We have developed a new concept for a smart sensor web technology for measurements of soil moisture that include spaceborne and in-situ assets. The objective of the technology is to enable a guided/adaptive sampling strategy for the in-situ sensor network to meet the measurement validation objectives of the spaceborne sensors, with respect to resolution and accuracy. One potential application i...

the physical properties of the municipal solid waste (msw) in kahrizak landfill (tehran, iran) and its changes due to aging were investigated in this research. a study of the components of the fresh msw in this landfill showed that more than 60% of it was made from the wastes of foods, fruits, vegetables and organic materials. next to that, paper/cardboard and plastics, with contributions of 14...

The determination of water application parameters for creating an optimal soil moisture profile represents a complex nonlinear optimization problem which renders traditional optimization into a cumbersome procedure. For this reason, an alternative methodology is proposed which combines a numerical subsurface flow model and artificial neural networks ~ANN! for solving the problem in two, fully s...

Raw runner type peanuts were dried to moisture levels of 4.24 or 6.62 %. Each batch was oil roasted at 160°C in pure peanut oil for the amount of time determined to produce a surface color of 48 on the Hunter L scale. The surfaces of the cotyledons were examined by scanning electron microscopy. Escaping steam caused ruptures in the surfaces during the roasting process. The higher moisture sampl...

Soil moisture is a key variable in dryland ecosystems since it determines the occurrence and duration of vegetation water stress and affects the development of weather patterns including rainfall. However, the lack of ground observations of soil moisture and rainfall dynamics in many drylands has long been a major obstacle in understanding ecohydrological processes in these ecosystems. It is al...

An investigation of the drying of spherical food particles was performed, using peas as the model material. In the development of a mathematical model for drying curves, moisture diffusion was modelled using Fick’s second law for mass transfer. The resulting partial differential equation was solved using a forward-time central-space finite difference approximation, with the assumption of variab...

Soil moisture simulation in current landsurface schemes is diverse: in terms of the realism (and complexity) of the parameterizations and in terms of the resulting predictions. Even after careful adjustment, the range in soil moisture among the results from the 14 schemes compared for the HAPEX-MOBILHY (S. France) site's 1.6 m soil layer remains around 100 mm (the annual precipitation for HAPEX...

simulation of rough rice drying is one of the proper methods for predicting moisture distribution in the product, and throughout the process of drying. the drying process must be well understood and controlled so that design guidelines which reduce or minimize drying damage to rough rice can be established and improved. therefore, an accurate understanding and description of the drying mechanis...