Soil and Water Research, 2013 (vol. 8), issue 4

INDEX OF VOLUME 8

editors

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):I | DOI: 10.17221/7043-SWR  

Thermal properties of representative soils of the Czech RepublicOriginal Paper

Radka KODEŠOVÁ, Miroslava VLASÁKOVÁ, Miroslav FÉR, Daniela TEPLÁ, Ondřej JAKŠÍK, Pavel NEUBERGER, Radomír ADAMOVSKÝ

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):141-150 | DOI: 10.17221/33/2013-SWR  

Knowledge of soil thermal properties is essential when assessing heat transport in soils. Thermal regime of soils is associated with many other soil processes (water evaporation and diffusion, plant transpiration, contaminants behaviour etc.). Knowledge of thermal properties is needed when assessing effectivity of energy gathering from soil profiles using horizontal ground heat exchangers, which is a topic of our research project. The study is focused on measuring of thermal properties (thermal conductivity and heat capacity) of representative soils of the Czech Republic. Measurements were performed on soil samples taken from the surface horizons of...

Investigation of polluted alluvial soils by magnetic susceptibility methods: a case study of the Litavka RiverOriginal Paper

Šárka DLOUHÁ, Eduard PETROVSKÝ, Aleš KAPIČKA, Luboš BORŮVKA, Christopher ASH, Ondřej DRÁBEK

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):151-157 | DOI: 10.17221/14/2013-SWR  

Serious pollution of alluvial soils by a wide range of potentially toxic elements is usually observed in the valleys with mining and metallurgical industry. To outline areas of increased risk elements inputs, measurements of soil magnetic susceptibility can be used. This method is based on the measurement of the concentration of ferrimagnetic minerals of anthropogenic origin, mainly iron oxides, which are closely associated with risk elements such as heavy metals. The aim of this study is to examine the link between magnetic susceptibility of poorly drained Litavka River alluvial soils located in the mining/smelting region of Příbram (Czech Republic)...

The impact of vegetation on the bank erosion (Case study: The Haraz River)Original Paper

Vahid GHOLAMI, Mohamad Reza KHALEGHI

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):158-164 | DOI: 10.17221/13/2012-SWR  

Vegetation establishment is a suitable biological method of erosion control. Bank erosion is one form of water erosion and its adverse effects include an increase in turbidity, degradation of riverbank lands, difficulties caused by sediments depositing in the downstream. The rate of riverbank erosion can be decreased by application of biological methods in sensitive reaches identified. In this study, a 3250 m section of the Haraz River was studied to evaluate the effects of vegetation establishment on shear stress, water velocity and finally on the bank erosion. In this research, Geographical Information System (HEC-GeoRAS extension), HEC-RAS software,...

Grid-based simulation of a lateral move irrigation systemOriginal Paper

Sven GRASHEY-JANSEN

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):165-171 | DOI: 10.17221/5/2013-SWR  

A central objective in irrigation science is the improvement of the water use efficiency (WUE). Mostly the focus is laid on improvements and innovations in irrigation technology. The characteristics of soils are often considered to be of secondary importance or totally disregarded. This paper reports on the simulation of a sensor network based irrigation system. The simulation was designed for a lateral move irrigation system with a notional irrigated area of 100 × 200 m. A grid-based network with soil specific calibrated and wireless moisture sensors (SMSN) captures the actual soil water content and calculates the corresponding water tensions simultaneously....

Evaluation of the relationships between runoff-rainfall-sediment related nutrient loss (A case study: Kojour Watershed, Iran)Original Paper

Hamzeh NOOR, Somayeh FAZLI, Seyed Maryam ALIBAKHSHI

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):172-177 | DOI: 10.17221/10/2013-SWR  

Suspended sediment (SS) resulted from distributed soil erosions facilitates soil organic matter and phosphorus (P) transportation and influences soil depletion and water quality. Organic matter (OM) in soil is the most important indicator of soil quality and productivity. P is one of the major nutrients controlling eutrophication of surface water. Irregular contaminant load pulsed by heavy rainfall may damage the ecological quality of downstream waters. Evaluation of OM and P, depleted by erosion processes in watershed scale, is necessary for better understanding the watershed system and should lead to appropriate management approaches. On the other...

Systematic geochemical study of the soils, litter, and bedrock of a Permian limestone mountain, Central JapanOriginal Paper

Shinichiro UENO, Kenichiro SUGITANI

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):178-185 | DOI: 10.17221/2/2013-SWR  

The paper deals with the results of a systematic geochemical study of soils at Mt Kinshozan in Central Japan, a limestone area known for its well-preserved Permian fossils. Compared with the typical composition of the Japanese upper continental crust, here the soils were found depleted in Si, Ca, Na, Mg, and K and rich in Ti, Al, and Fe. They were enriched with some heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Cu, Pb, and Zn) detected also in the acetic-acid residue of the limestone collected from Mt. Kinshozan. Therefore, the residual materials produced through chemical weathering of the limestone bedrock may have significantly contributed to the soils formation. Concentrations...

Selection of catchment descriptors for the physical similarity approach. Part II: ApplicationOriginal Paper

Martin HEŘMANOVSKÝ, Pavel PECH

Soil & Water Res., 2013, 8(4):186-194 | DOI: 10.17221/23/2012-SWR  

This paper demonstrates an application of the previously published method for selection of optimal catchment descriptors, according to which similar catchments can be identified for the purpose of estimation of the Sacramento - Soil Moisture Accounting (SAC-SMA) model parameters for a set of tested catchments, based on the physical similarity approach. For the purpose of the analysis, the following data from the Model Parameter Estimation Experiment (MOPEX) project were taken: a priori model parameter sets used as reference values for comparison with the newly estimated parameters, and catchment descriptors of four categories (climatic descriptors,...