Estimating standard-exceeding probabilities of toxic metals in soil is crucial for environmental evaluation. Because soil pH and land use types have strong effects on the bioavailability of trace metals in soil, they were taken into account by some environmental protection agencies in making composite soil environmental quality standards (SEQSs) that contain multiple metal thresholds under diff...

Physical changes that occur on the surface of fired shots due to firing and impact with soil may increase the dissolution of muniton metals. Increased metal dissolution could potentially increase metal transport and leaching, affecting metal concentrations in surface and groundwater. This research describes the relationship between the surface changes on fired tungsten-nickel-iron (94% W:2% Ni:...

Many soil remote sensing applications rely on narrow-band observations to exploit molecular absorption features. However, broadband sensors are invaluable for soil surveying, agriculture, land management and mineral exploration, amongst others. These sensors provide denser time series compared to high-resolution airborne imaging spectrometers and hold the potential of increasing the observable ...

Life within the soil is vital for maintaining life on Earth due to the numerous ecosystem services that it provides. However, there is evidence that pressures on the soil biota are increasing which may undermine some of these ecosystem services. Current levels of belowground biodiversity are relatively poorly known, and so no benchmark exists by which to measure possible future losses of biodiv...

An increasing demand for full spatio-temporal coverage of soil information drives the growing use of soil spectroscopy. Soil spectroscopy application performed under laboratory conditions or in-field studies in semi-arid areas have shown promising results. However, when acquiring data in temperate zones, limitations by vegetation-free coverage, variation in soil moisture and management are driv...

Based on the Propagation-Inside-Layer Expansion (PILE) and Forward-Backward method (FBM), the composite scattering from the target below a dielectric rough soil surface using the extended PILE (EPILE) combined with the Forward-Backward method (FBM) is studied. The accuracy and efficiency of the EPILE + FBM for this specific type of composite scattering is researched by comparing with the method...

One application, only in-situ soil mixing (or deep mixing method, DMM) is becoming increasingly common as an economical construction method for temporary support of deep foundation excavations and is also used in the construction of permanent retaining walls. Steel beams placed into the fresh soil/cement are generally used as the primary structural support, later supplemented with bracing or ti...

BACKGROUND Chromated copper arsenate (CCA)-treated wood has been widely used for outdoor play structures. There is a growing scientific concern about children's exposure to the arsenic that leaches from these structures. The purpose of this study was to measure arsenic from CCA-treated wood play structures owned by the City of Toronto to guide an appropriate exposure reduction strategy. METHO...

Arctic tundra and boreal forest soils have globally relevant functions that affect atmospheric chemistry and climate, yet the bacterial composition and diversity of these soils have received little study. Serial analysis of ribosomal sequence tags (SARST) and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) were used to compare composite soil samples taken from boreal and arctic biomes. This stud...

Soil and vegetation component temperatures in non-isothermal pixels encapsulate more physical meaning and are more applicable than composite temperatures. The component temperatures however are difficult to be obtained from thermal infrared (TIR) remote sensing data provided by single view angle observations. Here, we present a land surface temperature and albedo (T-α) space approach combined w...