Off-road Transport Research Articles

A Security Framework for Railway Platform Development

The different modes of transport are air, water, and land transport, in which land transport includes rail transport, road transport and off-road transport. Most commonly using transport system are Roadways, Railways and Airways. In these frequently we use the railways, because it is cheaper and it is more convenient than other transport systems. The third largest railway network in the world is Indian railway network. But the accident’s occurs in the railways is higher. Mostly the accidents in the railway station occur between the railway platform and to the train, because of the platform gap. The platform gap is the gap exists between the train and to the platform. To avoid these accidents that the Indian government come with an indicative to increase the height of the platform. But it is not easy job to increase the height. At the time of working we cannot access the platforms. By applying my project it is easy to avoid the accidents as well as we can use the platform too. A human fall down in the gap exist between the platform and to the train can be totally avoided by introducing Mechanical platform edge extensions known as platform gap fillers which is used to bridge the gap between platform and to the train. This is more useful in the case of safeguard the human life and also it is cheaper than the cost which is involved for increase the height of the platform. In this regard the safety barrier setup present at the bottom of the platform will be automatically uplifted with the help of sensor, so the platform gap is closed with the safety barrier. And then it will retract again into the bottom at the platform after leaving the station. By this project the platform gap accidents can be avoided.

Investigating Vibration Transmission in Cargo Containers During Heavy-Duty Off-Road Transport

Investigating Vibration Transmission in Cargo Containers During Heavy-Duty Off-Road Transport

European primary emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases in 2020 modulated by the COVID-19 pandemic disruptions

Abstract. We present a European dataset of daily sector-, pollutant- and country-dependent emission adjustment factors associated with the COVID-19 mobility restrictions for the year 2020. We considered metrics traditionally used to estimate emissions, such as energy statistics or traffic counts, as well as information derived from new mobility indicators and machine learning techniques. The resulting dataset covers a total of nine emission sectors, including road transport, the energy industry, the manufacturing industry, residential and commercial combustion, aviation, shipping, off-road transport, use of solvents, and fugitive emissions from transportation and distribution of fossil fuels. The dataset was produced to be combined with the Copernicus CAMS-REG_v5.1 2020 business-as-usual (BAU) inventory, which provides high-resolution (0.1∘×0.05∘) emission estimates for 2020 omitting the impact of the COVID-19 restrictions. The combination of both datasets allows quantifying spatially and temporally resolved reductions in primary emissions from both criteria pollutants (NOx, SO2, non-methane volatile organic compounds – NMVOCs, NH3, CO, PM10 and PM2.5) and greenhouse gases (CO2 fossil fuel, CO2 biofuel and CH4), as well as assessing the contribution of each emission sector and European country to the overall emission changes. Estimated overall emission changes in 2020 relative to BAU emissions were as follows: −10.5 % for NOx (−602 kt), −7.8 % (−260.2 Mt) for CO2 from fossil fuels, −4.7 % (−808.5 kt) for CO, −4.6 % (−80 kt) for SO2, −3.3 % (−19.1 Mt) for CO2 from biofuels, −3.0 % (−56.3 kt) for PM10, −2.5 % (−173.3 kt) for NMVOCs, −2.1 % (−24.3 kt) for PM2.5, −0.9 % (−156.1 kt) for CH4 and −0.2 % (−8.6 kt) for NH3. The most pronounced drop in emissions occurred in April (up to −32.8 % on average for NOx) when mobility restrictions were at their maxima. The emission reductions during the second epidemic wave between October and December were 3 to 4 times lower than those occurred during the spring lockdown, as mobility restrictions were generally softer (e.g. curfews, limited social gatherings). Italy, France, Spain, the United Kingdom and Germany were, together, the largest contributors to the total EU27 + UK (27 member states of the European Union and the UK) absolute emission decreases. At the sectoral level, the largest emission declines were found for aviation (−51 % to −56 %), followed by road transport (−15.5 % to −18.8 %), the latter being the main driver of the estimated reductions for the majority of pollutants. The collection of COVID-19 emission adjustment factors (https://doi.org/10.24380/k966-3957, Guevara et al., 2022) and the CAMS-REG_v5.1 2020 BAU gridded inventory (https://doi.org/10.24380/eptm-kn40, Kuenen et al., 2022b) have been produced in support of air quality modelling studies.

Di-ethyl ether-diesel blends fuelled off-road tractor engine: Part-II: Unregulated and particulate emission characteristics

The use of oxygenated fuels, including ethanol, methanol, diethyl ether (DEE), and dimethyl ether (DME) in CI engines has emerged as an effective way to reduce CO, HC, and PM emissions. DEE, in particular, has significant potential to be used in CI engines. Unlike DME, it exists as a liquid state at room temperature and pressure, making its handling very smooth. In this experimental study, DEE-diesel blends were used to power an off-road tractor engine. Previous studies investigated the performance and regulated emission characteristics of DEE-fueled vehicles/ engines; unregulated emissions and particulate characteristics were not studied thoroughly. This study, therefore, investigates the effect of DEE-diesel blends on unregulated and particulate emissions from the engine. Unregulated pollutants investigated in this study include individual oxides of nitrogen (NO, NOx, NO2), saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons (n-pentane (n-C5H12), n-octane (n-C8H18), iso-butene (iso-C4H8)), and organic and inorganic species (Sulphur dioxide (SO2), formic acid (HCOOH) and formaldehyde (HCHO)). Particulate emission characteristics include total particle mass (TPM), total particle number (TPN), particulate mass-size distributions, and count mean diameter (CMD). Four test fuels were used in this study namely: DEE0, DEE15, DEE30 and DEE45 (0%, 15%, 30% and 45% DEE (v/v) blended with mineral diesel). The results from DEE-diesel blends were compared with baseline mineral diesel (DEE0). The experiments were conducted at a constant engine speed of 1500 rpm at varying engine loads. At all engine operating conditions, DEE-diesel blends resulted in significantly lower TPN compared to baseline mineral diesel. A similar trend was observed for TPM; however, DEE15 showed slightly higher TPM than baseline mineral diesel. Emissions of individual oxides of nitrogen were also relatively lower than baseline mineral diesel. The addition of DEE in mineral diesel exhibited a slight increase in unregulated emission species concentrations such as formaldehyde, formic acid, sulfur dioxide, n-pentane, n-octane, iso-butene. However, the absolute concentration levels were still quite low. This study concluded that DEE could potentially displace mineral diesel partially, without any changes in fuel injection equipment, and achieve an improvement in PM-NOx trade-off in off-road transport diesel engines.

Картографирование сезонной автотранспортной доступности Арктического региона России

Transport accessibility is one of the main categories in transport research and planning of socio-economic development of territories. For Russia, which has the largest area of the northern and arctic territories, this problem is especially urgent. The presence and condition of the road network determines the territorial integrity and unity of the economic space, therefore fulfilling the most important strategic task of the spatial integration of the country. Automobile transport in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation is poorly developed and is characterized by a low density of the public network. Its main features are the disunity of the road network, the heterogeneous degree of transport development of the territories and the noticeable role of winter roads in the road infrastructure. An integral part of the transport logistics of the Arctic regions of Russia are winter roads, which allow transportation in the winter season at the lowest cost. The purpose of this study is to develop a database structure and thematic mapping of automobile roads in the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation, taking into account the seasonality of their operation. As a result of this work, a classification of winter automobile roads and ice crossings of the Arctic territories was developed and an overview map “Seasonal road transport accessibility of the Arctic region of Russia” at a scale of 1:20,000,000 was compiled. The map demonstrates the contrast between the relatively good winter transport development of the territory and summer impassability. On the basis of statistical materials, maps “Density of all-season motorable roads” and “Level of motorization” were compiled, which give an idea of the differentiation of the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation by these indicators. A high level of motorization significantly exceeds the capacity of the existing roads. This is due to the fact that off-road transport is the only guarantor of mobility for the population of hard-to-reach settlements.

Exploring cost-effective transitions to fossil independent transportation in the future energy system of Denmark

In this paper, in the light of national targets of a fossil independent future Danish energy system, cost-effective deep decarbonisation solutions in transportation have been explored under base-, alternative technical-, and policy scenarios in the TIMES modelling environment. The TIMES-DK model was further developed to concurrently represent all emerging transport technologies (ETTs) in road- and off-road transport applications, disaggregated transport technologies and service demands segmentation to capture consumers preferences and heterogeneity, and to endogenise fuel infrastructures. The model runs optimise the societal surplus in between 2010 and 2050. There is a particular focus on the role of gas in transport. The results reveal that in between 2020 and 2040, natural gas (NG) could cost-efficiently serve as a transition fuel. Decarbonisation pace and fuel infrastructure assumptions were found to have a large impact on the NG adoption levels. This study showed that the combined use of liquid biofuels (mainly biomethanol), upgraded biogas, electricity, and hydrogen fuels would deliver cost-effective deep decarbonisation by 2050; however, their various decarbonisation roles vary within and across transport segments. Depending on the decarbonisation pace, a marginal CO2 abatement cost of 419–549 €/ton (or 1–1.29 €/L gasoline) is required by 2050 in Denmark. The results also showed that 25% and 30% cost reductions of BEVs and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs), compared to our central cost assumptions, would increase their respective adoption by 36% and 66% towards 2050. They show high market shares particularly in the medium size segment than in the small and large segments. Competition for limited biomass resources coupled with higher fuel demand results in adoption of ETTs.

Без мобильности нет креативности: антропология транспорта Сибири и Дальнего Востока

The subject of this article is the new role of individual mobility in the development of the territories of Siberia and the Far East. The purpose of the study was to justify the importance of a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of mobility as the most important factor in the new economic growth of Siberia and the Far East after using a set of regional analysis methods – statistical, sociological, cartographic, and others. In the regions of Siberia and the Far East, the last thirty years there has been a ‘quiet’ revolution of mobility – when automobiles got a rapid development to compensate for exploding airfares, especially in the zone of non-alternative transport and especially in winter. Its role in the consolidation of communication, in the flow of knowledge, in the transfer of best practices and innovations is extremely significant. Since transport and local transport systems play such a decisive role in the development of the sparsely populated territories of Siberia and the Far East, it is natural to see the reserves for the growth of these territories through their modernization. There are three zones of transport arrangement: 1) alternative, 2) non-alternative and 3) off-road transport. In the first zone, we are talking about strengthening innovation centers in interregional transport hubs. In the second, about the emancipation of the forces of mobility (primarily of individuals and small businesses), in the third, about the comprehensive promotion of non-stationary forms of temporary closeness as a source of fruitful communication and places of birth of new ideas

Finite Element Analysis and Experimental Simulation of Chassis Mounted Platform for Off-Road Wheeled Combat and Transport Utility Vehicles

Chassis mounted platform is an intermediate component between vehicle chassis and chassis mounted shelter, and is intended to act as a levelled base for shelters. Shelters in combat vehicles provide a closed stipulated environment to computerized tracking systems, sophisticated defense combat equipments to suit the operational and environmental requirements during warhead situations. Platform carries transfers and sustains unevenness in load arising from the road or soil irregularities during off-road vehicle travel. Present work deals with development, evaluation and improvement of one such platform for 8x8 vehicles. In this work, the platform under consideration is designed to accommodate two shelters, each being secured to the platform using standard twist locking arrangements. Securing locations are dependent on the size and weight of the commodity to be placed inside shelter. Major design ruminations of the platform include nature and pattern of load, flange orientations of channel sections, span between webs of consecutive channels, axle load distribution and vehicle geometry constraints as ground clearance and departure angle. Finite element analysis is carried out in to order evaluate stress and deflection in the present platform configuration. Experimental strain measurement at critical locations on the platform is carried at Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) to evaluate the performance of the platform under specified load-speed conditions. Relation between experimental stress values and strain gauge locations on the platform is assessed for different load magnitudes.

Vibration Measurement and Spectral Analysis of Chassis Frame Mounted Structure for Off-Road Wheeled Heavy Vehicles

Chassis mounted structure is a base component for shelters or containers mounted on heavy transport vehicles. When the vehicle is driven in rough terrains or during off-road transportation this structure has a significant role in protecting the sophisticated cargo and intelligent tracking systems placed inside the shelters. During off-road transportation or warhead conditions the vehicle is subjected to large unevenness in load due to road or soil irregularities in rough terrains, which causes vibrations to be induced in the vehicle. As the nature of vibrations induced in vehicle during travel on off-road or cross-country terrains is random and unpredictable, there is a concern to analyse the vibration response of chassis and chassis mounted structures is needed. Present work deals with vibration measurement and spectral analysis of a chassis mounted structure designed for off-road and commercial transport vehicles. The road profile on which the vibration measurement has been carried out includes paved road and cross-country terrain segments. The vibration measurement has been carried at three different vehicle speeds. Signal analysis procedure for the acquired test data is discussed. The chassis mounted structure under concern is intended to hold two shelters or containers. From the vibration measurement at critical locations, g-(RMS) and g-(peak) values for paved and cross-country roads have been found out. Power spectral density values have also been found on chassis and structure for the same transport situations. Major inferences include the evaluation of minimum and maximum g-values (peak and RMS) on chassis and chassis mounted structure. Power spectral density graphs are constructed from which the dominant frequency for both road profiles is found out.

Energy efficiency evaluation of off-road transport with hydrostatic transmission

The paper describes control system for multifunctional off-road transport with hydrostatic transmission movement at adverse terrain. Graphs of simulation results for developed machine are shown to select and justify the parameters, characteristics and adjustments of hydrostatic transmission.

Black carbon emissions from Russian diesel sources: case study of Murmansk

Abstract. Black carbon (BC) is a potent pollutant because of its effects on climate change, ecosystems and human health. Black carbon has a particularly pronounced impact as a climate forcer in the Arctic because of its effect on snow albedo and cloud formation. We have estimated BC emissions from diesel sources in the Murmansk Region and Murmansk City, the largest city in the world above the Arctic Circle. In this study we developed a detailed inventory of diesel sources including on-road vehicles, off-road transport (mining, locomotives, construction and agriculture), ships and diesel generators. For on-road transport, we conducted several surveys to understand the vehicle fleet and driving patterns, and, for all sources, we also relied on publicly available local data sets and analysis. We calculated that BC emissions in the Murmansk Region were 0.40 Gg in 2012. The mining industry is the largest source of BC emissions in the region, emitting 69 % of all BC emissions because of its large diesel consumption and absence of emissions controls. On-road vehicles are the second largest source, emitting about 13 % of emissions. Old heavy duty trucks are the major source of emissions. Emission controls on new vehicles limit total emissions from on-road transportation. Vehicle traffic and fleet surveys show that many of the older cars on the registry are lightly or never used. We also estimated that total BC emissions from diesel sources in Russia were 50.8 Gg in 2010, and on-road transport contributed 49 % of diesel BC emissions. Agricultural machinery is also a significant source Russia-wide, in part because of the lack of controls on off-road vehicles.

A fuel consumption model for off-road use of mobile machinery in agriculture

Until 2009, the annual reporting of emissions by off-road transport in agriculture in Belgium was based on a 1994 calculation model that needed to be updated. An energy consumption model was established for plant production in Belgium as a backbone for a new emission model. The model starts from agricultural activities involving off-road fuel consumption. Effects of soil type, tractor size, field size and machine load are modelled. Twenty-seven FCIs (fuel consumption indicators) were computed for plant production. FCIs are expressed per year and are used for emission estimates on a regional level. FCIs ranged from 37 to 311 L/ha. Sensitivity analysis showed the highest impact of tractor size with a surplus fuel consumption between 10 and 41% depending on the crop type. Fuel consumption (L) can be further processed into greenhouse gas emissions. FCIs can be adopted in LCA (life cycle assessment) studies. With ∼310 L/ha, orchards are most fuel intensive, followed by field vegetables and sugar beets (∼150 L/ha). The total off-road energy consumption of field vegetables is high because second cropping is a common practice.

The Impact of Camping Activities on Soil Degradation in Kuwait

Desert camping is an old tradition in Kuwait. Today's camping involves activities that negatively impact the soil due to surrounding camp sites with barriers from the top soil, off-road transport by cars, using heavy equipment such as electrical generators, camping facilities such as bathrooms with cement floors, soccer and volleyball fields. This study used remote sensing and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques to study the role of camping activities on soil degradation in camping areas and recommend new camping sites and scenarios for environmentally safe camping. Soil erosion, soil compaction and vegetation cover decline were used as indicators for evaluating the degree of soil degradation in camping sites. Satellite images were processed, enhanced and interpreted to find out the area of camping sites. The rate of soil erosion was estimated by Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation (RUSLE). About 43% of the camping sites studied had high soil erosion rate that reached16 tons/acre/year. The other 57% of camping sites had moderate soil erosion rates of 14 tons/acre/year. Camping soil barriers increase the rate of erosion inside the camping sites. The study shows that soil and vegetation are badly affected by camping activities. Soil bulk density in camping areas surpassed that of areas not subjected to camping by an average of 12%. The vegetation coverage outside camping area was markedly higher than that inside camping. To avoid soil degradation by camping new environmentally safe sites for camping were recommended.

Assessing the Sensitivity of the OMI-NO2 Product to Emission Changes across Europe

The advent of satellite data has provided a source of independent information to monitor trends in tropospheric nitrogen dioxide levels. To interpret these trends, one needs to know the sensitivity of the satellite retrieved NO2 column to anthropogenic emissions. We have applied a chemistry transport model to investigate the sensitivity of the modeled NO2 column, sampled at the OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) overpass time and location and weighted by the OMI averaging kernel, to emission sources across Europe. The most important contribution (~35%) in Western Europe is made by road transport. Off-road transport and industrial combustion each contribute 10%–15% across continental Europe. In Eastern Europe, power plant contributions are of comparable magnitude as those of road transport. To answer the question if the OMI-NO2 trends can be translated directly into emission changes, we assessed the anticipated changes in OMI-NO2 between 2005 and 2020. Although the results indicated that for many countries, it is indeed possible, for medium- and small-sized coastal countries, the contribution of the increasing shipping emissions in adjacent sea areas may mask a significant part of national emission reductions. This study highlights the need for a combined use of models, a priori emission estimates and satellite data to verify emission trends.

Analysis of marine combustion engine processes with vibroacoustic methods for environment protection strategy

The paper describes the method of a sea boats online diagnostic with the use of the main and accompanying processes analyses. The paper concerns injection and combustion processes taking place in internal combustion engines of the military boats. Authors chosen vibroacoustic processes in the research to obtain the important diagnostic information on the above processes runs and their correctness in the sources of a drive of the HDV off-road water transport vehicles. The specified method of a digital data acquisition for dynamic processes in such combustion engines and sort of diagnostic parameters taken into account were basis of the required empirical research process and further signal analyses. High accuracy of the measurement methodology and process with additional conditions caused the authors could take the obtained signals to the parallel, combustion engineering and vibroacoustic engineering process, according to which they extract important information on the combustion processes runs and their problems. Identification of such problems and its type was helpful to build algorithm of the diagnostic assessment of such processes in the point of view of building diagnostic system for such military boats with the regime of the efficiency of the energy changes and emission control in the all exploitation period.

Compression Processing and Load Compression of Young Scots Pine and Birch Trees in Thinnings for Bioenergy

In many boreal countries forest biomass from dense young stands has great potential to meet growing demands for bioenergy. However, there is currently no cost-effective operational system for harvesting such stands. When harvesting, it would be desirable to compress trees and leave some of the foliage and fine branches in the stand in order to reduce extraction of nutrients and improve the harvested material’s fuel properties from a reduced ash content point of view. The objectives were to evaluate experimental systems (a boom-tip mounted unit for processing bunches, and a small prototype forwarder for compressing loads) in terms of their utility for compressing and partially debranching fresh and stored bunches of Scots pine trees and compressing forwarder loads of fresh Scots pine and birch trees. Processing of fresh bunches resulted in mass losses of about 10% (dbh-class 5–8 cm; not significant) to 15% (dbh-class 12–15 cm; significant) with 35 to 50% reductions in ash contents and increases in bulk and net energy density of about 80 to 160%. In-stand storage of bunches before processing generally yielded no significant advantages except for a 10%-unit reduction in moisture content. Compression of forwarder loads resulted in 16 (pine) to 32% (birch) increases in load densities, with a significant increase for birch trees. The described techniques facilitate productivity increases of off-road and road transport of tree parts, and a substantial proportion of the ash-rich materials such as needles and fine branches are left in the stand. If both tested techniques are applied during the harvesting of young trees the benefits would be substantial.

A comparison of biodiversity values in boreal forest regeneration areas before and after forest certification

In this study, 236 regeneration areas (mostly clear-cuts) in southern Norway were selected by random stratified selection: 118 of the study units were cut before and 118 after the introduction of forest certification in 1998. The degree of compliance with biodiversity measures established in the prevailing certification standard (ISO 14001 and the Norwegian standard “Living Forests”) was compared in a field study, and the differences were analysed. In some aspects, a clear difference could be seen, most clearly in an increasing number of green retention trees and an increasing mean width of buffer-strips left along rivers, bogs and lakes in the postcertification units compared with the precertification units. Even though there was a significant increase in the mean number of retention trees, as much as 21% of the postcertification regeneration areas still did not have sufficient retention trees to comply with the certification standard and 41% had either too few retention trees or too few spruce trees according to the standard. Concerning the management of small swamp forests, and the damage done to terrain and prelogging coarse dead wood by off-road transport, little improvement was seen. The discussion examines whether it is probable that the changes seen are a result of forest certification in Norway.

Fleet Transport for Roadway Maintenance Equipment

Policy, practice, and procedure are addressed relative to the transport of heavy-duty roadway construction and maintenance equipment by department of transportation maintenance personnel. Findings are from a 2-year study sponsored by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), which focused on a review of TxDOT's existing and future off-road equipment and transport requirements and an assessment of the agency's current knowledge base and practices in transporting off-road equipment. Statewide focus is made in the context of nationwide perspectives on equipment transport. Procedures and practices vary between states, with certain challenges common to all. Relative to equipment, the need exists for newer, better trailers; more lowboy-type trailers; and better trucks. Equipment transport policy is minimal to nonexistent in many states, and transport practices and procedures are sometimes unworkable. Inadequate trailer preventive maintenance, less-than-effective purchasing practices, and poor-quality training programs in regard to equipment load and tie-down are common themes. For Texas, research indicates that overall knowledge of equipment transport is high, especially for practices and procedures, trailer hitches and hitching systems, load securement, chains and tie-downs, and safety. However, equipment transport knowledge about load distribution concepts and practices, training, and compliance with laws and regulations is not as strong. The one thing that field personnel stated would most improve equipment transport at TxDOT would be training. They want more training, better training, and refresher training. Efforts to address these challenges amount to continuous quality improvement to a functional, working system.

GIS-based decision support system for wood logistics

A wood logistics system was combined with a linear programming (LP) method utilizing GIS-based techniques on the platform of GIS software-ARC/INFO. The combined costs of road and off-road transport were taken as the objective function to find the least cost route and the optimal landing locations of wood transportation. Then transport costs and allowable wood volume of stands were calculated. An LP model was developed to allocate timber resources among mills in order to minimize the wood logistics costs from harvesting sites to mills. The parameters of the LP model, including the transport costs, allowable wood volume and wood orders, were written into a text file in MPS format which were then accessed by LINDO to solve the LP problem. The system is an effective tool to manage logistics, information and funds together in order to increase the speed of wood logistics and reduce the cost. The benefits and efficiency of mill cluster can be improved. The focal firm in the cluster can be competitive.

Soil degradation in Kabd area, southwestern Kuwait City

AbstractAdverse environmental impacts of human activities are the main causes of soil degradation in the desert of Kuwait in general, and in Kabd area in particular. In this study, assessment of soil degradation in open and protected sites has been carried out using field measurements and laboratory investigations. The overall status of vegetation is nearly twice as low in vegetation cover in the open sites than in the protected ones due to overgrazing and off‐road transport. Compaction of soil due to pressure exerted on the soil by vehicles led to a significant reduction in its porosity, permeability and infiltration capacity. The average infiltration rate of the compacted soils is 51 per cent lower than that of the non‐compacted soils. The bulk density of the non‐compacted soils is 3.4 per cent lower than that of compacted soil. The average topsoil resistance of compacted soils has increased by 83 per cent in comparison with non‐compacted soil. Using the least squares method a relation between infiltration rate (IR) and penetration resistance (PR) of the topsoil for the study areas is found (i.e. IR = −0.148 PR + 1.85 with R2 = 25 per cent). Soil strength within the soil profile shows maximum penetration resistance readings at 11.5 cm depth in average in compacted soils, while it shows maximum readings at 34.6 cm depth in average in non‐compacted soils. The adverse changes in the chemical properties due to soil compaction is also investigated. A restoration plan is needed in order to reduce land degradation. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.