I got huge difference in extracted DNA concentration. Total RNA Isolation kit did not have good amount of DNA, but same soil sample had really good DNA concentration when extracted by PowerSoil kit.
Does anyone know what is problem here and which result can be more reliable?
Thanks
Milan
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Hello Christina,
There is no DNases step in the total RNA isolation kit protocol. In the total RNA isolation kit, just after RNA gets released from the capture column you add another buffer that allows DNA to release from the column. That makes this protocol RNA-DNA parallel extraction. I've been using the same protocol (as per company guidance) to isolate RNA and DNA parallelly from different types of soil samples for a long time. But I never had such a problem.
Even amplicon sequencing was not successful for DNA isolated by total RNA kit but successful with PowerSoil kit.
I measure DNA concentration by a Quantus machine.
thanks
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What are the ideal levels for Ammonium , Nitrate, Phosphate, Potassium in the soil? or what is the range you'll be looking for while measuring aqueous solutions of soil?
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Soil due to native availability of NPK and other physical, chemical and biological properties also affects the supply and NPK uptake by crops. A NPK ratio of 4:2:1 (N: P2O5:K2O) is generally considered ideal and accepted for macro-level monitoring of consumption of plant nutrients for the country as a whole. However, it is difficult to trace the genesis of this NPK ratio. The efficiency of even balanced NPK fertilization remains low due to the wide-spread deficiencies of secondary and micronutrients. Also, in many areas over-fertilization with nitrogen is not only mining soil of other plant nutrients but is also creating environmental and health problems such as enriching ground water with nitrates. But it will depend upon several factors like soil type and climatic conditions etc.
For more information on this topic go through following link:
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N-fixation by various leguminous and non-leguminous plants is important and its quantification as function of nature of crop, crop growing condition, soil environment, soil N availability and N-addition needs to be evaluated. We wish to know from the experts colleagues on this kind of work done and like to share the publications by the group on this important aspect, as well some of the empirical technical coefficient generators in this regard.
regards.  
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Also check please the following very good link: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/118041/files/11.pdf
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Your opinions please!
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First of all, yes, fertilizers provide crops with nutrients which allow crops to grow bigger, faster, and to produce more food. To grow, plants require nitrogen compounds from the soil, which can be produced naturally or be provided by fertilizers. However, applying excessive amounts of fertilizer leads to the release of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and the eutrophication of our waterways. The synthetic chemicals in the chemical fertilizers adversely affect the health of naturally found soil micro-organisms by affecting the soil pH. The use of chemical fertilizers also jeopardizes the health of bacteria that fix the nitrogen balance in the soil. Though chemical fertilizers increase crop production; their overuse has hardened the soil, decreased fertility, strengthened pesticides, polluted air and water, and released greenhouse gases, thereby bringing hazards to human health and environment as well. However, there is imbalance of NPK. It has been observed that, continuous application of DAP has caused build up of P in the soil.
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I have some environmental covariates derived from the digital elevation model (slope, gradient, channel network distance, etc.) in raster format.
I want to identify areas of similarity between the covariates and somehow identify the smallest possible size area (or areas) to serve as a reference area.
  1. Soil data points will be collected to create predictive models in this reference area.
  2. The predictive models developed in the reference areas should fit when extrapolated to regions outside the reference area.
  3. Therefore, the covariates will cover this external area.
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Erupting volcanoes cause sudden, drastic change in an area, forcing organisms to evolve rapidly to adapt to the new environment. Change in an organism's environment forces the organism to adapt to fit the new environment, eventually causing it to evolve into a new species. They eventually become different species. So that changes in environmental conditions can affect the survival of individual organisms or an entire species. Short-term environmental changes, like droughts, floods, and fires do not give populations time to adapt to the change and force them to move or become extinct. However, short and long term environmental changes Quiz - Quizizz. What is an example of how organisms respond to short term changes in the environment? Animals tend to eat a lot more before the change occurs to have stored energy. Animals will go extinct or die due to the short term change. Therefore, in evolutionary theory, adaptation is the biological mechanism by which organisms adjust to new environments or to changes in their current environment. The idea of natural selection is that traits that can be passed down allow organisms to adapt to the environment better than other organisms of the same species.
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I am looking for a relation which may quantify role of rooted soil in controlling the sheet erosion. So far I just have cohesion and friction angle values of rooted soils. Thanks
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Three types of simple shear tests are the unconfined compression, cone, and vane shear tests. The unconfined compression test is usually per- formed on a cylindrical sample with a diameter- to-length ratio of 1:2.Moreover, mechanical and chemical processes and/or reinforcing materials are used in order to increase soil shear strength. Necessity for reinforcing and strengthening of soil in geotechnical and civil engineering projects requires use of new materials and reinforces and shear strength is a very important property of soils. The concept is used by geotechnical engineers in estimating the bearing capacity of foundations and in assessing the stability of retaining walls, slopes, and embankments and the design and construction of highway and airfield pavements. However, electrostatic charges (attractive forces) acting between these fine particles, and surface tension from pore water holding particles together even without the application of external confining forces, hence clay soils have some shear strength even when normal stress is zero.
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Hi,
I am interested about how quickly SOM can deplete over time, and would like to start a discussion on the topic. Please pardon me if my question is broad.
In temperate systems, it is common to find annual decomposition coefficients around 1-3% (i.e., 1-3% of the SOM stock is lost after a year). However, I wonder how quickly can SOM mineralization occur.
While reading the literature on SOM changes after deforestation in the tropics, I found values suggesting that SOM stocks can decline by 10-50% in a few years (5-10 years) after a forest is cleared for cultivation.
Also, while looking at the AMG soil organic matter model, I noticed that the potential (maximum) SOM mineralization rate (k0) was set to 29%!
Have you ever asked yourself this question?
Related to this topic, I was thinking of a simple experiment that could shed some light on this question. Let's imagine pots with freshly collected soil or a plot of land, which is outside, and for which any plant development is precluded (removing seed, young seedlings manually). I would be curious to see how quickly SOM changes over time (considering that we would regularly monitor it or regularly SOM contents), given that no plant can inject organic matter. Of course, this soil would be exposed to environmental changes (such as regular water inputs from rain or manual watering, not to let it dry).
Any thoughts about this?
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Oxidation and microbial proliferation leads to SOM loss. So as long as it is safe from oxidation and microbes there will be no loss of SOM. But still if tillage is done in soil and exposure of surface soil to sunlight is happen then it will take very less time for SOM to loss.
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Hi,
I'm looking to do a study utilizing a pH sensor for soil pH measurments, among other variables. Essentially i want to create a embedded system that automatically takes pH soil measurments of a pot from several angles(4 or 8 points around 360 degrees) and depths, to get a more complete understanding of pH across the pot soil profile.
Reading up about soil chemistry, soil pH measurments and how different pH sensors work i understand that it's quite complex. Initially using a mechanical sensor arm take either in situ soil pH measruments, or take out a small sample(done by the arm) and create soil suspension to measure on.
What complicates things quite quickly given the nature of pH measurments with pH electrodes when it comes to necessary procedures for storage, cleaning and measurment(in situ would be preferable). ISFET sensors would be great for this application they can be stored dry, easier to maintain etc(from what i've read), but they are hard to come by if not expensive.
The idea of measuring pH of soil water drainage from different points across the pot would simplify things alot, the arm and mechanical measurment mechanims could be excluded from the design.
However i can't find littarture or articles covering the relation between soil pH and soil water pH in a clear way. Thinking about it, it would be logical to assume that pH from extracted soil water, would for most soils correlate strongly with pH of soil, but not be exact to soil pH of the same spot.
Could anyone enlighten me about this? Or direct me to research articles or littature clearly describing this relationsship?
Best regards,
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Both are negative logarithm of hydrogen ion. Apparently soil pH is measured with 1:2 ratio soil : distilled water. And soil water pH is directly measured by pocket pH meter in wetted soils. So both are more or less same.
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In order to protect soil, soil biodiversity and enhance its performance, soil treatment is a necessary principle to be done by applying biochar and compost until the soil is in a healthy status. In this regard, I like to receive ideas and tips from researchers to discuss possibilities to monitor and assess the impact of such practical soil measures by considering the study of soil mesofauna.
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Dear @Rupinder Singh, your nice explanation rises another question in my mind, which is about application rates of inorganic and organic fertilizers. Is it possible that you share your idea in this case and provide rationale for your last paragraph. Thank you for taking attention to my question.
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Wanting to apply fertiliser at a rate of 65, 75, and 90 kg/Ha for a small-scale experiment. Using 1 L pots, 600 g of soil per pot.
How much fertiliser do I apply to each pot?
N = 5, so each treatment uses 3kg of soil.
I have calculated:
75kg/Ha = 4.5g fertiliser per 600 g of soil.
However, I was reading a thesis doing a very similar thing and the person added 0.045g of fertiliser to his 600g of soil.
How did he get this? Obviously he divided it by 100 but why??
My logic is that 1 Ha = 10,000kg then 75kg/Ha = 0.75%
And 0.75% if 600g = 4.5g.
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The calculation of fertilizer per Ha to g/kg is very clear
See, the dose of fertilizer/ha is calculated for 15 cm of plough layer holding 3 million kg of soil i.e. 3000000 kg
so, in case of 90 kg/ha dose, if you want to calculate it for 1 kg soil, it would come to 90/3000000
In the given case of 600 g soil, the fertilizer would be, (90/3000000)*0.6
Make sure that the dose mentioned is for 90 kg of 'fertilizer' per se, not the 90 kg of 'nutrient' (in the second case you need to consider nutrient content of the given fertilizer, e.g. 60% N in urea, 18 kg N and 46 kg P2O5 in DAP)
Don't forget to follow row randomization and column randomization for your experimental pots for maintaining homogeneity
Best of luck
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Hi,
I wonder if it is possible to find natural soil carbonates (calcite, dolomite, etc.), not coming from liming, in soils naturally having a low pH (4-5.5).
Is it possible to find these mineral forms of C in acidic tropical soils?
I am asking because while measuring both total C and inorganic C (after acid dissolution) of tropical soil samples from Indonesia with an Elementar, I sometimes get a gap between the two measurements.
Sometimes the gap is positive (total C > organic C), and other times the gap is negative (organic C > total C !?). Generally, total C is equal to organic C, meaning most samples do not show these confusing 2-way gaps, and suggest the absence of inorganic forms of C.
In both cases, I wonder if discrepancies are just technical (noise), or if the gaps between samples are due to the natural variability of my samples, or in some cases, there could be some carbonates present in those soils (which have a relatively low pH of 4-5).
Best,
Thomas
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Thomas Fungenzi Tough question but i dont think that the carbonates can be found in the acidic soils as it is found or in fact present in the alkaline soils
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Soil organic carbon is undoubtedly claimed to be the key driver of soil fertility , the consequential effect of which is visible on a whole range of soil properties , thereby, possibly  ensuring the better crop performance . Regulating soil carbon is most stupendous task, though , it looks easy ( many would advocate simple application of composts and manures)  . In this background, , i propose following questions to our learned colleagues to please enlighten us with your shear wisdom of knowledge :
* How should we enrich the organic matter content of the soil and to retain it as legacy carbon ?
* How shall we regulate different  carbon pools of soil vis-a-vis choice of crop?
*  How does fallow period jeopardises the net gain in carbon through preceding crops ?
* What are the options of more recalcitrant forms of carbon and their potential  role in long term sustainability in  crop production ? 
Thanks and kind regards
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Anoop Kumar Srivastava Yes i do feel that Organic Matter is a must and have as Humic materials and Humus is a must and I have personally seen changes in few crops in the agricultural fields and believe me overall enhancement is more than 30-35%
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Hi there,
Happy new year!
Thank you for taking time to look at my questions.
I have two questions regarding the use of biochar for synergistically sequestrating carbon and controlling soil heavy metal.
1. Do you know any references about the use of biochar for synergistically sequestrating carbon and controlling heavy metal in soil? (I could not find a good one)
2. Could this be an interesting topic to explore (in your opinion)? Why or why not?
I would appreciate any ideas or suggestions on these two questions.
Many thanks in advance!
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please just put these keywords on any search engine like google or yahoo , you will find hordes of literature pouring in.....since this is the most debated issue of biochar. Infact , biochars proved their worth through these issues only.
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Sometimes, in saline soils, we need to make an extract of the soil with a dilution of 10 times or more. What is the actual acidity number of the soil in the absence of dilution and is there a number or a way to correct after dilution
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It would be very appropriate to measure the pH without any dilution as suggested by Dr. Milham.
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People in our village have some belief of controlling some pest and disease, they apply salt in the rice field, what is its scientific importance.
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I'm willing to prepare a loess ( collapsible) soil in order to test it's collapse potential in accordance to the ASTM Standards.
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I agree with the proposed answers !
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Hello,
I'm searching for some already published articles reporting GHG-Indexes for crops such as Wheat or leguminous forage crops. Possibly under rainfed and Mediterranean climate conditions.
Also, papers that do not directly report the GHG-Index but include both the annual cumulative CO2eq. emissions and crop yield would be OK (e.g., 60 t CO2 eq ha-1 y-1 and 10 t Dry matter ha-1 y-1)
Thank you very much!
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Kindly consult this article:
CARBON FOOTPRINT OF SELECTED CEREAL AND LEGUME CROPS CULTIVATED IN THE OLD BRAHMAPUTRA FLOODPLAIN SOIL
  • December 2014
  • DOI:
  • 10.13140/RG.2.2.31404.05766
  • Thesis for: MS in Soil Science
  • Advisor: Dr. Md Abdul Kader
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We all know that fertilizer increase the OM growth but the application of fertilizer have a great role in this mechanism.. myself Udit want to know about the fertilizer application method and OM content in soil.
Thank you
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An interesting question . The rhizocompetent microbes would prefer broadcast method of fertilizer application , uniformly available to microbes spatially over band placement ...it will be an interesting execise to evaluate the crop response under two different methods of fertilizer applications vis-a-vis microbial growth ( population counts and diversity as well).
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The idea of a tree belt in Africa may be fine and helpy, but it is also realistic when then land is missing for nourishing the people? In the Kagera district I saw in reality daily GREEN (!) trees cutting people carrying with bicycles from thinning forests only to make for cooking with open fire with green tree stems extremely energy lossy breakfast, lunch or dinner for their families.
I saw the full tree covered Rubondo National Park in Tanzanias Victoria sea, but here where nature is tree covered, no people would find enough human food. But reforestation of cleared areas I find always a good and sustainable practice. If you fly over Tanzania most land is deforested for crops for food production.
Are not models saying that tropical ecosystems will store less carbon in a warmer climate while at high latitudes warming will increase storage of carbon in trees (10.1016/B978-0-12-382225-3.00095-5) ?
So what helps more to help people?
Or people should not be helped and more delivered to their destiny as nature itself does regulation overpopulation and undergoing in a Social Darwinism kind?
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Planting trees doesn’t always help with climate change. Reforestation is seen as a way to help cool the climate, sucking excess warming carbon out of the atmosphere. But it’s not always that simple.
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Hi, all,
We are studying the adsorption capacity of soils with different particle sizes for Cd. During the study, we are facing a difficulty that “The adsorption capacity should firstly be normalized to the SSA. Then, the size effect for adsorption should be discussed based on it. Otherwise, it is unclear whether the SSA or soil components should be responsible for better adsorption performance.”. We read many papers and ask some groupmates these days, but no one knows how to normalize it.
We would appreciate it if you guys could give us some suggestions. Sincerely, thank you.
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不知道啊
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I need to model the weak and surface soil as a perfect elastoplastic material with drucker prager behavior in Abaqus, I don’t know how i can use hardening coefficient.
thanks for helps
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Check Applied soil mechanic with Abaqus application, Sam Helwany, C 2.9 p 61. it has a full description continuing with a good example.
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Sulphate composts are useful for alkaline soils. There are huge amount of sulfur production during refinery processes. Sometimes these amounts of sulfur can not be directly used and should be converted into some other by-products. What is the easiest way to convert organic S into SO4 compost?
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Please find the attachments.
Regards.
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Increased runoff under the influence of hydrophobia.
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This is a good question.
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Specific constitutive model for soils, (Simpson is the key name). I will be very grateful for any help.
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This is a good question.
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.How to calculate the shear strain in a multilayer soil profile based on a half-space under a seismic action?
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This is a good question.
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multi angular TerraSAR-X images are available 
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This is a good question.
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While adding dashpots error i am getting is the spring/dashpot element is not available.
And should I provide space for soil to flow to other region. I am considering very thin strip of soil and providing earthquake load to it.
And if I am assigning dashpots I would have to assign it to every node(except surface since it's open to air) So what size should I take for the mesh.
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That is a good question.
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I am running a critical state soil model by MS Excel. For the tri-axial compression drained test, I just input the vertical stress increment for a substep while keeping horizontal stress constant. For the tri-axial extension drained test, I keep the vertical stress constant but increase the horizontal stress instead. This gives a well prediction compared to the results in the paper. In the paper, there are also the tri-axial undrained test results for both compression and extension. My question is how to input the model in MS excel to obtain prediction? My idea now is to run that model from the finite element program in couple analysis with undrained mode. To do that it might waste much time to deal with FEM. Is there the way to solve this?
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That is a good question.
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please tell any IS standards for permissible limit of heavy metals in soil?
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Md. Tareq Bin Salam , Yes many of the good articles having the permissible limit of heavy metals in soil and plant as per WHO
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It has been noted in many researches that gully headcuts are main drivers of gully erosion and upstream migration. Most commonly used definitions describe gully headcut as near-vertical step at which most intense erosion occurs, e.g.:
Rengers and Tucker, 2014. - Headcuts are near‐vertical steps that erode the valley network by migrating upstream over time (Bull and Kirkby , 2002) and add mobile sediment to gully channels downstream (Tucker et al. , 2006).
Vanmaercke et al., 2016. - A gully headcut is a natural, nearly vertical drop in gully channel-bed elevation (Poesen et al., 2003).
Since these are predominately descriptive definitions, I would like to know is it possible to delineate quantifiable definition of a gully headut ?
Such definition would be based on measurements that could be extracted from high-resolution DEM (e.g. required slope angle; headcut horizontal length; headcut height…), rather than on the descriptive, non-quantifiable information.
I understand that such definition would vary depending on local terrain characteristics and characteristics of local gully erosion predisposing factors. But even general quantifiable definition would be very helpful for detection of gully headcuts.
In the attachment is large gully headcut from my research study area, located at Pag Island, Croatia. Within Pag Island large number of small headcuts can be found, that are less distinguishable then the one in this picture.
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That is a good question.
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I'm working on a simple infiltration simulation(coupled stress and pore analysis), as far as I know, I should run the geostatic analysis as the first step.
In the geostatic analysis, I would like to set the specific saturation on the ground surface in the initial, I have been tried a lot of different methods to get a reasonable geostatic outcome that is the Sat, pore, stress is as similar as I sat in initial. But I always cannot do that. I put the information about my method. any suggestion is appreciated.
the way I calculate the value:
- Sat=G*wc/e
- pore pressure from wc by water retention curve
I list the different method I have a try below:
1) set predefined fields of pore pressure(elevation distribution linearly), stress(elevation distribution linearly), void ratio (constant) in initial
2) set predefined fields of pore pressure(elevation distribution linearly), void ratio (constant) in initial
3) set predefined fields of pore pressure(constant on the ground surface & bottom), void ratio (constant) in initial
4) set predefined fields of pore pressure(constant on the ground surface), void ratio (constant) in initial
5) set pore pressure(constant on the ground surface) as BC in step1(geostatic ), set predefined fields of void ratio (constant), by this way I can gain the result I want on the ground surface (but not on the bottom) after geostatic, but it always fails in the next step (transient simulation)
all BC are set: fixed x-axis in lateral, fixed y-axis or fixed y-axis & x-axis in bottom
I attached my cae file here
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That is a good question.
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It is known that ther are microbes that can actively cycle-back plastic in some of its forms. <https://rdcu.be/cwsL1>
Do you know any international-national initative to dig into this subject? or any researcher outhere that is interested in colaborating towards the study and application of this?
Cheers!
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As our general practice in the rice field show increase in yield, and more vegetative growth, what are the constraints and prospects for its wide application and adaptation in rice, horticultural crops, and many more?
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Yes, integrated application of manures and chemical fertilizers is a must for improving soil nutrient status and nutrient use efficiency and ultimately enhances nutritional security under a rice-wheat system.
Also check,
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Hi, I am currently trying to extract the pesticides fluroxypyr and prothioconazole from the soil by spiking using Dutch Mini Luke extraction method; however, I am failing. The instrument used for analysis is HPLC-UV.
Here are the details of my extraction (document attached):
1. Extraction method: Dutch Mini Luke
2. Extraction solvent: Combination of four different solvents; 15 mL deionised water, 20 mL of acetone, 20 mL of petroleum ether, and 10 mL of dichloromethane
3. The extracts were dried down and reconstituted using mobile phase.
Instrumentation:
1. Instrument: HPLC-UV
2. Column: C18
3. Mobile phase: A: 5 mM ammonium formate in 0.05 formic acid (aq), B: 0.05% formic acid in acetonitrile
When ran standards alone, fluroxypyr and prothioconazole is detected. However, I am failing to detect both these analytes after extraction, even with multiple ranges of spiking concentration. I am afraid that these analytes are not extracted at all.
Please advise how I can improve or modify my extraction where I can successfully extract these analytes.
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I agree with Prof Dr Shyam
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Exist there any standard text book in universities for students dealing seriously with amino acid fertilizers as state of the art in plant nutrition ?
Look here, they make much proaganda in Africa with this I this, I think myself pseudo / fake fertilizer and pest regulator but also here in Europe with similar EM (Effectice microorganisms)
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  • Mr. Johann, you mentioned in your question that they make much proaganda in Africa with pseudo / fake fertilizer and pest regulator but also here in Europe with Effective microorganisms.You are right there are instances where amino acids based products are used as biostimulants with a complex composition and different product characteristics depending on their sources and production processes mainly enzymatic protein hydrolysis. Amino acids also function as biostimulants for plants. As a biostimulant, amino acids can play important roles in enhancing plant productivity, especially under abiotic and biotic stress conditions.
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Hello,
I am looking for the average trace element concentrations in agricultural soils around the world. Do you know of a good place to start?
Thank you all immensely,
Xavier
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They are indeed available for this as this is a very important sector. Although they have been depleted in a few cases, they are being revived with the traditional methods.
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We are trying to get the best compression and consolidation in making Compressed Earth Blocks. Any suggestions on how to optimise the soil composition to get best packing density will be most appreciated.
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Clay loam soil. Theoretically, for maximum compaction there should be an equal proportion of sand, silt and clay fraction, i.e. 33 per cent each. But in nature, it hardly happens. Therefore, try to have proportion within 10 per cent deviation among these fractions to have maximum compaction. Yes type of clay particularly, swelling type is also the factor which determine maximum compaction at given moisture content. Proctor moisture shall be used for achieving highest compaction. May contact further on [email protected]. thanks
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A daily leaching column Nitrogen was conducted to investigate the rate of soil leaching. Now I search for a simple model of equation to represent scientifically the results.
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EDIT: Up to the literature suggested in the answers, IT IS NOT POSSIBLE because they are required at least some calibration data, which - in my case - are not available.
I am looking for a technique/function to estimate soil temperature from meteorological data only, for soils covered with crops.
In particular, I need to estimate soil temperature for a field with herbaceous crops at mid-latitudes (north Italy), but the models I found in literature are fitted for snow-covered and/or high-latitude soils.
I have daily values of air temperature (minimum, mean and maximum), precipitation, relative humidity (minimum, mean and maximum), solar radiation and wind speed.
Thank you very much
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Permissible limit of different metals in soil, with reference to Indian standard
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Thank you, Dr. Frank T. Edelmann
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Can I find a book or research that involves this topic?
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Best advice is to ask the technician and lab manager of the accredited test authority you use. Text books are needed too, but there are limitations on what can be expected from standard tests.
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Many literatures pointed out that soil sand content has a greater contribution to soil thermal conductivity. However, I couldn't find any models that can quantify soil thermal conductivity using the results of soil particle size distribution. In frozen soils, things seems more complicated considering the phase change of soil water. I want to find a model to express the soil thermal conductivity. I just want to find a soil thermal conductivity model that takes into account both the soil phase change process and the soil mechanical composition
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Acturally, I want to find the relationship or model on the effect of soil texture on thermal conductivity in frozen soil. Thank you all the same.
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The highly heated viable mud on the furnace(brick) powder doesnot allow any plants to grow?? Why is is unviable? What connect the viability & inviability of soil??
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Before you think of Brick powder usage, you need to check the composition - It is in fact made from natural earth, clay and shale and then burnt at very high temperatures as mentioned above. Bricks durability comes from vitrification process in the kiln enabling clay particles to fuse together. Silicon dioxide (SiO2), aluminum oxide (Al2O3) and iron oxide (Fe2O3) in the used brick powder is about 93.31% (significantly greater than 70%), while the loss of ignition (LOI) is 2.63%, both satisfying the chemical requirements of ASTM C618 (2012) for class N pozzolan. There are different types of bricks as well these days - Fly ash bricks, concrete bricks and so on.
Hope this answers your question.
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Hi all,
do you know about any commercial service which offers CryoMilling?
We have a few samples of plastics (including e.g. PET) and soils, which we need to cryomill, but since we do not need this service regularly, there is not so useful for us to buy a cryomill. 
Thanks in advance for suggestions,
Jan
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Hello guys,
I am working on a SWAT2012 project, using QSWAT3. While calculating usersoil table, I used FAO's data and SPAW tools from here(https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/software/download/?softwareid=492&modecode=80-42-05-10). When I got the results, something strange happened. I used its soil water characteristics tool. Compared them with SWAT's generated database, it could match with usersoil_FAO's data while the other one could not matched with usersoil's data.
I wonder how to deal with my soil data, should I just go straight to use data calculated or I should check other things to make sure that my results would be same to usersoil's default value?
Could anyone have ideas about that? I will be really appreciated if you could help me out.
P.S.:
Data and screenshots are provided in the attachments.
Windows Version: Windows 10 Professional 20H2 19042.928
SPAW Version: 6.02.74
QGIS Version: 3.16.5 LTS
QSWAT3 Version: 1.1.1
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SWAT is not an easy exercise as it is a comprehensive model demanding a diversity of information for a successful run. One may be a little overwhelmed by this variety of inputs but many of them used to simulate special features are not common to all watersheds. The very first step is to partition watershed into subunits – Sub-basins (unlimited/one pond/one wetland); reach channel segments; Impoundments on main channel and point sources. Hydrological Response Units (HRUs) are pretty important. The details that you select depends solely on the objective you have in mind.
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I need to cultive a set of not previous identified bacterias in a specific soil, provided by the company. How do I do this? Is it possible do add the soil, previously autoclaved, into the medium directly? If yes, how much? Or do I have to do extract first?
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Soil is the derivative of specific rock characteristics (Geology) and depending upon this, bacterial populations would play their role according to the organic matter supplement. Breaking down of the nutritive value of rock, organic matter helps soil properties. This is what determines the soil characteristics which is different at different places owing to the difference in rock characteristics.
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Anyone aware of any global/South American/African/South-east Asian maps (rasters or shapefiles) publicly available about soil quality or agricultural potential? Thank you in advance.
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Hi, west hope you are doing great,
For your kind information, Yes global shapefile of the SOIL map was available from the FAO website called DIGITAL SOIL MAP OF THE WORLD (DSMW). You can download it from anywhere and it is open to access in many formats. Further, you can crop or mask the required portion for your study area.
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We know that the void ratio of soils is affected by increasing temperature. However, the experimental data involved in this topic is rare. From a theoretical aspect, how can we estimate the change in void ratio with temperature, especially unsaturated soils.
I would like to appreciate it if you can provide a calculation method or experimental data on this topic through papers you know.
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Dear Tuan
The question comes down to asking if there is a soil theory that deals with the thermodynamics of unsaturated soil. There is none officially recognized, nor is there any defining the soil according to its organization in solid, liquid and gas (air) phases. You must know that voids in soils are occupied by air and water and that only water is playing a role on the swelling-shrinkage of a soil. Temperature impacts the density of water (the relation is known), that is negligible compared to the thermodynamical link between the solid and liquid phases that is responsible of the swelling-shrinkage process of soils by water.
See "Modeling the soil system: Bridging the gap between pedology and soil–water physics" on my Research Gate space or "Hydrostructural Pedology, New Scientific Discipline Allowing for Physical Modelling of 'Green Water' Dynamics in the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere System" DOI:10.9734/JAERI/2018/43822
Regards
E.B.
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Bonjour tout le monde,
Je suis à la recherche d'une revue bibliographique sur la matière (ou carbone) organique du sol au niveau du Maroc.
Merci!
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Bonjour Bousaria,
Veuillez trouver ce anglais document pour votre examen. J'espere que cela aidera. Je connais un peu francais. Merci Monsieur.
Merci