Simulated Rain Research Articles

Agricultural Practices for Hillslope Erosion Mitigation: A Case Study in Morocco

In the last decades, the Rif area in Morocco has been frequently affected by soil erosion due to intense rainfall events. In order to help farmers improve their lives and avoid damages caused by this phenomenon, a management project (the MCA Project) aiming to grow fruit trees has been realized. The objective of this study was to evaluate, in three provinces of Morocco, the effect on the hydrological response of selected erosion control management techniques combined with olive tree plantations. The investigated variables were the final infiltration (If), the imbibition of rainwater (Pi), the runoff coefficient (Kr), and the soil detachment (D). In particular, for each investigated soil utilization, three replications of a rain simulation test (80 mm/h) and soil sampling were conducted. Results for surface conditions demonstrate that under vegetation in matorral and fallow, the surface is covered at more than 75% with a high content of organic matter (OM) at 4.5% and 2.6%, respectively. Despite the compaction observed in those land uses, the surface area opened exceeded 90% in the study area. Regarding the soils physical properties, they were rich in silt at more than 40%; the rate of porosity is high where bulk density is low. At the Taounate site, low porosity was at 62% in fallow and at 55% in plowing, with high densities of 1.01 g/cm2 and 1.2 g/cm2, respectively. Tests also demonstrate that vegetation has an important role in moisture conservation in the depths of 0 to 10 cm at all sites with macroagregate stability (MA%) compared to plowing sites. In terms of soil hydrology, vegetation reduces the runoff because, under matorral (it was at 0%), it avoids soil erosion.

THE APPLIED OF FUNCTIONAL DATA ANALYSIS TO COMPARISON 100 TIMES SIMULATED MONTHLY RAINFALL USING SOME TWO PARAMETERS DISTRIBUTION

Three probability models of mothly rainfall such as Gamma, Weibull and Log Normal distribution are evaluated in terms of their ability to reproduce the mean statistics derived from 100 times simulation of monthly rainfall in the Pekanbaru City, Indonesia. One of the important studies is to investigate and understand the simulate mean monthly rainfall patterns that occur throughout the year. To identify the pattern, it requires a rainfall curve to represent monthly observation of rainfall received during the year. Functional data analysis (FDA) methods are capable to convert discrete data into a function that can represent the rainfall curve and as a result, try to describe the hidden patterns of the rainfall. This study is focused on investigating 100 curve average monthly rainfall simulatated by three different quantile functions using the FDA. The mean and standard deviation of FDA for average monthly precipitation are obtained. Through these two statistics a the confidence interval curves of the mean curve are presented represent 95% pointwise confidence intervals. In this study, most of the monthly average rainfall from the actual data were around the FDA mean and the monthly average rainfall was within the FDA confidence interval. In this study, 100 times monthly rainfall simulations using the quantile function of the gamma and log normal distributions found that the mean FDA can capture most of the mean monthly rainfall from historical data, and within the FDA interval. The contradictory results shown by the monthly rainfall simulations using the Weibull distribution, most of the monthly average rainfall historical data cannot be captured by the FDA mean and are outside the FDA confidence interval. Based on the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) value of the average monthly rainfall of historical data and the monthly average of the FDA, it can be concluded that the gamma distribution can produce simulated rain better than the log normal distribution.

Physical characteristics of soil-biodegradable and nonbiodegradable plastic mulches impact conidial splash dispersal of Botrytis cinerea.

Botrytis cinerea causes gray mold disease of strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa) and is a globally important pathogen that causes fruit rot both in the field and after harvest. Commercial strawberry production involves the use of plastic mulches made from non-degradable polyethylene (PE), with weedmat made from woven PE and soil-biodegradable plastic mulch (BDM) as emerging mulch technologies that may enhance sustainable production. Little is known regarding how these plastic mulches impact splash dispersal of B. cinerea conidia. The objective of this study was to investigate splash dispersal dynamics of B. cinerea when exposed to various plastic mulch surfaces. Mulch surface physical characteristics and conidial splash dispersal patterns were evaluated for the three mulches. Micrographs revealed different surface characteristics that have the potential to influence splash dispersal: PE had a flat, smooth surface, whereas weedmat had large ridges and BDM had an embossed surface. Both PE mulch and BDM were impermeable to water whereas weedmat was semi-permeable. Results generated using an enclosed rain simulator system showed that as the horizontal distance from the inoculum source increased, the number of splash dispersed B. cinerea conidia captured per plate decreased for all mulch treatments. More than 50% and approximately 80% of the total number of dispersed conidia were found on plates 10 and 16 cm away from the inoculum source across all treatments, respectively. A significant correlation between the total and germinated conidia on plates across all mulch treatments was detected (P<0.01). Irrespective of distance from the inoculum source, embossed BDM facilitated higher total and germinated splashed conidia (P<0.001) compared to PE mulch and weedmat (P = 0.43 and P = 0.23, respectively), indicating BDM's or embossed film's potential for enhancing B. cinerea inoculum availability in strawberry production under plasticulture. However, differences in conidial concentrations observed among treatments were low and may not be pathologically relevant.

Habitability of Polygonal Soils in the Hyper‐Arid Atacama Desert After a Simulated Rain Experiment

AbstractIn the hyper‐arid Atacama Desert, microbial life thrives near its “dry limit” in scarcely distributed habitats. Fracture networks of salt‐poor sand wedges outlining salt‐cemented polygons on alluvial surfaces in the Yungay region (Chile) represent potential microbial habitats. The degree of soil habitability at the surface (0–5 cm depth) and subsurface (10–15 cm depth) of a polygon and adjacent sand wedge was assessed before and up to 42 days after a 20 mm simulated rain experiment through the abundance of phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs). Mineralogical composition, salinity, pH, electrical and thermal conductivity, water content, and water activity were analyzed for their relevance to habitability. After wetting, the PLFA content exclusively increased steadily with time in the polygon subsurface indicating the growth of an indigenous bacterial community. This increased habitability is presumably related to the soil's ability to retain water for at least 6 weeks at this depth. The lack of a continuous growth signal at the surface is likely due to rapid desiccation. In the sand wedge subsurface, the increase in PLFA content is not continuous despite the water activity being &gt;0.9. The reason for this remains unclear but indicates that not only water availability is relevant for habitability but also the here described soil heterogeneities might impact the detection of the microbial response. Yet, the increasing PLFA trend in the polygon subsurface emphasized its relevance as a saline microbial habitat in an otherwise hostile environment, which could have implications for the assessment of soil habitability on Mars.

Comparison between the Effects of Normal Rain and Acid Rain on Calcareous Stones under Laboratory Simulation

Acid rain is a problem that despite efforts to reduce atmospheric pollution, continues to impact not only countries where there is a high production of pollutants, but also transboundary areas to which the pollutants are transported. In addition to its effects on human health, there are also the effects on infrastructure and the consequences that this entails. This study on the effect of rain and acid rain on calcareous materials highlights the need for protection of buildings constructed from these materials, many of which are part of the cultural heritage. The effects caused by rain and acid rain were studied using a rain simulator whose features allow the simulation of natural conditions as realistically as possible. In the same way, the effect of a coating synthesized from nanomaterials, which has been shown to serve as protection against the degradation caused by rain, was analyzed. In addition to a long-lasting protection of the stone material, this type of coating avoids the need for the replacement of elements and the recurrent cleaning of degraded parts. It also avoids the accumulation of parts on the ground, the transport of personnel, work materials and raw materials, thereby contributing to the reduction of the carbon footprint and water savings, which in turn reduces the production of pollutants that cause acid rain.

Morpho-physiological trait variation of pre-harvest sprouting tolerance to simulated rain in mungbean (Vigna radiata)

Preharvest sprouting (PHS) is one of the most important factors for lower productivity in mungbean [Vigna radiata(L.) R. Wilczek]. The morpho-physiological characters, ultra-structural variations in pods and seeds, changes andregulatory water absorption pathway of 30 mungbean genotypes in relation to pre-harvest sprouting behaviour wasstudied during kharif 2017–19 at Seed Research Technology Center, Indian Institute of Rice Research, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad, Telangana. Mungbean genotypes subjected to PHS imposed by simulated rainfall were evaluated. Rainfall simulator generates a rainfall spectrum that was similar to natural rainfall. Genotypes LGG 450 and K 851 with low score (%), while ML 267 and MGG 295 with high score (%) were screened as tolerant and susceptible to PHS. Accordingly, higher seed yield was recorded in LGG 450 (4.94 g/plant) followed by K 851 (4.20 g/plant) while lower seed yield was recorded in ML 267 (0.26 g/plant) followed by MGG 295 (0.79 g/plant). The findings were further corroborated with SEM studies by presence of sparse, wiry, short, twist or shriveled trichomes; thick cuticular pod wall, wide locular gap between seed coat (seed) and pod wall helping for the slow diffusion of moisture from endosperm to embryo. Further, the presence of lea-protein-insulated starch grains of endosperm merits lipophilic nature which might hindered dissipation of water to embryo via endosperm. The SEM studies have established ultrastructural features that determine the resistance to pre-harvest sprouting of mungbean and development of future resistant lines identification.

Dripping Rainfall Simulators for Soil Research—Performance Review

Rainfall simulators represent often-used equipment for soil research. Depending on their performance, they could be appropriate for some soil research or not. The aim of this research is to provide insight into the capabilities of existing dripping rainfall simulators (DRS) to mimic natural rainfall and the frequency of simulated rainfalls of certain characteristics, facilitate the selection of rain simulators that would best meet the needs of soil research and to reach a step closer to the standardization of rainfall simulators. DRS performance was analyzed integrally, for simulators with more than one dripper (DRS&gt;1) and with one dripper (DRS=1). A statistical analysis was performed for the performance of the DRS, wetted area, drop size, rainfall intensity, duration and kinetic energy. The analysis showed that DRS can provide rainfall that corresponds to natural rainfall, except in terms of the drop size distribution and wetted area. However, usually there are more factors that do not correspond to natural rainfall, such as the median drop size, volume and kinetic energy. Metal and plastic tubes (MT and PT) as the most present dripper types showed a strong relation between the outer diameter (OD) and drop size, while the inner diameter (ID) relation was moderate-to-weak. However, when increasing the range of MT drippers, for diameter size, the relation significance becomes very strong for bouts ID and OD. With the increase in the ID of PT, the relation deviates from the logarithmic curve that represents all drippers together. The sizes of the drops generated by the drippers are mostly in the range between 2 and 6 mm, while the number of drops smaller than 2 mm is relatively small. The intensity and duration of the simulated rain can be successfully produced to match natural values, with the most frequently simulated short-term rainfall of a high intensity. Most simulations were conducted at a fall height of up to 2 m, and then their number gradually decreases as the height gets closer to 5 m. Most simulations (58.6%) occur in the range between 20-90% KE, then 33.0% in a range of 90-100%, with only 8.4% lower than 20% KE.

Prediction of Run-Off Time for Water Film Thickness and the Effects on Wet Antenna Attenuation

Most of the reported works on wet antenna attenuation (WAA) focused on the estimation of the water-layer thickness without considering the time taken to be drained off from the reflector (that is, the runoff time). Simulated rain experiments was conducted on a parabolic antenna with a diameter of 0.6 m. Based on measurement data, this study examined the parametric effects of rain rate on water film thickness and runoff duration, and then associated those findings to the overall WAA. It was found that WAA increases with the water film thickness, while decreasing with the runoff time. More so, the latter quantity both increase with the antenna dish size. The study is useful in accounting for the WAA component in the overall link budget design for adequate service delivery.

Effect of Rainfall Intensity and Slope at the Beginning of Sandy Loam Soil Runoff using Rain Simulator (Case Study: Semnan City)

Effect of Rainfall Intensity and Slope at the Beginning of Sandy Loam Soil Runoff using Rain Simulator (Case Study: Semnan City)

Polymer-modified halloysite nanotubes with high adhesion and UV-shielding properties for chlopyrifos application on cotton leaves

Photodegradation and the low retention rate of pesticides on crop leaves seriously affect their utilization rate. Regarding this problem, we have developed an anti-ultraviolet and high-adhesion pesticide carrier based on halloysite nanotubes (Hal) and was loaded with chlorpyrifos (CPF). By grafting polyethylenimine (PEI) and protocatechuic acid (PCA) onto Hal, PEI-g-Hal (pH) and PCA-g-(PEI-g-Hal) (PPH) were obtained. Load CPF into the cavity of PPH by negative pressure to obtain PPH @ CPF. Its structure and morphology were confirmed by TEM, XPS, FT-IR, zeta potential, TG and XRD, etc. The results indicated that the retention rate of PPH@CPF on cotton leaves was 74.33%, estimated as 1.8 times more efficient than that of PH@CPF. The fluorescence intensity of PPH@FITC was better than that of PH@FITC after 5 times of simulated rain wash. With the decrease in pH, the amino group was protonated gradually, PPH@CPF hydrophilicity was enhanced, and the release rate of PPH@CPF increased gradually. At pH = 5–7 (roughly the same as the pH environment on the leaf surface), PPH@CPF has a faster initial rate and a longer sustained release period than in other pH environments. The photodegradation rate of PPH@CPF was 70% after 24 h, which was much lower than the original CPF. The high adhesion and UV-shielding properties of organic modified Hal played a positive role in reducing the photodegradation and improved the retention rate of pesticides on the crop leaf surface, thus having an extensive significance in crop protection and environmental protection.

Towards development of sustainable metallic superhydrophobic materials

In the present study, an environment friendly, scalable, and cost-effective approach is proposed, combining thermo-mechanical and microwave-assisted hydrothermal processing techniques, resulting in the augmentation of nanoscale structures on metallic surfaces. The thermo-mechanical processing of the aluminium alloy performed at different strain rates resulted in significant grain refinement (∼ 1 µm for processed and ∼ 30 µm for unprocessed samples). After hydrothermal treatment, highly dense and networked nanostructured morphology was evoked by refined grains. Post silanization, samples exhibited high contact angle (θs > 155°) with a low tilt angle (θt < 10°) and CAH (< 5°). The low adhesion with water (∼ 16 µN) for the processed sample (∼ 50 μN for unprocessed) with utmost refined grains is attributed to the high interfacial energy of Cassie state (EC−B>1.0J) due to effective entrapment of air. The processed samples were highly de-wetting and mechanically resilient owing to the strong negative capillary pressure (PC > 1100 kPa) generated by highly dense networked nanostructures. As a result of thermo-mechanical processing, samples displayed higher resilience to abrasion, simulated rain, and long-term immersion tests with low tilt angles (θt < 10°) and CAH (< 5 °). This paper provides a practical approach to achieve anti-wetting surfaces in various industrial settings.

Using simulated rainfall to evaluate cover crops and winter manure application to limit nutrient loss in runoff

AbstractCover crops can be effective in minimizing nutrient losses from agricultural fields. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of cover crop (rye, Secale cereale L.) and winter manure application on nutrient loss in simulated rainfall runoff. A split block design study with manure (as vertical block) and cover crops (as horizontal block) was established in 2009. Two rain simulations (the first defined as “dry” and the second “wet”) using sixteen 4 m2 steel frames were conducted in May 2010. The runoff volume collected from each plot was analyzed for nitrate–nitrogen (NO3–N), total suspended solids, total Kjeldahl nitrogen, total phosphorus, and total dissolved phosphorus. In the dry run, the concentration and load of NO3–N were significantly lower (p = 0.05) in runoff with the cover crop than in no‐cover crop treatment. Overall, cover crops reduced nutrient loss in concentration by 6%–48% in the dry and 8%–40% in the wet run than with no‐cover crops. The concentration and load of NO3–N were significantly higher under manure treatments in both “dry” and “wet” runoff runs compared to no‐manure application. Manure application increased nutrient loss in concentration by 6%–58% in the dry and 10%–69% in the wet run than with no‐manure application. This study helps us to understand the complexity of winter manure application with cover crops and potential risks of nutrient loss to surface runoff during spring in the Northern Great plains of the Dakotas.

How Accurately Can Warm Rain Realistically Be Retrieved with Satellite Sensors? Part II: Horizontal and Vertical Heterogeneities

Abstract There are many sources of uncertainty in satellite precipitation retrievals of warm rain. In this paper, the second of a two-part study, we focus on uncertainties related to spatial heterogeneity and surface clutter. A cloud-resolving model simulation of warm, shallow clouds is used to simulate satellite observations from three theoretical satellite architectures—one similar to the Global Precipitation Measurement Core Observatory, one similar to CloudSat, and one similar to the planned Atmosphere Observing System (AOS). Rain rates are then retrieved using a common optimal estimation framework. For this case, retrieval biases due to nonuniform beamfilling are very large, with retrieved rain rates negatively (low) biased by as much as 40%–50% (depending on satellite architecture) at 5 km horizontal resolution. Surface clutter also acts to negatively bias retrieved rain rates. Combining all sources of uncertainty, the theoretical AOS satellite is found to outperform CloudSat in terms of retrieved surface rain rate, with a bias of −19% as compared with −28%, a reduced spread of retrieval errors, and an additional 17.5% of cases falling within desired uncertainty limits. The results speak to the need for additional high-resolution modeling simulations of warm rain so as to better characterize the uncertainties in satellite precipitation retrievals.

Changeability of rill erosion properties due to microorganism inoculation

This study aimed to assess the impacts of using soil microorganisms onrill erosion prosses. Consequently, the efficacy of individual bacteria (Ba) and combined inoculation of bacteria and cyanobacteria (Ba + Cy) extracted from a Marl region's soil microorganism bank in changing rill erosion processes was investigated. The experiment was carried out on mid-sized plots (1 × 6 m) with a 30 % slope and three replicates. Plots were subjected to a design simulated rain with an intensity of 50 mm.h−1 and a duration of 30 min. A supplementary runoff with a discharge of 2 L.min−1 was also used to mimic more extended slope conditions to motivate the rilling phenomenon. The results of the study disclosed that the control (i.e., not inoculated) and treated plots (i.e., Ba and Ba + Cy) behaved differently in the viewpoint of runoff, soil loss, flow hydraulics, and rill morphometry. Statistical analyses revealed that Ba and Ba + Cy treatments controlled all runoff and soil loss components, flow hydraulic characteristics, and rill morphologic factors significantly (p < 0.05) except the infiltrated water (p = 0.56) and the Froude number (p = 0.11) compared to the control plots. The findings implied that Ba and Ba + Cy inoculations, compared to control plots, increased infiltrated water by 1.73 and 1.55 folds and reduced soil loss by 100.31 and 273.94 folds, respectively. The Froude and Reynolds numbers declined by 2.34 and 5.77 folds when Ba was applied. At the same time, Ba + Cy decreased the Froude and Reynolds numbers by 1.24 and 20.08 folds, respectively. Furthermore, rill frequencies in the treated plots by Ba and Ba + Cy were tobogganed by 3.67 and 2.20 folds with a high effect on increasing initiation times by 17.80 and 28.29 folds compared to the control treatment. Our findings suggest endemic microorganism inoculation as an effective bioengineering technique for managing rill erosion-prone regions.

Modified inderbitzen equipment for simulation of water erosion in undeformed soil samples

Several devices have been developed to assess soil losses by water erosion. However, they rarely assess the combined effects of raindrop impact and surface runoff together with vegetation cover on varying slopes. This study aimed to design and validate an equipment, on laboratory scale, to evaluate the effect of water erosion on undisturbed soil samples with and without plant cover, as well as to assess the kinetic energy of simulated rain and the resultant shear stress at varying runoff intensities. The equipment is composed of a rainfall simulator, an adjustable stand for different slopes and falling heights, and a runoff ramp for testing undisturbed soil samples measuring 15 x 20 x 40 cm (height, width, and length). In this study, the equipment simulated and evaluated the effect of precipitation and runoff on soil losses, allowing to obtain different values of the kinetic energy of precipitation and runoff. For a f low rate of 12 L min-1 and slope of 35%, the shear stress could reach up to 8 Pa. Furthermore, the equipment showed the effect of vegetation cover and slope on soil losses in different granulometric fractions (&lt; 0.106 mm, 0.106 to 0.25 mm, 0.25 to 0.5 mm, 0.5 to 1.0 mm, 1.0 to 2.0 mm, and &gt; 2.0 mm), revealing the potential of its use in several erosion studies on a laboratory scale.

Assessing Distribution Shift in Probabilistic Object Detection Under Adverse Weather

Object detection is a safety-critical aspect of autonomous driving, allowing vehicles to identify moving objects in the scene for tracking, prediction and decision making. Current detectors, however, tend to provide point estimates for detected objects, which lack information on the variability of the prediction and how well it fits the model that produced the prediction. Proper uncertainty estimation can be incorporated into traditional object detection pipelines to produce a measure of uncertainty alongside traditional point estimate object predictions. In this work, uncertainty estimates are implemented for LiDAR and camera object detectors using Bayesian theory, and the resulting output distributions are assessed using signal detection theory to generate an uncertainty based classifier that can evaluate its own performance. The classifier can be used to track the ratio of false positive to true positive detections, defined as the <italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">anomalous detections ratio</i> . Findings from this work indicate that this novel metric is responsive to degraded driving conditions including night time driving and lens obstructions for the RGB camera, while in LiDAR data, the metric is responsive to snowfall and simulated rain conditions. These results are focused on the classification and regression of vehicle objects, making use of the sizeable ground-truth sets for vehicles that are provided in publicly-available autonomous driving data sets.

Effects of ecological roofs in water quality: an experimental study over a humid tropical climate

Although ecological roofs (vegetated or non-vegetated) provide many benefits, it can also leach substances such as nutrients and metals that can affect downstream aquatic ecosystems. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the rainwater quality from ecological roofs in Recife, located in the Northeast Brazil, using local species in a tropical and humid climate. Using four test cells of 1 m2 (one non-vegetated filled with expanded clay aggregate, two vegetated with cactus “Coroa-de-Frade” and grass “Grama Esmeralda”, and one control roof), we analyzed thirteen water quality variables regarding irrigation parameters: pH, electrical conductivity, turbidity, nitrate, ammonia, phosphate, bicarbonate, carbonate, calcium, magnesium, sulfate, potassium, boron, sodium, and sodium adsorption ratio. We simulated rain events controlling its intensity and analyzed a sample of natural rainwater event. All roofs neutralized the pH. Control and clay roofs were source of bicarbonate and calcium, responsible for more alkaline effluents. Carbonate and ammonia were below the recommended limits for irrigation purposes for all roofs. Green roofs were source of nitrate, ammonia, and boron. Neither roofs were source or sink for sulfate and chloride for all analyzed samples. Regarding the natural rainwater experiment, only green roof with Coroa-de-Frade exceeded the recommend irrigation parameters for potassium and phosphate. A post-treatment is required for irrigation purposes. We recommend a first-flush system followed by a filter with sand and activated carbon.

Survival, mobilization, and transport of Escherichia coli from sheep faeces.

This study looked at the survival, mobilization, and transport of Escherichia coli from sheep faeces over an extended period, which was then repeated for all four seasons. Rain simulation was used to measure E. coli mobilization directly from faecal pats and subsequent transport across a soil surface. The rain simulation experiments were conducted over the same 90-day period and for the four seasons as per the survival experiments conducted to determine E. coli survival in faecal pats. The survival experiments demonstrated up to three orders of magnitude increase of E. coli in sheep faeces. Peak E. coli concentrations in the faeces were observed on Day 2 through to Day 30, with no significant effect of seasons or weather patterns. The E. coli concentrations in the runoff followed the survival pattern of E. coli concentrations in the faeces. There was a statistically significant relationship between the E. coli concentrations in the faeces and the runoff. The data generated on the relationship between Escherichia coli concentrations in the faeces and in the runoff can support the development of runoff risk models for sheep grazing pastureland to support catchment modelling, land use decisions, and public health.

Evaluation of phosphorus runoff from sandy soils under conservation tillage with surface broadcasted recovered phosphates

Potential new sources of phosphorus (P) fertilizer are the recovered P from livestock wastewater through chemical precipitation and the ash from combusting animal manures. Although most of the research on P losses from conservation tillage include high water-soluble P compounds from commercial fertilizer sources, information on the use of non-conventional, low water-soluble, recycled P sources is scarce. Particularly for sandy soils of the United States (US) Southeastern Coastal Plain region, research driven information on P loss into the environment is needed to determine recommendations for a direct use of new recycled P sources as crop P fertilizers. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential P runoff from sandy soils under conservation tillage, fertilized with recovered P from liquid swine manure and turkey litter ash in comparison with commercial P fertilizer triple superphosphate (TSP). The field study included two typical sandy soils of the US Southeastern Coastal Plain region, the Noboco and Norfolk. Simulated rain corresponding to the annual 30-min rainfall in the study site (Florence County, South Carolina) was applied to plots treated with recovered P from liquid swine manure, turkey litter ash, and TSP, including a control with no P added. The runoff was monitored and sampled every 5 min during the test and composite soil samples were collected from the top (0–15 cm) and subsurface (15–30 cm) soil layers in each plot. Laboratory analyses were conducted to quantify both total P (TP) and soluble reactive P (SRP) in runoff samples, and the soil test P in the soil layers. Two-way analyses of variances show significant treatment effects on both TP and SRP runoff. The quantities of SRP runoff from plots treated with the recovered P from swine manure and turkey litter ash represent respectively 1% and 7–8% of SRP runoff from plots treated with TSP. Hence, the use of the recovered P materials as crop P fertilizers through surface broadcast application present less environmental risks compared to commercial TSP.

Insights into the effect of cyanobacterial inoculations on the microbial dynamics of an arable soil under simulated rain

Insights into the effect of cyanobacterial inoculations on the microbial dynamics of an arable soil under simulated rain