Soil Science Applications Research Articles

Surface soil water content regimes: opportunities in soil science

With the qualities and properties of soil not being uniformly distributed across continents, soils are classified according to their morphological features, genesis and soil-forming processes. Because properties of soils vary across the landscape, a relationship observed at one location may not be applicable for other locations. Hence, measured data and deduced relationships are location specific and should be interpreted with information regarding the particular soil type according to the discipline of soil science. To better understand the role of water in land-atmosphere interactions and the role of land-atmosphere interactions in regional and global climate, spatial and temporal observations of water in the soil surface can be more comprehensively analyzed with a knowledge of soil science. On the other hand, an opportunity to strengthen the discipline of soil science (with its various branches of soil physics, soil chemistry, soil microbiology, etc.) exists if spatial and temporal observations of water in the soil surface at different scales are consudered. Anticipating that such observations of soil water will eventually become more abundantly available through satellite imagery, we discuss how they can be used to improve our understanding and application of soil science.

Random Boolean Functions: Non-Parametric Estimation of the Intensity. Application to Soil Surface Roughness

A non-parametric estimation method is proposed for the intensity of the Poisson process associated to a Boolean random function. The case studied is that of marks being half-spheres as primary functions, these half-spheres lying on a given horizontal plane. The proposed method is derived from the method presented in Gyorfi, Hardle, Sarda et Vieu [1989] for the case of time series. An application in soil science is presented.

Earthworm transport of heavy metals from sewage sludge: a micro-PIXE application in soil science

Micro-PIXE was used to analyze earthworm fecal material and the linings of earthworm channels in the soil below a land area on which sewage sludge had been applied. Metals present in the sludge were identified both in fecal pellets and in the linings of the channels, at concentration markedly higher than in the soil matrix. PIXE elemental data in raster format were spatially analyzed during image analysis demonstrating in a quantitative manner the spatial correlations among elements transported by the earthworms.

Soil Analysis, Modern Instrumental Techniques

Principles of analytic techniques are combined with discussions of sample preparation and matrix problems, and critical reviews of applications in soil science and related disciplines. This revised and enlarged second edition (first, 1984?) includes new material on topics such as ion chromatography

Criteria of GIS applications in soil science

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is regarded as a tool of Electronic Data Processing (EDP) handling scientific data with geographical references. Corresponding to this, a GIS consists at least of pure graphical data and the alphanumerical informations belonging to them. Therefore it is useful for discussing criteria of GIS applications to follow the way of building up an information system. After a short reflection on general aspects of EDP, three important conceptual aspects of building up any information system are pointed out as a background for discussing criteria of EDP application in general. Emphasis is given to the management of linkage and the maintenance of relationships between the graphical and the alphanumerical part of informations with geographical reference. This article stresses the objectivity of EDP and asks for the efficiency of EDP applications. Concerning these two points several, nontechnical criteria of GIS applications in soil science will be discussed.

Soil Science, soil protection and productivity opening address - National soils conference

Australia will continue to rely on its soils to maintain national well being. At the same time society will be more demanding that the soil resource be managed sustainably. Soil scientists are therefore challenged to be more effective in helping formulate policy, contributing to public understanding and in applying their knowledge to meet national need. Close consultation with land managers to define important problems is necessary as is increasing confidence that the knowledge we have is appropriate to the task. It is also important to recognise that much of our science was generated as a reductionist response to difficult problems and it is now necessary to integrate our knowledge to deal with those problems. Collaboration across organisations to ensure most effective use of that knowledge is necessary. Important opportunities to demonstrate application of soil science are identified. A plea is made to teach the subject, not just as an intellectual exercise but as a basis for problem solving across the whole range of uses to which soils are put. Case studies for guidance and to identify knowledge gaps are sought. There is also need to recognise that different client industries demand different communication models to ensure that soil science knowledge is applied appropriately.

SAMPLE SIZE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF CHANGES IN SOIL NUTRIENT POOLS

In long-term field studies, the number of soil samples required to detect a specified change is often determined by using the standard error of a soil property from a pilot study. When a soil property is highly variable, estimates of its standard error will also be highly variable. Therefore, it is useful to have confidence limits for the standard error in sample size calculations. We explored the empirical distribution of the standard error for several soil properties (total carbon pools, exchangeable cation pools, and forest floor element pools) using data collected from a northern hardwood forest site in central New Hampshire. We used a bootstrapping routine to simulate data sets for sample sizes ranging from 6 to 60 soil pits and computed the mean, 95%, and 98% confidence limits for the percentage change detectable by a specified number of sample observations. Using the 95% confidence limit for standard error resulted in as much as a twofold increase in the sample size requirement compared with the average standard error. For normally distributed data, the bootstrap confidence limits of standard error agree with those computed analytically. In the presence of modest nonnormality in the data, however, the analytic confidence limits do not agree with the bootstrap limits. Since the bootstrap procedure is free of parametric assumptions, it is a useful tool for general application in soil science.

X- and gamma -rays computerized minitomograph scanner for soil science

A computerized tomograph scanner system that uses X- and gamma -rays for applications in soil science is described. Use of the apparatus in measuring volumetric water content to an accuracy of +or-3% and soil bulk density to +or-2% (in grams per cubic centimeters) is discussed. The system features translation and rotation scanning modes, a 200-mm effective field of view, signal processing by pulse counting, and 1.0-mm spatial resolution. The system's advantages over classical methods are listed, principles of the tomographic method and physical considerations are presented, and the system's design is described.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Geostatistics and its application to soil science

Abstract. Geostatistics is principally the application of regionalized variable theory. The methods it embodies are applicable throughout the earth sciences for investigating the spatial variation of, and for estimating continuous random variables. The semi‐variogram is the central tool of geostatistics. It can quantify the scale and intensity of spatial variation and it provides the essential spatial information for local estimation by kriging and for optimizing sample intensity. It can also be used in an exploratory manner to try to discover underlying causes of the variation. Geostatistical methods have been widely applied in the mining industry and there are many examples of their application in soil science. Their use is illustrated by a case study of soil spatial variation in the Wyre Forest of England.

Application of Soil Science in Terrain Intelligence Studies

Application of Soil Science in Terrain Intelligence Studies