[1] Climate model prediction skill is currently limited in response to poor land surface soil moisture state initialization. However, initial soil moisture state prediction skill can potentially be enhanced by the assimilation of remotely sensed near-surface soil moisture data in off-line simulation. This study is one of the first to evaluate such potential using actual remote sensing data toge...

[1] In dryland ecosystems, understanding the effects of heterogeneity in soil moisture and geophysical properties on vegetation structure and dynamics poses a suite of challenging research questions. Heterogeneity in soil depth can affect resource availability and the subsequent organization of woody vegetation, while spatiotemporal variation in soil moisture can reveal important ecohydrologica...

soil hydraulic properties are key soil physical characteristics that are required to conduct soil and water related studies such as irrigation and drainage. in this study, three indirect methods: inverse modeling, pedo-transfer function, and the semi-physical method of arya et al., were compared in a sandy loam soil to estimate soil moisture retention and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity curv...

Basically, the activity of the methane oxidizing bacteria is limited by the availability of oxygen in the landfill cover soil. Enforced by the use of fine-grained soils like silt, the surface tends to crust due to vertical erosion, blocking pores required for gas exchange. A column study was carried out to examine the impact of vegetation on improving the aeration of critical soil material and ...

Determinations of soil moisture and sediment availability in arid regions are important indicators of local climate variability and the potential for future dust storm events desertification. Data from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) radiometer are used to derive the relationships amongst potential soil erosion, soil moisture and thermal inertia (TI) at the spati...

Ecosystems may exhibit alternative stable states (ASS) in response to environmental change. Modelling and observational data broadly support the theory of ASS, however evidence from manipulation experiments supporting this theory is limited. Here, we provide long-term manipulation and observation data supporting the existence of drought induced alternative stable soil moisture states (irreversi...

Polyacrylamide (PAM) is used at rates of i to 2 kg ha per irrigation on a half million hectares of United States irrigated farmland to prevent 94% of irrigation-induced erosion and to enhance infiltration by i5% to 5o% on medium to fine-textured soils. The polyacrylamides used for this application are large (i2 to i5 megagrams per mole), water-soluble anion molecules applied in the irrigation s...

vegetation deterioration is a main cause of erosion and land degradation. therefore, land cover reclamation in the effected areas will affect erosion trend. in reclamation projects, the investigation of relationship between the planted species and soils is highly recommended. atriplex species can sequester carbon into soil, and have an ability to conserve soil and prevent soil erosion, as well....