Interaction between Soil Moisture and Air Temperature in the Mississippi River Basin

Science.gov (United States)

Increasing air temperatures are expected to continue in the future. The relation between soil moisture and near surface air temperature is significant for climate change and climate extremes. Evaluation of the relations between soil moisture and temperature was performed by devel...

Shrub encroachment alters sensitivity of soil respiration to temperature and moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Cable, Jessica M.; Barron-Gafford, Greg A.; Ogle, Kiona; Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitchell; Scott, Russell L.; Williams, David G.; Huxman, Travis E.

2012-03-01

A greater abundance of shrubs in semiarid grasslands affects the spatial patterns of soil temperature, moisture, and litter, resulting in fertile islands with potentially enhanced soil metabolic activity. The goal of this study was to quantify the microsite specificity of soil respiration in a semiarid riparian ecosystem experiencing shrub encroachment. We quantified the response of soil respiration to different microsite conditions created by big mesquite shrubs (near the trunk and the canopy edge), medium-sized mesquite, sacaton bunchgrasses, and open spaces. We hypothesized that soil respiration would be more temperature sensitive and less moisture sensitive and have a greater magnitude in shrub microsites compared with grass and open microsites. Field and incubation soil respiration data were simultaneously analyzed in a Bayesian framework to quantify the microsite-specific temperature and moisture sensitivities and magnitude of respiration. The analysis showed that shrub expansion increases the heterogeneity of respiration. Respiration has greater temperature sensitivity near the shrub canopy edge, and respiration rates are higher overall under big mesquite compared with those of the other microsites. Respiration in the microsites beneath medium-sized mesquites does not behave like a downscaled version of big mesquite microsites. The grass microsites show more similarity to big mesquite microsites than medium-sized shrubs. This study shows there can be a great deal of fine-scale spatial heterogeneity that accompanies shifts in vegetation structure. Such complexity presents a challenge in scaling soil respiration fluxes to the landscape for systems experiencing shrub encroachment, but quantifying this complexity is significantly important in determining overall ecosystem metabolic behavior.

Impact of soil moisture on extreme maximum temperatures in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kirien Whan

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Land-atmosphere interactions play an important role for hot temperature extremes in Europe. Dry soils may amplify such extremes through feedbacks with evapotranspiration. While previous observational studies generally focused on the relationship between precipitation deficits and the number of hot days, we investigate here the influence of soil moisture (SM on summer monthly maximum temperatures (TXx using water balance model-based SM estimates (driven with observations and temperature observations. Generalized extreme value distributions are fitted to TXx using SM as a covariate. We identify a negative relationship between SM and TXx, whereby a 100 mm decrease in model-based SM is associated with a 1.6 °C increase in TXx in Southern-Central and Southeastern Europe. Dry SM conditions result in a 2–4 °C increase in the 20-year return value of TXx compared to wet conditions in these two regions. In contrast with SM impacts on the number of hot days (NHD, where low and high surface-moisture conditions lead to different variability, we find a mostly linear dependency of the 20-year return value on surface-moisture conditions. We attribute this difference to the non-linear relationship between TXx and NHD that stems from the threshold-based calculation of NHD. Furthermore the employed SM data and the Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI are only weakly correlated in the investigated regions, highlighting the importance of evapotranspiration and runoff for resulting SM. Finally, in a case study for the hot 2003 summer we illustrate that if 2003 spring conditions in Southern-Central Europe had been as dry as in the more recent 2011 event, temperature extremes in summer would have been higher by about 1 °C, further enhancing the already extreme conditions which prevailed in that year.

Microhabitat effects of litter temperature and moisture on forest-floor invertebrate communities

Science.gov (United States)

Tim A. Christiansen; Sue A. Perry; William B. Perry

1996-01-01

Litter temperature and moisture may be altered due to changes in global climate. We investigated the effect of small changes in litter temperature and moisture on forest-floor communities in West Virginia.

Hysteresis of soil temperature under different soil moisture and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... in a solar greenhouse. The objective of this study was to find a simple method to estimate the hysteresis of soil temperature under three soil moisture and two fertilizer levels in solar greenhouse conditions with tomato crop (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill). The results show that the soil moisture had no significant effects on ...

Assimilation of microwave brightness temperatures for soil moisture estimation using particle filter

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bi, H Y; Ma, J W; Qin, S X; Zeng, J Y

2014-01-01

Soil moisture plays a significant role in global water cycles. Both model simulations and remote sensing observations have their limitations when estimating soil moisture on a large spatial scale. Data assimilation (DA) is a promising tool which can combine model dynamics and remote sensing observations to obtain more precise ground soil moisture distribution. Among various DA methods, the particle filter (PF) can be applied to non-linear and non-Gaussian systems, thus holding great potential for DA. In this study, a data assimilation scheme based on the residual resampling particle filter (RR-PF) was developed to assimilate microwave brightness temperatures into the macro-scale semi-distributed Variance Infiltration Capacity (VIC) Model to estimate surface soil moisture. A radiative transfer model (RTM) was used to link brightness temperatures with surface soil moisture. Finally, the data assimilation scheme was validated by experimental data obtained at Arizona during the Soil Moisture Experiment 2004 (SMEX04). The results show that the estimation accuracy of soil moisture can be improved significantly by RR-PF through assimilating microwave brightness temperatures into VIC model. Both the overall trends and specific values of the assimilation results are more consistent with ground observations compared with model simulation results

Investigations for determining temperature, pressure and moisture distributions in concrete at high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weber, A.; Kamp, C.L.

1987-01-01

The paper gives a report on the test program. The main objective of the tests was the determination of the temperature and moisture fields decisive for the corrosion conditions, which are built up behind the liner in the range of the heated concrete. The determination of transport characteristics of the concrete are another objective. Small concrete specimens are used to determine the following data: Thermal conductivity, heat capacity, diffusion coefficient for liquid water, steam and air, steam sorption therms. The chemical shrinkage of the concrete as a function of moisture and temperature is being evaluated by means of tests and calculations. (orig./HP)

Experimental on moisture migration and pore pressure formation of concrete members subjected to high temperature

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nagao, Kakuhiro; Nakane, Sunao

1993-01-01

The experimental studies concerning temperature, moisture migration, and pore pressure of mass concrete mock-up specimens heated up to high temperature at 110degC to 600degC, were performed, so as to correctly estimate the moisture migration behaviour of concrete members subjected to high temperature, which is considered significantly influenced on physical properties of concrete. As a results, it is confirmed that the moisture migration behavior of concrete members can be explained by temperature and pore pressure, and indicate the characteristics both sealed condition (dissipation of moisture is prevented) and unsealed condition (dissipation of moisture occur). (author)

Automated Greenhouse : Temperature and soil moisture control

OpenAIRE

Attalla, Daniela; Tannfelt Wu, Jennifer

2015-01-01

In this thesis an automated greenhouse was built with the purpose of investigating the watering system’s reliability and if a desired range of temperatures can be maintained. The microcontroller used to create the automated greenhouse was an Arduino UNO. This project utilizes two different sensors, a soil moisture sensor and a temperature sensor. The sensors are controlling the two actuators which are a heating fan and a pump. The heating fan is used to change the temperature and the pump is ...

Moisture migration and shrinkage of hardened cement paste at elevated temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Numao, Tatsuya; Mihashi, Hirozo.

1991-01-01

The drying shrinkage of concrete is caused by the loss of water in the concrete. The moisture diffusion behavior influences the mechanical properties of concrete. When concrete is exposed to high temperature, the rate of moisture migration becomes fast, and moisture gradient is formed. This gradient causes cracks on the concrete surface. Accordingly, it is important to study on the relation between the drying shrinkage and the water diffusion in concrete when its mechanical properties at elevated temperature are discussed. In this paper, the results of the experiment which was carried out by using thin-walled cylinder specimens kept at different temperature and stress are reported. The specimens, the drying shrinkage of concrete and acoustic emission (AE), the thermal expansion of hardened cement paste, the influence that temperature change exerted to the drying shrinkage, and the influence that compressive stress and temperature exerted to water migration are described. The thin-walled cylinder specimens were useful for these experimental studies. (K.I.)

The relationship between brightness temperature and soil moisture. Selection of frequency range for microwave remote sensing

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, K.S.; Chandra, G.; Rao, P.V.N.

1987-01-01

The analysis of brightness temperature data acquired from field and aircraft experiments demonstrates a linear relationship between soil moisture and brightness temperature. However, the analysis of brightness temperature data acquired by the Skylab radiometer demonstrates a non-linear relationship between soil moisture and brightness temperature. In view of the above and also because of recent theoretical developments for the calculation of the dielectric constant and brightness temperature under varying soil moisture profile conditions, an attempt is made to study the theoretical relationship between brightness temperature and soil moisture as a function of frequency. Through the above analysis, the appropriate microwave frequency range for soil moisture studies is recommended

Soil moisture and temperature profile effects on microwave emission at low frequencies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Raju, S.; Chanzy, A.; Wigneron, J.P.; Calvet, J.C.; Kerr, Y.; Laguerre, L.

1995-01-01

Soil moisture and temperature vertical profiles vary quickly during the day and may have a significant influence on the soil microwave emission. The objective of this work is to quantify such an influence and the consequences in soil moisture estimation from microwave radiometric information. The analysis is based on experimental data collected by the ground-based PORTOS radiometer at 1.4, 5.05, and 10.65 GHz and data simulated by a coherent model of microwave emission from layered media [Wilheit model (1978)]. In order to simulate diurnal variations of the brightness temperature (TB), the Wilheit model is coupled to a mechanistic model of heat and water flows in the soil. The Wilheit model is validated on experimental data and its performances for estimating TB are compared to those of a simpler approach based on a description of the soil media as a single layer (Fresnel model). When the depth of this single layer (hereafter referred to as the sampling depth) is determined to fit the experimental data, similar accuracy in TB estimation is found with both the Wilheit and Fresnel models. The soil microwave emission is found to be strongly affected by the diurnal variations of soil moisture and temperature profiles. Consequently, the TB sensitivity to soil moisture and temperature profiles has an influence on the estimation, from microwave observations, of the surface soil moisture in a surface layer with a fixed depth (05): the accuracy of θs retrievals and the optimal sampling depth depends both on the variation in soil moisture and temperature profile shape. (author)

Effect of temperature and moisture on the mineralization and humification of leaf litter in a model incubation experiment

Science.gov (United States)

Larionova, A. A.; Maltseva, A. N.; Lopes de Gerenyu, V. O.; Kvitkina, A. K.; Bykhovets, S. S.; Zolotareva, B. N.; Kudeyarov, V. N.

2017-04-01

The mineralization and humification of leaf litter collected in a mixed forest of the Prioksko-Terrasny Reserve depending on temperature (2, 12, and 22°C) and moisture (15, 30, 70, 100, and 150% of water holding capacity ( WHC)) has been studied in long-term incubation experiments. Mineralization is the most sensitive to temperature changes at the early stage of decomposition; the Q 10 value at the beginning of the experiment (1.5-2.7) is higher than at the later decomposition stages (0.3-1.3). Carbon losses usually exceed nitrogen losses during decomposition. Intensive nitrogen losses are observed only at the high temperature and moisture of litter (22°C and 100% WHC). Humification determined from the accumulation of humic substances in the end of incubation decreases from 34 to 9% with increasing moisture and temperature. The degree of humification CHA/CFA is maximum (1.14) at 12°C and 15% WHC; therefore, these temperature and moisture conditions are considered optimal for humification. Humification calculated from the limit value of litter mineralization is almost independent of temperature, but it significantly decreases from 70 to 3% with increasing moisture. A possible reason for the difference between the humification values measured by two methods is the conservation of a significant part of hemicelluloses, cellulose, and lignin during the transformation of litter and the formation of a complex of humic substances with plant residues, where HSs fulfill a protectoral role and decrease the decomposition rate of plant biopolymers.

Effect of moisture content and temperature on thermal behaviour of sesame seed

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Seyed-Hassan Miraei ASHTIANI

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The specific heat, thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity of two varieties (white and brown of sesame seeds were evaluated as a function of moisture content and temperature. The experiments were conducted in the temperature range of 25-70˚C and the moisture content range of 3.86-19.83% (dry basis for white and 3.07-18.99% (dry basis for brown varieties. The specific heat of white and brown sesame seeds ranged 1062-3058 and 906-2958 J/(kg·˚C, respectively. Thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity values also increased with increasing either moisture content or temperature. Thermal diffusivity varied between 4.66×10-8 and 8.59×10-8 m2/s for white and 4.36×10-8-8.08×10-8 m2/s for brown varieties. Thermal conductivity ranged 0.031-0.149 and 0.023-0.135 W/(m·˚C for white and brown varieties, respectively. Results showed that the moisture content and temperature had significant effects (p≤0.01 on the studied properties.

Western US high June 2015 temperatures and their relation to global warming and soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Philip, Sjoukje Y.; Kew, Sarah F.; Hauser, Mathias; Guillod, Benoit P.; Teuling, Adriaan J.; Whan, Kirien; Uhe, Peter; Oldenborgh, Geert Jan van

2018-04-01

The Western US states Washington (WA), Oregon (OR) and California (CA) experienced extremely high temperatures in June 2015. The temperature anomalies were so extreme that they cannot be explained with global warming alone. We investigate the hypothesis that soil moisture played an important role as well. We use a land surface model and a large ensemble from the weather@home modelling effort to investigate the coupling between soil moisture and temperature in a warming world. Both models show that May was anomalously dry, satisfying a prerequisite for the extreme heat wave, and they indicate that WA and OR are in a wet-to-dry transitional soil moisture regime. We use two different land surface-atmosphere coupling metrics to show that there was strong coupling between temperature, latent heat flux and the effect of soil moisture deficits on the energy balance in June 2015 in WA and OR. June temperature anomalies conditioned on wet/dry conditions show that both the mean and extreme temperatures become hotter for dry soils, especially in WA and OR. Fitting a Gaussian model to temperatures using soil moisture as a covariate shows that the June 2015 temperature values fit well in the extrapolated empirical temperature/drought lines. The high temperature anomalies in WA and OR are thus to be expected, given the dry soil moisture conditions and that those regions are in the transition from a wet to a dry regime. CA is already in the dry regime and therefore the necessity of taking soil moisture into account is of lower importance.

Induction of enhanced methane oxidation in compost: Temperature and moisture response

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mor, Suman; Visscher, Alex de; Ravindra, Khaiwal; Dahiya, R.P.; Chandra, A.; Cleemput, Oswald van

2006-01-01

Landfilling is one of the most common ways of municipal solid waste disposal. Degradation of organic waste produces CH 4 and other landfill gases that significantly contribute to global warming. However, before entering the atmosphere, part of the produced CH 4 can be oxidised while passing through the landfill cover. In the present study, the oxidation rate of CH 4 was studied with various types of compost as possible landfill cover. The influence of incubation time, moisture content and temperature on the CH 4 oxidation capacity of different types of compost was examined. It was observed that the influence of moisture content and temperature on methane oxidation is time-dependent. Maximum oxidation rates were observed at moisture contents ranging from 45% to 110% (dry weight basis), while the optimum temperature ranged from 15 to 30 deg. C

Effects of Wax Coating on the Moisture Loss of Cucumbers at Different Storage Temperatures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jian Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The effects of wax coating on moisture loss of cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L., cv. Jinglv were investigated at different temperatures. Cucumbers were treated with 10% (volume : volume wax and then stored at 15, 20, 25, or 30°C and 55% relative humidity. The changes in the mass of samples were recorded every 6 h. Results showed that wax coating along with low temperature was very effective in preventing moisture loss of cucumbers during simulated distribution. After 48 h storage, moisture loss in wax treated cucumbers at 15°C was 45% lower than the control at 30°C. Furthermore, a kinetic model was developed to study the influence of temperature on moisture loss based on the Arrhenius law. The model successfully described changes in cucumber moisture loss at different temperatures during storage. The shelf life of cucumber was also predicted using the kinetic model. A synergistic effect was found between wax coating and storage temperature on cucumber shelf life. Wax coating combined with low storage temperature was an effective method to extend the shelf life of cucumber fruit.

Using Plant Temperature to Evaluate the Response of Stomatal Conductance to Soil Moisture Deficit

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ming-Han Yu

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Plant temperature is an indicator of stomatal conductance, which reflects soil moisture stresses. We explored the relationship between plant temperature and soil moisture to optimize irrigation schedules in a water-stress experiment using Firmiana platanifolia (L. f. Marsili in an incubator. Canopy temperature, leaf temperature, and stomatal conductance were measured using thermal imaging and a porometer. The results indicated that (1 stomatal conductance decreased with declines in soil moisture, and reflected average canopy temperature; (2 the variation of the leaf temperature distribution was a reliable indicator of soil moisture stress, and the temperature distribution in severely water-stressed leaves exhibited greater spatial variation than that in the presence of sufficient irrigation; (3 thermal indices (Ig and crop water stress index (CWSI were theoretically proportional to stomatal conductance (gs, Ig was certified to have linearity relationship with gs and CWSI have a logarithmic relationship with gs, and both of the two indices can be used to estimate soil moisture; and (4 thermal imaging data can reflect water status irrespective of long-term water scarcity or lack of sudden rainfall. This study applied thermal imaging methods to monitor plants and develop adaptable irrigation scheduling, which are important for the formulation of effective and economical agriculture and forestry policy.

Soil moisture effects on seasonal temperature and precipitation forecast scores in Europe

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hurk, Bart van den; Camargo, Helio [Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, KNMI, PO Box 201, AE De Bilt (Netherlands); Doblas-Reyes, Francisco [Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences (IC3), Barcelona (Spain); European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Reading (United Kingdom); Balsamo, Gianpaolo [European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), Reading (United Kingdom); Koster, Randal D. [NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, Greenbelt, MD (United States); Seneviratne, Sonia I. [Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, Zurich (Switzerland)

2012-01-15

The Second Global Land Atmosphere Coupling Experiment (GLACE2) is designed to explore the improvement of forecast skill of summertime temperature and precipitation up to 8 weeks ahead by using realistic soil moisture initialization. For the European continent, we show in this study that for temperature the skill does indeed increase up to 6 weeks, but areas with (statistically significant) lower skill also exist at longer lead times. The skill improvement is smaller than shown earlier for the US, partly because of a lower potential predictability of the European climate at seasonal time scales. Selection of extreme soil moisture conditions or a subset of models with similar initial soil moisture conditions does improve the forecast skill, and sporadic positive effects are also demonstrated for precipitation. Using realistic initial soil moisture data increases the interannual variability of temperature compared to the control simulations in the South-Central European area at longer lead times. This leads to better temperature forecasts in a remote area in Western Europe. However, the covered range of forecast dates (1986-1995) is too short to isolate a clear physical mechanism for this remote correlation. (orig.)

Interactive Vegetation Phenology, Soil Moisture, and Monthly Temperature Forecasts

Science.gov (United States)

Koster, R. D.; Walker, G. K.

2015-01-01

The time scales that characterize the variations of vegetation phenology are generally much longer than those that characterize atmospheric processes. The explicit modeling of phenological processes in an atmospheric forecast system thus has the potential to provide skill to subseasonal or seasonal forecasts. We examine this possibility here using a forecast system fitted with a dynamic vegetation phenology model. We perform three experiments, each consisting of 128 independent warm-season monthly forecasts: 1) an experiment in which both soil moisture states and carbon states (e.g., those determining leaf area index) are initialized realistically, 2) an experiment in which the carbon states are prescribed to climatology throughout the forecasts, and 3) an experiment in which both the carbon and soil moisture states are prescribed to climatology throughout the forecasts. Evaluating the monthly forecasts of air temperature in each ensemble against observations, as well as quantifying the inherent predictability of temperature within each ensemble, shows that dynamic phenology can indeed contribute positively to subseasonal forecasts, though only to a small extent, with an impact dwarfed by that of soil moisture.

Numerical and experimental determination of surface temperature and moisture evolution in a field soil

Science.gov (United States)

Akinyemi, Olukayode D.; Mendes, Nathan

2007-03-01

Knowledge about the dynamics of soil moisture and heat, especially at the surface, provides important insights into the physical processes governing their interactions with the atmosphere, thereby improving the understanding of patterns of climate dynamics. In this context the paper presents the numerical and field experimental results of temperature and moisture evolution, which were measured on the surface of a sandy soil at Abeokuta, south-western Nigeria. An unconditionally stable numerical method was used, which linearizes the vapour concentration driving-potential term giving the moisture exchanged at the boundaries in terms of temperature and moisture content, and simultaneously solves the governing equations for each time step. The model avoids stability problems and limitations to low moisture contents and the usual assumption of constant thermal conductivity. Instantaneous temperature measurements were made at the surface using a thermocouple, while the gravimetric method was employed to determine the volumetric water contents at some specific hours of the experimental period. The observed experimental data compared fairly well with the predicted values, with both having correlation coefficients greater than 0.9 and consequently following a common diurnal trend. The sensitivity of the model was very high to the choice of simulation parameters, especially grid size refinement and time step. While the model underestimated the soil moisture content at 6 a.m. and 10 p.m., the measured temperatures were however overestimated. When compared to moisture content, average errors for temperature were low resulting in a minimal absolute difference in amplitude of 0.81 °C.

Complex terrain alters temperature and moisture limitations of forest soil respiration across a semiarid to subalpine gradient

Science.gov (United States)

Berryman, Erin Michele; Barnard, H.R.; Adams, H.R.; Burns, M.A.; Gallo, E.; Brooks, P.D.

2015-01-01

Forest soil respiration is a major carbon (C) flux that is characterized by significant variability in space and time. We quantified growing season soil respiration during both a drought year and a nondrought year across a complex landscape to identify how landscape and climate interact to control soil respiration. We asked the following questions: (1) How does soil respiration vary across the catchments due to terrain-induced variability in moisture availability and temperature? (2) Does the relative importance of moisture versus temperature limitation of respiration vary across space and time? And (3) what terrain elements are important for dictating the pattern of soil respiration and its controls? Moisture superseded temperature in explaining watershed respiration patterns, with wetter yet cooler areas higher up and on north facing slopes yielding greater soil respiration than lower and south facing areas. Wetter subalpine forests had reduced moisture limitation in favor of greater seasonal temperature limitation, and the reverse was true for low-elevation semiarid forests. Coincident climate poorly predicted soil respiration in the montane transition zone; however, antecedent precipitation from the prior 10 days provided additional explanatory power. A seasonal trend in respiration remained after accounting for microclimate effects, suggesting that local climate alone may not adequately predict seasonal variability in soil respiration in montane forests. Soil respiration climate controls were more strongly related to topography during the drought year highlighting the importance of landscape complexity in ecosystem response to drought.

Thresholds and interactive effects of soil moisture on the temperature response of soil respiration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lellei-Kovács, Eszter; Kovács-Láng, Edit; Botta-Dukát, Zoltán

2011-01-01

efflux is soil temperature, while soil moisture has less, although significant effect on soil respiration. Clear thresholds for moisture effects on temperature sensitivity were identified at 0.6, 4.0 and 7.0vol% by almost each model, which relate well to other known limits for biological activity......Ecosystem carbon exchange is poorly understood in low-productivity, semiarid habitats. Here we studied the controls of soil temperature and moisture on soil respiration in climate change field experiment in a sandy forest-steppe. Soil CO2 efflux was measured monthly from April to November in 2003......–2008 on plots receiving either rain exclusion or nocturnal warming, or serving as ambient control. Based on this dataset, we developed and compared empirical models of temperature and moisture effects on soil respiration. Results suggest that in this semiarid ecosystem the main controlling factor for soil CO2...

Impact of soil moisture initialization on boreal summer subseasonal forecasts: mid-latitude surface air temperature and heat wave events

Science.gov (United States)

Seo, Eunkyo; Lee, Myong-In; Jeong, Jee-Hoon; Koster, Randal D.; Schubert, Siegfried D.; Kim, Hye-Mi; Kim, Daehyun; Kang, Hyun-Suk; Kim, Hyun-Kyung; MacLachlan, Craig; Scaife, Adam A.

2018-05-01

This study uses a global land-atmosphere coupled model, the land-atmosphere component of the Global Seasonal Forecast System version 5, to quantify the degree to which soil moisture initialization could potentially enhance boreal summer surface air temperature forecast skill. Two sets of hindcast experiments are performed by prescribing the observed sea surface temperature as the boundary condition for a 15-year period (1996-2010). In one set of the hindcast experiments (noINIT), the initial soil moisture conditions are randomly taken from a long-term simulation. In the other set (INIT), the initial soil moisture conditions are taken from an observation-driven offline Land Surface Model (LSM) simulation. The soil moisture conditions from the offline LSM simulation are calibrated using the forecast model statistics to minimize the inconsistency between the LSM and the land-atmosphere coupled model in their mean and variability. Results show a higher boreal summer surface air temperature prediction skill in INIT than in noINIT, demonstrating the potential benefit from an accurate soil moisture initialization. The forecast skill enhancement appears especially in the areas in which the evaporative fraction—the ratio of surface latent heat flux to net surface incoming radiation—is sensitive to soil moisture amount. These areas lie in the transitional regime between humid and arid climates. Examination of the extreme 2003 European and 2010 Russian heat wave events reveal that the regionally anomalous soil moisture conditions during the events played an important role in maintaining the stationary circulation anomalies, especially those near the surface.

The Effects of the Heat and Moisture Exchanger on Humidity, Airway Temperature, and Core Body Temperature

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Delventhal, Mary

1999-01-01

Findings from several studies have demonstrated that the use of a heat and moisture exchanger increases airway humidity, which in turn increases mean airway temperature and prevents decreases in core body temperature...

Incorporation of Passive Microwave Brightness Temperatures in the ECMWF Soil Moisture Analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joaquín Muñoz-Sabater

2015-05-01

Full Text Available For more than a decade, the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF has used in-situ observations of 2 m temperature and 2 m relative humidity to operationally constrain the temporal evolution of model soil moisture. These observations are not available everywhere and they are indirectly linked to the state of the surface, so under various circumstances, such as weak radiative forcing or strong advection, they cannot be used as a proxy for soil moisture reinitialization in numerical weather prediction. Recently, the ECMWF soil moisture analysis has been updated to be able to account for the information provided by microwave brightness temperatures from the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS mission of the European Space Agency (ESA. This is the first time that ECMWF uses direct information of the soil emission from passive microwave data to globally adjust the estimation of soil moisture by a land-surface model. This paper presents a novel version of the ECMWF Extended Kalman Filter soil moisture analysis to account for remotely sensed passive microwave data. It also discusses the advantages of assimilating direct satellite radiances compared to current soil moisture products, with a view to an operational implementation. A simple assimilation case study at global scale highlights the potential benefits and obstacles of using this new type of information in a global coupled land-atmospheric model.

Assessment of methane production from shredder waste in landfills: The influence of temperature, moisture and metals.

Science.gov (United States)

Fathi Aghdam, Ehsan; Scheutz, Charlotte; Kjeldsen, Peter

2017-05-01

In this study, methane (CH 4 ) production rates from shredder waste (SW) were determined by incubation of waste samples over a period of 230days under different operating conditions, and first-order decay kinetic constants (k-values) were calculated. SW and sterilized SW were incubated under different temperatures (20-25°C, 37°C, and 55°C), moisture contents (35% and 75% w/w) and amounts of inoculum (5% and 30% of the samples wet weight). The biochemical methane potential (BMP) from different types of SW (fresh, old and sieved) was determined and compared. The ability of metals (iron, aluminum, zinc, and copper) contained in SW to provide electrons for methanogens resulting in gas compositions with high CH 4 contents and very low CO 2 contents was investigated. The BMP of SW was 1.5-6.2kg CH 4 /ton waste. The highest BMP was observed in fresh SW samples, while the lowest was observed in sieved samples (fine fraction of SW). Abiotic production of CH 4 was not observed in laboratory incubations. The biotic experiments showed that when the moisture content was 35% w/w and the temperature was 20-25°C, CH 4 production was extremely low. Increasing the temperature from 20-25°C to 37°C resulted in significantly higher CH 4 production while increasing the temperature from 37°C to 55°C resulted in higher CH 4 production, but to a lower extent. Increasing the moisture and inoculum content also increased CH 4 production. The k-values were 0.033-0.075yr -1 at room temperature, 0.220-0.429yr -1 at 37°C and 0.235-0.488yr -1 at 55°C, indicating that higher temperatures resulted in higher k-values. It was observed that H 2 can be produced by biocorrosion of iron, aluminum, and zinc and it was shown that produced H 2 can be utilized by hydrogenotrophic methanogens to convert CO 2 to CH 4 . Addition of iron and copper to SW resulted in inhibition of CH 4 production, while addition of aluminum and zinc resulted in higher CH 4 production. This suggested that aluminum and

Prediction of moisture migration and pore pressure build-up in concrete at high temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ichikawa, Y.; England, G.L.

2004-01-01

Prediction of moisture migration and pore pressure build-up in non-uniformly heated concrete is important for safe operation of concrete containment vessels in nuclear power reactors and for assessing the behaviour of fire-exposed concrete structures. (1) Changes in moisture content distribution in a concrete containment vessel during long-term operation should be investigated, since the durability and radiation shielding ability of concrete are strongly influenced by its moisture content. (2) The pressure build-up in a concrete containment vessel in a postulated accident should be evaluated in order to determine whether a venting system is necessary between liner and concrete to relieve the pore pressure. (3) When concrete is subjected to rapid heating during a fire, the concrete can suffer from spalling due to pressure build-up in the concrete pores. This paper presents a mathematical and computational model for predicting changes in temperature, moisture content and pore pressure in concrete at elevated temperatures. A pair of differential equations for one-dimensional heat and moisture transfer in concrete are derived from the conservation of energy and mass, and take into account the temperature-dependent release of gel water and chemically bound water due to dehydration. These equations are numerically solved by the finite difference method. In the numerical analysis, the pressure, density and dynamic viscosity of water in the concrete pores are calculated explicitly from a set of formulated equations. The numerical analysis results are compared with two different sets of experimental data: (a) long-term (531 days) moisture migration test under a steady-state temperature of 200 deg. C, and (b) short-term (114 min) pressure build-up test under transient heating. These experiments were performed to investigate the moisture migration and pressure build-up in the concrete wall of a reactor containment vessel at high temperatures. The former experiment simulated

Reaction of LiD with moisture by temperature programmed reaction (TPR)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinh, L N; Balooch, M; Cecala, C M; Leckey, J H

2000-01-01

The temperature programmed reaction technique was performed on LiOH powders and LiD single crystals previously exposed to different moisture levels. Our results show that the LiOH decomposition process has an activation energy barrier of 30 to 33.1 kcal/mol. The LiOH structure is stable at 320 K for 100 years. However, LiOH structures formed on the surface of LiD during moisture exposure at low dosages may have multiple activation energy barriers, some of which may be much lower than 30 kcal/mol. We attribute the lowering of the activation energy barrier for the LiOH decomposition to the existence of dangling bonds, cracks, and other long range disorders in the LiOH structures formed at low levels of moisture exposure. These defective LiOH structures may decompose significantly over the next 100 years of storage even at room temperature. At high moisture exposure levels, LiOH.H 2 O formation is observed. The release of H 2 O molecules from LiOH.H 2 O structure has small activation energy barriers in the range of 13.8 kcal/mol to 16.0 kcal/mol. The loosely bonded H 2 O molecules in the LiOH.H 2 O structure can be easily pumped away at room temperature in a reasonable amount of time. Our experiments also suggest that handling LiD single crystals at an elevated temperature of 340 K or more reduces the growth of LiOH and LiOH.H 2 O significantly

Heat and moisture flow in concrete as a function of temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Hundt, J.

1978-01-01

Due to temperature, reactors in operation cause heat and moisture flows in the thick walled prestressed pressure vessels. These flows were studied in three beams of concrete made with crushed limestone aggregate, and in three beams made of crushed gravel/sand aggregate. The flow phenomena were related to the structural development of the concrete by determining the amount of non-evaporatable water, the total porosity, and the pore size distribution. Local temperature and moisture conditions also influenced the technical properties. Compressive strength, changes in length due to shrinkage and contraction, thermal expansion, and thermal conductivity were determined.

Reduction of cyanogenic glycosides by extrusion - influence of temperature and moisture content of the processed material

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Čolović Dušica S.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Тhe paper presents results of the investigation of the influence of extrusion temperature and moisture content of treated material on the reduction of cyanogenic glycosides (CGs in linseed-based co-extrudate. CGs are the major limitation of the effective usage of linseed in animal nutrition. Hence, some technological process must be applied for detoxification of linseed before its application as a nutrient. Extrusion process has demonstrated several advantages in reducing the present CGs, since it combines the influences of heating, shearing, high pressure, mixing, etc. According to obtained results, the increase in both temperature and moisture content of the starting mixture decreased the content of CGs in the processed material. HCN content, as a measurement of GCs presence, ranged from 25.42 mg/kg, recorded at the moisture content of 11.5%, to 126 mg/kg, detected at the lowest moisture content of 7%. It seems that moisture content and temperature had the impact on HCN content of equal importance. However, the influence of extrusion parameters other than temperature and moisture content could not be neglected. Therefore, the impact of individual factors has to be tested together. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. III 46012

Hysteresis and Temperature Dependency of Moisture Sorption – New Measurements

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten; Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard

2011-01-01

measurements of hysteresis and temperature dependency of the moisture sorption characteristics of three different porous building materials: aerated concrete, cement paste and spruce. Scanning curves are measured for all three materials where periods with adsorption and desorption interrupt each other...... intermittently. For one of the materials, aerated concrete, the sorption curves are determined at three different temperatures....

Frequency, moisture content, and temperature dependent dielectric properties of potato starch related to drying with radio-frequency/microwave energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Zhuozhuo; Guo, Wenchuan

2017-08-24

To develop advanced drying methods using radio-frequency (RF) or microwave (MW) energy, dielectric properties of potato starch were determined using an open-ended coaxial-line probe and network analyzer at frequencies between 20 and 4,500 MHz, moisture contents between 15.1% and 43.1% wet basis (w.b.), and temperatures between 25 and 75 °C. The results showed that both dielectric constant (ε') and loss factor (ε″) were dependent on frequency, moisture content, and temperature. ε' decreased with increasing frequency at a given moisture content or temperature. At low moisture contents (≤25.4% w.b.) or low temperatures (≤45 °C), ε″ increased with increasing frequency. However, ε″ changed from decrease to increase with increasing frequency at high moisture contents or temperatures. At low temperatures (25-35 °C), both ε' and ε″ increased with increasing moisture content. At low moisture contents (15.1-19.5% w.b.), they increased with increasing temperature. The change trends of ε' and ε″ were different and dependent on temperature and moisture content at their high levels. The penetration depth (d p ) decreased with increasing frequency. RF treatments may provide potential large-scale industrial drying application for potato starch. This research offers useful information on dielectric properties of potato starch related to drying with electromagnetic energy.

Equilibrium moisture content of wood at different temperature/moisture conditions in the cladding of wooden constructions and in the relation to their reliability and service life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdeňka Havířová

2010-01-01

Full Text Available One of the natural properties of wood and wood-based materials is their soaking capacity (hy­gro­sco­pi­ci­ty. The moisture content of wood and building constructions of wood and wood based materials significantly influences the service life and reliability of these constructions and buildings. The equilibrium weight moisture content of built-in wood corresponding to temperature/moisture conditions inside the cladding has therefore a decisive influence on the basic requirements placed on building constructions. The wood in wooden frame cladding changes its moisture content depending on temperature and moisture conditions of the environment it is built into. The water vapor condensation doesn’t necessarily have to occur right in the wooden framework of the cladding for the equilibrium moisture content to rise over the level permissible for the reliable function of a given construction. In spite of the fact that the common heat-technical assessment cannot be considered fully capable of detecting the effects of these factors on the functional reliability of wood-based constructions and buildings, an extension has been proposed of the present method of design an assessment of building constructions according to the ČSN 73 0540 standard regarding the interpretation of equilibrium moisture content in relation to the temperature/moisture conditions and their time behavior inside a construction.

INFLUENCE OF TEMPERATURE AND RELATIVE HUMIDITY ON GRAIN MOISTURE, GERMINATION AND VIGOUR OF THREE WHEAT CULTIVARS DURING ONE YEAR STORAGE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivica Strelec

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Changes in grain moisture, germination and vigour of three wheat cultivars packed in paper bags and stored for one year under four different conditions of environmental temperature and relative humidity (RH were investigated. During the first ninety days of storage significant reduction in grain moisture content of 4, 2.5 and 0.9 %, respectively, under 40 °C, 25 °C and 4 °C and RH of 45 % occurred. Subsequently grain moisture remained constant until the end of storage. Seeds of examined cultivars lost their germination ability and vigour only under elevated storage temperatures. Germination and vigour loss after one year of storage differed between cultivars being higher for seeds kept under 40°C, RH = 45% (35-85 % and 55-94 %, respectively, than under 25°C, RH = 45 % (10-20 % and 15-22 %, respectively. Obtained data indicate significant influence of storage conditions on moisture content, germination and vigour changes during storage of wheat seeds, as well as varietal dependence of seed viability.

Sensitivity of soil respiration to variability in soil moisture and temperature in a humid tropical forest

Science.gov (United States)

Tana Wood; M. Detto; W.L. Silver

2013-01-01

Precipitation and temperature are important drivers of soil respiration. The role of moisture and temperature are generally explored at seasonal or inter-annual timescales; however, significant variability also occurs on hourly to daily time-scales. We used small (1.54 m2), throughfall exclusion shelters to evaluate the role soil moisture and temperature as temporal...

Dynamics and characteristics of soil temperature and moisture of active layer in central Tibetan Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Zhao, L.; Hu, G.; Wu, X.; Tian, L.

2017-12-01

Research on the hydrothermal properties of active layer during the thawing and freezing processes was considered as a key question to revealing the heat and moisture exchanges between permafrost and atmosphere. The characteristics of freezing and thawing processes at Tanggula (TGL) site in permafrost regions on the Tibetan Plateau, the results revealed that the depth of daily soil temperature transmission was about 40 cm shallower during thawing period than that during the freezing period. Soil warming process at the depth above 140 cm was slower than the cooling process, whereas they were close below 140 cm depth. Moreover, the hydro-thermal properties differed significantly among different stages. Precipitation caused an obviously increase in soil moisture at 0-20 cm depth. The vertical distribution of soil moisture could be divided into two main zones: less than 12% in the freeze state and greater than 12% in the thaw state. In addition, coupling of moisture and heat during the freezing and thawing processes also showed that soil temperature decreased faster than soil moisture during the freezing process. At the freezing stage, soil moisture exhibited an exponential relationship with the absolute soil temperature. Energy consumed for water-ice conversion during the freezing process was 149.83 MJ/m2 and 141.22 MJ/m2 in 2011 and 2012, respectively, which was estimated by the soil moisture variation.

The influence of temperature and moisture contents regimes on the aerobic microbial activity of a biosolids composting blend.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, C; Das, K C; McClendon, R W

2003-01-01

To understand the relationships between temperature, moisture content, and microbial activity during the composting of biosolids (municipal wastewater treatment sludge), well-controlled incubation experiments were conducted using a 2-factor factorial design with six temperatures (22, 29, 36, 43, 50, and 57 degrees C) and five moisture contents (30, 40, 50, 60, and 70%). The microbial activity was measured as O2 uptake rate (mg g(-1) h(-1)) using a computer controlled respirometer. In this study, moisture content proved to be a dominant factor impacting aerobic microbial activity of the composting blend. Fifty percent moisture content appeared to be the minimal requirement for obtaining activities greater than 1.0 mg g(-1) h(-1). Temperature was also documented to be an important factor for biosolids composting. However, its effect was less influential than moisture content. Particularly, the enhancement of composting activities induced by temperature increment could be realized by increasing moisture content alone.

Monitoring moisture content, temperature, and humidity in whole-tree pine chip piles

Science.gov (United States)

John Klepac; Dana Mitchell; Jason Thompson

2015-01-01

Two whole-tree chip piles were monitored for moisture content, temperature, and relative humidity from October 8th, 2010 to March 16th, 2011 at a location in south Alabama. Initial moisture content samples were collected immediately after chips were delivered to the study location on October 8th for Pile 1 and October 22nd for Pile 2. During pile construction, Lascar...

Low soil moisture during hot periods drives apparent negative temperature sensitivity of soil respiration in a dryland ecosystem: A multi-model comparison

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, Colin; Reed, Sasha C.

2016-01-01

Arid and semiarid ecosystems (drylands) may dominate the trajectory of biosphere-to-atmosphere carbon (C) flux over the coming century. Accordingly, understanding dryland CO2 efflux controls is important for understanding C cycling at the global-scale: key unknowns regarding how temperature and moisture interact to regulate dryland C cycling remain. Further, the patchiness of dryland vegetation can create ‘islands of fertility’, with spatially heterogeneous rates of soil respiration (Rs). At our study site in southeastern Utah, USA we added or removed litter (0 to 650% of control) in paired plots that were either associated with a shrub or with interspaces between vascular plants. We measured Rs, soil temperature, and water content (θ) on eight sampling dates between October 2013 and November 2014. Rs was highest following monsoon rains in late summer when soil temperature was ~30°C. During mid-summer, Rs was low, associated with high soil temperatures (>40°C), resulting in an apparent negative temperature sensitivity of Rs at high temperatures, and positive temperature sensitivity at low-moderate temperatures. We used Bayesian statistical methods to compare multiple competing models capturing a wide range of hypothesized relationships between temperature, moisture, and Rs. The best fit model indicates apparent negative temperature sensitivity of soil respiration at high temperatures reflects the control of soil moisture – not high temperatures – in limiting Rs. The modeled Q10 ranged from 2.7 at 5°C to 1.4 at 45°C. Litter addition had no effect on temperature sensitivity or reference respiration (Rref = Rs at 20°C and optimum moisture) beneath shrubs, and little effect on Rref in interspaces, yet Rref was 1.5 times higher beneath shrubs than in interspaces. Together, these results suggest reduced Rs often observed at high temperatures in drylands is dominated by the control of moisture, and that variable litter inputs – at least over the short

ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS LIGNIN DERIVED FROM CORN STOVER AS AN INTRINSTIC BINDER FOR BIO-COMPOSITES MANUFACTURE: EFFECT OF FIBER MOISTURE CONTENT AND PRESSING TEMPERATURE ON BOARDS’ PROPERTIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Guanben Du

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Binderless fiberboards from enzymatic hydrolysis lignin (EHL and cotton stalk fibers were prepared under various manufacturing conditions, and their physico-mechanical properties were evaluated. Full factorial experimental design was used to assess the effect of fiber moisture content and pressing temperature on boards’ properties. In addition, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC was used to obtain the glass transition temperature (Tg of EHL. We found that both fiber moisture content and pressing temperature had significant effects on binderless fiberboards’ properties. High fiber moisture content and pressing temperature are suggested to contribute to the self-bonding improvement among fibers with lignin-rich surface mainly by thermal softening enzymatic hydrolysis lignin. In this experiment, the optimized pressing temperature applied in binderless fiberboard production should be as high as 190°C in accordance with the EHL Tg value of 189.4°C, and the fiber moisture content should be limited to less than 20% with a higher board density of 950 kg/m3 to avoid the delamination of boards during hot pressing.

The Effect of Moisture Content and Temperature on the Specific Heat Capacity of Nut and Kernel of Two Iranian Pistachio Varieties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.R Salari Kia

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Pistachio has a special ranking among Iranian agricultural products. Iran is known as the largest producer and exporter of pistachio in the world. Agricultural products are imposed under different thermal treatments during storage and processing. Designing all these processes requires thermal parameters of the products such as specific heat capacity. Regarding the importance of pistachio processing as an exportable product, in this study the specific heat capacity of nut and kernel of two varieties of Iranian pistachio (Kalle-Ghochi and Badami were investigated at four levels of moisture content (initial moisture content (5%, 15%, 25% and 40% w.b. and three levels of temperature (40, 50 and 60°C. In both varieties, the differences between the data were significant at the 1% of probability; however, the effect of moisture content was greater than that of temperature. The results indicated that the specific heat capacity of both nuts and kernels increase logarithmically with increase of moisture content and also increase linearly with increase of temperature. This parameter has altered for nut and kernel of Kalle-Ghochi and Badami varieties within the range of 1.039-2.936 kJ kg-1 K-1, 1.236-3.320 kJ kg-1 K-1, 0.887-2.773 kJ kg-1 K-1 and 0.811-2.914 kJ kg-1 K-1, respectively. Moreover, for any given level of temperature, the specific heat capacity of kernels was higher than that of nuts. Finally, regression models with high R2 values were developed to predict the specific heat capacity of pistachio varieties as a function of moisture content and temperature

"Deflategate": Time, Temperature, and Moisture Effects on Football Pressure

Science.gov (United States)

Blumenthal, Jack; Beljak, Lauren; Macatangay, Dahlia-Marie; Helmuth-Malone, Lilly; McWilliams, Catharina; Raptis, Sofia

2016-01-01

In a recent paper in "The Physics Teacher (TPT)", DiLisi and Rarick used the National Football League "Deflategate" controversy to introduce to physics students the physics of a bouncing ball. In this paper, we measure and analyze the environmental effects of time, ambient temperature, and moisture on the internal pressure of…

Low-temperature conversion of high-moisture biomass: Topical report, January 1984--January 1988

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sealock, L.J. Jr.; Elliott, D.C.; Butner, R.S.; Neuenschwander, G.G.

1988-10-01

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) is developing a low-temperature, catalytic process that converts high-moisture biomass feedstocks and other wet organic substances to useful gaseous and liquid fuels. The advantage of this process is that it works without the need for drying or dewatering the feedstock. Conventional thermal gasification processes, which require temperatures above 750/degree/C and air or oxygen for combustion to supply reaction heat, generally cannot utilize feedstocks with moisture contents above 50 wt %, as the conversion efficiency is greatly reduced as a result of the drying step. For this reason, anaerobic digestion or other bioconversion processes traditionally have been used for gasification of high-moisture feedstocks. However, these processes suffer from slow reaction rates and incomplete carbon conversion. 50 refs., 21 figs., 22 tabs.

Separating heat stress from moisture stress: analyzing yield response to high temperature in irrigated maize

Science.gov (United States)

Carter, Elizabeth K.; Melkonian, Jeff; Riha, Susan J.; Shaw, Stephen B.

2016-09-01

Several recent studies have indicated that high air temperatures are limiting maize (Zea mays L.) yields in the US Corn Belt and project significant yield losses with expected increases in growing season temperatures. Further work has suggested that high air temperatures are indicative of high evaporative demand, and that decreases in maize yields which correlate to high temperatures and vapor pressure deficits (VPD) likely reflect underlying soil moisture limitations. It remains unclear whether direct high temperature impacts on yields, independent of moisture stress, can be observed under current temperature regimes. Given that projected high temperature and moisture may not co-vary the same way as they have historically, quantitative analyzes of direct temperature impacts are critical for accurate yield projections and targeted mitigation strategies under shifting temperature regimes. To evaluate yield response to above optimum temperatures independent of soil moisture stress, we analyzed climate impacts on irrigated maize yields obtained from the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) corn yield contests for Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. In irrigated maize, we found no evidence of a direct negative impact on yield by daytime air temperature, calculated canopy temperature, or VPD when analyzed seasonally. Solar radiation was the primary yield-limiting climate variable. Our analyses suggested that elevated night temperature impacted yield by increasing rates of phenological development. High temperatures during grain-fill significantly interacted with yields, but this effect was often beneficial and included evidence of acquired thermo-tolerance. Furthermore, genetics and management—information uniquely available in the NCGA contest data—explained more yield variability than climate, and significantly modified crop response to climate. Thermo-acclimation, improved genetics and changes to management practices have the potential to partially or completely

Moisture Sensitivity of Crumb Rubber Modified Modifier Warm Mix Asphalt Additive for Two Different Compaction Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Bilema, Munder A.; Aman, Mohamad Y.; Hassan, Norhidayah A.; Ahmad, Kabiru A.; Elghatas, Hamza M.; Radwan, Ashraf A.; Shyaa, Ahmed S.

2018-04-01

Crumb rubber obtained from scrap tires has been incorporated with asphalt binder to improve the performance of asphalt mixtures in the past decades. Pavements containing crumb-rubber modified (CRM) binders present one major drawback: larger amounts of greenhouse gas emissions are produced as there is rise in the energy consumption at the asphalt plant due to the higher viscosity of these type of binders compared with a conventional mixture. The objective of this paper is to calculate the optimum bitumen content for each percentage and evaluate the moisture sensitivity of crumb rubber modified asphalt at two different compacting temperatures. In this study, crumb rubber modified percentages was 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% from the binder weight, with adding 1.5% warm mix asphalt additive (Sasobit) and crush granite aggregate of 9.5mm Nominal maximum size was used after assessing its properties. Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) used by 2% from fine aggregate. The wet method was using to mix the CRM with bitumen, the CRM conducted at 177°C for 30 min with 700rpm and Sasobit conducted at 120°C for 10 min with 1000rpm. As a result, from this study the optimum bitumen content (OBC) was increased with increased crumb rubber content. For performance test, it was conducted using the AASHTO T283 (2007): Resistance of Compacted Bituminous Mixture to Moisture-Induced Damage. The result was as expected and it was within the specification of the test, the result show that the moisture damage increased with increased the crumb rubber content but it is not exceeding the limit of specification 80% for indirect tension strength ratio (ITSR). For the temperature was with lowing the temperature the moisture damage increased.

Tensile behaviour of radiata pine with different moisture contents at elevated temperatures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pearson, Hamish; Gabbitas, Brian; Ormarsson, Sigurdur

2012-01-01

that moisture and temperature can play a significant role in reducing stress during drying, regardless of the drying time. Properties of wood, such as tensile elastic information at elevated temperatures, are important for mechanical design, distortion modelling and understanding the fundamental behaviour...

Equilibrium moisture content of radiata pine at elevated temperature and pressure reveals measurement challenges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pearson, Hamish; Gabbitas, Brian; Ormarsson, Sigurdur

2012-01-01

moisture contents were attributed to condensation of liquid water on the specimen with subsequent evaporation at a rate that was too slow for the moisture content to reach equilibrium before it was measured. Reliable EMC data at elevated temperatures require (1) tight process control of experimental......Relatively few studies have been performed on the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of wood under conditions of elevated temperature and pressure. Eight studies indicated that EMC near saturation decreased between 100 and 150 °C, whilst five studies indicated that EMC increased. The aim...... of this study was to identify the likely source of the disagreement using radiata pine (Pinus radiata D. Don) sapwood which was conditioned to a moisture content of around 3 % and then exposed for 1 h at 150 °C and relative humidities of either 50, 70 or 90 %. Mean values of EMC, obtained through in situ...

Relationships between δ18O in summer precipitation and temperature and moisture trajectories at Muztagata, western China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YU; Wusheng; YAO; Tandong; TIAN; Lide; LI; Zhen; SUN; Weizhen; WANG; Yu

2006-01-01

Based on summer observations of stable isotope of precipitation at Muztagata, western China, during 2002―2003, this paper presents the relationship between δ18O in precipitation and air temperature, and discusses the effect of moisture transport on δ18O in precipitation. Results show that air temperature correlates positively with δ18O in precipitation, and the temperature effect controls the δ18O of precipitation in this area. The Muztagata region exhibits high δ18O values in summer precipitation, similar to those shown at stations in adjacent regions. According to the results of our model set up to trace the moisture trajectories, the westerlies and local moisture circulation contribute to variations of oxygen isotopes in precipitation. In addition, the impacts of the moisture transport distance, the moisture transport level, and the incursion of the polar air mass also influence the variations of δ18O in precipitation. The moisture origins and transport mechanisms also contribute to the variation of δ18O in precipitation at Muztagata.

Forest harvesting effects on soil temperature, moisture, and respiration in a bottomland hardwood forest

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Londo, A.J.; Messina, M.G.; Schoenholtz, S.H.

1999-01-01

The effect of forest disturbance on C cycling has become an issue, given concerns about escalating atmospheric C content. The authors examined the effects of harvest intensity on in situ and laboratory mineral soil respiration in an East Texas bottomland hardwood forest between 6 and 22 mo after harvesting. Treatments included a clearcut, a partial cut wherein approximately 58% of the basal area was removed, and an unharvested control. The soda-lime absorption technique was used for in situ respiration (CO 2 efflux) and the wet alkali method (NaOH) was used for laboratory mineral soil respiration. Soil temperature and moisture content were also measured. Harvesting significantly increased in situ respiration during most sampling periods. This effect was attributed to an increase in live root and microflora activity associated with postharvesting revegetation. In situ respiration increased exponentially (Q 10 relationship) as treatment soil temperatures increased, but followed a parabolic-type pattern through the range of soil moisture measured (mean range 10.4--31.5%). Mean rates of laboratory mineral soil respiration measured during the study were unaffected by cutting treatment for most sampling sessions. Overall, the mean rate of CO 2 efflux in the clearcuts was significantly higher than that in the partial cuts, which in turn was significantly higher than that in the controls. Mass balance estimates indicate that these treatment differences will have little or no long-term effect on C sequestration of these managed forests

Inverse method to estimate kinetic degradation parameters of grape anthocyanins in wheat flour under simultaneously changing temperature and moisture.

Science.gov (United States)

Lai, K P K; Dolan, K D; Ng, P K W

2009-06-01

Thermal and moisture effects on grape anthocyanin degradation were investigated using solid media to simulate processing at temperatures above 100 degrees C. Grape pomace (anthocyanin source) mixed with wheat pastry flour (1: 3, w/w dry basis) was used in both isothermal and nonisothermal experiments by heating the same mixture at 43% (db) initial moisture in steel cells in an oil bath at 80, 105, and 145 degrees C. To determine the effect of moisture on anthocyanin degradation, the grape pomace-wheat flour mixture was heated isothermally at 80 degrees C at constant moisture contents of 10%, 20%, and 43% (db). Anthocyanin degradation followed a pseudo first-order reaction with moisture. Anthocyanins degraded more rapidly with increasing temperature and moisture. The effects of temperature and moisture on the rate constant were modeled according to the Arrhenius and an exponential relationship, respectively. The nonisothermal reaction rate constant and activation energy (mean +/- standard error) were k(80 degrees C, 43% (db) moisture) = 2.81 x 10(-4)+/- 1.1 x 10(-6) s(-1) and DeltaE = 75273 +/- 197 J/g mol, respectively. The moisture parameter for the exponential model was 4.28 (dry basis moisture content)(-1). One possible application of this study is as a tool to predict the loss of anthocyanins in nutraceutical products containing grape pomace. For example, if the process temperature history and moisture history in an extruded snack fortified with grape pomace is known, the percentage anthocyanin loss can be predicted.

Real-time measurements of temperature, pressure and moisture profiles in High-Performance Concrete exposed to high temperatures during neutron radiography imaging

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Toropovs, N., E-mail: nikolajs.toropovs@rtu.lv [Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf (Switzerland); Riga Technical University, Institute of Materials and Structures, Riga (Latvia); Lo Monte, F. [Politecnico di Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Milan (Italy); Wyrzykowski, M. [Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf (Switzerland); Lodz University of Technology, Department of Building Physics and Building Materials, Lodz (Poland); Weber, B. [Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf (Switzerland); Sahmenko, G. [Riga Technical University, Institute of Materials and Structures, Riga (Latvia); Vontobel, P. [Paul Scherrer Institute, Laboratory for Neutron Scattering and Imaging, Villigen (Switzerland); Felicetti, R. [Politecnico di Milano, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Milan (Italy); Lura, P. [Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, Dübendorf (Switzerland); ETH Zürich, Institute for Building Materials (IfB), Zürich (Switzerland)

2015-02-15

High-Performance Concrete (HPC) is particularly prone to explosive spalling when exposed to high temperature. Although the exact causes that lead to spalling are still being debated, moisture transport during heating plays an important role in all proposed mechanisms. In this study, slabs made of high-performance, low water-to-binder ratio mortars with addition of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) and polypropylene fibers (PP) were heated from one side on a temperature-controlled plate up to 550 °C. A combination of measurements was performed simultaneously on the same sample: moisture profiles via neutron radiography, temperature profiles with embedded thermocouples and pore pressure evolution with embedded pressure sensors. Spalling occurred in the sample with SAP, where sharp profiles of moisture and temperature were observed. No spalling occurred when PP-fibers were introduced in addition to SAP. The experimental procedure described here is essential for developing and verifying numerical models and studying measures against fire spalling risk in HPC.

The sensitivity of soil respiration to soil temperature, moisture, and carbon supply at the global scale.

Science.gov (United States)

Hursh, Andrew; Ballantyne, Ashley; Cooper, Leila; Maneta, Marco; Kimball, John; Watts, Jennifer

2017-05-01

Soil respiration (Rs) is a major pathway by which fixed carbon in the biosphere is returned to the atmosphere, yet there are limits to our ability to predict respiration rates using environmental drivers at the global scale. While temperature, moisture, carbon supply, and other site characteristics are known to regulate soil respiration rates at plot scales within certain biomes, quantitative frameworks for evaluating the relative importance of these factors across different biomes and at the global scale require tests of the relationships between field estimates and global climatic data. This study evaluates the factors driving Rs at the global scale by linking global datasets of soil moisture, soil temperature, primary productivity, and soil carbon estimates with observations of annual Rs from the Global Soil Respiration Database (SRDB). We find that calibrating models with parabolic soil moisture functions can improve predictive power over similar models with asymptotic functions of mean annual precipitation. Soil temperature is comparable with previously reported air temperature observations used in predicting Rs and is the dominant driver of Rs in global models; however, within certain biomes soil moisture and soil carbon emerge as dominant predictors of Rs. We identify regions where typical temperature-driven responses are further mediated by soil moisture, precipitation, and carbon supply and regions in which environmental controls on high Rs values are difficult to ascertain due to limited field data. Because soil moisture integrates temperature and precipitation dynamics, it can more directly constrain the heterotrophic component of Rs, but global-scale models tend to smooth its spatial heterogeneity by aggregating factors that increase moisture variability within and across biomes. We compare statistical and mechanistic models that provide independent estimates of global Rs ranging from 83 to 108 Pg yr -1 , but also highlight regions of uncertainty

Sweet cherry softening accompanied with moisture migration and loss during low-temperature storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Danshi; Liang, Jieyu; Liu, He; Cao, Xuehui; Ge, Yonghong; Li, Jianrong

2017-12-18

Hardness is one of the important qualities influencing consumer appeal and marketing of fresh sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.). Moisture loss is one of the main causative factors of cherry softening. In this work, moisture loss and softening process of sweet cherry during postharvest storage at 0 and 4 °C were studied. In addition, low-field 1 H nuclear magnetic resonance (LF-NMR) was used to analyze water distribution and migration in sweet cherry during storage at 4 °C. Moisture content correlated significantly (p Contents of cytoplasmic (p content increased gradually, and then internal damage occurred. Sweet cherry softening closely correlated with moisture loss during low-temperature storage. LF-NMR is a useful technique to investigate moisture migration of fruits and vegetables. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

The effects of moisture and temperature variations on the long term durability of polymer concrete

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Barbosa, Ricardo; Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard; Grelk, Bent

2013-01-01

The use of polymer concrete to precast products in construction presents normally many advantages compared to traditional concrete. Higher strength, lower permeability, shorter curing periods, better chemical resistances and a better durability is normally predicated, however this is a research...... and after exposure to different thermal conditions is very important. In this paper, an experimental study concerning the influence of temperature and moisture in cyclic conditions on the durability of polymer concrete based on an unsaturated polyester resin is described and the results are presented...

Measured temperature and moisture conditions in the roof attic of a one-and-a-half story house

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nielsen, Anker; Morelli, Martin

2017-01-01

Temperature and moisture measurements were made in a ventilated attic on a house with 200 mm mineral wool insulation. The measurements showed that 1) solar radiation had a great effect on the temperature in the attic; 2) moisture content reached a level below the risk of mold formation – no mold ...

A new heat and moisture exchanger for laryngectomized patients: endotracheal temperature and humidity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scheenstra, Renske J.; Muller, Saar H.; Vincent, Andrew; Ackerstaff, Annemieke H.; Jacobi, Irene; Hilgers, Frans J. M.

2011-01-01

To assess the endotracheal temperature and humidity and clinical effects of 2 models of a new heat and moisture exchanger (HME): Rplus, which has regular breathing resistance, and Lplus, which has lower breathing resistance. We measured endotracheal temperature and humidity in 10 laryngectomized

Effects of whey protein concentrate, feed moisture and temperature on the physicochemical characteristics of a rice-based extruded flour.

Science.gov (United States)

Teba, Carla da Silva; Silva, Erika Madeira Moreira da; Chávez, Davy William Hidalgo; Carvalho, Carlos Wanderlei Piler de; Ascheri, José Luis Ramírez

2017-08-01

The influence of whey protein concentrate (WPC), feed moisture and temperature on the physicochemical properties of rice-based extrudates has been investigated. WPC (0.64-7.36g/100g rice) was extruded under 5 moisture (16.64-23.36g/100g) and 5 temperature (106.36-173.64°C) established by a 3 2 central composite rotational design. Physicochemical properties [color, porosimetry, crystallinity, water solubility and absorption, pasting properties, reconstitution test, proximate composition, amino acids, minerals and electrophoresis] were determined. WPC and feed moisture increased redness, yellowness and decreased luminosity. Feed moisture and temperature increased density and total volume pore. WPC and moisture increased crystallinity, but only WPC increased solubility and decrease the retrogradation tendency. Increasing temperature increased the viscosity of the extrudates. The addition of WPC improved the nutritional composition of the extrudates, especially proteins. It is suggested that the extrusion process positively affected the retention of most of the polypeptides chains. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Temperature and Moisture on the Development of Concealed Damage in Raw Almonds (Prunus dulcis).

Science.gov (United States)

Rogel-Castillo, Cristian; Zuskov, David; Chan, Bronte Lee; Lee, Jihyun; Huang, Guangwei; Mitchell, Alyson E

2015-09-23

Concealed damage (CD) is a brown discoloration of nutmeat that appears only after kernels are treated with moderate heat (e.g., roasting). Identifying factors that promote CD in almonds is of significant interest to the nut industry. Herein, the effect of temperature (35 and 45 °C) and moisture (almonds (Prunus dulcis var. Nonpareil) was studied using HS-SPME-GC/MS. A CIE LCh colorimetric method was developed to identify raw almonds with CD. A significant increase in CD was demonstrated in almonds exposed to moisture (8% kernel moisture content) at 45 °C as compared to 35 °C. Elevated levels of volatiles related to lipid peroxidation and amino acid degradation were observed in almonds with CD. These results suggest that postharvest moisture exposure resulting in an internal kernel moisture ≥ 8% is a key factor in the development of CD in raw almonds and that CD is accelerated by temperature.

Development and Performance Evaluation of a Re-Circulatory Vegetable Moisturizer

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. O. Sunmonu

2016-08-01

Full Text Available A re-circulatory vegetable moisturizer for preventing wilting in vegetables was developed and its performance evaluation carried out. Freshly harvested Amaranthus vegetables were used for the experiments. The temperature and relative humidity were monitored daily. The vitamin A of this produce was determined at intervals of two days for 9 days. The effects of the storage parameters (temperature and relative humidity on the nutritional value of the produce were determined using statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA. Further analysis by Duncan’s New Multiple Range Test (DNMRT was carried out to compare the means. The vegetable moisturizer was evaluated by comparing the change in nutritional (vitamin A of Amaranthus vegetable with hand wetting system and no wetting condition. The results showed that the moisturizer had higher mean vitamin A content (4.93mg/100gcompared to the mean vitamin A content of the manual wetting (4.88mg/100g and no wetting condition (4.57mg/100g. The sensory characteristics showed that the Moisturizer was more desirable when compared to the manual wetting and no wetting condition after nine days. It was concluded that the Moisturizer preserved the nutritional and sensory characteristics (texture and colour better than the manual and no wetting condition as a result of lower temperature, higher relative humidity and better water draining of the Moisturizer.

A new heat and moisture exchanger for laryngectomized patients: endotracheal temperature and humidity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scheenstra, R.J.; Muller, S.H.; Vincent, A.; Ackerstaff, A.H.; Jacobi, I.; Hilgers, F.J.M.

2011-01-01

Objective: To assess the endotracheal temperature and humidity and clinical effects of 2 models of a new heat and moisture exchanger (HME): Rplus, which has regular breathing resistance, and Lplus, which has lower breathing resistance. Methods: We measured endotracheal temperature and humidity in 10

Role of the Soil Thermal Inertia in the short term variability of the surface temperature and consequences for the soil-moisture temperature feedback

Science.gov (United States)

Cheruy, Frederique; Dufresne, Jean-Louis; Ait Mesbah, Sonia; Grandpeix, Jean-Yves; Wang, Fuxing

2017-04-01

A simple model based on the surface energy budget at equilibrium is developed to compute the sensitivity of the climatological mean daily temperature and diurnal amplitude to the soil thermal inertia. It gives a conceptual framework to quantity the role of the atmospheric and land surface processes in the surface temperature variability and relies on the diurnal amplitude of the net surface radiation, the sensitivity of the turbulent fluxes to the surface temperature and the thermal inertia. The performances of the model are first evaluated with 3D numerical simulations performed with the atmospheric (LMDZ) and land surface (ORCHIDEE) modules of the Institut Pierre Simon Laplace (IPSL) climate model. A nudging approach is adopted, it prevents from using time-consuming long-term simulations required to account for the natural variability of the climate and allow to draw conclusion based on short-term (several years) simulations. In the moist regions the diurnal amplitude and the mean surface temperature are controlled by the latent heat flux. In the dry areas, the relevant role of the stability of the boundary layer and of the soil thermal inertia is demonstrated. In these regions, the sensitivity of the surface temperature to the thermal inertia is high, due to the high contribution of the thermal flux to the energy budget. At high latitudes, when the sensitivity of turbulent fluxes is dominated by the day-time sensitivity of the sensible heat flux to the surface temperature and when this later is comparable to the thermal inertia term of the sensitivity equation, the surface temperature is also partially controlled by the thermal inertia which can rely on the snow properties; In the regions where the latent heat flux exhibits a high day-to-day variability, such as transition regions, the thermal inertia has also significant impact on the surface temperature variability . In these not too wet (energy limited) and not too dry (moisture-limited) soil moisture (SM

Temperature and moisture regimes in the Enterprise Forest, 1970--1973

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crow, T.R.; Buech, R.R.

1977-01-01

Within the Enterprise Radiation Forest, measurements of ambient air temperature, humidity, and precipitation were taken from 1970 through 1973. Temperature and moisture stresses that could alter the responses of organisms to gamma radiation were not evident during irradiation (1972) or during the recovery year 1973. Changes in microclimatic regimes as a result of the destruction of vegetation by gamma radiation were also assessed. Although differences in temperature and vapor-pressure deficit (VPD) were small when considering monthly means, mean maximum and mean minimum temperature and standardized plots of mean daily temperature and mean daily VPD indicated greater extremes in the newly created open environment than under the forest canopy. These relationships parallel those reported in comparisons of open environments to forested environments

Use of visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared remote sensing to study soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Blanchard, M. B.; Greeley, R.; Goettelman, R.

1974-01-01

Two methods are described which are used to estimate soil moisture remotely using the 0.4- to 14.0 micron wavelength region: (1) measurement of spectral reflectance, and (2) measurement of soil temperature. The reflectance method is based on observations which show that directional reflectance decreases as soil moisture increases for a given material. The soil temperature method is based on observations which show that differences between daytime and nighttime soil temperatures decrease as moisture content increases for a given material. In some circumstances, separate reflectance or temperature measurements yield ambiguous data, in which case these two methods may be combined to obtain a valid soil moisture determination. In this combined approach, reflectance is used to estimate low moisture levels; and thermal inertia (or thermal diffusivity) is used to estimate higher levels. The reflectance method appears promising for surface estimates of soil moisture, whereas the temperature method appears promising for estimates of near-subsurface (0 to 10 cm).

Distributed fiber optic moisture intrusion sensing system

Science.gov (United States)

Weiss, Jonathan D.

2003-06-24

Method and system for monitoring and identifying moisture intrusion in soil such as is contained in landfills housing radioactive and/or hazardous waste. The invention utilizes the principle that moist or wet soil has a higher thermal conductance than dry soil. The invention employs optical time delay reflectometry in connection with a distributed temperature sensing system together with heating means in order to identify discrete areas within a volume of soil wherein temperature is lower. According to the invention an optical element and, optionally, a heating element may be included in a cable or other similar structure and arranged in a serpentine fashion within a volume of soil to achieve efficient temperature detection across a large area or three dimensional volume of soil. Remediation, moisture countermeasures, or other responsive action may then be coordinated based on the assumption that cooler regions within a soil volume may signal moisture intrusion where those regions are located.

Soil Temperature and Moisture Profile (STAMP) System Handbook

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cook, David R. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2016-11-01

The soil temperature and moisture profile system (STAMP) provides vertical profiles of soil temperature, soil water content (soil-type specific and loam type), plant water availability, soil conductivity, and real dielectric permittivity as a function of depth below the ground surface at half-hourly intervals, and precipitation at one-minute intervals. The profiles are measured directly by in situ probes at all extended facilities of the SGP climate research site. The profiles are derived from measurements of soil energy conductivity. Atmospheric scientists use the data in climate models to determine boundary conditions and to estimate the surface energy flux. The data are also useful to hydrologists, soil scientists, and agricultural scientists for determining the state of the soil. The STAMP system replaced the SWATS system in early 2016.

Quantifying the effects of soil temperature, moisture and sterilization on elemental mercury formation in boreal soils.

Science.gov (United States)

Pannu, Ravinder; Siciliano, Steven D; O'Driscoll, Nelson J

2014-10-01

Soils are a source of elemental mercury (Hg(0)) to the atmosphere, however the effects of soil temperature and moisture on Hg(0) formation is not well defined. This research quantifies the effect of varying soil temperature (278-303 K), moisture (15-80% water filled pore space (WFPS)) and sterilization on the kinetics of Hg(0) formation in forested soils of Nova Scotia, Canada. Both, the logarithm of cumulative mass of Hg(0) formed in soils and the reduction rate constants (k values) increased with temperature and moisture respectively. Sterilizing soils significantly (p soils and our results highlight two key processes: (i) a fast abiotic process that peaks at 45% WFPS and depletes a small pool of Hg(0) and; (ii) a slower, rate limiting biotic process that generates a large pool of reducible Hg(II). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The effect of seed moisture and temperature on grinding characteristics of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hassoon Waleed Hameed

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd is a native food plant of the Andean region of South America. Quinoa seeds have remarkable nutritional properties, not only from its high protein content, but also from its good amino acid balance. The aim of the study was evaluate the influence of quinoa seed moisture content (10, 12, 14, 16 and 18% and temperature (-20, 3, 20 and 40°C, with the initial grain moisture content of 10.5% on grinding process. Especially the particle size distributions and grinding energy indices were determined. The results showed that the increase of seed moisture content from 10 to 16% caused an increase the specific grinding energy from 6.9 to 8.3 kJ·kg-1, beside of this as the moisture increased the average particle also increased. The highest changes were observed in the fraction of coarse particles (above 1.0 mm. Interestingly, the mass fraction of fine particles (below 0.2 mm also increased. Other grinding indices also confirmed an increase the grinding energy requirements with the increase seed moisture content. The temperature of seed has little influence on quinoa grinding process. The highest grinding energy requirements were observed when the frozen seeds were ground.

Application of Modular Modeling System to Predict Evaporation, Infiltration, Air Temperature, and Soil Moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Boggs, Johnny; Birgan, Latricia J.; Tsegaye, Teferi; Coleman, Tommy; Soman, Vishwas

1997-01-01

Models are used for numerous application including hydrology. The Modular Modeling System (MMS) is one of the few that can simulate a hydrology process. MMS was tested and used to compare infiltration, soil moisture, daily temperature, and potential and actual evaporation for the Elinsboro sandy loam soil and the Mattapex silty loam soil in the Microwave Radiometer Experiment of Soil Moisture Sensing at Beltsville Agriculture Research Test Site in Maryland. An input file for each location was created to nut the model. Graphs were plotted, and it was observed that the model gave a good representation for evaporation for both plots. In comparing the two plots, it was noted that infiltration and soil moisture tend to peak around the same time, temperature peaks in July and August and the peak evaporation was observed on September 15 and July 4 for the Elinsboro Mattapex plot respectively. MMS can be used successfully to predict hydrological processes as long as the proper input parameters are available.

Equilibrium moisture content of wood at different temperature/moisture conditions in the cladding of wooden constructions and in the relation to their reliability and service life

OpenAIRE

Zdeňka Havířová; Pavel Kubů

2010-01-01

One of the natural properties of wood and wood-based materials is their soaking capacity (hy­gro­sco­pi­ci­ty). The moisture content of wood and building constructions of wood and wood based materials significantly influences the service life and reliability of these constructions and buildings. The equilibrium weight moisture content of built-in wood corresponding to temperature/moisture conditions inside the cladding has therefore a decisive influence on the basic requirements placed on bui...

A new method to determine the water activity and the net isosteric heats of sorption for low moisture foods at elevated temperatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Tadapaneni, Ravi Kiran; Yang, Ren; Carter, Brady; Tang, Juming

2017-12-01

In recent years, research studies have shown that the thermal resistance of foodborne pathogens in the low moisture foods is greatly influenced by the water activity (a w ) at temperatures relevant to thermal treatments for pathogen control. Yet, there has been a lack of an effective method for accurate measurement of a w at those temperatures. Thus, the main aim of this study was to evaluate a new method for measuring a w of food samples at elevated temperatures. An improved thermal cell with a relative humidity and temperature sensor was used to measure the a w of the three different food samples, namely, organic wheat flour, almond flour, and non-fat milk powder, over the temperature range between 20 and 80°C. For a constant moisture content, the a w data was used to estimate the net isosteric heat of sorption (q st ). The q st values were then used in the Clausius Clapeyron equation (CCE) equation to estimate the moisture sorption isotherm for all test food samples at different temperatures. For all the tested samples of any fixed moisture content, a w value generally increased with the temperature. The energy for sorption decreased with increasing moisture content. With the experimentally determined q st value, CCE describes well about the changes in a w of the food samples between 20 and 80°C. This study presents a method to obtain a w of a food sample for a specific moisture content at different temperatures which could be extended to obtain q st values for different moisture contents and hence, the moisture sorption isotherm of a food sample at different temperatures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Creep of concrete under various temperature, moisture, and loading conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, J.E.

1976-01-01

An investigation was conducted to obtain information on the time-dependent deformation behavior of concrete in the presence of temperature, moisture, and loading conditions similar to those encountered in a prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV). Variables included concrete strength, aggregate types, curing history, temperature, and types of loading (uniaxial, hydrostatic, biaxial, and triaxial). There were 66 test conditions for creep tests and 12 test conditions for unloaded or control specimens. Experimental results are presented and discussed. Comparisons are made concerning the effect of the various test conditions on the behavior of concrete, and general conclusions are formulated

Temperature and moisture content effects on compressive strength parallel to the grain of paricá

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Jesús Manríquez Figueroa

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of the temperature and moisture content on the compressive strength parallel to the grain of paricá (Schizolobium amazonicum Huber ex. Ducke from cultivated forests. The experiments were carried out on 3 timber samples under different conditions: heated (HT, thermal treatment (TT and water saturated (WS. The HT sample consisted of 105 clear specimens assembled in 15 groups, the TT consisted of 90 clear specimens assembled in 15 groups and the WS consisted of 90 clear specimens assembled in 9 groups. The specimens from HT and WS samples were tested at a temperature range from 20 to 230 ºC and 20 to 100 ºC, respectively. The HT specimens were tested at ambient temperature, but after being submitted to thermal treatment. The HT, TT and WS samples present a decrease in the compressive strength, reaching 65%, 76% and 59% of the compressive strength at room temperature, respectively. The decrease in the compressive strength of the HT and WS samples can be associated to the thermal degradation of wood polymers and the moisture content. For the TT sample, the strength increased for a pre-heating temperature of up to 170 °C due to the reduction in the moisture content of the specimens.

The effect of soil moisture anomalies on maize yield in Germany

Science.gov (United States)

Peichl, Michael; Thober, Stephan; Meyer, Volker; Samaniego, Luis

2018-03-01

Crop models routinely use meteorological variations to estimate crop yield. Soil moisture, however, is the primary source of water for plant growth. The aim of this study is to investigate the intraseasonal predictability of soil moisture to estimate silage maize yield in Germany. We also evaluate how approaches considering soil moisture perform compare to those using only meteorological variables. Silage maize is one of the most widely cultivated crops in Germany because it is used as a main biomass supplier for energy production in the course of the German Energiewende (energy transition). Reduced form fixed effect panel models are employed to investigate the relationships in this study. These models are estimated for each month of the growing season to gain insights into the time-varying effects of soil moisture and meteorological variables. Temperature, precipitation, and potential evapotranspiration are used as meteorological variables. Soil moisture is transformed into anomalies which provide a measure for the interannual variation within each month. The main result of this study is that soil moisture anomalies have predictive skills which vary in magnitude and direction depending on the month. For instance, dry soil moisture anomalies in August and September reduce silage maize yield more than 10 %, other factors being equal. In contrast, dry anomalies in May increase crop yield up to 7 % because absolute soil water content is higher in May compared to August due to its seasonality. With respect to the meteorological terms, models using both temperature and precipitation have higher predictability than models using only one meteorological variable. Also, models employing only temperature exhibit elevated effects.

Space-Time Dynamics of Soil Moisture and Temperature: Scale issues

Science.gov (United States)

Mohanty, Binayak P.; Miller, Douglas A.; Th.vanGenuchten, M.

2003-01-01

The goal of this project is to gain further understanding of soil moisture/temperature dynamics at different spatio-temporal scales and physical controls/parameters.We created a comprehensive GIS database, which has been accessed extensively by NASA Land Surface Hydrology investigators (and others), is located at the following URL: http://www.essc.psu.edu/nasalsh. For soil moisture field experiments such as SGP97, SGP99, SMEX02, and SMEX03, cartographic products were designed for multiple applications, both pre- and post-mission. Premission applications included flight line planning and field operations logistics, as well as general insight into the extent and distribution of soil, vegetation, and topographic properties for the study areas. The cartographic products were created from original spatial information resources that were imported into Adobe Illustrator, where the maps were created and PDF versions were made for distribution and download.

Assesment of a soil moisture retrieval with numerical weather prediction model temperature

Science.gov (United States)

The effect of using a Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) soil temperature product instead of estimates provided by concurrent 37 GHz data on satellite-based passive microwave retrieval of soil moisture retrieval was evaluated. This was prompted by the change in system configuration of preceding mult...

Shrub encroachment alters sensitivity of soil respiration to temperature and moisture 2115

Science.gov (United States)

Shrub encroachment into grasslands creates a mosaic of different soil microsites ranging from open spaces to well-developed shrub canopies, and it is unclear how this affects the spatial variability in soil respiration characteristics, such as the sensitivity to soil temperature and moisture. This i...

THE EFFECT OF ACTIVATED CARBON SURFACE MOISTURE ON LOW TEMPERATURE MERCURY ADSORPTION

Science.gov (United States)

Experiments with elemental mercury (Hg0) adsorption by activated carbons were performed using a bench-scale fixed-bed reactor at room temperature (27 degrees C) to determine the role of surface moisture in capturing Hg0. A bituminous-coal-based activated carbon (BPL) and an activ...

Recovery benefits of using a heat and moisture exchange mask during sprint exercise in cold temperatures.

Science.gov (United States)

Seifert, John G; Frost, Jeremy; St Cyr, John A

2017-01-01

Breathing cold air can lead to bronchoconstriction and peripheral vasoconstriction, both of which could impact muscular performance by affecting metabolic demands during exercise. Successful solutions dealing with these physiological changes during exercise in the cold has been lacking; therefore, we investigated the influence of a heat and moisture exchange mask during exercise in the cold. There were three trial arms within this study: wearing the heat and moisture exchange mask during the rest periods in the cold, no-mask application during the rest periods in the cold, and a trial at room temperature (22°C). Eight subjects cycled in four 35 kJ sprint sessions with each session separated by 20 min rest period. Workload was 4% of body mass. Mean sprint times were faster with heat and moisture exchange mask and room temperature trial than cold, no-mask trial (133.8 ± 8.6, 134.9 ± 8.8, and 138.0 ± 8.4 s (p = 0.001)). Systolic blood pressure and mean arterial pressure were greater during the cold trial with no mask (15% and 13%, respectively), and heart rate was 10 bpm less during the third rest or recovery period during cold, no mask compared to the heat and moisture exchange mask and room temperature trials. Subjects demonstrated significant decreases in vital capacity and peak expiratory flow rate during the cold with no mask applied during the rest periods. These negative responses to cold exposure were alleviated by the use of a heat and moisture exchange mask worn during the rest intervals by minimizing cold-induced temperature stress on the respiratory system with subsequent maintenance of cardiovascular function.

Inferring Land Surface Model Parameters for the Assimilation of Satellite-Based L-Band Brightness Temperature Observations into a Soil Moisture Analysis System

Science.gov (United States)

Reichle, Rolf H.; De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.

2012-01-01

The Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite mission provides global measurements of L-band brightness temperatures at horizontal and vertical polarization and a variety of incidence angles that are sensitive to moisture and temperature conditions in the top few centimeters of the soil. These L-band observations can therefore be assimilated into a land surface model to obtain surface and root zone soil moisture estimates. As part of the observation operator, such an assimilation system requires a radiative transfer model (RTM) that converts geophysical fields (including soil moisture and soil temperature) into modeled L-band brightness temperatures. At the global scale, the RTM parameters and the climatological soil moisture conditions are still poorly known. Using look-up tables from the literature to estimate the RTM parameters usually results in modeled L-band brightness temperatures that are strongly biased against the SMOS observations, with biases varying regionally and seasonally. Such biases must be addressed within the land data assimilation system. In this presentation, the estimation of the RTM parameters is discussed for the NASA GEOS-5 land data assimilation system, which is based on the ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) and the Catchment land surface model. In the GEOS-5 land data assimilation system, soil moisture and brightness temperature biases are addressed in three stages. First, the global soil properties and soil hydraulic parameters that are used in the Catchment model were revised to minimize the bias in the modeled soil moisture, as verified against available in situ soil moisture measurements. Second, key parameters of the "tau-omega" RTM were calibrated prior to data assimilation using an objective function that minimizes the climatological differences between the modeled L-band brightness temperatures and the corresponding SMOS observations. Calibrated parameters include soil roughness parameters, vegetation structure parameters

Western US high June 2015 temperatures and their relation to global warming and soil moisture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Philip, Sjoukje Y.; Kew, Sarah F.; Hauser, Mathias; Guillod, Benoit P.; Teuling, Adriaan J.; Whan, Kirien; Uhe, Peter; Oldenborgh, van Geert Jan

2018-01-01

The Western US states Washington (WA), Oregon (OR) and California (CA) experienced extremely high temperatures in June 2015. The temperature anomalies were so extreme that they cannot be explained with global warming alone. We investigate the hypothesis that soil moisture played an important role

An Operational In Situ Soil Moisture & Soil Temperature Monitoring Network for West Wales, UK: The WSMN Network.

Science.gov (United States)

Petropoulos, George P; McCalmont, Jon P

2017-06-23

This paper describes a soil moisture dataset that has been collecting ground measurements of soil moisture, soil temperature and related parameters for west Wales, United Kingdom. Already acquired in situ data have been archived to the autonomous Wales Soil Moisture Network (WSMN) since its foundation in July 2011. The sites from which measurements are being collected represent a range of conditions typical of the Welsh environment, with climate ranging from oceanic to temperate and a range of the most typical land use/cover types found in Wales. At present, WSMN consists of a total of nine monitoring sites across the area with a concentration of sites in three sub-areas around the region of Aberystwyth located in Mid-Wales. The dataset of composed of 0-5 (or 0-10) cm soil moisture, soil temperature, precipitation, and other ancillary data. WSMN data are provided openly to the public via the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) platform. At present, WSMN is also rapidly expanding thanks to funding obtained recently which allows more monitoring sites to be added to the network to the wider community interested in using its data.

Implementation of Fully Coupled Heat and Mass Transport Model to Determine Temperature and Moisture State at Elevated Temperatures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pecenko, R.; Hozjan, Tomaz; Svensson, Staffan

2014-01-01

The aim of this study is to present precise numerical formulation to determine temperature and moisture state of timber in the situation prior pyrolysis. The strong formulations needed for an accurate description of the physics are presented and discussed as well as their coupling terms. From...

Simulated Seasonal Spatio-Temporal Patterns of Soil Moisture, Temperature, and Net Radiation in a Deciduous Forest

Science.gov (United States)

Ballard, Jerrell R., Jr.; Howington, Stacy E.; Cinnella, Pasquale; Smith, James A.

2011-01-01

The temperature and moisture regimes in a forest are key components in the forest ecosystem dynamics. Observations and studies indicate that the internal temperature distribution and moisture content of the tree influence not only growth and development, but onset and cessation of cambial activity [1], resistance to insect predation[2], and even affect the population dynamics of the insects [3]. Moreover, temperature directly affects the uptake and metabolism of population from the soil into the tree tissue [4]. Additional studies show that soil and atmospheric temperatures are significant parameters that limit the growth of trees and impose treeline elevation limitation [5]. Directional thermal infrared radiance effects have long been observed in natural backgrounds [6]. In earlier work, we illustrated the use of physically-based models to simulate directional effects in thermal imaging [7-8]. In this paper, we illustrated the use of physically-based models to simulate directional effects in thermal, and net radiation in a adeciduous forest using our recently developed three-dimensional, macro-scale computational tool that simulates the heat and mass transfer interaction in a soil-root-stem systems (SRSS). The SRSS model includes the coupling of existing heat and mass transport tools to stimulate the diurnal internal and external temperatures, internal fluid flow and moisture distribution, and heat flow in the system.

Effect of Atomic Hydrogen on Preparation of Highly Moisture-Resistive SiNx Films at Low Substrate Temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Heya, Akira; Niki, Toshikazu; Takano, Masahiro; Yonezawa, Yasuto; Minamikawa, Toshiharu; Muroi, Susumu; Minami, Shigehira; Izumi, Akira; Masuda, Atsushi; Umemoto, Hironobu; Matsumura, Hideki

2004-12-01

Highly moisture-resistive SiNx films on a Si substrate are obtained at substrate temperatures of 80°C by catalytic chemical vapor deposition (Cat-CVD) using a source gas with H2. Atomic hydrogen effected the selective etching of a weak-bond regions and an increase in atomic density induced by the energy of the surface reaction. It is concluded that Cat-CVD using H2 is a promising candidate for the fabrication of highly moisture-resistive SiNx films at low temperatures.

Tensile creep and recovery of Norway spruce influenced by temperature and moisture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engelund, Emil Tang; Salmén, Lennart

2012-01-01

of these two climatic factors on TDMB of wood. It was found that the mechanical response of wood tissue is the sum of responses from both tracheids and middle lamella, with only the previous being reversible. The effect of moisture and temperature differed in that the latter affected the elastic and time...

Influence of fuel moisture content and reactor temperature on the calorific value of syngas resulted from gasification of oil palm fronds.

Science.gov (United States)

Atnaw, Samson Mekbib; Sulaiman, Shaharin Anwar; Yusup, Suzana

2014-01-01

Biomass wastes produced from oil palm mills and plantations include empty fruit bunches (EFBs), shells, fibers, trunks, and oil palm fronds (OPF). EFBs and shells are partially utilized as boiler fuel while the rest of the biomass materials like OPF have not been utilized for energy generation. No previous study has been reported on gasification of oil palm fronds (OPF) biomass for the production of fuel gas. In this paper, the effect of moisture content of fuel and reactor temperature on downdraft gasification of OPF was experimentally investigated using a lab scale gasifier of capacity 50 kW. In addition, results obtained from equilibrium model of gasification that was developed for facilitating the prediction of syngas composition are compared with experimental data. Comparison of simulation results for predicting calorific value of syngas with the experimental results showed a satisfactory agreement with a mean error of 0.1 MJ/Nm³. For a biomass moisture content of 29%, the resulting calorific value for the syngas was found to be only 2.63 MJ/Nm³, as compared to nearly double (4.95 MJ/Nm³) for biomass moisture content of 22%. A calorific value as high as 5.57 MJ/Nm³ was recorded for higher oxidation zone temperature values.

The effect of moisture content on physicochemical properties of extruded waxy and non-waxy rice flour.

Science.gov (United States)

Jongsutjarittam, Ornpicha; Charoenrein, Sanguansri

2014-12-19

The properties of waxy rice flour (WRF) and non-waxy rice flour (RF) were modified using an extrusion process with different feeding material moisture contents. WRF was more affected by the thermomechanical stress from extrusion; consequently, it had a lower glass transition temperature but higher water solubility index (WSI) indicating higher molecular degradation than extruded RF. The lower moisture content of the feeding flour caused more severe flour damage (coarser surface of the extruded flour) and lowered relative crystallinity compared to higher moisture content processing. Moreover, low moisture content processing led to complete gelatinization, whereas, partial gelatinization occurred in the higher moisture content extrusion. Consequently, the extruded flours had a lower peak viscosity and gelatinization enthalpy but a higher water absorption index and WSI than native flour. In conclusion, the rice flour type and the moisture content of the extrusion feeding flour affected the physicochemical properties of the extruded flour. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatial downscaling of SMAP soil moisture using MODIS land surface temperature and NDVI during SMAPVEX15

Science.gov (United States)

The SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) mission provides global surface soil moisture product at 36 km resolution from its L-band radiometer. While the coarse resolution is satisfactory to many applications there are also a lot of applications which would benefit from a higher resolution soil moistu...

Soil Temperature and Moisture Effects on Soil Respiration and Microbial Community Abundance

Science.gov (United States)

2015-04-13

Bárcenas-Moreno, G., M. Gómez-Brandón, J. Rousk, and E. Bååth. 2009. Adaptation of soil microbial communities to temperature: Comparison of fungi and...ER D C/ CR RE L TR -1 5- 6 ERDC 6.2 Geospatial Research and Engineering (GRE) ARTEMIS TSP-SA Soil Temperature and Moisture Effects on... Soil Respiration and Microbial Community Abundance Co ld R eg io ns R es ea rc h an d En gi ne er in g La bo ra to ry Robyn A. Barbato

Numerical simulation of transient moisture and temperature distribution in polycarbonate and aluminum electronic enclosures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shojaee Nasirabadi, Parizad; Jabbaribehnam, Mirmasoud; Hattel, Jesper Henri

2016-01-01

The challenge of developing a reliable electronic product requires huge amounts of resources and knowledge. Temperature and thermal features directly affect the life of electronic products. Furthermore, moisture can be damaging for electronic components. Nowadays, computational fluid dynamics (CF...

Distribution of temperature and moisture content fields in a rectangular beet pulp particle during convection drying

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. N. Ostrikov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The mathematical model describing distribution of fields of temperatures and moisture contents in a particle of a squared beet press at convective drying is given. As the initial equations the differential equations of material and thermal balances in which transfer of warmth and weight is caused by phase transformations have been accepted. The algorithm of the numerical solution of a non-stationary regional problem of heat conductivity with variable heat and mass transfer coefficients of the dried-up product, boundary and entry conditions and also phase transition with mobile limit of the section of phases is developed for the solution of mathematical model. At the same time the initial system of the equations is given to a dimensionless look. For the solution of a problem of non-stationary heat conductivity the zone method of calculation of temperature fields when drying a beet press is used. Process of drying broke into some time intervals. Within each interval geometrical form of a particle, its density, heatphysical and mass-exchanged characteristics; initial distribution of temperature and moisture content on particle volume and also density of a mass and thermal stream with the evaporated moisture are constant. The zone method of the solution of a problem of the non-stationary three-dimensional equation of heat conductivity for a parallelepiped taking into account internal sources of warmth has been checked on experimental data of stationary drying of a beet press with use of basic data. For realization of a zone method dependences of change of the linear size of a particle of a beet press on spatial coordinate x and its moisture content in the course of drying are received. At constant values of moisture content and the sizes of the party of the dried-up particle on each step the method of a machine experiment has found the current values of coefficient of phase transformation on condition of the maximum rapprochement of settlement and

Mulch and groundcover effects on soil temperature and moisture, surface reflectance, grapevine water potential, and vineyard weed management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina M. Bavougian

2018-06-01

Full Text Available The objectives of this research were to identify alternatives to glyphosate for intra-row (under-trellis vineyard floor management and to evaluate the potential for intra-row and inter-row (alleyway groundcovers to reduce vegetative vigor of ‘Marquette’ grapevines (Vitis spp. in a southeast Nebraska vineyard. The experiment was a randomized factorial design with five intra-row treatments (crushed glass mulch [CG], distillers’ grain mulch [DG], creeping red fescue [CRF], non-sprayed control [NSC], and glyphosate [GLY] and three inter-row treatments (creeping red fescue [CRF], Kentucky bluegrass [KB], and resident vegetation [RV]. Treatments were established in 2010–2011 and measurements were conducted during 2012 and 2013 on 5- and 6-year-old vines. Soil temperatures were mostly higher under mulches and lower under intra-row groundcovers, compared to GLY. Weed cover in CG, DG, and CRF treatments was the same or less than GLY. At most sampling dates, inter-row soil moisture was lowest under KB. Intra-row soil moisture was highest under DG mulch and lowest under CRF and NSC; CG had the same or lower soil moisture than GLY. Surprisingly, we did not detect differences in mid-day photosynthetically active radiation (PAR reflectance, despite visual differences among the intra-row treatments. Mid-day vine water potential did not differ among treatments. We concluded it is not necessary to maintain a bare soil strip under established vines in this region, where soil fertility and moisture are non-limiting.

Role of soil moisture versus recent climate change for the 2010 heat wave in western Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Mathias; Orth, René; Seneviratne, Sonia I.

2016-03-01

The severe 2010 heat wave in western Russia was found to be influenced by anthropogenic climate change. Additionally, soil moisture-temperature feedbacks were deemed important for the buildup of the exceptionally high temperatures. We quantify the relative role of both factors by applying the probabilistic event attribution framework and analyze ensemble simulations to distinguish the effect of climate change and the 2010 soil moisture conditions for annual maximum temperatures. The dry 2010 soil moisture alone has increased the risk of a severe heat wave in western Russia sixfold, while climate change from 1960 to 2000 has approximately tripled it. The combined effect of climate change and 2010 soil moisture yields a 13 times higher heat wave risk. We conclude that internal climate variability causing the dry 2010 soil moisture conditions formed a necessary basis for the extreme heat wave.

Inversion of Farmland Soil Moisture in Large Region Based on Modified Vegetation Index

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, J. X.; Yu, B. S.; Zhang, G. Z.; Zhao, G. C.; He, S. D.; Luo, W. R.; Zhang, C. C.

2018-04-01

Soil moisture is an important parameter for agricultural production. Efficient and accurate monitoring of soil moisture is an important link to ensure the safety of agricultural production. Remote sensing technology has been widely used in agricultural moisture monitoring because of its timeliness, cyclicality, dynamic tracking of changes in things, easy access to data, and extensive monitoring. Vegetation index and surface temperature are important parameters for moisture monitoring. Based on NDVI, this paper introduces land surface temperature and average temperature for optimization. This article takes the soil moisture in winter wheat growing area in Henan Province as the research object, dividing Henan Province into three main regions producing winter wheat and dividing the growth period of winter wheat into the early, middle and late stages on the basis of phenological characteristics and regional characteristics. Introducing appropriate correction factor during the corresponding growth period of winter wheat, correcting the vegetation index in the corresponding area, this paper establishes regression models of soil moisture on NDVI and soil moisture on modified NDVI based on correlation analysis and compare models. It shows that modified NDVI is more suitable as a indicator of soil moisture because of the better correlation between soil moisture and modified NDVI and the higher prediction accuracy of the regression model of soil moisture on modified NDVI. The research in this paper has certain reference value for winter wheat farmland management and decision-making.

Dependence of Soil Respiration on Soil Temperature and Soil Moisture in Successional Forests in Southern China

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Xu-Li Tang; Guo-Yi Zhou; Shu-Guang Liu; De-Qiang Zhang; Shi-Zhong Liu; Jiong Li; Cun-Yu Zhou

2006-01-01

The spatial and temporal variations in soil respiration and its relationship with biophysical factors in forests near the Tropic of Cancer remain highly uncertain. To contribute towards an improvement of actual estimates, soil respiration rates, soil temperature, and soil moisture were measured in three successional subtropical forests at the Dinghushan Nature Reserve (DNR) in southern China from March 2003 to February 2005. The overall objective of the present study was to analyze the temporal variations of soil respiration and its biophysical dependence in these forests. The relationships between biophysical factors and soil respiration rates were compared in successional forests to test the hypothesis that these forests responded similarly to biophysical factors. The seasonality of soil respiration coincided with the seasonal climate pattern, with high respiration rates in the hot humid season (April-September) and with low rates in the cool dry season (October-March). Soil respiration measured at these forests showed a clear increasing trend with the progressive succession. Annual mean (± SD) soil respiration rate in the DNR forests was (9.0±4.6) Mg CO2-C/hm2 per year, ranging from (6.1±3.2) Mg CO2-C/hm2 per year in early successional forests to (10.7±4.9) Mg CO2-C/hm2 per year in advanced successional forests. Soil respiration was correlated with both soil temperature and moisture. The T/M model, where the two biophysical variables are driving factors, accounted for 74%-82% of soil respiration variation in DNR forests. Temperature sensitivity decreased along progressive succession stages, suggesting that advanced-successional forests have a good ability to adjust to temperature. In contrast, moisture increased with progressive succession processes. This increase is caused, in part, by abundant respirators in advanced-successional forest, where more soil moisture is needed to maintain their activities.

Dependence of soil respiration on soil temperature and soil moisture in successional forests in Southern China

Science.gov (United States)

Tang, X.-L.; Zhou, G.-Y.; Liu, S.-G.; Zhang, D.-Q.; Liu, S.-Z.; Li, Ji; Zhou, C.-Y.

2006-01-01

The spatial and temporal variations in soil respiration and its relationship with biophysical factors in forests near the Tropic of Cancer remain highly uncertain. To contribute towards an improvement of actual estimates, soil respiration rates, soil temperature, and soil moisture were measured in three successional subtropical forests at the Dinghushan Nature Reserve (DNR) in southern China from March 2003 to February 2005. The overall objective of the present study was to analyze the temporal variations of soil respiration and its biophysical dependence in these forests. The relationships between biophysical factors and soil respiration rates were compared in successional forests to test the hypothesis that these forests responded similarly to biophysical factors. The seasonality of soil respiration coincided with the seasonal climate pattern, with high respiration rates in the hot humid season (April-September) and with low rates in the cool dry season (October-March). Soil respiration measured at these forests showed a clear increasing trend with the progressive succession. Annual mean (±SD) soil respiration rate in the DNR forests was (9.0 ± 4.6) Mg CO2-C/hm2per year, ranging from (6.1 ± 3.2) Mg CO2-C/hm2per year in early successional forests to (10.7 ± 4.9) Mg CO2-C/hm2 per year in advanced successional forests. Soil respiration was correlated with both soil temperature and moisture. The T/M model, where the two biophysical variables are driving factors, accounted for 74%-82% of soil respiration variation in DNR forests. Temperature sensitivity decreased along progressive succession stages, suggesting that advanced-successional forests have a good ability to adjust to temperature. In contrast, moisture increased with progressive succession processes. This increase is caused, in part, by abundant respirators in advanced-successional forest, where more soil moisture is needed to maintain their activities.

Influence of Fuel Moisture Content and Reactor Temperature on the Calorific Value of Syngas Resulted from Gasification of Oil Palm Fronds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samson Mekbib Atnaw

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Biomass wastes produced from oil palm mills and plantations include empty fruit bunches (EFBs, shells, fibers, trunks, and oil palm fronds (OPF. EFBs and shells are partially utilized as boiler fuel while the rest of the biomass materials like OPF have not been utilized for energy generation. No previous study has been reported on gasification of oil palm fronds (OPF biomass for the production of fuel gas. In this paper, the effect of moisture content of fuel and reactor temperature on downdraft gasification of OPF was experimentally investigated using a lab scale gasifier of capacity 50 kW. In addition, results obtained from equilibrium model of gasification that was developed for facilitating the prediction of syngas composition are compared with experimental data. Comparison of simulation results for predicting calorific value of syngas with the experimental results showed a satisfactory agreement with a mean error of 0.1 MJ/Nm3. For a biomass moisture content of 29%, the resulting calorific value for the syngas was found to be only 2.63 MJ/Nm3, as compared to nearly double (4.95 MJ/Nm3 for biomass moisture content of 22%. A calorific value as high as 5.57 MJ/Nm3 was recorded for higher oxidation zone temperature values.

Influence of Fuel Moisture Content and Reactor Temperature on the Calorific Value of Syngas Resulted from Gasification of Oil Palm Fronds

Science.gov (United States)

Atnaw, Samson Mekbib; Sulaiman, Shaharin Anwar; Yusup, Suzana

2014-01-01

Biomass wastes produced from oil palm mills and plantations include empty fruit bunches (EFBs), shells, fibers, trunks, and oil palm fronds (OPF). EFBs and shells are partially utilized as boiler fuel while the rest of the biomass materials like OPF have not been utilized for energy generation. No previous study has been reported on gasification of oil palm fronds (OPF) biomass for the production of fuel gas. In this paper, the effect of moisture content of fuel and reactor temperature on downdraft gasification of OPF was experimentally investigated using a lab scale gasifier of capacity 50 kW. In addition, results obtained from equilibrium model of gasification that was developed for facilitating the prediction of syngas composition are compared with experimental data. Comparison of simulation results for predicting calorific value of syngas with the experimental results showed a satisfactory agreement with a mean error of 0.1 MJ/Nm3. For a biomass moisture content of 29%, the resulting calorific value for the syngas was found to be only 2.63 MJ/Nm3, as compared to nearly double (4.95 MJ/Nm3) for biomass moisture content of 22%. A calorific value as high as 5.57 MJ/Nm3 was recorded for higher oxidation zone temperature values. PMID:24578617

Optimisasi Suhu Pemanasan dan Kadar Air pada Produksi Pati Talas Kimpul Termodifikasi dengan Teknik Heat Moisture Treatment (HMT (Optimization of Heating Temperature and Moisture Content on the Production of Modified Cocoyam Starch Using Heat Moisture Treatment (HMT Technique

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

I Nengah Kencana Putra

2016-12-01

Full Text Available One of the physically starch modification technique is heat-moisture treatment (HMT. This technique can increase the resistance of starch to heat, mechanical treatment, and acid during processing.  This research aimed to find out the influence of heating temperature and moisture content in the modification process of cocoyam starch  with HMT techniques on the characteristic of product, and then to determine the optimum heating temperature and moisture content in the process. The research was designed with a complete randomized design (CRD with two factors factorial experiment.  The first factor was temperature of the heating consists of 3 levels namely 100 °C, 110 °C, and 120 °C. The second factor was the moisture content of starch which consists of 4 levels, namely 15 %, 20 %, 25 %, and 30 %. The results showed that the heating temperature and moisture content significantly affected water content, amylose content and swelling power of modified cocoyam starch product, but the treatment had no significant effect on the solubility of the product. HMT process was able to change the type of cocoyam starch from type B to type C. The optimum heating temperature and water content on modified cocoyam starch production process was 110 °C and 30 % respectively. Such treatment resulted in a modified cocoyam starch with moisture content of 6.50 %, 50,14 % amylose content, swelling power of 7.90, 0.0009% solubility, paste clarity of 96.310 % T, and was classified as a type C starch.   ABSTRAK Salah satu teknik modifikasi pati secara fisik adalah teknik Heat Moisture Treatment (HMT. Teknik ini dapat meningkatkan ketahanan pati terhadap panas, perlakuan mekanik, dan asam selama pengolahan. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh suhu dan kadar air pada proses modifikasi pati talas kimpul dengan teknik HMT terhadap karakteristik produk, dan selanjutnya menentukan suhu dan kadar air yang optimal dalam proses tersebut. Penelitian ini dirancang

Measurement of moisture motion under a temperature gradient in a concrete for SNR-300 using thermal neutrons

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zelinger, A.

1975-01-01

For describing the behavior of the moisture in the concrete of the containment of SNR-300 in a hypothetical accident parameters were determined experimentally. The method is based on transmission of thermal neutrons through a plate of concrete. When a temperature of 170 deg C was applied at one end of the plate migration of moisture and evaporation took place. This could be observed by neutron radiography giving a gross picture of moisture migration. Furthermore the intensity of the transmitted neutron beam was measured with a neutron counter. From these values profiles of the change of moisture concentration could be obtained with a spatial resolution of few millimeters. The method used is entirely different from the conventional moisture meters which use fast neutrons. From the experimental data the mass transfer coefficient of vapour, the diffusion coefficient of vapour in concrete and the porosity of the concrete could be determined

Improving Soil Moisture Estimation with a Dual Ensemble Kalman Smoother by Jointly Assimilating AMSR-E Brightness Temperature and MODIS LST

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Weijing Chen

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Uncertainties in model parameters can easily result in systematic differences between model states and observations, which significantly affect the accuracy of soil moisture estimation in data assimilation systems. In this research, a soil moisture assimilation scheme is developed to jointly assimilate AMSR-E (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-Earth Observing System brightness temperature (TB and MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Land Surface Temperature (LST products, which also corrects model bias by simultaneously updating model states and parameters with a dual ensemble Kalman filter (DEnKS. Common Land Model (CoLM and a Radiative Transfer Model (RTM are adopted as model and observation operator, respectively. The assimilation experiment was conducted in Naqu on the Tibet Plateau from 31 May to 27 September 2011. The updated soil temperature at surface obtained by assimilating MODIS LST serving as inputs of RTM is to reduce the differences between the simulated and observed TB, then AMSR-E TB is assimilated to update soil moisture and model parameters. Compared with in situ measurements, the accuracy of soil moisture estimation derived from the assimilation experiment has been tremendously improved at a variety of scales. The updated parameters effectively reduce the states bias of CoLM. The results demonstrate the potential of assimilating AMSR-E TB and MODIS LST to improve the estimation of soil moisture and related parameters. Furthermore, this study indicates that the developed scheme is an effective way to retrieve downscaled soil moisture when assimilating the coarse-scale microwave TB.

Modelling of simultaneous effect of moisture and temperature on A. niger growth in solid-state fermentation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hamidi-Esfahani, Z.; Shojaosadati, S.A.; Rinzema, A.

2004-01-01

In the present work a two factorial design of experiments was applied to study the simultaneous effect of temperature and moisture on A. niger growth in the solid-state fermentation (SSF). The increase of water content to more than 55% at the temperatures 35 and 40degreesC decreases microorganism

Modeling moisture absorption kinetics of barley grain using viscoelastic model and neural networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M Kamali

2015-09-01

containers having 200 mg of distilled water. Grains were weighed after a predetermined period of elapsed time (5, 10, 15, 30, 60, 120, etc. minutes. The experiments were conducted with three replications and moisture absorption rates were determined by the equations presented by McWatters et al., 2002. The experiments were conducted on a time table based on which the time for the dissolving of grains was reached. In this case, the moisture content of the grains reaches the saturation point. According to equations presented by Peleg, as water density increases as much as 0.01 gram due to grains dissolving in water, the saturation point has been reached (Peleg, 1988. For this reason, distilled water density was measured and controlled before and after each experiment by a pycnometer. Neural network was designed according to the two methods of multi-layer perceptron (MLP and radial basis function (RBF with three neuron layers. The first layer, i.e. input layer, is independent variables of temperature and time.The second layer, i.e. hidden layers, is the networks hidden layer and the third layer, i.e. output layer, is the dependent variable of moisture content which was selected. In each case, the nonlinear reduced gradient, combined gradient and BFGS algorithm, and Trigonometric, Logarithmic, Gaussian, and Logical functions were used to train, test and evaluate the network. To evaluate the predicting viscoelastic model and the network, we used statistical indices maximum value of coefficient of determination (R2 and minimum value of mean square error (RMSE. Results and Discussion: Moisture absorption curves showed that as the temperature increases, moisture absorption rate increases as well. Higher equilibrium moisture levels are obtained in water with higher temperatures. This phenomenon is the result of increased moisture diffusion in grains due to higher temperature levels. Higher water temperatures causes grain internal material which is mainly starch to gelatinize and

Sensitivity of decomposition rates of soil organic matter with respect to simultaneous changes in temperature and moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Sierra, Carlos A.; Trumbore, Susan E.; Davidson, Eric A.; Vicca, Sara; Janssens, I.

2015-03-01

The sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition to global environmental change is a topic of prominent relevance for the global carbon cycle. Decomposition depends on multiple factors that are being altered simultaneously as a result of global environmental change; therefore, it is important to study the sensitivity of the rates of soil organic matter decomposition with respect to multiple and interacting drivers. In this manuscript, we present an analysis of the potential response of decomposition rates to simultaneous changes in temperature and moisture. To address this problem, we first present a theoretical framework to study the sensitivity of soil organic matter decomposition when multiple driving factors change simultaneously. We then apply this framework to models and data at different levels of abstraction: (1) to a mechanistic model that addresses the limitation of enzyme activity by simultaneous effects of temperature and soil water content, the latter controlling substrate supply and oxygen concentration for microbial activity; (2) to different mathematical functions used to represent temperature and moisture effects on decomposition in biogeochemical models. To contrast model predictions at these two levels of organization, we compiled different data sets of observed responses in field and laboratory studies. Then we applied our conceptual framework to: (3) observations of heterotrophic respiration at the ecosystem level; (4) laboratory experiments looking at the response of heterotrophic respiration to independent changes in moisture and temperature; and (5) ecosystem-level experiments manipulating soil temperature and water content simultaneously.

Moisture effects on temperature sensitivity of CO2 exchange in a subarctic heath ecosystem

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Illeris, Lotte; Christensen, TR; Mastepanov, M

2004-01-01

Carbon fluxes between natural ecosystems and the atmosphere have received increased attention in recent years due to the impact they have on climate. In order to investigate independently how soil moisture and temperature control carbon fluxes into and out of a dry subarctic dwarf shrub dominated...

Assimilation of SMOS Brightness Temperatures or Soil Moisture Retrievals into a Land Surface Model

Science.gov (United States)

De Lannoy, Gabrielle J. M.; Reichle, Rolf H.

2016-01-01

Three different data products from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are assimilated separately into the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, version 5 (GEOS-5) to improve estimates of surface and root-zone soil moisture. The first product consists of multi-angle, dual-polarization brightness temperature (Tb) observations at the bottom of the atmosphere extracted from Level 1 data. The second product is a derived SMOS Tb product that mimics the data at a 40 degree incidence angle from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission. The third product is the operational SMOS Level 2 surface soil moisture (SM) retrieval product. The assimilation system uses a spatially distributed ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) with seasonally varying climatological bias mitigation for Tb assimilation, whereas a time-invariant cumulative density function matching is used for SM retrieval assimilation. All assimilation experiments improve the soil moisture estimates compared to model-only simulations in terms of unbiased root-mean-square differences and anomaly correlations during the period from 1 July 2010 to 1 May 2015 and for 187 sites across the US. Especially in areas where the satellite data are most sensitive to surface soil moisture, large skill improvements (e.g., an increase in the anomaly correlation by 0.1) are found in the surface soil moisture. The domain-average surface and root-zone skill metrics are similar among the various assimilation experiments, but large differences in skill are found locally. The observation-minus-forecast residuals and analysis increments reveal large differences in how the observations add value in the Tb and SM retrieval assimilation systems. The distinct patterns of these diagnostics in the two systems reflect observation and model errors patterns that are not well captured in the assigned EnKF error parameters. Consequently, a localized optimization of the EnKF error parameters is needed to further improve Tb or SM retrieval

Mapping Surface Heat Fluxes by Assimilating SMAP Soil Moisture and GOES Land Surface Temperature Data

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yang; Steele-Dunne, Susan C.; Farhadi, Leila; van de Giesen, Nick

2017-12-01

Surface heat fluxes play a crucial role in the surface energy and water balance. In situ measurements are costly and difficult, and large-scale flux mapping is hindered by surface heterogeneity. Previous studies have demonstrated that surface heat fluxes can be estimated by assimilating land surface temperature (LST) and soil moisture to determine two key parameters: a neutral bulk heat transfer coefficient (CHN) and an evaporative fraction (EF). Here a methodology is proposed to estimate surface heat fluxes by assimilating Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) soil moisture data and Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) LST data into a dual-source (DS) model using a hybrid particle assimilation strategy. SMAP soil moisture data are assimilated using a particle filter (PF), and GOES LST data are assimilated using an adaptive particle batch smoother (APBS) to account for the large gap in the spatial and temporal resolution. The methodology is implemented in an area in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. Assessment against in situ observations suggests that soil moisture and LST estimates are in better agreement with observations after assimilation. The RMSD for 30 min (daytime) flux estimates is reduced by 6.3% (8.7%) and 31.6% (37%) for H and LE on average. Comparison against a LST-only and a soil moisture-only assimilation case suggests that despite the coarse resolution, assimilating SMAP soil moisture data is not only beneficial but also crucial for successful and robust flux estimation, particularly when the uncertainties in the model estimates are large.

Effects of moisture barrier and initial moisture content on the storage ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The two factors examined were moisture barrier at three levels namely: thick lining, thin lining and non-lining. The other factor included initial moisture content of the produce, namely, turgid and partially wilted. Partial wilting of the produce was achieved by exposing freshly harvested materials at ambient temperature to dry ...

Resistant Starch Contents of Native and Heat-Moisture Treated Jackfruit Seed Starch

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ornanong S. Kittipongpatana

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Native jackfruit seed starch (JFS contains 30% w/w type II resistant starch (RS2 and can potentially be developed as a new commercial source of RS for food and pharmaceutical application. Heat-moisture treatment (HMT was explored as a mean to increase RS content of native JFS. The effect of the conditions was tested at varied moisture contents (MC, temperatures, and times. Moisture levels of 20–25%, together with temperatures 80–110°C, generally resulted in increases of RS amount. The highest amount of RS (52.2% was achieved under treatment conditions of 25% MC and 80°C, for 16 h (JF-25-80-16. FT-IR peak ratio at 1047/1022 cm−1 suggested increases in ordered structure in several HMT-JFS samples with increased RS. SEM showed no significant change in the granule appearance, except at high moisture/temperature treatment. XRD revealed no significant change in peaks intensities, suggesting the crystallinity within the granule was mostly retained. DSC showed increases in Tg and, in most cases, ΔT, as the MC was increased in the samples. Slight but significant decreases in ΔH were observed in samples with low RS, indicating that a combination of high moisture and temperature might cause partial gelatinization. HMT-JFS with higher RS exhibited less swelling, while the solubility remained mostly unchanged.

Effect of feed composition, moisture content and extrusion temperature on extrudate characteristics of yam-corn-rice based snack food.

Science.gov (United States)

Seth, Dibyakanta; Badwaik, Laxmikant S; Ganapathy, Vijayalakshmi

2015-03-01

Blends of yam, rice and corn flour were processed in a twin-screw extruder. Effects of yam flour (10-40 %), feed moisture content (12-24 %) and extruder barrel temperature (100-140 °C) on the characteristics of the dried extrudates was investigated using a statistical technique response surface methodology (RSM). Radial expansion ratio differed significantly (p ≤ 0.05) with change in all the independent variables. Highest expansion (3.97) was found at lowest moisture content (12 %) and highest barrel temperature (140 °C). Increased yam flour level decreased the expansion ratio significantly. Water absorption index (WAI) increased significantly with increase of all variables. However, water solubility index (WSI) did not change with change in yam flour percent. Hardness of extrudates that varied from 3.86 to 6.94 N was positively correlated with yam flour level and feed moisture content, however it decreased significantly (p ≤ 0.001) with increase of barrel temperature. Yam percent of 15.75 with feed moisture and barrel temperature at 12.00 % and 140 °C respectively gave an optimized product of high desirability (> 0.90) with optimum responses of 3.29 expansion ratio, 5.64 g/g dry solid water absorption index, 30.39 % water solubility index and 3.86 N hardness. The predicted values registered non-significant (p extruded snacks and little emphasis on the chemistry of interaction between different components.

The Effects of Soil Type, Particle Size, Temperature, and Moisture on Reproduction of Belonolaimus longicaudatus.

Science.gov (United States)

Robbins, R T; Barker, K R

1974-01-01

Effects of soil type, particle size, temperature, and moisture on the reproduction of Belonolaimus longicaudatus were investigated under greenhouse conditions. Nematode increases occurred only in soils with a minimum of 80% sand and a maximum of 10% clay. Optimum soil particle size for reproduction of the Tarboro, N.C. and Tifton, Ga. populations of the nematode was near that of 120-370 mum (65-mesh) silica sand. Reproduction was greatest at 25-30 C. Some reproduction by the Tifton, Ga. population occurred at 35 C, whereas the Tarboro, N.C. population declined, as compared to the initial inoculum. Both populations reproduced slightly at 20 C. Nematode reproduction was greater at a moisture level of 7% than at a high of 30% or a low of 2%. Reproduction occurred at the high moisture level only when the nutrient solution was aerated.

EFFECT OF LOW-TEMPERATURE HYGROTHERMAL PROCESSING ON FORMS OF ASSOCIATION OF MOISTURE IN RICE-VEGETABLE MIXTURE WITH HYDROBIONTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. S. Rodionova

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Summary. In the catering industry common combination of rice, vegetable raw materials: onion and carrot, and aquatic organisms: fish, squid, which allows you to get a dish with high consumer properties. The article investigated the influence of the amount of water introduced by the ratio of free and bound moisture in food samples obtained using the low temperature thermo-humidity treatment, compared with the control. Found that for all drawing and vegetable mixture with squid, adding water in an amount exceeding 12.0 % of the total weight of the meal increases the mass fraction of free moisture. For rice-vegetable mixture with carp introduction of additional water is not recommended, since the introduction of water even in the amount of 5 % of the total weight of the meal increases the mass fraction of free moisture. The data indicate that the use of low-temperature thermal treatment of the samples humid pre vacuum packaging technology helps to reduce finished product weight loss, due to the amount of free moisture conservation while increasing the mass of bound water that helps to ensure better consistency of the final product, increase the shelf life and exit semis.

Relating coccidioidomycosis (valley fever) incidence to soil moisture conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Coopersmith, E J; Bell, J E; Benedict, K; Shriber, J; McCotter, O; Cosh, M H

2017-04-17

Coccidioidomycosis (also called Valley fever) is caused by a soilborne fungus, Coccidioides spp. , in arid regions of the southwestern United States. Though some who develop infections from this fungus remain asymptomatic, others develop respiratory disease as a consequence. Less commonly, severe illness and death can occur when the infection spreads to other regions of the body. Previous analyses have attempted to connect the incidence of coccidioidomycosis to broadly available climatic measurements, such as precipitation or temperature. However, with the limited availability of long-term, in situ soil moisture data sets, it has not been feasible to perform a direct analysis of the relationships between soil moisture levels and coccidioidomycosis incidence on a larger temporal and spatial scale. Utilizing in situ soil moisture gauges throughout the southwest from the U.S. Climate Reference Network and a model with which to extend those estimates, this work connects periods of higher and lower soil moisture in Arizona and California between 2002 and 2014 to the reported incidence of coccidioidomycosis. The results indicate that in both states, coccidioidomycosis incidence is related to soil moisture levels from previous summers and falls. Stated differently, a higher number of coccidioidomycosis cases are likely to be reported if previous bands of months have been atypically wet or dry, depending on the location.

Effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy of rambutan seed under different drying methods to promote storage stability

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmad, So'bah; Shamsul Anuar, Mohd; Saleena Taip, Farah; Shamsudin, Rosnah; M, Siti Roha A.

2017-05-01

The effects of two drying methods, oven and microwave drying on the effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy of rambutan seed were studied. Effective moisture diffusivity and activation energy are the main indicators used for moisture movement within the material. Hence, it is beneficial to determine an appropriate drying method to attain a final moisture content of rambutan seed that potentially could be used as secondary sources in the industry. An appropriate final moisture content will provide better storage stability that can extend the lifespan of the rambutan seed. The rambutan seeds were dried with two drying methods (oven and microwave) at two level of the process variables (oven temperature; 40°C and 60°C and microwave power; 250W and 1000W) at constant initial moisture contents. The result showed that a higher value of effective moisture diffusivity and less activation energy were observed in microwave drying compared to oven drying. This finding portrays microwave drying expedites the moisture removal to achieve the required final moisture content and the most appropriate drying method for longer storage stability for rambutan seed. With respect to the process variables; higher oven temperatures and lower microwave powers also exhibit similar trends. Hopefully, this study would provide a baseline data to determine an appropriate drying method for longer storage period for turning waste to by-products.

Predicting temperature and moisture distributions in conditioned spaces using the zonal approach

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mendonca, K.C. [Parana Pontifical Catholic Univ., Curitiba (Brazil); Wurtz, E.; Inard, C. [La Rochelle Univ., La Rochelle, Cedex (France). LEPTAB

2005-07-01

Moisture interacts with building elements in a number of different ways that impact upon building performance, causing deterioration of building materials, as well as contributing to poor indoor air quality. In humid climates, moisture represents one of the major loads in conditioned spaces. It is therefore important to understand and model moisture transport accurately. This paper discussed an intermediate zonal approach to building a library of data in order to predict whole hygrothermal behavior in conditioned rooms. The zonal library included 2 models in order to consider building envelope moisture buffering effects as well as taking into account the dynamic aspect of jet airflow in the zonal method. The zonal library was then applied to a case study to show the impact of external humidity on the whole hygrothermal performance of a room equipped with a vertical fan-coil unit. The proposed theory was structured into 3 groups representing 3 building domains: indoor air; envelope; and heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems. The indoor air sub-model related to indoor air space, where airflow speed was considered to be low. The envelope sub-model related to the radiation exchanges between the envelope and its environment as well as to the heat and mass transfers through the envelope material. The HVAC system sub-model referred to the whole system including equipment, control and specific airflow from the equipment. All the models were coupled into SPARK, where the resulting set of non-linear equations were solved simultaneously. A case study of a large office conditioned by a vertical fan-coil unit with a rectangular air supply diffuser was presented. Details of the building's external and internal environment were provided, as well as convective heat and mass transfer coefficients and temperature distributions versus time. Results of the study indicated that understanding building material moisture buffering effects is as important as

Effect of Initial Moisture on the Adsorption and Desorption Equilibrium Moisture Contents of Polished Rice

OpenAIRE

Murata, Satoshi; Amaratunga, K.S.P.; Tanaka, Fumihiko; Hori, Yoshiaki; 村田, 敏; 田中, 史彦; 堀, 善昭

1993-01-01

The moisture adsorption and desorption properties for polished rice have been measured using a dynamic ventilatory method. Air temperatures of 10,20,30 and 40℃, relative humidities of 50,60,70,80 and 90%, and five levels of initial moisture contents ranging approximately from 8% to 19% d.b. were used to obtain moisture content data. The value of equilibrium moisture content for each initial moisture content at the range of air condition was determined by a method of nonlinear least squares. R...

Initial substrate moisture content and storage temperature affects chemical properties of bagged substrates containing controlled release fertilizer at two different temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Bagged potting mixes can be stored for weeks or months before being used by consumers. Some bagged potting mixes are amended with controlled release fertilizers (CRF). The objective of this research was to observe how initial substrate moisture content and storage temperature affect the chemical p...

Effect of Initial Moisture Content on the in-Vessel Composting Under Air Pressure of Organic Fraction of MunicipalSolid Waste in Morocco

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abdelhadi Makan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate the effect of initial moisture content on the in-vessel composting under air pressure of organic fraction of municipal solid waste in Morocco in terms of internal temperature, produced gases quantity, organic matter conversion rate, and the quality of the final composts.For this purpose, in-vessel bioreactor was designed and used to evaluate both appropriate initial air pressure and appropriate initial moisture content for the composting process. Moreover, 5 experiments were carried out within initial moisture content of 55%, 65%, 70%, 75% and 85%. The initial air pressure and the initial moisture content of the mixture showed a significant effect on the aerobic composting. The experimental results demonstrated that for composting organic waste, relatively high moisture contents are better at achieving higher temperatures and retaining them for longer times.This study suggested that an initial moisture content of around 75%, under 0.6 bar, can be considered as being suitable for efficient composting of organic fraction of municipal solid waste. These last conditions, allowed maximum value of temperature and final composting product with good physicochemical properties as well as higher organic matter degradation and higher gas production. Moreover, final compost obtained showed good maturity levels and can be used for agricultural applications.

Effect of initial moisture content on the in-vessel composting under air pressure of organic fraction of municipal solid waste in Morocco.

Science.gov (United States)

Makan, Abdelhadi; Assobhei, Omar; Mountadar, Mohammed

2013-01-03

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of initial moisture content on the in-vessel composting under air pressure of organic fraction of municipal solid waste in Morocco in terms of internal temperature, produced gases quantity, organic matter conversion rate, and the quality of the final composts.For this purpose, in-vessel bioreactor was designed and used to evaluate both appropriate initial air pressure and appropriate initial moisture content for the composting process. Moreover, 5 experiments were carried out within initial moisture content of 55%, 65%, 70%, 75% and 85%. The initial air pressure and the initial moisture content of the mixture showed a significant effect on the aerobic composting. The experimental results demonstrated that for composting organic waste, relatively high moisture contents are better at achieving higher temperatures and retaining them for longer times.This study suggested that an initial moisture content of around 75%, under 0.6 bar, can be considered as being suitable for efficient composting of organic fraction of municipal solid waste. These last conditions, allowed maximum value of temperature and final composting product with good physicochemical properties as well as higher organic matter degradation and higher gas production. Moreover, final compost obtained showed good maturity levels and can be used for agricultural applications.

Effect of initial moisture content on the in-vessel composting under air pressure of organic fraction of municipal solid waste in Morocco

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mountadar Mohammed

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract This study aimed to evaluate the effect of initial moisture content on the in-vessel composting under air pressure of organic fraction of municipal solid waste in Morocco in terms of internal temperature, produced gases quantity, organic matter conversion rate, and the quality of the final composts. For this purpose, in-vessel bioreactor was designed and used to evaluate both appropriate initial air pressure and appropriate initial moisture content for the composting process. Moreover, 5 experiments were carried out within initial moisture content of 55%, 65%, 70%, 75% and 85%. The initial air pressure and the initial moisture content of the mixture showed a significant effect on the aerobic composting. The experimental results demonstrated that for composting organic waste, relatively high moisture contents are better at achieving higher temperatures and retaining them for longer times. This study suggested that an initial moisture content of around 75%, under 0.6 bar, can be considered as being suitable for efficient composting of organic fraction of municipal solid waste. These last conditions, allowed maximum value of temperature and final composting product with good physicochemical properties as well as higher organic matter degradation and higher gas production. Moreover, final compost obtained showed good maturity levels and can be used for agricultural applications.

Analysis of Moisture Evaporation from Underwear Designed for Fire-Fighters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Onofrei

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In this study we analysed the effect of moisture on the thermal protective performance of fire-fighter clothing in case of routine fire-fighting conditions. In the first stage of this research we investigated simultaneous heat and moisture transfer through a single-layer fabric, used as underwear for fire-fighters, at different moisture conditions. In the second stage of the study, the underwear in dry and wet state was tested together with protective clothing systems for fire-fighter consisting of three or four layers. It was found that during the evaporation of the moisture, a temperature plateau appeared during which temperatures hardly rose. The energy consumption used for the phase change of moisture located in the assembly dominated the heat transfer process as long as there was moisture present. As soon as all water had evaporated, the temperatures approached the temperatures measured for dry samples. The moisture within the clothing assembly did not lead to increased temperatures compared with the measurements with dry samples. This research has confirmed that moisture can positively affect the thermal protection of a clothing system.

Role of Soil Moisture vs. Recent Climate Change for the 2010 Heat Wave in Western Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Mathias; Orth, René; Seneviratne, Sonia

2016-04-01

Extreme event attribution statements are often conditional on increased greenhouse gas concentrations or a particular ocean state, but not on other physical factors of the climate system. Here we extend the classical framework and assess the influence of soil moisture on a heat wave to obtain a physical attribution statement. In particular, we test the role of soil-moisture-temperature feedbacks which have been shown to be generally relevant for the build-up of exceptionally high temperatures. As a case study we investigate the severe 2010 heat wave in western Russia, which was previously found to be influenced by anthropogenic climate change. We quantify the relative role of climate change and that of soil moisture-temperature feedbacks with the event attribution framework and analyze ensemble simulations to distinguish the effect of climate change and the 2010 soil moisture conditions for annual maximum temperatures. We find that climate change from 1960 to 2000 alone has approximately tripled the risk of a severe heat wave in western Russia. The combined effect of climate change and the dry 2010 soil moisture yields a 13 times higher heat wave risk. We conclude that internal climate variability causing the dry 2010 soil moisture conditions formed the basis for this extreme heatwave.

Surface moisture estimation in urban areas

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Yitong

Surface moisture is an important parameter because it modifies urban microclimate and surface layer meteorology. The primary objectives of this paper are: 1) to analyze the impact of surface roughness from buildings on surface moisture in urban areas; and 2) to quantify the impact of surface roughness resulting from urban trees on surface moisture. To achieve the objectives, two hypotheses were tested: 1) the distribution of surface moisture is associated with the structural complexity of buildings in urban areas; and 2) The distribution and change of surface moisture is associated with the distribution and vigor of urban trees. The study area is Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. In the part of the morphology of urban trees, Warren Township was selected due to the limitation of tree inventory data. To test the hypotheses, the research design was made to extract the aerodynamic parameters, such as frontal areas, roughness length and displacement height of buildings and trees from Terrestrial and Airborne LiDAR data, then to input the aerodynamic parameters into the urban surface energy balance model. The methodology was developed for comparing the impact of aerodynamic parameters from LiDAR data with the parameters that were derived empirically from land use and land cover data. The analytical procedures are discussed below: 1) to capture the spatial and temporal variation of surface moisture, daily and hourly Land Surface Temperature (LST) were downscaled from 4 km to 1 km, and 960 m to 30 m, respectively, by regression between LST and various components that impact LST; 2) to estimate surface moisture, namely soil moisture and evapotranspiration (ET), land surfaces were classified into soil, vegetation, and impervious surfaces, using Linear Spectral Mixture Analysis (LSMA); 3) aerodynamic parameters of buildings and trees were extracted from Airborne and Terrestrial LiDAR data; 4) the Temperature-Vegetation-Index (TVX) method, and the Two-Source-Energy-Balance (TSEB

Assimilation of Global Radar Backscatter and Radiometer Brightness Temperature Observations to Improve Soil Moisture and Land Evaporation Estimates

Science.gov (United States)

Lievens, H.; Martens, B.; Verhoest, N. E. C.; Hahn, S.; Reichle, R. H.; Miralles, D. G.

2017-01-01

Active radar backscatter (s?) observations from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and passive radiometer brightness temperature (TB) observations from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are assimilated either individually or jointly into the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model (GLEAM) to improve its simulations of soil moisture and land evaporation. To enable s? and TB assimilation, GLEAM is coupled to the Water Cloud Model and the L-band Microwave Emission from the Biosphere (L-MEB) model. The innovations, i.e. differences between observations and simulations, are mapped onto the model soil moisture states through an Ensemble Kalman Filter. The validation of surface (0-10 cm) soil moisture simulations over the period 2010-2014 against in situ measurements from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) shows that assimilating s? or TB alone improves the average correlation of seasonal anomalies (Ran) from 0.514 to 0.547 and 0.548, respectively. The joint assimilation further improves Ran to 0.559. Associated enhancements in daily evaporative flux simulations by GLEAM are validated based on measurements from 22 FLUXNET stations. Again, the singular assimilation improves Ran from 0.502 to 0.536 and 0.533, respectively for s? and TB, whereas the best performance is observed for the joint assimilation (Ran = 0.546). These results demonstrate the complementary value of assimilating radar backscatter observations together with brightness temperatures for improving estimates of hydrological variables, as their joint assimilation outperforms the assimilation of each observation type separately.

The interactive effects of temperature and moisture on nitrogen fixation in two temperate-arctic mosses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rousk, Kathrin; Pedersen, Pia Agerlund; Dyrnum, Kristine

2017-01-01

fixation in mosses under controlled conditions have rarely been investigated separately, rendering the interactive effects of the two climatic factors on N2 fixation unknown. Here, we tested the interactive effects of temperature and moisture on N2 fixation in the two most dominant moss species...

Influence of moisture content and temperature on degree of carbonation and the effect on Cu and Cr leaching from incineration bottom ash.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Wenlin Yvonne; Heng, Kim Soon; Sun, Xiaolong; Wang, Jing-Yuan

2015-09-01

This study investigated the influence of moisture content and temperature on the degree of carbonation of municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration bottom ash (IBA) from two different incineration plants in Singapore. The initial rate of carbonation was affected by the nominal moisture content used. Carbonation temperature seemed to play a part in changing the actual moisture content of IBA during carbonation, which in turn affected the degree of carbonation. Results showed that 2h of carbonation was sufficient for the samples to reach a relatively high degree of carbonation that was close to the degree of carbonation observed after 1week of carbonation. Both Cu and Cr leaching also showed significant reduction after only 2h of carbonation. Therefore, the optimum moisture content and temperature were selected based on 2h of carbonation. The optimum moisture content was 15% for both incineration plants while the optimum temperature was different for the two incineration plants, at 35°C and 50°C. The effect on Cu and Cr leaching from IBA after accelerated carbonation was evaluated as a function of carbonation time. Correlation coefficient, Pearson's R, was used to determine the dominant leaching mechanism. The reduction in Cu leaching was found to be contributed by both formation of carbonate mineral and reduction of DOC leaching. On the other hand, Cr leaching seemed to be dominantly controlled by pH. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evaluation of the sensitivity of the mineralizable pool of soil organic matter to changes in temperature and moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Tulina, A. S.; Semenov, V. M.

2015-08-01

The sensitivity of the potentially mineralizable pool of soil organic matter (Cpm) to changes in temperature and moisture has been assessed from the temperature coefficient ( Q10) and the moisture coefficient ( W 10), which indicate how much the Cpm size changes, when the temperature changes by 10°C and the soil water content changes by 10 wt %, respectively. Samples of gray forest soil, podzolized chernozem, and dark chestnut soil taken from arable plots have been incubated at 8, 18, and 28°C and humidity of 10, 25, and 40 wt %. From the data on the production of C-CO2 by soil samples during incubation for 150 days, the content of Cpm has been calculated. It has been shown that, on average for the three soils, an increase in temperature accounts for 63% of the rise in the pool of potentially mineralizable organic matter, whereas an increase in moisture accounts for 8% of that rise. The temperature coefficients of the potentially mineralizable pool are 2.71 ± 0.64, 1.27 ± 0.20, and 1.85 ± 0.30 in ranges of 8-18, 18-28, and 8-28°C, respectively; the moisture coefficients are 1.19 ± 0.11, 1.09 ± 0.05, and 1.14 ± 0.06 in ranges of 10-25, 25-40, and 10-40 wt %, respectively. The easily mineralizable fraction (C1, k 1 > 0.1 days-1) of the active pool of soil organic matter is less sensitive to temperature than the hardly mineralizable fraction (C3, 0.01 > k 3 > 0.001 days-1); their Q 10 values are 0.91 ± 0.15 and 2.40 ± 0.31, respectively. On the contrary, the easily mineralizable fraction is more sensitive to moistening than the hardly mineralizable fraction: their W 10 values are 1.22 ± 0.06 and 1.03 ± 0.08, respectively. The intensification of mineralization with rising temperature and water content during a long-term incubation results in the exhausting of the active pool, which reduces the production of CO2 by the soils during the repeated incubation under similar conditions nonlimiting mineralization.

The effects of drying conditions on moisture transfer and quality of pomegranate fruit leather (pestil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fatih Mehmet Yılmaz

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Vacuum, cabinet and open air drying of pomegranate fruit leather were carried out at various drying conditions to monitor the drying kinetics together with bionutrient degradation of the product. Drying curves exhibited first order drying kinetics and effective moisture diffusivity values varied between 3.1 × 10−9 and 52.6 × 10−9 m2/s. The temperature dependence of the effective moisture diffusivity was satisfactorily described by an Arrhenius-type relationship. Drying conditions, product thickness and operation temperature had various effects on drying rate and final quality of the product. In terms of drying kinetics and final quality of product, vacuum drying had higher drying rate with higher conservation of phenolic, anthocyanin and ascorbic acid that is connected to faster drying condition and oxygen deficient medium. Anthocyanin content was significantly affected by drying method, drying temperature and product thickness. Scatter plot using principle component analysis enabled better understanding of moisture transfer rate and anthocyanin change under various drying conditions.

Use of Soil Moisture Variability in Artificial Neural Network Retrieval of Soil Moisture

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Bert Veenendaal

2009-12-01

Full Text Available Passive microwave remote sensing is one of the most promising techniques for soil moisture retrieval. However, the inversion of soil moisture from brightness temperature observations is not straightforward, as it is influenced by numerous factors such as surface roughness, vegetation cover, and soil texture. Moreover, the relationship between brightness temperature, soil moisture and the factors mentioned above is highly non-linear and ill-posed. Consequently, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs have been used to retrieve soil moisture from microwave data, but with limited success when dealing with data different to that from the training period. In this study, an ANN is tested for its ability to predict soil moisture at 1 km resolution on different dates following training at the same site for a specific date. A novel approach that utilizes information on the variability of soil moisture, in terms of its mean and standard deviation for a (sub region of spatial dimension up to 40 km, is used to improve the current retrieval accuracy of the ANN method. A comparison between the ANN with and without the use of the variability information showed that this enhancement enables the ANN to achieve an average Root Mean Square Error (RMSE of around 5.1% v/v when using the variability information, as compared to around 7.5% v/v without it. The accuracy of the soil moisture retrieval was further improved by the division of the target site into smaller regions down to 4 km in size, with the spatial variability of soil moisture calculated from within the smaller region used in the ANN. With the combination of an ANN architecture of a single hidden layer of 20 neurons and the dual-polarized brightness temperatures as input, the proposed use of variability and sub-region methodology achieves an average retrieval accuracy of 3.7% v/v. Although this accuracy is not the lowest as comparing to the research in this field, the main contribution is the ability of ANN in

Variation of moisture content of some varnished woods in indoor climatic conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kemal Üçüncü

2017-11-01

Full Text Available In this study, moisture change of varnished wood of black poplar (Populus nigra and yellow pine (Pinus silvestris L. used in indoor climate conditions with central heating in Trabzon (Turkey were investigated. 300 mm length wood specimens, with cross section of 12.5 mm in tangential and in radial and with the square sections of 25mm and 50 mm, were obtained from two species grown in Kanuni Campus of the Karadeniz Technical University. In this research, un-varnished wood samples were also used for reference. The wood moisture content was determined by the weighing method, the wood equilibrium moisture content by the Hailwood-Horrobin equation, and the relative humidity in the indoor climatic conditions by humid air thermodynamic principles. As a result; it was observed that the moisture content of varnished wood samples has a strong relationship with equilibrium moisture content, temperature and relative humidity. It was found that the moisture content of varnished woods was higher than the moisture content of un-varnished woods in the same climatic conditions. It was observed that the difference between the monthly average moisture content was lower in varnished woods in proportion to un-varnished woods. According to these results, it can be indicated that it would be more appropriate to select higher moisture content in the drying of wood than the equilibrium moisture content. Such an application would also reduce drying costs. Further, it can be recommended to use varnished wood in various applications because the low change range of average moisture content can affect the swelling or shrinking of wood.

Simple grain moisture content determination from microwave measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kraszewski, A.W.; Trabelsi, S.; Nelson, S.O.

1998-01-01

Moisture content of wheat, Triticum aestivum L., is expressed as a function of the ratio of microwave attenuation and phase shift, measured at 16.8 GHz, and grain temperature. Validation of the calibration equation indicated that moisture content was obtained with an uncertainty less than +/- 0.45% moisture at the 95% confidence level, independent of density variation, at temperatures from -1 degree C to 42 degrees C, and moisture contents from 10% to 19%. Moisture determination does not depend on the layer thickness of the wheat norits bulk density. No differences between two wheat cultivars were observed in the measurement data

Thermal shock effect on Mechanical and Physical properties of pre-moisture treated GRE composite

Science.gov (United States)

Chakraverty, A. P.; Panda, A. B.; Mohanty, U. K.; Mishra, S. C.; Biswal, B. B.

2018-03-01

Many practical situations may be encountered under which a GFRP (Glass fibre reinforced polymer) composite, during its service life, is exposed to the severities of sudden temperature fluctuations. Moisture absorption of GRE (Glass fibre reinforced epoxy) composites followed by various gradients of temperature fluctuations may cause thermo- mechanical degradation. It is on this context, the hand layed GRE composite samples are exposed to up-thermal shock (-40°C to +50°C) and down-thermal shock (+50°C to -40°C) for various time interval after several periods of moisture (hydrothermal/hygrothermal) conditioning. The thermally shocked GRE specimens are put to 3-point bend test to divulge inter laminar shear strength (ILSS). Least ILSS values are recorded for the samples with maximum period of moisture treatments under with both up-thermal and down-thermal shock conditions. Lower glass transition temperature (Tg) values, as revealed through the low temperature DSC test, are exhibited at maximum durations of both up-thermal and down-thermal shock for the samples with higher periods of hygrothermal/hydrothermal treatments. SEM fractographs of representative GRE specimens after optimum period of moisture treatments and thermal shock show the various modes of failures.

Soil hydraulic parameters and surface soil moisture of a tilled bare soil plot inversely derived from l-band brightness temperatures

KAUST Repository

Dimitrov, Marin

2014-01-01

We coupled a radiative transfer model and a soil hydrologic model (HYDRUS 1D) with an optimization routine to derive soil hydraulic parameters, surface roughness, and soil moisture of a tilled bare soil plot using measured brightness temperatures at 1.4 GHz (L-band), rainfall, and potential soil evaporation. The robustness of the approach was evaluated using five 28-d data sets representing different meteorological conditions. We considered two soil hydraulic property models: the unimodal Mualem-van Genuchten and the bimodal model of Durner. Microwave radiative transfer was modeled by three different approaches: the Fresnel equation with depth-averaged dielectric permittivity of either 2-or 5-cm-thick surface layers and a coherent radiative transfer model (CRTM) that accounts for vertical gradients in dielectric permittivity. Brightness temperatures simulated by the CRTM and the 2-cm-layer Fresnel model fitted well to the measured ones. L-band brightness temperatures are therefore related to the dielectric permittivity and soil moisture in a 2-cm-thick surface layer. The surface roughness parameter that was derived from brightness temperatures using inverse modeling was similar to direct estimates from laser profiler measurements. The laboratory-derived water retention curve was bimodal and could be retrieved consistently for the different periods from brightness temperatures using inverse modeling. A unimodal soil hydraulic property function underestimated the hydraulic conductivity near saturation. Surface soil moisture contents simulated using retrieved soil hydraulic parameters were compared with in situ measurements. Depth-specific calibration relations were essential to derive soil moisture from near-surface installed sensors. © Soil Science Society of America 5585 Guilford Rd., Madison, WI 53711 USA.

Complexation of rice starch/flour and maize oil through heat moisture treatment: Structural, in vitro digestion and physicochemical properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xu; He, Xiaowei; Fu, Xiong; Zhang, Bin; Huang, Qiang

2017-05-01

This study investigated structural, in vitro digestion and physicochemical properties of normal rice starch (NRS)/flour (NRF) complexed with maize oil (MO) through heat-moisture treatment (HMT). The NRS-/NRF-MO complex displayed an increased pasting temperature and a decreased peak viscosity. After HMT, less ordered Maltese and more granule fragments were observed for NRS-/NRF-MO complex. Meanwhile, more aggregation was observed in the HMT samples with higher moisture contents. We found that higher onset temperature, lower enthalpy change and relative crystallinity of the NRS-/NRF-MO complex were associated with a higher moisture content of HMT samples. The higher moisture content of HMT was also favorable for the amylose-lipid complex formation. Differences in starch digestion properties were found for NRS-MO and NRF-MO complex. All of the NRS/NRF complexed MO after cooking showed lower rapidly digestible starch (RDS) contents compared with the control sample, therein NRS-/NRF- MO 20% exhibited the highest sum of the slowly digestible starch and resistant starch contents. In general, HMT had a greater impact on the in vitro digestion and physicochemical properties of flour samples compared with starch counterparts. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Moisture Dynamics in Building Envelopes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peuhkuri, Ruut Hannele

2003-01-01

The overall scope of this Thesis "Moisture dynamics in building envelopes" has been to characterise how the various porous insulation materials investigated performed hygrothermally under conditions similar to those in a typical building envelope. As a result of the changing temperature...... part of the Thesis consists of a theory and literature review on the moisture storage and transport processes (Chapter 2), on the non-Fickian moisture transport (Chapter 3)and on the methods for determining the moisture properties (Chapter 4). In the second part, the conducted experimental work...

Moisture dynamics in building envelopes

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peuhkuri, R.

2003-07-01

The overall scope of this Thesis 'Moisture dynamics in building envelopes' has been to characterise how the various porous insulation materials investigated performed hygro thermally under conditions similar to those in a typical building envelope. As a result of the changing temperature and moisture conditions in the exterior weather and indoor climate the materials dynamically absorb and release moisture. The complexity of the impact of these conditions on the resulting moisture transport and content of the materials has been studied in this Thesis with controlled laboratory tests. (au)

Structural changes in a clay-containing nanocomposite with a different moisture content caused by its deformation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fajtel'son, E.A.; Glaskova, T.I.; Korkhovm, V.P.; Aniskevich, A.N.

2010-01-01

This paper presents the results of an investigation of the properties of a clay-containing nanocomposite with an epoxy binder under moisture-temperature and mechanical action. It has been established that whatever the moisture content, the nanocomposite crystallizes under the thermomechanical action (upon reaching the glasstransition temperature). When the nanocomposite is heated to 70 C, the restructuring process is reversible, and its heating to above 150 C leads to its amorphization. The presence of clay nanoparticles (up to 6 mass percent) does not influence the temperature of structural transitions of the nanocomposite and does not cause a substantial strengthening effect. The sorbed moisture plasticizes the nanocomposite and decreases its glasstransition temperature by 10 C. The specific features of the thermomechanical behavior of nanocomposites upon their tensile prestrain or creep are due to the formation of an oriented structure. Their crystallization begins at lower temperatures and with a higher degree of crystallinity than that of unloaded nanostructures. (authors)

Non-isothermal Moisture Transport Through Insulation Materials

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Peuhkuri, Ruut Hannele; Rode, Carsten; Hansen, Kurt Kielsgaard

2008-01-01

An experimental investigation was conducted in order to draw some conclusions on the magnitude of moisture transport due to temperature gradient on a range of porous light-weight building materials. A special constructed non-isothermal set-up allowed the creation of a temperature gradient of 10K...... and given humidity gradient over the sample. The resulting moisture ux as well as the hygrothermal states around and within the material were monitored. The hypothesis of relative humidity being a driving force for non-isothermal moisture transport already in the hygroscopic range could not be confirmed....... On the contrary, indications exist that the temperature gradient itself is driving the moisture from the warm side towards the cold side. An attempt to identify and quantify the single contributions of the different transport forms involved is also presented. The diferent results gave, however, diverging...

Effect of extrusion temperature and moisture content of corn flour on crystallinity and hardness of rice analogues

Science.gov (United States)

Budi, Faleh Setia; Hariyadi, Purwiyatno; Budijanto, Slamet; Syah, Dahrul

2015-12-01

Rice analogues are food products made of broken rice and/or any other carbohydrate sources to have similar texture and shape as rice. They are usually made by hot extrusion processing. The hot extrusion process may change the crystallinity of starch and influence the characteristic of rice analogues. Therefore, this research aimed to study the effect of moisture content of incoming dough and temperature of extrusion process on the crystallinity and hardness of resulting rice analogues. The dough's were prepared by mixing of corn starch-flour with ratio 10/90 (w/w) and moisture content of 35%, 40% and 45% (w/w) and extrusion process were done at temperature of 70, 80, 90°C by using of twin screw extruder BEX-DS-2256 Berto. The analyses were done to determine the type of crystal, degree of crystallinity, and hardness of the resulting rice analogues. Our result showed that the enhancement of extrusion temperature from 70 - 90°C increased degree of crystallinity from 5.86 - 15.00% to 10.70 - 18.87% and hardness from 1.71 - 4.36 kg to 2.05 - 5.70 kg. The raising of dough moisture content from 35 - 45% decreased degree of crystallinity from 15.00 - 18.87% to 5.86 - 10.70% and hardness from 4.36 - 5.70 kg to 1.71 - 2.05 kg. The increase of degree of crystallinity correlated positively with the increase of hardness of rice analogues (r = 0.746, p = 0.05).

Moisture rivals temperature in limiting photosynthesis by trees establishing beyond their cold-edge range limit under ambient and warmed conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Moyes, Andrew B; Germino, Matthew J; Kueppers, Lara M

2015-09-01

Climate change is altering plant species distributions globally, and warming is expected to promote uphill shifts in mountain trees. However, at many cold-edge range limits, such as alpine treelines in the western United States, tree establishment may be colimited by low temperature and low moisture, making recruitment patterns with warming difficult to predict. We measured response functions linking carbon (C) assimilation and temperature- and moisture-related microclimatic factors for limber pine (Pinus flexilis) seedlings growing in a heating × watering experiment within and above the alpine treeline. We then extrapolated these response functions using observed microclimate conditions to estimate the net effects of warming and associated soil drying on C assimilation across an entire growing season. Moisture and temperature limitations were each estimated to reduce potential growing season C gain from a theoretical upper limit by 15-30% (c. 50% combined). Warming above current treeline conditions provided relatively little benefit to modeled net assimilation, whereas assimilation was sensitive to either wetter or drier conditions. Summer precipitation may be at least as important as temperature in constraining C gain by establishing subalpine trees at and above current alpine treelines as seasonally dry subalpine and alpine ecosystems continue to warm. © 2015 The Authors. New Phytologist © 2015 New Phytologist Trust.

Brightness Temperature and Soil Moisture Validation at Different Scales During the SMOS Validation Campaign in the Rur and Erft Catchments, Germany

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Montzka, Carsten; Bogena, Heye R.; Weihermüller, Lutz

2013-01-01

The European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) satellite was launched in November 2009 and delivers now brightness temperature and soil moisture products over terrestrial areas on a regular three-day basis. In 2010, several airborne campaigns were conducted to validate the SMOS......-band Microwave Emission of the Biosphere model. Measurements of the airborne L-band sensors EMIRAD and HUT-2D on-board a Skyvan aircraft as well as ground-based mobile measurements performed with the truck mounted JÜLBARA L-band radiometer were analyzed for calibration of the simulated brightness temperature...

NSSEFF Designing New Higher Temperature Superconductors

Science.gov (United States)

2017-04-13

AFRL-AFOSR-VA-TR-2017-0083 NSSEFF - DESIGINING NEW HIGHER TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS Meigan Aronson THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF STATE UNIVERSITY OF...2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE NSSEFF - DESIGINING NEW HIGHER TEMPERATURE SUPERCONDUCTORS 5a.  CONTRACT NUMBER 5b.  GRANT NUMBER FA9550-10-1-0191 5c...materials, identifying the most promising candidates. 15. SUBJECT TERMS TEMPERATURE, SUPERCONDUCTOR 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF

Effects of temperature, moisture and soil type on seedling emergence and mortality of riparian plant species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

ter Heerdt, Gerard N. J.; Veen, Ciska G.F.; van der Putten, Wim H.; Bakker, Jan P.

Restoration of riparian plant communities on bare soil requires germination of seeds and establishment of seedlings. However, species that are present in the soil seed bank do not always establish in the vegetation. Temperature, moisture conditions and soil type could play a major role in the

Effects of temperature, moisture and soil type on seedling emergence and mortality of riparian plant species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Heerdt, ter Gerard N.J.; Veen, Ciska G.F.; Putten, van der Wim H.; Bakker, Jan P.

2017-01-01

Restoration of riparian plant communities on bare soil requires germination of seeds and establishment of seedlings. However, species that are present in the soil seed bank do not always establish in the vegetation. Temperature, moisture conditions and soil type could play a major role in the

Effects of temperature, moisture and soil type on seedling emergence and mortality of riparian plant species

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ter Heerdt, Gerard N.J.; Veen, G.F.; Van der Putten, Wim H.; Bakker, Jan P.

Abstract Restoration of riparian plant communities on bare soil requires germination of seeds and establishment of seedlings. However, species that are present in the soil seed bank do not always establish in the vegetation. Temperature, moisture conditions and soil type could play a major role in

Assessment of SMOS Soil Moisture Retrieval Parameters Using Tau-Omega Algorithms for Soil Moisture Deficit Estimation

Science.gov (United States)

Srivastava, Prashant K.; Han, Dawei; Rico-Ramirez, Miguel A.; O'Neill, Peggy; Islam, Tanvir; Gupta, Manika

2014-01-01

Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) is the latest mission which provides flow of coarse resolution soil moisture data for land applications. However, the efficient retrieval of soil moisture for hydrological applications depends on optimally choosing the soil and vegetation parameters. The first stage of this work involves the evaluation of SMOS Level 2 products and then several approaches for soil moisture retrieval from SMOS brightness temperature are performed to estimate Soil Moisture Deficit (SMD). The most widely applied algorithm i.e. Single channel algorithm (SCA), based on tau-omega is used in this study for the soil moisture retrieval. In tau-omega, the soil moisture is retrieved using the Horizontal (H) polarisation following Hallikainen dielectric model, roughness parameters, Fresnel's equation and estimated Vegetation Optical Depth (tau). The roughness parameters are empirically calibrated using the numerical optimization techniques. Further to explore the improvement in retrieval models, modifications have been incorporated in the algorithms with respect to the sources of the parameters, which include effective temperatures derived from the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) downscaled using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF)-NOAH Land Surface Model and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) land surface temperature (LST) while the s is derived from MODIS Leaf Area Index (LAI). All the evaluations are performed against SMD, which is estimated using the Probability Distributed Model following a careful calibration and validation integrated with sensitivity and uncertainty analysis. The performance obtained after all those changes indicate that SCA-H using WRF-NOAH LSM downscaled ECMWF LST produces an improved performance for SMD estimation at a catchment scale.

Influence of moisture content and temperature on thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of rice flours

Science.gov (United States)

The thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of four types of rice flours and one type of rice protein were determine at temperatures ranging from 4.8 to 36.8 C, bulk densities 535 to 875.8 kg/m3, and moisture contents 2.6 to 16.7 percent (w.b.), using a KD2 Thermal Properties Analyzer. It was ...

Carbon Dioxide Adsorption by Calcium Zirconate at Higher Temperature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. B. Kale

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The CO2 adsorption by calcium zirconate was explored at pre- and post- combustion temperature condition. The several samples of the calcium zirconate were prepared by different methods such as sol-gel, solid-solid fusion, template and micro-emulsion. The samples of the calcium zirconate were characterized by measurement of surface area, alkalinity/acidity, and recording the XRD patterns and SEM images. The CO2 adsorptions by samples of the calcium zirconate were studied in the temperature range 100 to 850 oC and the CO2 adsorptions were observed in the ranges of 6.88 to 40.6 wt % at 600 0C and 8 to 16.82 wt% at in between the temperatures 200 to 300 oC. The effect of Ca/Zr mol ratio in the samples of the calcium zirconate on the CO2 adsorption and alkalinity were discussed. The adsorbed moisture by the samples of the calcium zirconate was found to be useful for the CO2 adsorption. The promoted the samples of the calcium zirconate by K+, Na+, Rb+, Cs+, Ag+ and La3+ showed the increased CO2 adsorption. The exposure time of CO2 on the samples of the calcium zirconate showed the increased CO2 adsorption. The samples of the calcium zirconate were found to be regenerable and reusable several times for the adsorption of CO2 for at the post- and pre-combustion temperature condition. Copyright © 2012 by BCREC Undip. All rights reservedReceived: 23rd June 2012, Revised: 28th August 2012, Accepted: 30th August 2012[How to Cite: K. B. Kale, R. Y. Raskar, V. H. Rane and A. G.  Gaikwad (2012. Carbon Dioxide Adsorption by Calcium Zirconate at Higher Temperature. Bulletin of Chemical Reaction Engineering & Catalysis, 7 (2: 124-136. doi:10.9767/bcrec.7.2.3686.124-136] [How to Link / DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.9767/bcrec.7.2.3686.124-136 ] | View in 

The global SMOS Level 3 daily soil moisture and brightness temperature maps

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Al Bitar

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to present the multi-orbit (MO surface soil moisture (SM and angle-binned brightness temperature (TB products for the SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission based on a new multi-orbit algorithm. The Level 3 algorithm at CATDS (Centre Aval de Traitement des Données SMOS makes use of MO retrieval to enhance the robustness and quality of SM retrievals. The motivation of the approach is to make use of the longer temporal autocorrelation length of the vegetation optical depth (VOD compared to the corresponding SM autocorrelation in order to enhance the retrievals when an acquisition occurs at the border of the swath. The retrieval algorithm is implemented in a unique operational processor delivering multiple parameters (e.g. SM and VOD using multi-angular dual-polarisation TB from MO. A subsidiary angle-binned TB product is provided. In this study the Level 3 TB V310 product is showcased and compared to SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive TB. The Level 3 SM V300 product is compared to the single-orbit (SO retrievals from the Level 2 SM processor from ESA with aligned configuration. The advantages and drawbacks of the Level 3 SM product (L3SM are discussed. The comparison is done on a global scale between the two datasets and on the local scale with respect to in situ data from AMMA-CATCH and USDA ARS Watershed networks. The results obtained from the global analysis show that the MO implementation enhances the number of retrievals: up to 9 % over certain areas. The comparison with the in situ data shows that the increase in the number of retrievals does not come with a decrease in quality, but rather at the expense of an increased time lag in product availability from 6 h to 3.5 days, which can be a limiting factor for applications like flood forecast but reasonable for drought monitoring and climate change studies. The SMOS L3 soil moisture and L3 brightness temperature products are delivered using an

Influence of moisture content, particle size and forming temperature on productivity and quality of rice straw pellets

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ishii, Kazuei, E-mail: k-ishii@eng.hokudai.ac.jp; Furuichi, Toru

2014-12-15

Highlights: • Optimized conditions were determined for the production of rice straw pellets. • The moisture content and forming temperature are key factors. • High quality rice pellets in the lower heating value and durability were produced. - Abstract: A large amount of rice straw is generated and left as much in paddy fields, which causes greenhouse gas emissions as methane. Rice straw can be used as bioenergy. Rice straw pellets are a promising technology because pelletization of rice straw is a form of mass and energy densification, which leads to a product that is easy to handle, transport, store and utilize because of the increase in the bulk density. The operational conditions required to produce high quality rice straw pellets have not been determined. This study determined the optimal moisture content range required to produce rice straw pellets with high yield ratio and high heating value, and also determined the influence of particle size and the forming temperature on the yield ratio and durability of rice straw pellets. The optimal moisture content range was between 13% and 20% under a forming temperature of 60 or 80 °C. The optimal particle size was between 10 and 20 mm, considering the time and energy required for shredding, although the particle size did not significantly affect the yield ratio and durability of the pellets. The optimized conditions provided high quality rice straw pellets with nearly 90% yield ratio, ⩾12 MJ/kg for the lower heating value, and >95% durability.

Influence of moisture content, particle size and forming temperature on productivity and quality of rice straw pellets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ishii, Kazuei; Furuichi, Toru

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Optimized conditions were determined for the production of rice straw pellets. • The moisture content and forming temperature are key factors. • High quality rice pellets in the lower heating value and durability were produced. - Abstract: A large amount of rice straw is generated and left as much in paddy fields, which causes greenhouse gas emissions as methane. Rice straw can be used as bioenergy. Rice straw pellets are a promising technology because pelletization of rice straw is a form of mass and energy densification, which leads to a product that is easy to handle, transport, store and utilize because of the increase in the bulk density. The operational conditions required to produce high quality rice straw pellets have not been determined. This study determined the optimal moisture content range required to produce rice straw pellets with high yield ratio and high heating value, and also determined the influence of particle size and the forming temperature on the yield ratio and durability of rice straw pellets. The optimal moisture content range was between 13% and 20% under a forming temperature of 60 or 80 °C. The optimal particle size was between 10 and 20 mm, considering the time and energy required for shredding, although the particle size did not significantly affect the yield ratio and durability of the pellets. The optimized conditions provided high quality rice straw pellets with nearly 90% yield ratio, ⩾12 MJ/kg for the lower heating value, and >95% durability

Effect of molecular weight, temperature, and additives on the moisture sorption properties of polyethylene glycol.

Science.gov (United States)

Baird, Jared A; Olayo-Valles, Roberto; Rinaldi, Carlos; Taylor, Lynne S

2010-01-01

Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is a hygroscopic polymer that undergoes the phenomenon of deliquescence once a critical relative humidity (RH(0)) is reached. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that the deliquescence behavior of PEG will be affected by the polymer molecular weight, temperature, and the presence of additives. The deliquescence relative humidity for single component (RH(0)) and binary mixtures (RH(0,mix)) were measured using an automated gravimetric moisture analyzer at 25 and 40 degrees C. Changes in PEG crystallinity after exposure to moisture were qualitatively assessed using powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Optical microscopy was used to visually observe the deliquescence phenomenon. For single component systems, decreasing PEG MW and elevating the temperature resulted in a decrease in the observed RH(0). Physical mixtures of acetaminophen and anhydrous citric acid with both PEG 3350 and PEG 100,000 exhibited deliquescence (RH(0,mix)) at a relative humidity below that of either individual component. Qualitative changes in crystallinity were observed from the X-ray diffractograms for each PEG MW grade at high relative humidities, indicating that phase transformation (deliquescence) of the samples had occurred. In conclusion, it was found that the deliquescence behavior of PEG was affected by the polymer MW, temperature, and the presence of additives. This phenomenon may have important implications for the stability of PEG containing formulations.

Early establishment of trees at the alpine treeline: idiosyncratic species responses to temperature-moisture interactions.

Science.gov (United States)

Loranger, Hannah; Zotz, Gerhard; Bader, Maaike Y

2016-01-01

On a global scale, temperature is the main determinant of arctic and alpine treeline position. However on a local scale, treeline form and position vary considerably due to other climatic factors, tree species ecology and life-stage-dependent responses. For treelines to advance poleward or uphill, the first steps are germination and seedling establishment. These earliest life stages may be major bottlenecks for treeline tree populations and will depend differently on climatic conditions than adult trees. We investigated the effect of soil temperature and moisture on germination and early seedling survival in a field experiment in the French Alps near the local treeline (2100 m a.s.l.) using passive temperature manipulations and two watering regimes. Five European treeline tree species were studied: Larix decidua, Picea abies, Pinus cembra, Pinus uncinata and Sorbus aucuparia In addition, we monitored the germination response of three of these species to low temperatures under controlled conditions in growth chambers. The early establishment of these trees at the alpine treeline was limited either by temperature or by moisture, the sensitivity to one factor often depending on the intensity of the other. The results showed that the relative importance of the two factors and the direction of the effects are highly species-specific, while both factors tend to have consistent effects on both germination and early seedling survival within each species. We show that temperature and water availability are both important contributors to establishment patterns of treeline trees and hence to species-specific forms and positions of alpine treelines. The observed idiosyncratic species responses highlight the need for studies including several species and life-stages to create predictive power concerning future treeline dynamics. © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company.

Effect of process variables on the density and durability of the pellets made from high moisture corn stover

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jaya Shankar Tumuluru

2014-03-01

A flat die pellet mill was used to understand the effect of high levels of feedstock moisture content in the range of 28–38% (w.b.), with die rotational speeds of 40–60 Hz, and preheating temperatures of 30–110 °C on the pelleting characteristics of 4.8 mm screen size ground corn stover using an 8 mm pellet die. The physical properties of the pelletised biomass studied are: (a) pellet moisture content, (b) unit, bulk and tapped density, and (c) durability. Pelletisation experiments were conducted based on central composite design. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that feedstock moisture content influenced all of the physical properties at P < 0.001. Pellet moisture content decreased with increase in preheating temperature to about 110 °C and decreasing the feedstock moisture content to about 28% (w.b.). Response surface models developed for quality attributes with respect to process variables has adequately described the process with coefficient of determination (R2) values of >0.88. The other pellet quality attributes such as unit, bulk, tapped density, were maximised at feedstock moisture content of 30–33% (w.b.), die speeds of >50 Hz and preheating temperature of >90 °C. In case of durability a medium moisture content of 33–34% (w.b.) and preheating temperatures of >70 °C and higher die speeds >50 Hz resulted in high durable pellets. It can be concluded from the present study that feedstock moisture content, followed by preheating, and die rotational speed are the interacting process variables influencing pellet moisture content, unit, bulk and tapped density and durability.

The effects of moisture and temperature on the ageing kinetics of pollen : Interpretation based on cytoplasmic mobility

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buitink, J.; Leprince, O.; Hemminga, M.A.; Hoekstra, F.A.

2000-01-01

This study shows that characterization of the molecular mobility in the cytoplasm of pollen provides a new understanding of the effects of moisture and temperature on ageing rates. Using EPR spectroscopy, we determined the rotational motion of the polar spin probe, 3-carboxy-proxyl, in the cytoplasm

Moisture relations and physical properties of wood

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel V. Glass; Samuel L. Zelinka

2010-01-01

Wood, like many natural materials, is hygroscopic; it takes on moisture from the surrounding environment. Moisture exchange between wood and air depends on the relative humidity and temperature of the air and the current amount of water in the wood. This moisture relationship has an important influence on wood properties and performance. Many of the challenges of using...

Thermodynamic analysis on heavy metals partitioning impacted by moisture during the MSW incineration

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang Yanguo; Li Qinghai; Jia Jinyan; Meng Aihong

2012-01-01

Highlights: ► Partitioning of HMs affected by moisture was investigated by thermodynamic analysis. ► Increase in moisture and in temperature was opposite impact on HMs contribution. ► The extent of temperature decreased by increase in moisture determines the impact. - Abstract: A thermodynamic calculation was carried out to predict the behavior and speciation of heavy metals (HMs), Pb, Zn, Cu, and Cd, during municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration with the different moisture levels. The calculation was based on the minimization of the total Gibbs free energy of the multi-components and multi-phases closed system reaching chemical equilibrium. The calculation also indicated the reaction directions and tendencies of HMs components. The impacts of chlorine additives (No PVC, 1%PVC, and 5%PVC) and moisture on the behavior of HMs were investigated at different temperature levels in the system (750 °C, 950 °C, and 1150 °C). Furthermore, because the incineration temperature falls down with the increase in moisture in waste, the co-influence of moisture and temperature in combusting MSW on the HMs was also studied with the given chlorine (as 1%PVC + 0.5%NaCl). The results showed that in the non-chlorine system, the impact of the moisture on Pb, Zn, and Cu was not significant, and the ratio of compound transformation was less than 10%, except the Cd compounds at 950 °C and 1150 °C. In the system with low chlorine (as 1%PVC) at constant temperature, the chlorides of HMs (Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu) transferred to oxides, and when the content of chlorine rose up (as 5%PVC), the ratio of the chlorides of HMs (Cd, Pb, Zn, and Cu) transferring to oxides fell down noticeably. When the moisture varied together with the temperature, the Zn and Cu compounds transferred from chlorides to oxides with increase in moisture as well as decrease in temperature. At the temperature of 700–1000 °C, the impact of temperature on Pb and Cd was little and the moisture was the main factor

Assimilation of global radar backscatter and radiometer brightness temperature observations to improve soil moisture and land evaporation estimates

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lievens, H.; Martens, B.; Verhoest, N.E.C.; Hahn, S.; Reichle, R.H.; Gonzalez Miralles, D.

2016-01-01

Active radar backscatter (σ°) observations from the Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) and passive radiometer brightness temperature (TB) observations from the Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission are assimilated either individually or jointly into the Global Land Evaporation Amsterdam Model

Soil-moisture transport in arid site vadose zones

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Isaacson, R.E.; Brownell, L.E.; Nelson, R.W.; Roetman, E.L.

1974-01-01

Soil-moisture transport processes in the arid soils of the United States Atomic Energy Commission's Hanford site are being evaluated. The depth of penetration of meteoric precipitation has been determined by profiling fall-out tritium at two locations where the water table is about 90 m below ground surface. In situ temperatures and water potentials were measured with temperature transducers and thermocouple psychrometers at the same location to obtain thermodynamic data for identifying the factors influencing soil-moisture transport. Neutron probes are being used to monitor soil-moisture changes in two lysimeters, three metres in diameter by 20 metres deep. The lysimeters are also equipped to measure pressure, temperature and relative humidity as a function of depth and time. Theoretical models based on conservation of momentum expressions are being developed to analyse non-isothermal soil-moisture transport processes. Future work will be concerned with combining the theoretical and experimental work and determining the amount of rainfall required to cause migration of soil-moisture to the water table. (author)

Effective moisture diffusivity, moisture sorption, thermo-physical properties and infrared drying kinetics of germinated paddy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Supawan Tirawanichakul

2014-02-01

Full Text Available Temperature and relative humidity (RH dependence of moisture sorption phenomena for agricultural products provide valuable information related to the thermodynamics of the system. So the equilibrium moisture contents (EMC, effective moisture diffusivity (Deff and thermo-physical properties in terms of void fraction, specific heat capacity, and the apparent density of germinated non-waxy Suphanburi 1 paddy were evaluated. Five commonly cited EMC equations were fitted to the experimental data among temperatures of 40-60°C correlating with RH of 0-90%. The results showed that the modified GAB equation was the best function for describing experimental results while those evaluated thermo-physical properties depended on moisture content. To determine drying kinetics model, the simulated values using Midilli et al. (2002 model and Page’s model was the best fitting to exact drying kinetics values for infrared (IR and hot air (HA drying, respectively. Finally, the Deff value of paddy dried with IR and HA sources were also evaluated and the calculated Deff value of both HA and IR drying was in order of 10-9 m2/s.

The effects of moisture on LiD single crystals studied by temperature-programmed decomposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dinh, L.N.; Cecala, C.M.; Leckey, J.H.; Balooch, M.

2001-01-01

Temperature-programmed decomposition (TPD) technique was performed on LiOH powders and LiD single crystals previously exposed to different moisture levels. Our results show that the LiOH decomposition process is rate-limited by an inward moving reaction front mechanism with an activation energy barrier of ∼122-149 kJ/mol. The LiOH structure is stable even if kept at 320 K. However, LiOH structures formed on the surface of LiD single crystals during moisture exposure at low dosages may have multiple activation energy barriers, some of which may be much lower than 122 kJ/mol. The rate-limiting mechanism for the decomposition of LiOH structures with reduced activation energy barriers is consistent with a unimolecular nucleation model. We attribute the lowering of the activation energy barrier for the LiOH decomposition to the existence of sub-stoichiometric Li(OH) x with x 2 O formation is observed. The release of H 2 O molecules from LiOH · H 2 O structure has small activation energy barriers in the range of 48-69 kJ/mol and follows a unimolecular nucleation process. The loosely bonded H 2 O molecules in the LiOH · H 2 O structure can be easily pumped away at room temperature in a reasonable amount of time. Our experiments also suggest that handling LiD single crystals at an elevated temperature of 340 K or more reduces the growth rate of LiOH and LiOH · H 2 O significantly

Assessment of methane production from shredder waste in landfills: The influence of temperature, moisture and metals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fathi Aghdam, Ehsan; Scheutz, Charlotte; Kjeldsen, Peter

2017-01-01

different temperatures (20-25°C, 37°C, and 55°C), moisture contents (35% and 75% w/w) and amounts of inoculum (5% and 30% of the samples wet weight). The biochemical methane potential (BMP) from different types of SW (fresh, old and sieved) was determined and compared. The ability of metals (iron, aluminum...

Can crawl space temperature and moisture conditions be calculated with a whole-building hygrothermal simulation tool?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vanhoutteghem, Lies; Morelli, Martin; Sørensen, Lars Schiøtt

2017-01-01

of measurements was compared with simulations of temperature and moisture condition in the floor structure and crawl space. The measurements showed that the extra 50 mm insulation placed below the beams reduced moisture content in the beams below 20 weight% all year. A reasonable agreement between......The hygrothermal behaviour of an outdoor ventilated crawl space with two different designs of the floor structure was investigated. The first design had 250 mm insulation and visible wooden beams towards the crawl space. The second design had 300 mm insulation and no visible wooden beams. One year...... the measurements and simulations was found; however, the evaporation from the soil was a dominant parameter affecting the hygrothermal response in the crawl space and floor structure....

Soil moisture and temperature algorithms and validation

Science.gov (United States)

Passive microwave remote sensing of soil moisture has matured over the past decade as a result of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) program of JAXA. This program has resulted in improved algorithms that have been supported by rigorous validation. Access to the products and the valida...

One-dimensional scanning of moisture in heated porous building materials with NMR.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Heijden, G H A; Huinink, H P; Pel, L; Kopinga, K

2011-02-01

In this paper we present a new dedicated NMR setup which is capable of measuring one-dimensional moisture profiles in heated porous materials. The setup, which is placed in the bore of a 1.5 T whole-body scanner, is capable of reaching temperatures up to 500 °C. Moisture and temperature profiles can be measured quasi simultaneously with a typical time resolution of 2-5 min. A methodology is introduced for correcting temperature effects on NMR measurements at these elevated temperatures. The corrections are based on the Curie law for paramagnetism and the observed temperature dependence of the relaxation mechanisms occurring in porous materials. Both these corrections are used to obtain a moisture content profile from the raw NMR signal profile. To illustrate the methodology, a one-sided heating experiment of concrete with a moisture content in equilibrium with 97% RH is presented. This kind of heating experiment is of particular interest in the research on fire spalling of concrete, since it directly reveals the moisture and heat transport occurring inside the concrete. The obtained moisture profiles reveal a moisture peak building up behind the boiling front, resulting in a saturated layer. To our knowledge the direct proof of the formation of a moisture peak and subsequent moisture clogging has not been reported before. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

DETERMINATION OF MOISTURE DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT OF LARCH BOARD WITH FINITE DIFFERENCE METHOD

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qiaofang Zhou

2011-04-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with the moisture diffusion coefficient of Dahurian Larch (Larix gmelinii Rupr. by use of the Finite Difference Method (FDM. To obtain moisture distributions the dimensional boards of Dahurian Larch were dried, from which test samples were cut and sliced evenly into 9 pieces in different drying periods, so that moisture distributions at different locations and times across the thickness of Dahurian Larch were obtained with a weighing method. With these experimental data, FDM was used to solve Fick’s one-dimensional unsteady-state diffusion equation, and the moisture diffusion coefficient across the thickness at specified time was obtained. Results indicated that the moisture diffusion coefficient decreased from the surface to the center of the Dahurian Larch wood, and it decreased with decreasing moisture content at constant wood temperature; as the wood temperature increased, the moisture diffusion coefficient increased, and the effect of the wood temperature on the moisture diffusion coefficient was more significant than that of moisture content. Moisture diffusion coefficients were different for the two experiments due to differing diffusivity of the specimens.

Measurements of soil respiration and simple models dependent on moisture and temperature for an Amazonian southwest tropical forest

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zanchi, F.B.; Rocha, Da H.R.; Freitas, De H.C.; Kruijt, B.; Waterloo, M.J.; Manzi, A.O.

2009-01-01

Soil respiration plays a significant role in the carbon cycle of Amazonian tropical forests, although in situ measurements have only been poorly reported and the dependence of soil moisture and soil temperature also weakly understood. This work investigates the temporal variability of soil

Temperature Knowledge and Model Correlation for the Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Reflector Mesh

Science.gov (United States)

Mikhaylov, Rebecca; Dawson, Douglas; Kwack, Eug

2014-01-01

NASA's Earth observing Soil Moisture Active & Passive (SMAP) Mission is scheduled to launch in November 2014 into a 685 km near-polar, sun synchronous orbit. SMAP will provide comprehensive global mapping measurements of soil moisture and freeze/thaw state in order to enhance understanding of the processes that link the water, energy, and carbon cycles. The primary objectives of SMAP are to improve worldwide weather and flood forecasting, enhance climate prediction, and refine drought and agriculture monitoring during its 3 year mission. The SMAP instrument architecture incorporates an L-band radar and an L-band radiometer which share a common feed horn and parabolic mesh reflector. The instrument rotates about the nadir axis at approximately 15 rpm, thereby providing a conically scanning wide swath antenna beam that is capable of achieving global coverage within 3 days. In order to make the necessary precise surface emission measurements from space, a temperature knowledge of 60 deg C for the mesh reflector is required. In order to show compliance, a thermal vacuum test was conducted using a portable solar simulator to illuminate a non flight, but flight-like test article through the quartz window of the vacuum chamber. The molybdenum wire of the antenna mesh is too fine to accommodate thermal sensors for direct temperature measurements. Instead, the mesh temperature was inferred from resistance measurements made during the test. The test article was rotated to five separate angles between 10 deg and 90 deg via chamber breaks to simulate the maximum expected on-orbit solar loading during the mission. The resistance measurements were converted to temperature via a resistance versus temperature calibration plot that was constructed from data collected in a separate calibration test. A simple thermal model of two different representations of the mesh (plate and torus) was created to correlate the mesh temperature predictions to within 60 deg C. The on-orbit mesh

SMOS/SMAP Synergy for SMAP Level 2 Soil Moisture Algorithm Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Bindlish, Rajat; Jackson, Thomas J.; Zhao, Tianjie; Cosh, Michael; Chan, Steven; O'Neill, Peggy; Njoku, Eni; Colliander, Andreas; Kerr, Yann

2011-01-01

Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite has been proposed to provide global measurements of soil moisture and land freeze/thaw state at 10 km and 3 km resolutions, respectively. SMAP would also provide a radiometer-only soil moisture product at 40-km spatial resolution. This product and the supporting brightness temperature observations are common to both SMAP and European Space Agency's Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission. As a result, there are opportunities for synergies between the two missions. These include exploiting the data for calibration and validation and establishing longer term L-band brightness temperature and derived soil moisture products. In this investigation we will be using SMOS brightness temperature, ancillary data, and soil moisture products to develop and evaluate a candidate SMAP L2 passive soil moisture retrieval algorithm. This work will begin with evaluations based on the SMOS product grids and ancillary data sets and transition to those that will be used by SMAP. An important step in this analysis is reprocessing the multiple incidence angle observations provided by SMOS to a global brightness temperature product that simulates the constant 40 degree incidence angle observations that SMAP will provide. The reprocessed brightness temperature data provide a basis for evaluating different SMAP algorithm alternatives. Several algorithms are being considered for the SMAP radiometer-only soil moisture retrieval. In this first phase, we utilized only the Single Channel Algorithm (SCA), which is based on the radiative transfer equation and uses the channel that is most sensitive to soil moisture (H-pol). Brightness temperature is corrected sequentially for the effects of temperature, vegetation, roughness (dynamic ancillary data sets) and soil texture (static ancillary data set). European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) estimates of soil temperature for the top layer (as provided as part of the SMOS

Correlation between near infrared spectroscopy and electrical techniques in measuring skin moisture content

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohamad, M; Sabbri, A R M; Jafri, M Z Mat; Omar, A F

2014-01-01

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy technique serves as an important tool for the measurement of moisture content of skin owing to the advantages it has over the other techniques. The purpose of the study is to develop a correlation between NIR spectrometer with electrical conventional techniques for skin moisture measurement. A non-invasive measurement of moisture content of skin was performed on different part of human face and hand under control environment (temperature 21 ± 1 °C, relative humidity 45 ± 5 %). Ten healthy volunteers age between 21-25 (male and female) participated in this study. The moisture content of skin was measured using DermaLab ® USB Moisture Module, Scalar Moisture Checker and NIR spectroscopy (NIRQuest). Higher correlation was observed between NIRQuest and Dermalab moisture probe with a coefficient of determination (R 2 ) above 70 % for all the subjects. However, the value of R 2 between NIRQuest and Moisture Checker was observed to be lower with the R 2 values ranges from 51.6 to 94.4 %. The correlation of NIR spectroscopy technique successfully developed for measuring moisture content of the skin. The analysis of this correlation can help to establish novel instruments based on an optical system in clinical used especially in the dermatology field

Biochar increases plant growth and alters microbial communities via regulating the moisture and temperature of green roof substrates.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Haoming; Ma, Jinyi; Wei, Jiaxing; Gong, Xin; Yu, Xichen; Guo, Hui; Zhao, Yanwen

2018-09-01

Green roofs have increasingly been designed and applied to relieve environmental problems, such as water loss, air pollution as well as heat island effect. Substrate and vegetation are important components of green roofs providing ecosystem services and benefiting the urban development. Biochar made from sewage sludge could be potentially used as the substrate amendment for green roofs, however, the effects of biochar on substrate quality and plant performance in green roofs are still unclear. We evaluated the effects of adding sludge biochar (0, 5, 10, 15 and 20%, v/v) to natural soil planted with three types of plant species (ryegrass, Sedum lineare and cucumber) on soil properties, plant growth and microbial communities in both green roof and ground ecosystems. Our results showed that sludge biochar addition significantly increased substrate moisture, adjusted substrate temperature, altered microbial community structure and increased plant growth. The application rate of 10-15% sludge biochar on the green roof exerted the most significant effects on both microbial and plant biomass by 63.9-89.6% and 54.0-54.2% respectively. Path analysis showed that biochar addition had a strong effect on microbial biomass via changing the soil air-filled porosity, soil moisture and temperature, and promoted plant growth through the positive effects on microbial biomass. These results suggest that the applications of biochar at an appropriate rate can significantly alter plant growth and microbial community structure, and increase the ecological benefits of green roofs via exerting effects on the moisture, temperature and nutrients of roof substrates. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Development of a neutron moisture gauge

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Prasad, A.S.

1979-01-01

A neutron moisture gauge fabricated for measuring the moisture content of coke is described. It has an americium-beryllium source placed beside a boron coated neutron counter which is a slow neutron detector. The fast neutrons emitted by the radioactive source are slowed down by the hydrogen nuclei present in the material either as bound hydrogen or as a hydrogen of the water. Measure of the slowed down i.e. thermal neutrons (their density) is proportional to the total hydrogen content of the material. The instrument is installed as an ''on-line'' measuring device to estimate the moisture content of coke at the weighing hopper feeding the skip car. The accuracy of measurement is dependent on the moisture content, i.e. higher accuracy is obtained for higher moisture content. At low moisture content, the effect of the bound hydrogen other than that of the water on low moisture readings is pronounced. Effect of bulk density on the accuracy of measurement is not very significant as long as the coke size is constant. The error is in the range of +- 1.1%. (M.G.B.)

Detecting the honeycomb sandwich composite material's moisture impregnating defects by using infrared thermography technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kwon, Koo Ahn; Choi, Man Yong; Park, Jeong Hak; Choi, Won Jae; Park, Hee Sang

2017-01-01

Many composite materials are used in the aerospace industry because of their excellent mechanical properties. However, the nature of aviation exposes these materials to high temperature and high moisture conditions depending on climate, location, and altitude. Therefore, the molecular arrangement chemical properties, and mechanical properties of composite materials can be changed under these conditions. As a result, surface disruptions and cracks can be created. Consequently, moisture-impregnating defects can be induced due to the crack and delamination of composite materials as they are repeatedly exposed to moisture absorption moisture release, fatigue environment, temperature changes, and fluid pressure changes. This study evaluates the possibility of detecting the moisture-impregnating defects of CFRP and GFRP honeycomb structure sandwich composite materials, which are the composite materials in the aircraft structure, by using an active infrared thermography technology among non-destructive testing methods. In all experiments, it was possible to distinguish the area and a number of CFRP composite materials more clearly than those of GFRP composite material. The highest detection rate was observed in the heating duration of 50 mHz and the low detection rate was at the heating duration of over 500 mHz. The reflection method showed a higher detection rate than the transmission method

Linking increases in hourly precipitation extremes to atmospheric temperature and moisture changes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lenderink, Geert; Van Meijgaard, Erik

2010-01-01

Relations between hourly precipitation extremes and atmospheric temperature and moisture derived for the present-day climate are studied with the aim of understanding the behavior (and the uncertainty in predictions) of hourly precipitation extremes in a changing climate. A dependency of hourly precipitation extremes on the daily mean 2 m temperature of approximately two times the Clausius-Clapeyron (CC) relation is found for temperatures above 10 deg. C. This is a robust relation obtained in four observational records across western Europe. A dependency following the CC relation can be explained by the observed increase in atmospheric (absolute) humidity with temperature, whereas the enhanced dependency (compared to the CC relation) appears to be caused by dynamical feedbacks owing to excess latent heat release in extreme showers. Integrations with the KNMI regional climate model RACMO2 at 25 km grid spacing show that changes in hourly precipitation extremes may indeed considerably exceed the prediction from the CC relation. The results suggests that increases of + 70% or even more are possible by the end of this century. However, a different regional model (CLM operated at ETHZ) predicts much smaller increases; this is probably caused by a too strong sensitivity of this model to a decrease in relative humidity.

Retrieving Temperature and Moisture Profiles from AERI Radiance Observations. AERIPROF Value-Added Product Technical Description

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Feltz, W. F. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Howell, H. B. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United; Knuteson, R. O. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Comstock, J. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Mahon, R. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Turner, D. D. [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States); Smith, W. L. [NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA (United States); Woolf, H. M. [Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United; Sivaraman, C. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Halter, T. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2007-04-01

One of the goals of the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Program is to collect a long-term series of radiative and atmospheric state observations to improve the parameterization of these processes in global climate models. The ARM Program intended to move away from the traditional approach of directly measuring profiles of temperature and moisture using radiosondes, which is expensive in terms of expendables and manpower, and develop methods to retrieve these profiles with ground-based remote sensors. The atmospheric emitted radiance interferometer (AERI), whose radiance data contains information on the vertical distribution of water vapor and temperature, is an integral part of the ARM profiling plan.

Moisture and temperature in a proppant-enveloped silt block of a recharge dam reservoir: Laboratory experiment and 1-D mathematical modelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anvar Kacimov

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Mosaic 3-D cascade of parallelepiped-shaped silt blocks, which sandwich sand- lled cracks, has been discovered in the eld and tested in lab experiments. Controlled wetting-drying of these blocks, collected from a dam reservoir, mimics field ponding-desiccation conditions of the topsoil layer subject to caustic solar radiation, high temperature and wind, typical in the Batinah region of Oman. In 1-D analytical modelling of a transient Richards’ equation for vertical evaporation, the method of small perturbations is applied, assuming that the relative permeability is Avery-anov’s 3.5-power function of the moisture content and capillary pressure is a given (measured function. A linearized advective dispersion equation is solved with respect to the second term in the series expansion of the moisture content as a function of spatial coordinates and time. For a single block of a nite thickness we solve a boundary value problem with a no- ow condition at the bottom and a constant moisture content at the surface. Preliminary comparisons with theta-, TDR- probes measuring the moisture content and temperature at several in-block points are made. Results corroborate that a 3-D heterogeneity of soil physical properties, in particular, horizontal and vertical capillary barriers emerging on the interfaces between silt and sand generate eco-niches with stored soil water compartments favourable for lush vegetation in desert conditions. Desiccation significantly increases the temperature in the blocks and re-wetting of the blocks reduces the daily average and peak temperatures, the latter by almost 15°C. This is important for planning irrigation in smartly designed soil substrates and sustainability of wild plants in the region where the top soil peak temperature in the study area exceeds 70°C in Summer but smartly structured soils maintain lash vegetation. Thee layer of dry top-blocks acts as a thermal insulator for the subjacent layers of wet blocks that

Soil moisture transport during the 1974--1975 and 1975--1976 water years

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Last, G.V.; Easley, P.G.; Brown, D.J.

1976-12-01

The rate and direction of soil moisture movement in Hanford sediments were determined for the 1974-1975 and 1975-1976 water years. The data for these determinations was obtained from two large lysimeters located on the 200 area plateau near the center of the Hanford Reservation. During the 1974-75 water year, meteoric moisture percolated to a depth of 2.5 meters with a peak moisture content of 10.5 volume-percent. This percolation envelope was eliminated by evaporation during the hot dry summer of 1975. The 1975-76 water year had only 70 percent of the normal precipitation, thus the percolation envelope was small and penetrated to a depth of only two meters. However, in spite of this shallow depth and low volume of moisture, the percolation envelope was not eliminated by the end of the water year because of lower seasonal temperatures and higher humidity during the drying season. Moisture content of sediments in the 4-18 meter depth range showed no relative change throughout the two water years, and no moisture accumulated at the bottom of the lysimeters, which indicates there is no deep percolation of meteoric moisture at this site, and no recharge to the ground water

Investigating soil moisture-climate interactions with prescribed soil moisture experiments: an assessment with the Community Earth System Model (version 1.2)

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Mathias; Orth, René; Seneviratne, Sonia I.

2017-04-01

Land surface hydrology is an important control of surface weather and climate. A valuable technique to investigate this link is the prescription of soil moisture in land surface models, which leads to a decoupling of the atmosphere and land processes. Diverse approaches to prescribe soil moisture, as well as different prescribed soil moisture conditions have been used in previous studies. Here, we compare and assess four methodologies to prescribe soil moisture and investigate the impact of two different estimates of the climatological seasonal cycle used to prescribe soil moisture. Our analysis shows that, though in appearance similar, the different approaches require substantially different long-term moisture inputs and lead to different temperature signals. The smallest influence on temperature and the water balance is found when prescribing the median seasonal cycle of deep soil liquid water, whereas the strongest signal is found when prescribing soil liquid and soil ice using the mean seasonal cycle. These results indicate that induced net water-balance perturbations in experiments investigating soil moisture-climate coupling are important contributors to the climate response, in addition to the intended impact of the decoupling. These results help to guide the set-up of future experiments prescribing soil moisture, as for instance planned within the Land Surface, Snow and Soil Moisture Model Intercomparison Project (LS3MIP).

SMAP Multi-Temporal Soil Moisture and Vegetation Optical Depth Retrievals in Vegetated Regions Including Higher-Order Soil-Canopy Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Feldman, A.; Akbar, R.; Konings, A. G.; Piles, M.; Entekhabi, D.

2017-12-01

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission utilizes a zeroth order radiative transfer model, known as the tau-omega model, to retrieve soil moisture from microwave brightness temperature observations. This model neglects first order scattering which is significant at L-Band in vegetated regions, or 30% of land cover. Previous higher order algorithms require extensive in-situ measurements and characterization of canopy layer physical properties. We propose a first order retrieval algorithm that approximately characterizes the eight first order emission pathways using rough surface reflectivity, vegetation optical depth (VOD), and scattering albedo terms. The recently developed Multi-Temporal Dual Channel Algorithm (MT-DCA) then retrieves these three parameters in a forward model without ancillary information under the assumption of temporally static albedo and constant vegetation water content between three day SMAP revisits. The approximated scattering terms are determined to be conservative estimates of analytically derived first order scattering terms. In addition, we find the first order algorithm to be more sensitive to surface emission than the tau-omega model. The simultaneously retrieved VOD, previously demonstrated to be proportional to vegetation water content, can provide insight into vegetation dynamics in regions with significant phenology. Specifically, dry tropical forests exhibit an increase in VOD during the dry season in alignment with prior studies that suggest that certain vegetative species green up during the dry season despite limited water availability. VOD retrieved using the first order algorithm and MT-DCA framework can therefore contribute to understanding of tropical forests' role in the carbon, energy, and water cycles, which has yet to be fully explained.

Forest litter crickets prefer higher substrate moisture for oviposition: Evidence from field and lab experiments.

Science.gov (United States)

de Farias-Martins, Fernando; Sperber, Carlos Frankl; Albeny-Simões, Daniel; Breaux, Jennifer Ann; Fianco, Marcos; Szinwelski, Neucir

2017-01-01

For insects, choosing a favorable oviposition site is a type of parental care, as far as it increases the fitness of its offspring. Niche theory predicts that crickets should show a bell-shaped oviposition response to substrate moisture. However, lab experiments with mole crickets showed a linear oviposition response to substrate moisture. Studies with the house cricket Acheta domesticus also showed a linear juvenile body growth response to water availability, thus adult ovipositing females should respond positively to substrate moisture. We used a field experiment to evaluate the relationship between oviposition preference and substrate moisture in forest litter-dwelling cricket species. We also evaluated oviposition responses to substrate moisture level in Ubiquepuella telytokous, the most abundant litter cricket species in our study area, using a laboratory study. We offered cotton substrate for oviposition which varied in substrate moisture level from zero (i.e., dry) to maximum water absorption capacity. We used two complementary metrics to evaluate oviposition preference: (i) presence or absence of eggs in each sampling unit as binary response variable, and (ii) number of eggs oviposited per sampling unit as count response variable. To test for non-linear responses, we adjusted generalized additive models (GAMM) with mixed effects. We found that both cricket oviposition probability and effort (i.e., number of eggs laid) increased linearly with substrate moisture in the field experiment, and for U. telytokous in the lab experiment. We discarded any non-linear responses. Our results demonstrate the importance of substrate moisture as an ecological niche dimension for litter crickets. This work bolsters knowledge of litter cricket life history association with moisture, and suggests that litter crickets may be particularly threatened by changes in climate that favor habitat drying.

Low moisture availability inhibits the enhancing effect of increased soil temperature on net photosynthesis of white birch (Betula papyrifera) seedlings grown under ambient and elevated carbon dioxide concentrations.

Science.gov (United States)

Ambebe, Titus F; Dang, Qing-Lai

2009-11-01

White birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) seedlings were grown under two carbon dioxide concentrations (ambient: 360 micromol mol(-1) and elevated: 720 micromol mol(-1)), three soil temperatures (5, 15 and 25 degrees C initially, increased to 7, 17 and 27 degrees C, respectively, 1 month later) and three moisture regimes (low: 30-40%; intermediate: 45-55% and high: 60-70% field water capacity) in greenhouses. In situ gas exchange and chlorophyll fluorescence were measured after 2 months of treatments. Net photosynthetic rate (A(n)) of seedlings grown under the intermediate and high moisture regimes increased from low to intermediate T(soil) and then decreased to high T(soil). There were no significant differences between the low and high T(soil), with the exception that A(n) was significantly higher under high than low T(soil) at the high moisture regime. No significant T(soil) effect on A(n) was observed at the low moisture regime. The intermediate T(soil) increased stomatal conductance (g(s)) only at intermediate and high but not at low moisture regime, whereas there were no significant differences between the low and high T(soil) treatments. Furthermore, the difference in g(s) between the intermediate and high T(soil) at high moisture regime was not statistically significant. The low moisture regime significantly reduced the internal to ambient CO2 concentration ratio at all T(soil). There were no significant individual or interactive effects of treatment on maximum carboxylation rate of Rubisco, light-saturated electron transport rate, triose phosphate utilization or potential photochemical efficiency of photosystem II. The results of this study suggest that soil moisture condition should be taken into account when predicting the responses of white birch to soil warming.

Estimation of improved resolution soil moisture in vegetated areas using passive AMSR-E data

Science.gov (United States)

Moradizadeh, Mina; Saradjian, Mohammad R.

2018-03-01

Microwave remote sensing provides a unique capability for soil parameter retrievals. Therefore, various soil parameters estimation models have been developed using brightness temperature (BT) measured by passive microwave sensors. Due to the low resolution of satellite microwave radiometer data, the main goal of this study is to develop a downscaling approach to improve the spatial resolution of soil moisture estimates with the use of higher resolution visible/infrared sensor data. Accordingly, after the soil parameters have been obtained using Simultaneous Land Parameters Retrieval Model algorithm, the downscaling method has been applied to the soil moisture estimations that have been validated against in situ soil moisture data. Advance Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS BT data in Soil Moisture Experiment 2003 region in the south and north of Oklahoma have been used to this end. Results illustrated that the soil moisture variability is effectively captured at 5 km spatial scales without a significant degradation of the accuracy.

An analytical method for determining the temperature dependent moisture diffusivities of pumpkin seeds during drying process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Can, Ahmet [Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Trakya, 22030 Edirne (Turkey)

2007-02-15

This paper presents an analytical method, which determines the moisture diffusion coefficients for the natural and forced convection hot air drying of pumpkin seeds and their temperature dependence. In order to obtain scientific data, the pumpkin seed drying process was investigated under both natural and forced hot air convection regimes. This paper presents the experimental results in which the drying air was heated by solar energy. (author)

[Sap flow characteristics of Quercus liaotungensis in response to sapwood area and soil moisture in the loess hilly region, China].

Science.gov (United States)

Lyu, Jin Lin; He, Qiu Yue; Yan, Mei Jie; Li, Guo Qing; Du, Sheng

2018-03-01

To examine the characteristics of sap flow in Quercus liaotungensis and their response to environmental factors under different soil moisture conditions, Granier-type thermal dissipation probes were used to measure xylem sap flow of trees with different sapwood area in a natural Q. liaotungensis forest in the loess hilly region. Solar radiation, air temperature, relative air humidity, precipitation, and soil moisture were monitored during the study period. The results showed that sap flux of Q. liaotungensis reached daily peaks earlier than solar radiation and vapor pressure deficit. The diurnal dynamics of sap flux showed a similar pattern to those of the environmental factors. Trees had larger sap flux during the period with higher soil moisture. Under the same soil moisture conditions, trees with larger diameter and sapwood areas had significantly higher sap flux than those with smaller diameter and sapwood areas. Sap flux could be fitted with vapor pressure deficit, solar radiation, and the integrated index of the two factors using exponential saturation function. Differences in the fitted curves and parameters suggested that sap flux tended to reach saturation faster under higher soil moisture. Furthermore, trees in the smaller diameter class were more sensitive to the changes of soil moisture. The ratio of daily sap flux per unit vapor pressure deficit under lower soil moisture condition to that under higher soil moisture condition was linearly correlated to sapwood area. The regressive slope in smaller diameter class was larger than that in bigger diameter class, which further indicated the higher sensitivity of trees with smaller diameter class to soil moisture. These results indicated that wider sapwood of larger diameter class provided a buffer against drought stress.

Simply obtained global radiation, soil temperature and soil moisture in an alley cropping system in semi-arid Kenya

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mungai, D.N.; Stigter, C.J.; Coulson, C.L.; Ng'ang'a, J.K.

2000-01-01

Global radiation, soil temperature and soil moisture data were obtained from a 4-6 year old Cassia siamea/maize (CM) alley cropping (or hedgerow intercropping) system, at a semi-arid site at Machakos, Kenya, in the late eighties. With the growing need to explore and manage variations in

Polymer Composite Rebars under Moisture and Mechanical Loading

Science.gov (United States)

Adam, Mohamed Ibrahim

Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been increasingly used by the civil engineering construction industry in the past few years. Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) is one of the most commonly used FRP materials in applications such as a profile member or reinforcing rebars. Lightweight, high strength and excellent corrosion resistance are just a few among the many appealing properties of GFRP rebars. Use of GFRP has been focused on extending the service life of civil engineering structures acting as reinforcement instead of steel. FRP composites also provide opportunities for repair and retrofit of existing structures to extend their service life or to increase their load bearing capacity. However, the higher initial cost of GFRP rebar compared to steel is a current barrier in their widespread usage. Recent advancements in processes such as pultrusion have helped in reducing the cost of the FRP rebar. In addition, a higher initial raw material cost can be offset by the lower lifecycle cost of GFRP rebar compared to steel rebar. These factors are helping in increasing the acceptance of GFRP rebars in construction industry. Availability of technical data on GFRP, especially for long-term performance and under practical loading conditions faced in a real-life application, can help in increasing their acceptance. Although there have been numerous studies to characterize the properties of GFRP in terms of strength, corrosion, fatigue, chemical and physical aging, and natural weathering, most of these studies were limited to material characterization and were not intended for civil engineering applications. For this reason, and to encourage the increased use of GFRP rebars in concrete structures, GFRP rebar has been an important research topic in recent years. Of particular interest are their long-term durability and their susceptibility to degradation that might be initiated by moisture, temperature, and corrosive chemical environments. This is because

Moisture migration in concrete. Final report. Technical report C-75-1

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McDonald, J.E.

1975-05-01

In an effort to obtain information regarding the nature of moisture movement and rate of moisture loss in a prestressed concrete reactor vessel (PCRV), an experimental study of moisture migration in a pie-shaped specimen representing the flow path through a cylindrical wall of a PCRV was initiated. After casting of the test specimen, temperature distribution, shrinkage, and moisture distribution were monitored for approximately 510 days. After this initial monitoring, a temperature difference of 80 0 F was applied to the specimen, and the above-mentioned measurements were continued for an additional test period of one year. Results indicate that moisture migration in thick sections of concrete, such as a PCRV, is a slow process and is not likely to be a significant factor with temperature differences of 80 0 F or less. 15 references. (auth)

Magnitude and reactivity consequences of moisture ingress into the modular High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor core

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, O.L.

1992-12-01

Inadvertent admission of moisture into the primary system of a modular high-temperature gas-cooled reactor has been identified in US Department of Energy-sponsored studies as an important safety concern. The work described here develops an analytical methodology to quantify the pressure and reactivity consequences of steam-generator tube rupture and other moisture-ingress-related incidents. Important neutronic and thermohydraulic processes are coupled with reactivity feedback and safety and control system responses. The rate and magnitude of steam buildup are found to be dominated by major system features such as break size compared with safety valve capacity and reliability and less sensitive to factors such as heat transfer coefficients. The results indicate that ingress transients progress at a slower pace than previously predicted by bounding analyses, with milder power overshoots and more time for operator or automatic corrective actions

Thermogravimetric analysis for rapid assessment of moisture diffusivity in polydisperse powder and thin film matrices.

Science.gov (United States)

Thirunathan, Praveena; Arnz, Patrik; Husny, Joeska; Gianfrancesco, Alessandro; Perdana, Jimmy

2018-03-01

Accurate description of moisture diffusivity is key to precisely understand and predict moisture transfer behaviour in a matrix. Unfortunately, measuring moisture diffusivity is not trivial, especially at low moisture values and/or elevated temperatures. This paper presents a novel experimental procedure to accurately measure moisture diffusivity based on thermogravimetric approach. The procedure is capable to measure diffusivity even at elevated temperatures (>70°C) and low moisture values (>1%). Diffusivity was extracted from experimental data based on "regular regime approach". The approach was tailored to determine diffusivity from thin film and from poly-dispersed powdered samples. Subsequently, measured diffusivity was validated by comparing to available literature data, showing good agreement. Ability of this approach to accurately measure diffusivity at a wider range of temperatures provides better insight on temperature dependency of diffusivity. Thus, this approach can be crucial to ensure good accuracy of moisture transfer description/prediction especially when involving elevated temperatures. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Weather and climate needs for Lidar observations from space and concepts for their realization. [wind, temperature, moisture, and pressure data needs

Science.gov (United States)

Atlas, D.; Korb, C. L.

1980-01-01

The spectrum of weather and climate needs for Lidar observations from space is discussed with emphasis on the requirements for wind, temperature, moisture, and pressure data. It is shown that winds are required to realistically depict all atmospheric scales in the tropics and the smaller scales at higher latitudes, where both temperature and wind profiles are necessary. The need for means to estimate air-sea exchanges of sensible and latent heat also is noted. A concept for achieving this through a combination of Lidar cloud top heights and IR cloud top temperatures of cloud streets formed during cold air outbreaks over the warmer ocean is outlined. Recent theoretical feasibility studies concerning the profiling of temperatures, pressure, and humidity by differential absorption Lidar (DIAL) from space and expected accuracies are reviewed. An alternative approach to Doppler Lidar wind measurements also is presented. The concept involves the measurement of the displacement of the aerosol backscatter pattern, at constant heights, between two successive scans of the same area, one ahead of the spacecraft and the other behind it a few minutes later. Finally, an integrated space Lidar system capable of measuring temperature, pressure, humidity, and winds which combines the DIAL methods with the aerosol pattern displacement concept is described.

Persistence of glyphosate and aminomethylphosphonic acid in loess soil under different combinations of temperature, soil moisture and light/darkness

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Martins Bento, Celia; Yang, Xiaomei; Gort, Gerrit; Xue, Sha; Dam, van Ruud; Zomer, Paul; Mol, Hans G.J.; Ritsema, Coen J.; Geissen, Violette

2016-01-01

The dissipation kinetics of glyphosate and its metabolite aminomethylphosphonic acid (AMPA) were studied in loess soil, under biotic and abiotic conditions, as affected by temperature, soil moisture (SM) and light/darkness. Nonsterile and sterile soil samples were spiked with 16 mg kg⁻

Thermal denaturation of sunflower globulins in low moisture conditions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rouilly, A.; Orliac, O.; Silvestre, F.; Rigal, L.

2003-01-01

DSC analysis in pressure resisting pans of sunflower oil cake makes appear the endothermic peak of sunflower globulins denaturation. Its temperature decreases from 189.5 to 119.9 deg. C while the corresponding enthalpy increases from 2.6 to 3.3 J/g of sample, or from 6.7 to 12.2 J/g of dry protein, when the samples moisture content varies from 0 to 30.0% of the total weight. The plot of the denaturation temperature versus the moisture content is not linear but has a rounded global shape and seems to follow the hydration behavior of the proteins, modeled with the sorption isotherm. As it can be seen on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs, protein corpuscles 'melt' after such a thermal treatment and large aggregates form by coagulation. Moisture dependence of the 'fusion' temperature of native proteic organization, in low moisture conditions, offers so a new characterization method for the use of vegetable proteins in agro-materials

Thermal denaturation of sunflower globulins in low moisture conditions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rouilly, A.; Orliac, O.; Silvestre, F.; Rigal, L

2003-03-05

DSC analysis in pressure resisting pans of sunflower oil cake makes appear the endothermic peak of sunflower globulins denaturation. Its temperature decreases from 189.5 to 119.9 deg. C while the corresponding enthalpy increases from 2.6 to 3.3 J/g of sample, or from 6.7 to 12.2 J/g of dry protein, when the samples moisture content varies from 0 to 30.0% of the total weight. The plot of the denaturation temperature versus the moisture content is not linear but has a rounded global shape and seems to follow the hydration behavior of the proteins, modeled with the sorption isotherm. As it can be seen on scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs, protein corpuscles 'melt' after such a thermal treatment and large aggregates form by coagulation. Moisture dependence of the 'fusion' temperature of native proteic organization, in low moisture conditions, offers so a new characterization method for the use of vegetable proteins in agro-materials.

Experience of Implementing Moisture Sorption Control in Historical Archives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Zítek

2006-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with a novel approach to inhibiting the harmful impact of moisture sorption in old art works and historical exhibits preserved in remote historic buildings that are in use as depositories or exhibition rooms for cultural heritage collections. It is a sequel to the previous work presented in [2], where the principle of moisture sorption stabilization was explained. Sorption isotherm investigations and EMC control implementation in historical buildings not provided with heating are the main concern in this paper. The proposed microclimate adjustment consists in leaving the interior temperature to run almost its spontaneous yearly cycle, while the air humidity is maintained in a specific relationship to the current interior temperature. The interior air humidity is modestly adjusted to protect historical exhibits and art works from harmful variations in the content of absorbed moisture, which would otherwise arise owing to the interior temperature drifts. Since direct measurements of moisture content are not feasible, the air humidity is controlled via a model-based principle. Two long-term implementations of the proposed microclimate control have already proved that it can permanently maintain a constant moisture content in the preserved exhibits. 

Role of temperature and free moisture in onion flower blight. [Botrytis squamosa; Botrytis cinerea; and Botrytis allii

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ramsey, G.R.; Lorbeer, J.W.

1986-06-01

The cardinal temperatures at which onion umbels were blighted (after inoculation when two-thirds of the florets were open) with Botrytis squamosa, B. cinerea, and B. allii (isolated from blighted onion florets) were near 9, 21, and 27 C for B. squamosa, near 12, 21, and 30 C for B. cinerea, and near 9, 24, and 30 C for B. allii. The cardinal temperatures for mycelial growth (potato-dextrose agar) of B. squamosa, B. cinerea, and B. allii were near 5, 22, and 30 C for each fungus. The cardinal temperatures for conidial germination (on purified water agar) were near 6, 15, and 30 C for B. squamosa; 3, 18, and 33 C for B. cinerea; and 6, 24, and 33 C for B. allii. When the duration of free moisture on umbels after inoculation with the three pathogens was increased from 0 to 96 hr. the percentages of unopened florets, open florets, and immature seed capsules blighted at 21 C were increased significantly. Free moisture durations of 12-24, 6-12, and 6-12 hr were necessary for blighting of unopen florets, open florets, and immature seed capsules, respectively, by each pathogen at 21 C. A positive correlation between the amount of July rainfall and the natural incidence of onion flower blight was observed in Orange County, New York, from 1976 to 1981. 10 references, 2 figures, 1 table.

Effects of moisture, elevated temperature, and fatigue loading on the behavior of graphite/epoxy buffer strip panels with center cracks

Science.gov (United States)

Bigelow, C. A.

1988-01-01

The effects of fatigue loading combined with moisture and heat on the behavior of graphite epoxy panels with either Kevlar-49 or S-glass buffer strips were studied. Buffer strip panels, that had a slit in the center to represent damage, were moisture conditioned or heated, fatigue loaded, and then tested in tension to measure their residual strength. The buffer strips were parallel to the loading direction and were made by replacing narrow strips of the 0 deg graphite plies with Kevlar-49 epoxy or S-glass epoxy on a 1-for-1 basis. The panels were subjected to a fatigue loading spectrum. One group of panels was preconditioned by soaking in 60 C water to produce a 1 percent weight gain then tested at room temperature. One group was heated to 82 C during the fatigue loading. Another group was moisture conditioned and then tested at 82 C. The residual strengths of the buffer panels were not highly affected by the fatigue loading, the number of repetitions of the loading spectrum, or the maximum strain level. The moisture conditioning reduced the residual strengths of the S-glass buffer strip panel by 10 to 15 percent below the ambient results. The moisture conditioning did not have a large effect on the Kevlar-49 panels.

Evaluation of a Soil Moisture Data Assimilation System Over West Africa

Science.gov (United States)

Bolten, J. D.; Crow, W.; Zhan, X.; Jackson, T.; Reynolds, C.

2009-05-01

A crucial requirement of global crop yield forecasts by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) International Production Assessment Division (IPAD) is the regional characterization of surface and sub-surface soil moisture. However, due to the spatial heterogeneity and dynamic nature of precipitation events and resulting soil moisture, accurate estimation of regional land surface-atmosphere interactions based sparse ground measurements is difficult. IPAD estimates global soil moisture using daily estimates of minimum and maximum temperature and precipitation applied to a modified Palmer two-layer soil moisture model which calculates the daily amount of soil moisture withdrawn by evapotranspiration and replenished by precipitation. We attempt to improve upon the existing system by applying an Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation system to integrate surface soil moisture retrievals from the NASA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) into the USDA soil moisture model. This work aims at evaluating the utility of merging satellite-retrieved soil moisture estimates with the IPAD two-layer soil moisture model used within the DBMS. We present a quantitative analysis of the assimilated soil moisture product over West Africa (9°N- 20°N; 20°W-20°E). This region contains many key agricultural areas and has a high agro- meteorological gradient from desert and semi-arid vegetation in the North, to grassland, trees and crops in the South, thus providing an ideal location for evaluating the assimilated soil moisture product over multiple land cover types and conditions. A data denial experimental approach is utilized to isolate the added utility of integrating remotely-sensed soil moisture by comparing assimilated soil moisture results obtained using (relatively) low-quality precipitation products obtained from real-time satellite imagery to baseline model runs forced with higher quality rainfall. An analysis of root-zone anomalies for each model

Dependence of Indian monsoon rainfall on moisture fluxes across the Arabian Sea and the impact of coupled model sea surface temperature biases

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Levine, Richard C. [Met Office Hadley Centre, Devon (United Kingdom); Turner, Andrew G. [University of Reading, NCAS-Climate, Department of Meteorology, Reading (United Kingdom)

2012-06-15

The Arabian Sea is an important moisture source for Indian monsoon rainfall. The skill of climate models in simulating the monsoon and its variability varies widely, while Arabian Sea cold sea surface temperature (SST) biases are common in coupled models and may therefore influence the monsoon and its sensitivity to climate change. We examine the relationship between monsoon rainfall, moisture fluxes and Arabian Sea SST in observations and climate model simulations. Observational analysis shows strong monsoons depend on moisture fluxes across the Arabian Sea, however detecting consistent signals with contemporaneous summer SST anomalies is complicated in the observed system by air/sea coupling and large-scale induced variability such as the El Nino-Southern Oscillation feeding back onto the monsoon through development of the Somali Jet. Comparison of HadGEM3 coupled and atmosphere-only configurations suggests coupled model cold SST biases significantly reduce monsoon rainfall. Idealised atmosphere-only experiments show that the weakened monsoon can be mainly attributed to systematic Arabian Sea cold SST biases during summer and their impact on the monsoon-moisture relationship. The impact of large cold SST biases on atmospheric moisture content over the Arabian Sea, and also the subsequent reduced latent heat release over India, dominates over any enhancement in the land-sea temperature gradient and results in changes to the mean state. We hypothesize that a cold base state will result in underestimation of the impact of larger projected Arabian Sea SST changes in future climate, suggesting that Arabian Sea biases should be a clear target for model development. (orig.)

Detecting Trends in Wetland Extent from MODIS Derived Soil Moisture Estimates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Thomas Gumbricht

2018-04-01

Full Text Available A soil wetness index for optical satellite images, the Transformed Wetness Index (TWI is defined and evaluated against ground sampled soil moisture. Conceptually, TWI is formulated as a non-linear normalized difference index from orthogonalized vectors representing soil and water conditions, with the vegetation signal removed. Compared to 745 ground sites with in situ measured soil moisture, TWI has a globally estimated Random Mean Square Error of 14.0 (v/v expressed as percentage, which reduces to 8.5 for unbiased data. The temporal variation in soil moisture is significantly captured at 4 out of 10 stations, but also fails for 2 to 3 out of 10 stations. TWI is biased by different soil mineral compositions, dense vegetation and shadows, with the latter two most likely also causing the failure of TWI to capture soil moisture dynamics. Compared to soil moisture products from microwave brightness temperature data, TWI performs slightly worse, but has the advantages of not requiring ancillary data, higher spatial resolution and a relatively simple application. TWI has been used for wetland and peatland mapping in previously published studies but is presented in detail in this article, and then applied for detecting changes in soil moisture for selected tropical regions between 2001 and 2016. Sites with significant changes are compared to a published map of global tropical wetlands and peatlands.

The effect of regional-scale soil-moisture deficits on mesoscale atmospheric dynamics that influence fire severity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fast, J.D.

1994-09-30

This study employs a three-dimensional, nonhydrostatic mesoscale model to evaluate the effects of horizontally heterogeneous soil moisture and vegetation type on the atmosphere during two periods in which wildland fires occurred. Numerical sensitivity simulations demonstrate that evapotranspiration significantly affects the boundary-layer structure embedded in the synoptic-scale circulations. In regions with sufficiently moist soils, evapotranspiration increases the humidity and modifies the diurnally varying temperature near the surface. Occasionally, changes in the humidity and temperature fields can also be seen a significant distance downwind of the moist soil regions. The perturbations in the temperature fields ultimately affect the wind speed and direction over or at the boundaries of the moist-soil regions, but only at certain times during the simulation period. The higher humidity also increases the cloudiness and changes the precipitation amounts, indicating that soil moisture and vegetation may play an important role in modifying the spatial distribution and intensity of precipitation. A lower atmospheric stability index, that is an indicator of the potential for wildland fire, is also calculated from the model results. This index is also sensitive to the horizontal distribution of soil moisture and vegetation, especially in regions with relatively moist soils. While only two periods are examined in this study, the impact of surface inhomogeneities in soil moisture and vegetation type on the atmosphere is expected to be highly dependent on the particular synoptic conditions and upon the distribution of soil moisture.

Detecting the honeycomb sandwich composite material's moisture impregnating defects by using infrared thermography technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kwon, Koo Ahn; Choi, Man Yong; Park, Jeong Hak; Choi, Won Jae [Safety Measurement Center, Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, Hee Sang [R and D, Korea Research Institute of Smart Material and Structures System Association, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2017-04-15

Many composite materials are used in the aerospace industry because of their excellent mechanical properties. However, the nature of aviation exposes these materials to high temperature and high moisture conditions depending on climate, location, and altitude. Therefore, the molecular arrangement chemical properties, and mechanical properties of composite materials can be changed under these conditions. As a result, surface disruptions and cracks can be created. Consequently, moisture-impregnating defects can be induced due to the crack and delamination of composite materials as they are repeatedly exposed to moisture absorption moisture release, fatigue environment, temperature changes, and fluid pressure changes. This study evaluates the possibility of detecting the moisture-impregnating defects of CFRP and GFRP honeycomb structure sandwich composite materials, which are the composite materials in the aircraft structure, by using an active infrared thermography technology among non-destructive testing methods. In all experiments, it was possible to distinguish the area and a number of CFRP composite materials more clearly than those of GFRP composite material. The highest detection rate was observed in the heating duration of 50 mHz and the low detection rate was at the heating duration of over 500 mHz. The reflection method showed a higher detection rate than the transmission method.

Investigation on Tensile Strength Ratio (TSR Specimen to Predict Moisture Sensitivity of Asphalt Pavements Mixture and Using Polymer to Reduce Moisture Damage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammed Aziz Hameed Al-Shaybani

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Moisture damage of asphalt concrete is defined as losing the strength and Permanence caused by the active presence of moisture.The most common technique to reduce moisture damage is using modifiers with the asphalt binder or the aggregate.The goal of this study was to explore the effect of various modifiers of polymer on the moisture susceptibility mixture of asphaltic concrete pavement. Modifiers included in this research selected two kinds of polymers Crumb Rubber No 50 (CR No 50 and Methyl Methacrylates (MMA(which are available in the local markets in Iraq and have been used in three percentages for each type. These percentages are (5, 10 and 15% for (CR No 50 and (2.5, 5 and 7.5(% for (MMA.Each type of these polymers is blended with asphalt by wet process at constant blending times for a suitable range of temperatures. The experimental works showed that all polymers modified mixtures have indirect tensile strength higher than control asphalt mixtures, its about (2-15 %, dependent on different type of polymer and polymer concentration under predicted suitable blending time.Test results of indirect tensile strength indicated betterment in modifying the proprieties of mixture, the increased resistance mixture of asphalt concrete pavement versus moisture damage, and reduced the effect of water on asphalt concrete properties. The final result is the addition of (10% CR No 50 and (5% MMA to asphalt mixtures showed an improved mixture of asphalt concrete properties and produced strong mixtures for road construction.One model is predicted for tensile strength ratio [TSR]to estimate the effects of polymer modification on moisture susceptibility mixture of asphalt concrete.

Moisture accumulation in a building envelope

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Forest, T.W.; Checkwitch, K.

1988-09-01

In a large number of cases, the failure of a building envelope can be traced to the accumulation of moisture. In a cold winter climate, characteristic of the Canadian prairies, moisture is deposited in the structure by the movement of warm, moist air through the envelope. Tests on the moisture accumulation in a building envelope were initiated in a test house at an Alberta research facility during the 1987/88 heating season. The indoor moisture generation rate was measured and compared with the value inferred from the measured air infiltration rate. With the flue open, the moisture generation rate was approximately 5.5 kg/d of which 0.7 kg/d entered the building envelope; the remainder was exhausted through the flue. With the flue blocked, the moisture generation rate decreased to 3.4 kg/d, while the amount of moisture migrating through the envelope increased to 4.0 kg/d. The moisture accumulation in wall panels located on the north and south face of the test house was also monitored. Moisture was allowed to enter the wall cavity via a hole in the drywall. The fiberglass insulation remained dry throughout the test period. The moisture content of the exterior sheathing of the north panel increased to a maximum of 18% wt in the vicinity of the hole, but quickly dried when the ambient temperatures increased towards the end of the season. The south panel showed very little moisture accumlation due to the effects of solar radiation. 14 refs., 9 figs.

Effect of pH, temperature and moisture content during composting of rice straw burning at different temperature with food waste and effective microorganisms

Science.gov (United States)

Azura Zakarya, Irnis; Baya Khalib, Siti Noor; Ramzi, Norhasykin Mohd

2018-03-01

Rice straw is considered as one of the most important agricultural residues and represented as one of the major by-products from rice production process. Normally, rice straw that produced after harvesting season been directly burned on-farm. Conversion of rice straw into value added compost will improve the productivity of plant, reduction of pollution towards environment and reduction of local pollution due to open burning activity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of composting rice straw ash (RSA) with food waste (FW) and effective microorganisms (EM) in term of the compost quality (pH, temperature, moisture content). RSA was prepared by burning the raw rice straw at three different temperature of 300°C, 400°C and 500°C for one hour. EM used during the composting process was prepared by mixing of brown sugar, `tempe' and water that can be used after one week of fermentation process. There are four treatments of RSA-compost; RSA (300°C), RSA (400°C), RSA (500°C) and control (raw rice straw) with the same amount of compost medium; 1kg black soil, 0.5kg RSA, 3L EM and 1kg FW. The composting process happens for 30 days. During the composting process, all the parameters of RSA-compost obtained in a range like; pH value 8-10, temperature 20-50°C and moisture content 40-60%. The result showed that all compost quality of rice straw ash compost obtained in an acceptable range for final compost to establish.

Moisture transfer in concrete elements under thermal gradients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lien, H.P.; Wittmann, F.H.

1995-01-01

A realistic simulation of the coupled heat- and mass transfer in concrete elements requires detailed knowledge of the dominant transfer mechanisms. Depending on the the local temperatures and moisture content, a description in terms of diffusion or Darcy flow respectively is appropriate. However, a simultaneous application of these fundamental physical transfer mechanisms necessary when subjecting concrete elements to wide-ranging temperature distributions. With rising temperatures, continuing hydration also influences the moisture distribution in a increasingly important manner in addition to the transport phenomena. The description of the relevant transport process can be handled by thermodynamic concepts and, in general, the resulting time-space evolution of the state variables in described in terms of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations. A numerical model of the coupled heat-and mass transfer as influenced by continuing hydration with a temperature-dependent reaction rate is presented, and the simulation of the hygral transfer is compared with experimentally determined moisture distributions obtained on a prestressed concrete vessel under thermal gradients. (author). 14 refs., 10 figs

CO2, Temperature, and Soil Moisture Interactions Affect NDVI and Reproductive Phenology in Old-Field Plant Communities

Science.gov (United States)

Engel, C.; Weltzin, J.; Norby, R.

2004-12-01

Plant community composition and ecosystem function may be altered by global atmospheric and climate change, including increased atmospheric [CO2], temperature, and varying precipitation regimes. We are conducting an experiment at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) utilizing open-top chambers to administer experimental treatments of elevated CO2 (+300 ppm), warming (+ 3 degrees Celsius), and varying soil moisture availability to experimental plant communities constructed of seven common old-field species, including C3 and C4 grasses, forbs, and legumes. During 2004 we monitored plant community phenology (NDVI) and plant reproductive phenology. Early in the year, NDVI was greater in wet treatment plots, and was unaffected by main effects of temperature or CO2. This result suggests that early in the season warming is insufficient to affect early canopy development. Differences in soil moisture sustained throughout the winter and into early spring may constitute an important control on early canopy greenup. Elevated CO2 alleviated detrimental effects of warming on NDVI, but only early in the season. As ambient temperatures increased, elevated temperatures negatively impacted NDVI only in the dry plots. Wetter conditions ameliorate the effects of warming on canopy greenness during the warmer seasons of the year. Warming increased rates of bolting, number of inflorescences, and time to reproductive maturity for Andropogon virginicus (a C4 bunchgrass). Solidago Canadensis (a C3 late-season forb) also produced flowers earlier in elevated temperatures. Conversely, none of the C3 grasses and forbs that bolt or flower in late spring or early summer responded to temperature or CO2. Results indicate that warming and drought may impact plant community phenology, and plant species reproductive phenology. Clearly community phenology is driven by complex interactions among temperature, water, and CO2 that change throughout the season. Our data stresses the importance of

Dead fuel moisture estimation with MSG-SEVIRI data. Retrieval of meteorological data for the calculation of the equilibrium moisture content

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nieto Solana, Hector; Sandholt, Inge; Aguado, Inmaculada

2010-01-01

In this study we propose to use remote sensing data to estimate hourly meteorological data and then assess the moisture content of dead fuels. Three different models to estimate the equilibrium moisture content (EMC) were applied together with remotely sensed retrieved air temperature and relative...... humidity. The input data were acquired by the Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI) sensor, on board the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) satellite, from which air temperature and relative humidity were estimated every 15 min. Air temperature estimations are based on the Temperature-Vegetation...... Index (TVX) algorithm. This algorithm exploits the inverse linear relationship between the land surface temperature and the vegetation fractional cover. This relationship was evaluated in a spatial window where the meteorological forcing is assumed to be constant. To estimate the vapour pressure...

Grau de umidade e temperatura na conservação de sementes de café Moisture content and temperature on the preservation of coffee seeds

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

DANIEL FELIPE DE OLIVEIRA GENTIL

2001-01-01

Full Text Available O presente trabalho foi realizado com o objetivo de verificar as influências do grau de umidade e da temperatura de armazenamento na manutenção da qualidade de sementes de Coffea arabica L. Sementes com 51%, 41%, 34%, 23%, 16% e 10% de água, acondicionadas em sacos de polietileno e mantidas sob temperaturas de 30 °C, 20 °C e 10 °C, durante 48 semanas de armazenamento, foram submetidas a avaliações periódicas do grau de umidade, da germinação, do vigor e da sanidade. Foi constatado que as reduções do grau de umidade até 10% e da temperatura até 10 °C são favoráveis à manutenção da qualidade fisiológica das sementes, e que umidade próxima a 23% favorece o estabelecimento de Penicillium sp. e de Aspergillus sp. nas sementes.The aim of this work was to verify the influences of the moisture content and storage temperature in the preservation of Coffea arabica L. seeds. Seeds with 51%, 41%, 34%, 23%, 16% and 10% moisture content were packed in polyethylene bags and stored at temperatures of 30 °C, 20 °C and 10 °C for forty-eight weeks, and submitted to periodic evaluations of moisture content, germination, vigour and sanity. Decreases in moisture content until 10% and temperature until 10 °C were favorable to the maintenance of seed physiological quality. Seed moisture content around 23% favor the establishment of Penicillium sp. and Aspergillus sp.

A new model for predicting moisture uptake by packaged solid pharmaceuticals.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Y; Li, Y

2003-04-14

A novel mathematical model has been developed for predicting moisture uptake by packaged solid pharmaceutical products during storage. High density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles containing the tablet products of two new chemical entities and desiccants are investigated. Permeability of the bottles is determined at different temperatures using steady-state data. Moisture sorption isotherms of the two model drug products and desiccants at the same temperatures are determined and expressed in polynomial equations. The isotherms are used for modeling the time-humidity profile in the container, which enables the prediction of the moisture content of individual component during storage. Predicted moisture contents agree well with real time stability data. The current model could serve as a guide during packaging selection for moisture protection, so as to reduce the cost and cycle time of screening study.

Trace moisture emissions from heated metal surfaces in hydrogen service

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Funke, Hans H.; Yao Jianlong; Raynor, Mark W.

2004-01-01

The formation of trace moisture by exposure of dry heated surfaces of 316 L stainless-steel, Restek Silcosteel registered , and nickel 1/8 in. outer diameter line segments to purified Ar and H 2 was studied using atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometry at flow rates of 2 slpm. Prior to H 2 exposure, adsorbed moisture was removed by heating incrementally to 500 deg. C in an argon matrix, where the Restek Silcosteel registered material released a maximum of 50 ppb moisture at 300 deg. C and moisture spikes from the Ni and stainless-steel surfaces reached several 100 ppb. Upon exposure to H 2 , persistent low ppb moisture emissions due to the reduction of surface oxide species were observed at temperatures as low as 100 deg. C. Spikes at 300-500 deg. C ranged from ∼100 ppb for the stainless-steel lines to 400 ppb for the Restek Silcosteel registered material. The observed moisture emissions have to be considered as a potential contamination source for high-purity processes utilizing H 2 purge at elevated temperatures

Toxicokinetics of Zn and Cd in the earthworm Eisenia andrei exposed to metal-contaminated soils under different combinations of air temperature and soil moisture content.

Science.gov (United States)

González-Alcaraz, M Nazaret; Loureiro, Susana; van Gestel, Cornelis A M

2018-04-01

This study evaluated how different combinations of air temperature (20 °C and 25 °C) and soil moisture content (50% and 30% of the soil water holding capacity, WHC), reflecting realistic climate change scenarios, affect the bioaccumulation kinetics of Zn and Cd in the earthworm Eisenia andrei. Earthworms were exposed for 21 d to two metal-contaminated soils (uptake phase), followed by 21 d incubation in non-contaminated soil (elimination phase). Body Zn and Cd concentrations were checked in time and metal uptake (k 1 ) and elimination (k 2 ) rate constants determined; metal bioaccumulation factor (BAF) was calculated as k 1 /k 2 . Earthworms showed extremely fast uptake and elimination of Zn, regardless of the exposure level. Climate conditions had no major impacts on the bioaccumulation kinetics of Zn, although a tendency towards lower k 1 and k 2 values was observed at 25 °C + 30% WHC. Earthworm Cd concentrations gradually increased with time upon exposure to metal-contaminated soils, especially at 50% WHC, and remained constant or slowly decreased following transfer to non-contaminated soil. Different combinations of air temperature and soil moisture content changed the bioaccumulation kinetics of Cd, leading to higher k 1 and k 2 values for earthworms incubated at 25 °C + 50% WHC and slower Cd kinetics at 25 °C + 30% WHC. This resulted in greater BAFs for Cd at warmer and drier environments which could imply higher toxicity risks but also of transfer of Cd within the food chain under the current global warming perspective. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Spatiotemporal Variability and Covariability of Temperature, Precipitation, Soil Moisture, and Vegetation in North America for Regional Climate Model Applications

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, C. L.; Beltran-Przekurat, A. B.; Pielke, R. A.

2007-05-01

Previous work has established that the dominant modes of Pacific SSTs influence the summer climate of North America through large-scale forcing, and this effect is most pronounced during the early part of the season. It is hypothesized, then, that land surface influences become more dominant in the latter part of the season as remote teleconnection influences diminish. As a first step toward investigation of this hypothesis in a regional climate model (RCM) framework, the statistically signficant spatiotemporal patterns of variability and covariability in North American precipitation (specified by the standardized precipitation index, or SPI), soil moisture, and vegetation are determined for timescales from a month to six months. To specify these respective data we use: CPC gauge- derived precipitation (1950-2000), Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) Model and NOAH Model NLDAS soil moisture and temperature, and the Global Inventory Modeling and Mapping Studies Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (GIMMS-NDVI). The principal statistical tool used is multiple taper frequency singular value decomposition (MTM-SVD), and this is supplemented by wavelet analysis for specific areas of interest. The significant interannual variability in all of these data occur at a timescale of about 7 to 9 years and appears to be the integrated effect of remote SST forcing from the Pacific. Considering the entire year, the spatial pattern for precipitation resembles the typical ENSO winter signature. If the summer season is considered seperately, the out of phase relationship between precipitation anomalies in the central U.S. and core monsoon region is apparent. The largest soil moisture anomalies occur in the central U.S., since precipitation in this region has a consistent relationship to Pacific SSTs for the entire year. This helps to explain the approximately 20 year periodicity in drought conditions there. Unlike soil moisture, the largest anomalies in vegetation occur in the

Estimating surface soil moisture from SMAP observations using a Neural Network technique.

Science.gov (United States)

Kolassa, J; Reichle, R H; Liu, Q; Alemohammad, S H; Gentine, P; Aida, K; Asanuma, J; Bircher, S; Caldwell, T; Colliander, A; Cosh, M; Collins, C Holifield; Jackson, T J; Martínez-Fernández, J; McNairn, H; Pacheco, A; Thibeault, M; Walker, J P

2018-01-01

A Neural Network (NN) algorithm was developed to estimate global surface soil moisture for April 2015 to March 2017 with a 2-3 day repeat frequency using passive microwave observations from the Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) satellite, surface soil temperatures from the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System Model version 5 (GEOS-5) land modeling system, and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-based vegetation water content. The NN was trained on GEOS-5 soil moisture target data, making the NN estimates consistent with the GEOS-5 climatology, such that they may ultimately be assimilated into this model without further bias correction. Evaluated against in situ soil moisture measurements, the average unbiased root mean square error (ubRMSE), correlation and anomaly correlation of the NN retrievals were 0.037 m 3 m -3 , 0.70 and 0.66, respectively, against SMAP core validation site measurements and 0.026 m 3 m -3 , 0.58 and 0.48, respectively, against International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN) measurements. At the core validation sites, the NN retrievals have a significantly higher skill than the GEOS-5 model estimates and a slightly lower correlation skill than the SMAP Level-2 Passive (L2P) product. The feasibility of the NN method was reflected by a lower ubRMSE compared to the L2P retrievals as well as a higher skill when ancillary parameters in physically-based retrievals were uncertain. Against ISMN measurements, the skill of the two retrieval products was more comparable. A triple collocation analysis against Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) and Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT) soil moisture retrievals showed that the NN and L2P retrieval errors have a similar spatial distribution, but the NN retrieval errors are generally lower in densely vegetated regions and transition zones.

Moisture Transfer in Ventilated Facade Structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olshevskyi Vyacheslav

2016-01-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the phenomenon of moisture transfer in the designs of ventilated facades (VF. The main ways of moisture transfer are defined. The negative factors connected with moisture accumulation and excessive moistening of insulation are given. The physical processes occurring in the gap of the building envelope due to saturation of air with water vapor are described. The dependence of the intensity of the mass transfer on the air velocity in the layer is considered. Much attention is paid to the selection of the optimum design of the facade, namely a system with or without grooved lines. The dependence of velocity and temperature on the width of the ventilated gap is established empirically for the constructions with open and closed grooves. Expediency of a design without grooves to effectively remove moisture is determined.

Assessment of tracheal temperature and humidity in laryngectomized individuals and the influence of heat and moisture exchangers on tracheal climate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zuur, J.K.; Muller, S.H.; Vincent, A.; Sinaasappel, M.; de Jongh, F.H.C.; Hilgers, F.J.M.

2008-01-01

Background The beneficial function of heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs) is undisputed, but knowledge of their effects on intra-airway temperature and humidity is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical applicability of a new airway climate explorer (ACE) and to assess the HME's

Northern Hemisphere moisture variability during the Last Glacial period

Science.gov (United States)

Asmerom, Y.; Polyak, V. J.; Lachniet, M. S.

2013-12-01

It was previously shown that large oxygen isotope variability related to changing moisture sources in the southwestern United States (SW) match the Greenland ice core temperature record. The variations were attributed to changes in the ratio of winter to summer precipitation delivered to the SW, with lighter winter δ18O values compared to summer monsoon rainfall, due to meridonial shifts in the position of the polar jet stream, which directs winter storm tracks. Cold stadial δ18O excursions are associated with strongly negative values, while interstadials have higher than average δ18O values. Although these data documented moisture source variability to the SW, the question of effective moisture variability remains unanswered. Here we present new high-resolution δ18O and δ13C isotopic data from a precisely dated speleothem, FS-AH1, from Fort Stanton Cave, New Mexico USA. The sample grew continuously between 47.6 and 11.1 kyr. The new chronology is more precise than previous work due to high sample growth rate, new gains in efficiency provided by our upgraded Neptune MC-ICPMS and new more precise determinations of the half-lives of 230Th and 234U. The FS-AH1 δ18O and the Greenland δ18O data (on the GICC05 time scale) show a remarkable match, both with respect to stadials/interstadial amplitudes and variability, and in the overall long-term trend. Our interpretation of the δ18O data remains the same, an indicator of moisture source variability. The δ18O and δ13C isotopic data show no correlation (R2 effective moisture in the soil zone overlying the cave, with low δ13C attributed to high soil productivity, high effective moisture, and wet conditions. The stadial and interstadial events are expressed mutely, if at all, in the δ13C data, while the secular variation follows the change in Northern Hemisphere summer insolation (insolation), similar to other Northern Hemisphere data, such as the strength of the East Asian summer monsoon as recorded in the Hulu

Errors in the calculation of sub-soil moisture probe by equivalent moisture content technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lakshmipathy, A.V.; Gangadharan, P.

1982-01-01

The size of the soil sample required to obtain the saturation response, with a neutron moisture probe is quite large and this poses practical problems of handling and mixing large amounts of samples for absolute laboratory calibration. Hydrogenous materials are used as a substitute for water in the equivalent moisture content technique, for calibration of soil moisture probes. In this it is assumed that only hydrogen of the bulk sample is responsible for the slowing down of fast neutrons and the slow neutron countrate is correlated to equivalent water content by considering the hydrogen density of sample. It is observed that the higher atomic number elements present in water equivalent media also affect the response of the soil moisture probe. Hence calculations, as well as experiments, were undertaken to know the order of error introduced by this technique. The thermal and slow neutron flux distribution around the BF 3 counter of a sub-soil moisture probe is calculated using three group diffusion theory. The response of the probe corresponding to different equivalent moisture content of hydrogenous media, is calculated taking into consideration the effective length of BF 3 counter. Soil with hydrogenous media such as polyethylene, sugar and water are considered for calculation, to verify the suitability of these materials as substitute for water during calibration of soil moisture probe. Experiments were conducted, to verify the theoretically calculated values. (author)

Effect of pH, temperature and moisture content during composting of rice straw burning at different temperature with food waste and effective microorganisms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zakarya Irnis Azura

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Rice straw is considered as one of the most important agricultural residues and represented as one of the major by-products from rice production process. Normally, rice straw that produced after harvesting season been directly burned on-farm. Conversion of rice straw into value added compost will improve the productivity of plant, reduction of pollution towards environment and reduction of local pollution due to open burning activity. The objective of this study was to evaluate the performance of composting rice straw ash (RSA with food waste (FW and effective microorganisms (EM in term of the compost quality (pH, temperature, moisture content. RSA was prepared by burning the raw rice straw at three different temperature of 300°C, 400°C and 500°C for one hour. EM used during the composting process was prepared by mixing of brown sugar, ‘tempe’ and water that can be used after one week of fermentation process. There are four treatments of RSA-compost; RSA (300°C, RSA (400°C, RSA (500°C and control (raw rice straw with the same amount of compost medium; 1kg black soil, 0.5kg RSA, 3L EM and 1kg FW. The composting process happens for 30 days. During the composting process, all the parameters of RSA-compost obtained in a range like; pH value 8-10, temperature 20-50°C and moisture content 40-60%. The result showed that all compost quality of rice straw ash compost obtained in an acceptable range for final compost to establish.

Frost damage of roof tiles: A study on moisture boundary conditions

OpenAIRE

Iba, Chiemi; Ueda, Ayumi; Hokoi, Shuichi

2015-01-01

Freeze-thaw cycles are the most serious cause of roof tile deterioration; thus, it is important to know the temperature and moisture distributions in tile materials for protection against frost damage. This study focused on moisture boundary conditions for air layers under the tile. Temperature and humidity were measured using model structures with different types of roof tiles. The results showed that the temperatures around the roof were strongly influenced by solar and longwave radiation, ...

Moisture sorption isotherms of dehydrated whey proteins

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suzana Rimac Brnčić

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Moisture sorption isotherms describe the relation between the moisture content of the dry material (food and relative humidity of the surrounding environment. The data obtained are important in modelling of drying process conditions, packaging and shelf-life stability of food that will provide maximum retaining of aroma, colour and texture as well as nutritive and biological value. The objective of this research was to establish the equilibrium moisture content and water activity, as well as monolayer value of two commercial powdered whey protein isolates before and after tribomechanical micronisation and enzymatic hydrolysis, respectively. At the same time it was necessary to evaluate the best moisture sorption isotherm equation to fit the experimental data. The equilibrium moisture contents in investigated samples were determined using standard gravimetric method at 20 °C. The range of water activities was 0.11 to 0.75. The monolayer moisture content was estimated from sorption data using Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET and Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer (GAB models. The results have shown that tribomechanically treated whey protein isolates as well as protein hydrolizates had lower monolayer moisture content values as well as higher corresponding water activity. Therefore, in spite of the fact that they have lower moisture content, they can be storage at higher relative humidity compared to untreated samples. BET model gave better fit to experimental sorption data for a water activity range from 0.11-0.54, while GAB model gave the closest fit for a water activity to 0.75.

Water activity reduction of intermediate moisture yellowstrip trevally (Selaroides leptolepis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Phomajun, P.

2005-05-01

Full Text Available Water activity reduction of intermediate moisture yellowstrip trevally was studied. The optimal time (8, 12, 16, 20 hrs. for curing marinade was investigated. The effects of different humectants (glycerol, sorbitol, lactitol, glucose syrup at 50% w/w of curing ingredients were compared. Results showed that moisture content and water activity of cured yellowstrip trevally decreased as curing time increased (p0.05. However, the hardness of intermediate moisture Yellowstrip trevally, determined by texture analyzer, decreased. Hardness, shear force, L a b value of sample added with various humectants were lower than those of the control (p0.05. The glycerol-added samples had the highest overall acceptability score and were higher than control, whereas the glucose syrup-added samples had the lowest score. Moisture content of the samples with the addition of various humectants was higher than that of the control (18.28 %. The samples added with glycerol retained the highest moisture (24.94%. The adsorption isotherm studies showed that the equilibrium moisture of sample added with glycerol was higher than that added with lactitol.

Soil moisture estimation by assimilating L-band microwave brightness temperature with geostatistics and observation localization.

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Xujun Han

Full Text Available The observation could be used to reduce the model uncertainties with data assimilation. If the observation cannot cover the whole model area due to spatial availability or instrument ability, how to do data assimilation at locations not covered by observation? Two commonly used strategies were firstly described: One is covariance localization (CL; the other is observation localization (OL. Compared with CL, OL is easy to parallelize and more efficient for large-scale analysis. This paper evaluated OL in soil moisture profile characterizations, in which the geostatistical semivariogram was used to fit the spatial correlated characteristics of synthetic L-Band microwave brightness temperature measurement. The fitted semivariogram model and the local ensemble transform Kalman filter algorithm are combined together to weight and assimilate the observations within a local region surrounding the grid cell of land surface model to be analyzed. Six scenarios were compared: 1_Obs with one nearest observation assimilated, 5_Obs with no more than five nearest local observations assimilated, and 9_Obs with no more than nine nearest local observations assimilated. The scenarios with no more than 16, 25, and 36 local observations were also compared. From the results we can conclude that more local observations involved in assimilation will improve estimations with an upper bound of 9 observations in this case. This study demonstrates the potentials of geostatistical correlation representation in OL to improve data assimilation of catchment scale soil moisture using synthetic L-band microwave brightness temperature, which cannot cover the study area fully in space due to vegetation effects.

Soil moisture estimation by assimilating L-band microwave brightness temperature with geostatistics and observation localization.

Science.gov (United States)

Han, Xujun; Li, Xin; Rigon, Riccardo; Jin, Rui; Endrizzi, Stefano

2015-01-01

The observation could be used to reduce the model uncertainties with data assimilation. If the observation cannot cover the whole model area due to spatial availability or instrument ability, how to do data assimilation at locations not covered by observation? Two commonly used strategies were firstly described: One is covariance localization (CL); the other is observation localization (OL). Compared with CL, OL is easy to parallelize and more efficient for large-scale analysis. This paper evaluated OL in soil moisture profile characterizations, in which the geostatistical semivariogram was used to fit the spatial correlated characteristics of synthetic L-Band microwave brightness temperature measurement. The fitted semivariogram model and the local ensemble transform Kalman filter algorithm are combined together to weight and assimilate the observations within a local region surrounding the grid cell of land surface model to be analyzed. Six scenarios were compared: 1_Obs with one nearest observation assimilated, 5_Obs with no more than five nearest local observations assimilated, and 9_Obs with no more than nine nearest local observations assimilated. The scenarios with no more than 16, 25, and 36 local observations were also compared. From the results we can conclude that more local observations involved in assimilation will improve estimations with an upper bound of 9 observations in this case. This study demonstrates the potentials of geostatistical correlation representation in OL to improve data assimilation of catchment scale soil moisture using synthetic L-band microwave brightness temperature, which cannot cover the study area fully in space due to vegetation effects.

Monitoring Moisture Damage Propagation in GFRP Composites Using Carbon Nanoparticles

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Ahmed Al-Sabagh

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP composites are widely used in infrastructure applications including water structures due to their relatively high durability, high strength to weight ratio, and non-corrosiveness. Here we demonstrate the potential use of carbon nanoparticles dispersed during GFRP composite fabrication to reduce water absorption of GFRP and to enable monitoring of moisture damage propagation in GFRP composites. GFRP coupons incorporating 2.0 wt % carbon nanofibers (CNFs and 2.0 wt % multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs were fabricated in order to study the effect of moisture damage on mechanical properties of GFRP. Water absorption tests were carried out by immersing the GFRP coupons in a seawater bath at two temperatures for a time period of three months. Effects of water immersion on the mechanical properties and glass transition temperature of GFRP were investigated. Furthermore, moisture damage in GFRP was monitored by measuring the electrical conductivity of the GFRP coupons. It was shown that carbon nanoparticles can provide a means of self-sensing that enables the monitoring of moisture damage in GFRP. Despite the success of the proposed technique, it might not be able to efficiently describe moisture damage propagation in GFRP beyond a specific threshold because of the relatively high electrical conductivity of seawater. Microstructural investigations using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR explained the significance of seawater immersion time and temperature on the different levels of moisture damage in GFRP.

Anthropogenic warming exacerbates European soil moisture droughts

Science.gov (United States)

Samaniego, L.; Thober, S.; Kumar, R.; Wanders, N.; Rakovec, O.; Pan, M.; Zink, M.; Sheffield, J.; Wood, E. F.; Marx, A.

2018-05-01

Anthropogenic warming is anticipated to increase soil moisture drought in the future. However, projections are accompanied by large uncertainty due to varying estimates of future warming. Here, using an ensemble of hydrological and land-surface models, forced with bias-corrected downscaled general circulation model output, we estimate the impacts of 1-3 K global mean temperature increases on soil moisture droughts in Europe. Compared to the 1.5 K Paris target, an increase of 3 K—which represents current projected temperature change—is found to increase drought area by 40% (±24%), affecting up to 42% (±22%) more of the population. Furthermore, an event similar to the 2003 drought is shown to become twice as frequent; thus, due to their increased occurrence, events of this magnitude will no longer be classified as extreme. In the absence of effective mitigation, Europe will therefore face unprecedented increases in soil moisture drought, presenting new challenges for adaptation across the continent.

Potential of bias correction for downscaling passive microwave and soil moisture data

Science.gov (United States)

Passive microwave satellites such as SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) or SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive) observe brightness temperature (TB) and retrieve soil moisture at a spatial resolution greater than most hydrological processes. Bias correction is proposed as a simple method to disag...

The relative controls of temperature, soil moisture, and plant functional group on soil CO2 efflux at diel, seasonal, and annual scales

Science.gov (United States)

Soil respiration (Rsoil) is a dominant, but variable, contributor to ecosystem CO2 efflux. Understanding how variations in major environmental drivers, like temperature and available moisture, might regulate Rsoil has become extremely relevant. Plant functional-type diversity makes such assessments ...

Evaluating the Utility of Remotely-Sensed Soil Moisture Retrievals for Operational Agricultural Drought Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Bolten, John D.; Crow, Wade T.; Zhan, Xiwu; Jackson, Thomas J.; Reynolds,Curt

2010-01-01

Soil moisture is a fundamental data source used by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) International Production Assessment Division (IPAD) to monitor crop growth stage and condition and subsequently, globally forecast agricultural yields. Currently, the USDA IPAD estimates surface and root-zone soil moisture using a two-layer modified Palmer soil moisture model forced by global precipitation and temperature measurements. However, this approach suffers from well-known errors arising from uncertainty in model forcing data and highly simplified model physics. Here we attempt to correct for these errors by designing and applying an Ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) data assimilation system to integrate surface soil moisture retrievals from the NASA Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) into the USDA modified Palmer soil moisture model. An assessment of soil moisture analysis products produced from this assimilation has been completed for a five-year (2002 to 2007) period over the North American continent between 23degN - 50degN and 128degW - 65degW. In particular, a data denial experimental approach is utilized to isolate the added utility of integrating remotely-sensed soil moisture by comparing EnKF soil moisture results obtained using (relatively) low-quality precipitation products obtained from real-time satellite imagery to baseline Palmer model runs forced with higher quality rainfall. An analysis of root-zone anomalies for each model simulation suggests that the assimilation of AMSR-E surface soil moisture retrievals can add significant value to USDA root-zone predictions derived from real-time satellite precipitation products.

Implementation of sorption hysteresis in multi-Fickian moisture transport

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Frandsen, Henrik Lund; Svensson, Staffan

2007-01-01

In the cellular structure of wood, bound-water diffusion and water-vapor diffusion interact via sorption in a complex moisture-transportation system. At low relative humidities, moisture transport may be modeled by a Fickian diffusion equation with a good approximation. At higher relative......-35% in moisture content. Hence, for a precise moisture content computation, sorption hysteresis must be taken into account. The present paper explains the relation between sorption hysteresis and multi-Fickian moisture transport, and clarifies how models for the two phenomena are coupled. To illustrate...

Flutuações de temperatura e umidade do solo em resposta à cobertura vegetal Soil temperature and moisture fluctuations in response to vegetation cover

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Milson L. de Oliveira

2005-12-01

weed cover and velvet bean. In the bare soil treatment, the greatest temperature variation (amplitude at the soil surface was observed, with lower soil moisture and higher temperature values.

Moisture separator reheaters for nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miyoshi, Michizo; Yonemura, Katsutoshi

1974-01-01

In the light water reactor plants using BWRS or PWRS, the pressure and temperature of steam at the inlet of turbines are low, and the steam is moist, as compared with the case of thermal power plants. Therefore, moisture separator/reheaters are used between high and low pressure turbines. The steam from a high pressure turbine enters a manifold, and goes zigzag through vertical plate separator elements, its moisture is removed from the steam. Then, after being reheated with the steam bled from the high pressure turbine and directly from a reactor, the steam is fed into a low pressure turbine. The development and test made on the components of a moisture separaotr/reheater and the overall model experiment are described together with the mechanism of moisture separation and reheating. (Mori, K.)

Initializing numerical weather prediction models with satellite-derived surface soil moisture: Data assimilation experiments with ECMWF's Integrated Forecast System and the TMI soil moisture data set

Science.gov (United States)

Drusch, M.

2007-02-01

Satellite-derived surface soil moisture data sets are readily available and have been used successfully in hydrological applications. In many operational numerical weather prediction systems the initial soil moisture conditions are analyzed from the modeled background and 2 m temperature and relative humidity. This approach has proven its efficiency to improve surface latent and sensible heat fluxes and consequently the forecast on large geographical domains. However, since soil moisture is not always related to screen level variables, model errors and uncertainties in the forcing data can accumulate in root zone soil moisture. Remotely sensed surface soil moisture is directly linked to the model's uppermost soil layer and therefore is a stronger constraint for the soil moisture analysis. For this study, three data assimilation experiments with the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) have been performed for the 2-month period of June and July 2002: a control run based on the operational soil moisture analysis, an open loop run with freely evolving soil moisture, and an experimental run incorporating TMI (TRMM Microwave Imager) derived soil moisture over the southern United States. In this experimental run the satellite-derived soil moisture product is introduced through a nudging scheme using 6-hourly increments. Apart from the soil moisture analysis, the system setup reflects the operational forecast configuration including the atmospheric 4D-Var analysis. Soil moisture analyzed in the nudging experiment is the most accurate estimate when compared against in situ observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet. The corresponding forecast for 2 m temperature and relative humidity is almost as accurate as in the control experiment. Furthermore, it is shown that the soil moisture analysis influences local weather parameters including the planetary boundary layer height and cloud coverage.

Moisture Transfer in Concrete: Numerical Determination of the Capillary Conductivity Coefficient

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Simo Elie

2017-03-01

Full Text Available We numerically investigated moisture transfer in buildings made of concrete. We considered three types of concrete: normal concrete, pumice concrete and cellular concrete. We present the results of a 1-D liquid water flow in such materials. We evaluated the moisture distribution in building materials using the Runge-Kutta fourth-and-fifth-order method. The DOPRI5 code was used as an integrator. The model calculated the resulting moisture content and other moisture-dependent physical parameters. The moisture curves were plotted. The dampness data obtained was utilized for the numerical computation of the coefficient of the capillary conductivity of moisture. Different profiles of this coefficient are represented. Calculations were performed for four different values of the outdoor temperature: -5°C, 0°C, 5°C and 10°C. We determined that the curves corresponding to small time intervals of wetting are associated with great amplitudes of the capillary conductivity . The amplitudes of the coefficient of the capillary conductivity decrease as the time interval increases. High outdoor temperatures induce high amplitudes of the coefficient of the capillary conductivity.

Physically plausible prescription of land surface model soil moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Mathias; Orth, René; Thiery, Wim; Seneviratne, Sonia

2016-04-01

Land surface hydrology is an important control of surface weather and climate, especially under extreme dry or wet conditions where it can amplify heat waves or floods, respectively. Prescribing soil moisture in land surface models is a valuable technique to investigate this link between hydrology and climate. It has been used for example to assess the influence of soil moisture on temperature variability, mean and extremes (Seneviratne et al. 2006, 2013, Lorenz et al., 2015). However, perturbing the soil moisture content artificially can lead to a violation of the energy and water balances. Here we present a new method for prescribing soil moisture which ensures water and energy balance closure by using only water from runoff and a reservoir term. If water is available, the method prevents soil moisture decrease below climatological values. Results from simulations with the Community Land Model (CLM) indicate that our new method allows to avoid soil moisture deficits in many regions of the world. We show the influence of the irrigation-supported soil moisture content on mean and extreme temperatures and contrast our findings with that of earlier studies. Additionally, we will assess how long into the 21st century the new method will be able to maintain present-day climatological soil moisture levels for different regions. Lorenz, R., Argüeso, D., Donat, M.G., Pitman, A.J., den Hurk, B.V., Berg, A., Lawrence, D.M., Chéruy, F., Ducharne, A., Hagemann, S. and Meier, A., 2015. Influence of land-atmosphere feedbacks on temperature and precipitation extremes in the GLACE-CMIP5 ensemble. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres. Seneviratne, S.I., Lüthi, D., Litschi, M. and Schär, C., 2006. Land-atmosphere coupling and climate change in Europe. Nature, 443(7108), pp.205-209. Seneviratne, S.I., Wilhelm, M., Stanelle, T., Hurk, B., Hagemann, S., Berg, A., Cheruy, F., Higgins, M.E., Meier, A., Brovkin, V. and Claussen, M., 2013. Impact of soil moisture

GCOM-W soil moisture and temperature algorithms and validation

Science.gov (United States)

Passive microwave remote sensing of soil moisture has matured over the past decade as a result of the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR) program of JAXA. This program has resulted in improved algorithms that have been supported by rigorous validation. Access to the products and the valida...

Moisture rivals temperature in limiting photosynthesis by trees establishing beyond their cold-edge range limit under ambient and warmed conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Moyes, Andrew B.; Germino, Matthew J.; Kueppers, Lara M.

2015-01-01

Climate change is altering plant species distributions globally, and warming is expected to promote uphill shifts in mountain trees. However, at many cold-edge range limits, such as alpine treelines in the western United States, tree establishment may be colimited by low temperature and low moisture, making recruitment patterns with warming difficult to predict.

Daily δ18O and δD of precipitations from 2007 to 2009 in Guangzhou, South China: Implications for changes of moisture sources

Science.gov (United States)

Xie, Luhua; Wei, Gangjian; Deng, Wenfeng; Zhao, Xiaoli

2011-04-01

SummaryOxygen and hydrogen stable isotopes ( δ18O and δD) in precipitation collected in every event from 2007 to 2009 in Guangzhou, South China, are presented in this paper. The total correlation between δ18O and δD is obtained as δD = (8.46 ± 0.13) δ18O + (15.0 ± 0.9). More negative δ18O and δD generally occur during summer and autumn, while less negative or even positive δ18O and δD occur during winter and spring. Significant negative correlations between precipitation δ18O and temperature, and between precipitation δ18O and precipitation amount are observed. Regression line changes from year to year are likely due to changes in moisture sources for the precipitation. The moisture contributed by adjacent seas or local evaporation account for the main precipitation during winter and early spring, while summer monsoon brings huge amounts of moisture from remote seas associated with higher temperature and larger precipitation amounts. Seasonal variations of the precipitation D-excess provide more details for changes in moisture sources. Higher D-excess values during winter and early spring are estimated to correspond to a lesser proportion of remote moisture, while lower D-excess values during summer and autumn correspond to larger remote moisture transported by summer monsoons. This generally agrees with the results of model analysis on single isobaric backward trajectories for air parcels during specific time periods. Results of this study imply that precipitation δ18O and δD, as well as some related paleoclimate proxies such as δ18O in speleothem and tree ring, and δD in plant-derived organic compounds and tree ring, currently cannot indicate changes in temperature or precipitation amount separately, but should be comprehensive proxies for monsoon climate.

Drying of brick as a function of heat flows and analysis of moisture and temperature distributions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Sv Aa Højgaard; Rudbeck, Claus Christian; Bunch-Nielsen, Tommy

1997-01-01

In order to investigate the driving mechanisms for frost damages in brickwork, laboratory tests has been performed on a test brick wall. These test include monitoring of temperature and moisture distribution in the wall as function of the influence of driving rain, wind speed and solar radiation....... After the initial tests the surface of the wall was treated with mortar and a new series of test was performed. The wall with and without treatment performed almost equal during the influence of driving rain, and during the later drying phase, the difference was equally small....

Assessment of tracheal temperature and humidity in laryngectomized individuals and the influence of a heat and moisture exchanger on tracheal climate

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zuur, J. Karel; Muller, Saar H.; Vincent, Andrew; Sinaasappel, Michiel; de Jongh, Frans H. C.; Hilgers, Frans J. M.

2008-01-01

The beneficial function of heat and moisture exchangers (HMEs) is undisputed, but knowledge of their effects on intra-airway temperature and humidity is scarce. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical applicability of a new airway climate explorer (ACE) and to assess the HME's influence

A soil moisture-rainfall feedback mechanism. 1. Theory and observations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eltahir, E.A.B.

1998-01-01

This paper presents a hypothesis regarding the fundamental role of soil moisture conditions in land-atmosphere interactions. We propose that wet soil moisture conditions over any large region should be associated with relatively large boundary layer moist static energy, which favors the occurrence of more rainfall. Since soil moisture conditions themselves reflect past occurrence of rainfall, the proposed hypothesis implies a positive feedback mechanism between soil moisture and rainfall. This mechanism is based on considerations of the energy balance at the land-atmosphere boundary, in contrast to similar mechanisms that were proposed in the past and that were based on the concepts of water balance and precipitation recycling. The control of soil moisture on surface albedo and Bowen ratio is the fundamental basis of the proposed soil moisture-rainfall feedback mechanism. The water content in the upper soil layer affects these two important properties of the land surface such that both variables decrease with any increase in the water content of the top soil layer. The direct effect of soil moisture on surface albedo implies that wet soil moisture conditions enhance net solar radiation. The direct effect of soil moisture on Bowen ratio dictates that wet soil moisture conditions would tend to enhance net terrestrial radiation at the surface through cooling of surface temperature, reduction of upwards emissions of terrestrial radiation, and simultaneous increase in atmospheric water vapor content and downwards flux of terrestrial radiation. Thus, under wet soil moisture conditions, both components of net radiation are enhanced, resulting in a larger total flux of heat from the surface into the boundary layer. This total flux represents the sum of the corresponding sensible and latent heat fluxes. Simultaneously, cooling of surface temperature should be associated with a smaller sensible heat flux and a smaller depth of the boundary layer

Study on the optimal moisture adding rate of brown rice during germination by using segmented moisture conditioning method.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yinping; Jia, Fuguo; Han, Yanlong; Liu, Yang; Zhang, Qiang

2015-10-01

The aim of this study was to find out the optimal moisture adding rate of brown rice during the process of germination. The process of water addition in brown rice could be divided into three stages according to different water absorption speeds in soaking process. Water was added with three different speeds in three stages to get the optimal water adding rate in the whole process of germination. Thus, the technology of segmented moisture conditioning which is a method of adding water gradually was put forward. Germinated brown rice was produced by using segmented moisture conditioning method to reduce the loss of water-soluble nutrients and was beneficial to the accumulation of gamma aminobutyric acid. The effects of once moisture adding amount in three stages on the gamma aminobutyric acid content in germinated brown rice and germination rate of brown rice were investigated by using response surface methodology. The optimum process parameters were obtained as follows: once moisture adding amount of stage I with 1.06 %/h, once moisture adding amount of stage II with 1.42 %/h and once moisture adding amount of stage III with 1.31 %/h. The germination rate under the optimum parameters was 91.33 %, which was 7.45 % higher than that of germinated brown rice produced by soaking method (84.97 %). The content of gamma aminobutyric acid in germinated brown rice under the optimum parameters was 29.03 mg/100 g, which was more than two times higher than that of germinated brown rice produced by soaking method (12.81 mg/100 g). The technology of segmented moisture conditioning has potential applications for studying many other cereals.

Soil Moisture and Sea Surface Temperatures equally important for Land Climate in the Warm Season

Science.gov (United States)

Orth, R.; Seneviratne, S. I.

2015-12-01

Both sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and soil moisture (SM) are important drivers of climate variability over land. In this study we present a comprehensive comparison of SM versus SST impacts on land climate in the warm season. We perform ensemble experiments with the Community Earth System Model (CESM) where we set SM or SSTs to median conditions, respectively, to remove their inter-annual variability, whereby the other component - SST or SM - is still interactively computed. In contrast to earlier experiments performed with prescribed SSTs, our experiments suggest that SM is overall as important as SSTs for land climate, not only in the midlatitudes but also in the tropics and subtropics. Mean temperature and precipitation are reduced by 0.1-0.5 K and 0-0.2 mm, respectively, whereas their variability at different time scales decreases by 10-40% (temperature) and 0-10% (precipitation) when either SM or SSTs are prescribed. Also drought occurrence is affected, with mean changes in the maximum number of cumulative dry days of 0-0.75 days. Both SM and SST-induced changes are strongest for hot temperatures (up to 0.7 K, and 50%), extreme precipitation (up to 0.4 mm, and 20%), and strong droughts (up to 2 days). Local climate changes in response to removed SM variability are controlled - to first order - by the land-atmosphere coupling and the natural SM variability. SST-related changes are partly controlled by the relation of local temperature or precipitation with the El Niño-Southern Oscillation. Moreover removed SM or SST variabilities both induce remote effects by impacting the atmospheric circulation. Our results are similar for the present day and the end of the century. We investigate the inter-dependency between SM and SST and find a sufficient degree of independence for the purpose of this study. The robustness of our findings is shown by comparing the response of CESM to removed SM variability with four other global climate models. In summary, SM and SSTs

Optimization of Sour Cherry Juice Spray Drying as
Affected by Carrier Material and Temperature

Science.gov (United States)

Zorić, Zoran; Pedisić, Sandra; Dragović-Uzelac, Verica

2016-01-01

Summary Response surface methodology was applied for optimization of the sour cherry Marasca juice spray drying process with 20, 30 and 40% of carriers maltodextrin with dextrose equivalent (DE) value of 4–7 and 13–17 and gum arabic, at three drying temperatures: 150, 175 and 200 °C. Increase in carrier mass per volume ratio resulted in lower moisture content and powder hygroscopicity, higher bulk density, solubility and product yield. Higher temperatures decreased the moisture content and bulk density of powders. Temperature of 200 °C and 27% of maltodextrin with 4–7 DE were found to be the most suitable for production of sour cherry Marasca powder. PMID:28115901

Development and evaluation of the MTVDI for soil moisture monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Wenbin; Lv, Aifeng; Jia, Shaofeng; Sun, Liang

2017-06-01

Several parameterization schemes have been developed to retrieve the soil moisture information involved in the remotely sensed surface temperature-vegetation index (Ts - VI) space. However, most of them are performed with the constraint of the dry edge of the Ts - VI space to define the maximum water stressed conditions. In view of the subjectivity and uncertainty involved in the determination of the dry edge, a new index termed as the Modified Temperature-Vegetation Dryness Index (MTVDI) was developed in this paper to reduce the reliance of the parameterization scheme on the dry edge. In the parameterization scheme of MTVDI, isopleth lines of soil moisture involved in the feature space were retrieved by the temperature-vegetation index method, and only the maximum surface temperature of bare soil (Tsmax) was indispensable in the definition of maximum water stressed conditions. For evaluation purpose, the MTVDI was demonstrated in the Southern Great Plains region of the U.S. and was compared with two other traditional soil moisture indexes developed under the constraint of dry edge. The comparison confirmed the effectivity of the MTVDI in monitoring the spatial pattern and seasonal variation of soil moisture. Our analyses also suggest that Tsmax, the only parameter needed in the definition of maximum water stressed conditions, can be retrieved directly from the parameterization scheme itself. Therefore, the retrieval of MTVDI can be performed independent of the dry edge, which is a significant improvement to the traditional parameterization schemes of soil moisture from the Ts - VI feature space.

Soil moisture variability across different scales in an Indian watershed for satellite soil moisture product validation

KAUST Repository

Singh, Gurjeet

2016-05-05

Strategic ground-based sampling of soil moisture across multiple scales is necessary to validate remotely sensed quantities such as NASA’s Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) product. In the present study, in-situ soil moisture data were collected at two nested scale extents (0.5 km and 3 km) to understand the trend of soil moisture variability across these scales. This ground-based soil moisture sampling was conducted in the 500 km2 Rana watershed situated in eastern India. The study area is characterized as sub-humid, sub-tropical climate with average annual rainfall of about 1456 mm. Three 3x3 km square grids were sampled intensively once a day at 49 locations each, at a spacing of 0.5 km. These intensive sampling locations were selected on the basis of different topography, soil properties and vegetation characteristics. In addition, measurements were also made at 9 locations around each intensive sampling grid at 3 km spacing to cover a 9x9 km square grid. Intensive fine scale soil moisture sampling as well as coarser scale samplings were made using both impedance probes and gravimetric analyses in the study watershed. The ground-based soil moisture samplings were conducted during the day, concurrent with the SMAP descending overpass. Analysis of soil moisture spatial variability in terms of areal mean soil moisture and the statistics of higher-order moments, i.e., the standard deviation, and the coefficient of variation are presented. Results showed that the standard deviation and coefficient of variation of measured soil moisture decreased with extent scale by increasing mean soil moisture. © (2016) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Structure of the urban moisture field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sisterson, D.L.; Dirks, R.A.

1975-01-01

In the 26 July 1974 case study in St. Louis as a part of Project METROMEX, aircraft and surface network stations were used to determine specific humidity and potential temperature patterns near the surface and at two levels within the mixing layer. From the data acquired at these three levels, three-dimensional analyses of the moisture fields in the mixing layer were constructed. The mesoscale dry regions observed throughout the mixing layer correspond to the more impervious surfaces of the urban area. From energy budget considerations, latent heat fluxes are small over these impervious surfaces owing to the large runoff of precipitation and the lack of moisture retention capabilities. Hence, urbanization obviously alters the local energy budget. Surface boundary layer conditions are determined by heat and moisture fluxes. A new internal boundary layer within the city is formed after the breakdown of the radiation inversion in order to compensate for the alteration of sensible heat and latent heat energies. Hence, isolated semistagnant urban air is replenished by moisture only as quickly as evapotranspiration from impervious surfaces will allow. The city surface, therefore, is not a sink of moisture, but rather a reduced source relative to rural areas

Radiosensitivity of higher plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feng Zhijie

1992-11-01

The general views on radiosensitivity of higher plants have been introduced from published references. The radiosensitivity varies with species, varieties and organs or tissues. The main factors of determining the radiosensitivity in different species are nucleus volume, chromosome volume, DNA content and endogenous compounds. The self-repair ability of DNA damage and chemical group of biological molecules, such as -SH thiohydroxy of proteins, are main factors to determine the radiosensitivity in different varieties. The moisture, oxygen, temperature radiosensitizer and protector are important external factors for radiosensitivity. Both the multiple target model and Chadwick-Leenhouts model are ideal mathematical models for describing the radiosensitivity of higher plants and the latter has more clear significance in biology

Do heat and moisture exchangers in the anaesthesia breathing circuit preserve body temperature in dogs undergoing anaesthesia for magnetic resonance imaging?

Science.gov (United States)

Khenissi, Latifa; Covey-Crump, Gwen; Knowles, Toby G; Murrell, Joanna

2017-05-01

To investigate whether the use of a heat and moisture exchanger (HME) preserves body temperature in dogs weighing dogs. Dogs were assigned randomly to a treatment group [HME (n = 16) or no HME (n = 15)]. Dogs were pseudorandomised according to the premedication they were administered, either dexmedetomidine or no dexmedetomidine. Induction agents were not standardised. General anaesthesia was maintained with isoflurane vaporised in 100% oxygen delivered using a T-piece and a fresh gas flow of 600 mL kg -1 minute -1 . Rectal temperature was measured before premedication (T1), after induction (T2), before moving to the MRI unit (T3) and at the end of the MRI scan (T4). Ambient temperatures were measured in the induction room, outside and inside the MRI unit. Data were analysed using a general linear model with T4 as the outcome variable. Linear correlations were performed between T1, T2, T3 and T4, and variables that predicted T4 were investigated. Sex, age and body mass were not significantly different between groups. There were no significant differences in rectal temperature between groups at any time point (group with HME at the end of MRI = 36.3 ± 1.1 °C; group with no HME at the end of MRI = 36.2 ± 1.4 °C) but at the end of the MRI, dogs administered dexmedetomidine (36.6 ± 0.7 °C) had a higher rectal temperature compared with dogs not administered dexmedetomidine (35.9 ± 1.6 °C) for premedication. Rectal temperature varied directly with ambient temperature in MRI scanning room and inversely with anaesthetic duration. Using an HME did not alter body temperature in dogs weighing temperature during anaesthesia. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The contact-temperature ignition (CTI) criteria for propagating chemical reactions including the effect of moisture and application to Hanford waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cash, R.J.

1995-01-01

To assure the continued absence of uncontrolled condensed-phase chemical reactions in connection with the Hanford waste materials, efforts have been underway including both theoretical and experimental investigations to clarify the requirements for such reactions. This document defines the differences and requirements for homogeneous runaway and propagating chemical reactions incuding a discussion of general contact-temperature ignition (CTI) condition for propagating reactions that include the effect of moisture. The CTI condition implies that the contact temperature or interface temperature between reacted and unreacted materials must exceed the ignition temperature and is compared to experimental data including both synthetic ferrocyanide and surrogate organic materials. In all cases, the occurrences of ignition accompanied by self-propagating reactions are consistent with the theoretical anticipations of the CTI condition

Global Assessment of the SMAP Level-4 Soil Moisture Product Using Assimilation Diagnostics

Science.gov (United States)

Reichle, Rolf; Liu, Qing; De Lannoy, Gabrielle; Crow, Wade; Kimball, John; Koster, Randy; Ardizzone, Joe

2018-01-01

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission Level-4 Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product provides 3-hourly, 9-km resolution, global estimates of surface (0-5 cm) and root-zone (0-100 cm) soil moisture and related land surface variables from 31 March 2015 to present with approx. 2.5-day latency. The ensemble-based L4_SM algorithm assimilates SMAP brightness temperature (Tb) observations into the Catchment land surface model. This study describes the spatially distributed L4_SM analysis and assesses the observation-minus-forecast (O-F) Tb residuals and the soil moisture and temperature analysis increments. Owing to the climatological rescaling of the Tb observations prior to assimilation, the analysis is essentially unbiased, with global mean values of approx. 0.37 K for the O-F Tb residuals and practically zero for the soil moisture and temperature increments. There are, however, modest regional (absolute) biases in the O-F residuals (under approx. 3 K), the soil moisture increments (under approx. 0.01 cu m/cu m), and the surface soil temperature increments (under approx. 1 K). Typical instantaneous values are approx. 6 K for O-F residuals, approx. 0.01 (approx. 0.003) cu m/cu m for surface (root-zone) soil moisture increments, and approx. 0.6 K for surface soil temperature increments. The O-F diagnostics indicate that the actual errors in the system are overestimated in deserts and densely vegetated regions and underestimated in agricultural regions and transition zones between dry and wet climates. The O-F auto-correlations suggest that the SMAP observations are used efficiently in western North America, the Sahel, and Australia, but not in many forested regions and the high northern latitudes. A case study in Australia demonstrates that assimilating SMAP observations successfully corrects short-term errors in the L4_SM rainfall forcing.

Using Data Assimilation Diagnostics to Assess the SMAP Level-4 Soil Moisture Product

Science.gov (United States)

Reichle, Rolf; Liu, Qing; De Lannoy, Gabrielle; Crow, Wade; Kimball, John; Koster, Randy; Ardizzone, Joe

2018-01-01

The Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission Level-4 Soil Moisture (L4_SM) product provides 3-hourly, 9-km resolution, global estimates of surface (0-5 cm) and root-zone (0-100 cm) soil moisture and related land surface variables from 31 March 2015 to present with approx.2.5-day latency. The ensemble-based L4_SM algorithm assimilates SMAP brightness temperature (Tb) observations into the Catchment land surface model. This study describes the spatially distributed L4_SM analysis and assesses the observation-minus-forecast (O-F) Tb residuals and the soil moisture and temperature analysis increments. Owing to the climatological rescaling of the Tb observations prior to assimilation, the analysis is essentially unbiased, with global mean values of approx. 0.37 K for the O-F Tb residuals and practically zero for the soil moisture and temperature increments. There are, however, modest regional (absolute) biases in the O-F residuals (under approx. 3 K), the soil moisture increments (under approx. 0.01 cu m/cu m), and the surface soil temperature increments (under approx. 1 K). Typical instantaneous values are approx. 6 K for O-F residuals, approx. 0.01 (approx. 0.003) cu m/cu m for surface (root-zone) soil moisture increments, and approx. 0.6 K for surface soil temperature increments. The O-F diagnostics indicate that the actual errors in the system are overestimated in deserts and densely vegetated regions and underestimated in agricultural regions and transition zones between dry and wet climates. The O-F auto-correlations suggest that the SMAP observations are used efficiently in western North America, the Sahel, and Australia, but not in many forested regions and the high northern latitudes. A case study in Australia demonstrates that assimilating SMAP observations successfully corrects short-term errors in the L4_SM rainfall forcing.

A model to predict moisture conditions in concrete reactor containments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahs, M.; Nilsson, L.O.; Poyet, S.; L'Hostis, V.

2015-01-01

Moisture has an impact in many of the degradation mechanisms that appear in the structures of a nuclear power plant. Moisture conditions in a reactor containment wall have been simulated by using a hygro-thermal model of drying concrete. Methods to estimate the temperature dependency of the sorption isotherms and moisture transport properties is suggested and applied in the model. This temperature dependency is included as there is a temperature gradient present through the containment wall. The hygro-thermal model was applied on a full scale 3D model of a real reactor containment building and the concrete relative humidity has been computed at 4 different moments: 1, 10, 20 and 30 years. The results show that the major part of the concrete is not dried at all even after 30 years of operation. It is also clear that the temperature distribution inside the whole concrete volume is affected by the variable boundary conditions. It was concluded that the suggested hygro-thermal model was appropriate to use as a method to estimate the existing conditions in a PWR reactor containment wall

Evaluating soil moisture retrievals from ESA’s SMOS and NASA’s SMAP brightness temperature datasets

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Yaari, A.; Wigneron, J.-P.; Kerr, Y.; Rodriguez-Fernandez, N.; O’Neill, P. E.; Jackson, T. J.; De Lannoy, G.J.M.; Al Bitar, A; Mialon, A.; Richaume, P.; Walker, JP; Mahmoodi, A.; Yueh, S.

2018-01-01

Two satellites are currently monitoring surface soil moisture (SM) using L-band observations: SMOS (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity), a joint ESA (European Space Agency), CNES (Centre national d’études spatiales), and CDTI (the Spanish government agency with responsibility for space) satellite launched on November 2, 2009 and SMAP (Soil Moisture Active Passive), a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) satellite successfully launched in January 2015. In this study, we used a multilinear regression approach to retrieve SM from SMAP data to create a global dataset of SM, which is consistent with SM data retrieved from SMOS. This was achieved by calibrating coefficients of the regression model using the CATDS (Centre Aval de Traitement des Données) SMOS Level 3 SM and the horizontally and vertically polarized brightness temperatures (TB) at 40° incidence angle, over the 2013 – 2014 period. Next, this model was applied to SMAP L3 TB data from Apr 2015 to Jul 2016. The retrieved SM from SMAP (referred to here as SMAP_Reg) was compared to: (i) the operational SMAP L3 SM (SMAP_SCA), retrieved using the baseline Single Channel retrieval Algorithm (SCA); and (ii) the operational SMOSL3 SM, derived from the multiangular inversion of the L-MEB model (L-MEB algorithm) (SMOSL3). This inter-comparison was made against in situ soil moisture measurements from more than 400 sites spread over the globe, which are used here as a reference soil moisture dataset. The in situ observations were obtained from the International Soil Moisture Network (ISMN; https://ismn.geo.tuwien.ac.at/) in North of America (PBO_H2O, SCAN, SNOTEL, iRON, and USCRN), in Australia (Oznet), Africa (DAHRA), and in Europe (REMEDHUS, SMOSMANIA, FMI, and RSMN). The agreement was analyzed in terms of four classical statistical criteria: Root Mean Squared Error (RMSE), Bias, Unbiased RMSE (UnbRMSE), and correlation coefficient (R). Results of the comparison of these various products with in

Moisture sources of the Mono Lake deglacial pluvial events

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, X.; Liang, M. C.; Ali, G.; Shen, C. C.; Cai, Y.; Ke, L.; Hemming, S. R.

2016-12-01

Enormously expanded lakes existed in the today's dry western US Great Basin during the last glacial period. The ancient shorelines located well above modern lake levels suggest that precipitation in lake basins must have been substantially higher in the past. It is however under debate whether the subtropical North Pacific or the tropical Pacific is the major moisture source that contributed to the pluvial events, particularly during the deglaciation. Here, we collected a suite of tufa carbonate samples deposited at the 2,080 meter terrace ( 135 meters above today's lake level) in the Mono Basin, California, a closed lake basin for the last 130 thousand years (kyr). At Goat Ranch, we discovered white, shiny, laminated botryoidal carbonate coatings on tufa mounds. Most of these coatings present two generations of formation separated by a hiatus, which indicates lake level fluctuations. Using high-precision U-Th dating techniques, we found that the lower layer was formed 14.1-14.4 kyr BP (corresponding to the North Atlantic Bølling warming period). The upper layer of the coating was formed 11.9-12.3 kyr BP (within the Younger Dryas event). We then obtained d18O, d13C, D47 and 17O-excess values for the two carbonate layers. The upper part is characterized by low d18O values, -8 to -12 ‰ VPDB, whereas the lower one has higher d18O values, -5 to -6 ‰ VPDB. Both share similar d13C values ( 1-2‰ VPDB). D47 analysis on the carbonates suggests that both layers were deposited in a water temperature of 9±2 oC (1s, n = 4 and 8, respectively). The two generations of carbonates present 17O-excess of moisture in values of 50±5 (1s, n=4) and 25±5 (1s, n=8) per meg VSMOW-SLAP, respectively. The large difference in 17O-excess of parent meteoric water points to different origins of moisture for the tufa carbonate formations. The high 17O-excess values during YD suggest a moisture source with a low relative humidity, consistent with the conventional view that the moisture

Moisture dependence of radon transport in concrete : Measurements and modeling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cozmuta, [No Value; van der Graaf, ER; de Meijer, RJ

2003-01-01

The moisture dependence of the radon-release rate of concrete was measured under well controlled conditions. It was found that the radon-release rate almost linearly increases up to moisture contents of 50 to 60%. At 70 to 80% a maximum was found and for higher moisture contents the radon-release

Moisture availability over the past five centuries indicated by carbon isotopes of Tamarix taklamakanensis leaves in a nebkha profile in the Central Taklimakan Desert, NW China

Science.gov (United States)

Lang, Lili; Wang, Xunming; Hua, Ting; Zhang, Caixia

2013-12-01

We inferred moisture availability changes from 1555 to 2010 in the Central Taklimakan Desert (NW China) using Chinese tamarisk (Tamarix taklamakanensis) litter deposited within a nebkha that developed in this region. The litter δ13C trends revealed fluctuations of moisture availability: From 1555 to 1785, moisture availability was higher than the long-term average, but from 1555 to 1570, 1585 to 1620, 1640 to 1660, 1675 to 1700, and 1730 to 1755, this region experienced periods with lower than average moisture availability. From 1785 to 1850, significant moisture availability changes occurred, and the region experienced the lowest moisture availability since 1555. From 1850 to the present, the δ13C trends suggested that moisture availability increased. Our results also showed that although moisture availability in this region is controlled by precipitation and evaporation in the Central Taklimakan Desert, temperature variations in the adjacent Kunlun Mountains (whose glacier and snowmelt runoff are dominant water sources for the study area) were potentially more important. Water from these mountains plays an important role in moisture availability due the region’s extremely low precipitation. In addition, although previous studies suggested that the Tarim Basin and its adjacent areas experienced a wet climate for the past several centuries, this suggestion was inconsistent with the reconstructed moisture availability changes in the Central Taklimakan Desert. The moisture availability in the Central Taklimakan was more closely related to temperature variations in the adjacent mountain regions.

Effects of heat-moisture treatment reaction conditions on the physicochemical and structural properties of maize starch: moisture and length of heating.

Science.gov (United States)

Sui, Zhongquan; Yao, Tianming; Zhao, Yue; Ye, Xiaoting; Kong, Xiangli; Ai, Lianzhong

2015-04-15

Changes in the properties of normal maize starch (NMS) and waxy maize starch (WMS) after heat-moisture treatment (HMT) under various reaction conditions were investigated. NMS and WMS were adjusted to moisture levels of 20%, 25% and 30% and heated at 100 °C for 2, 4, 8 and 16 h. The results showed that moisture content was the most important factor in determining pasting properties for NMS, whereas the heating length was more important for WMS. Swelling power decreased in NMS but increased in WMS, and while the solubility index decreased for both samples, the changes were largely determined by moisture content. The gelatinisation temperatures of both samples increased with increasing moisture content but remained unchanged with increasing heating length. The Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) absorbance ratio was affected to different extents by the moisture levels but remained constant with increasing the heating length. The X-ray intensities increased but relative crystallinity decreased to a greater extent with increasing moisture content. This study showed that the levels of moisture content and length of heating had significant impacts on the structural and physicochemical properties of normal and waxy maize starches but to different extents. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Influence of Soil Moisture on Litter Respiration in the Semiarid Loess Plateau

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yanjun; Guo, Shengli; Liu, Qingfang; Jiang, Jishao

2014-01-01

Understanding the response mechanisms of litter respiration to soil moisture in water-limited semi-arid regions is of vital importance to better understanding the interplay between ecological processes and the local carbon cycle. In situ soil respiration was monitored during 2010–2012 under various conditions (normal litter, no litter, and double litter treatments) in a 30-year-old artificial black locust plantation (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) on the Loess Plateau. Litter respiration with normal and double litter treatments exhibited similar seasonal variation, with the maximum value obtained in summer (0.57 and 1.51 μmol m−2 s−1 under normal and double litter conditions, respectively) and the minimum in spring (0.27 and 0.69 μmol m−2 s−1 under normal and double litter conditions, respectively). On average, annual cumulative litter respiration was 115 and 300 g C m−2 y−1 under normal and double litter conditions, respectively. Using a soil temperature of 17°C as the critical point, the relationship between litter respiration and soil moisture was found to follow quadratic functions well, whereas the determination coefficient was much greater at high soil temperature than at low soil temperature (33–35% vs. 22–24%). Litter respiration was significantly higher in 2010 and 2012 than in 2011 under both normal litter (132–165 g C m−2 y−1 vs. 48 g C m−2 y−1) and double litter (389–418 g C m−2 y−1 vs. 93 g C m−2 y−1) conditions. Such significant interannual variations were largely ascribed to the differences in summer rainfall. Our study demonstrates that, apart from soil temperature, moisture also has significant influence on litter respiration in semi-arid regions. PMID:25474633

The Contribution of Soil Moisture Information to Forecast Skill: Two Studies

Science.gov (United States)

Koster, Randal

2010-01-01

This talk briefly describes two recent studies on the impact of soil moisture information on hydrological and meteorological prediction. While the studies utilize soil moisture derived from the integration of large-scale land surface models with observations-based meteorological data, the results directly illustrate the potential usefulness of satellite-derived soil moisture information (e.g., from SMOS and SMAP) for applications in prediction. The first study, the GEWEX- and ClIVAR-sponsored GLACE-2 project, quantifies the contribution of realistic soil moisture initialization to skill in subseasonal forecasts of precipitation and air temperature (out to two months). The multi-model study shows that soil moisture information does indeed contribute skill to the forecasts, particularly for air temperature, and particularly when the initial local soil moisture anomaly is large. Furthermore, the skill contributions tend to be larger where the soil moisture initialization is more accurate, as measured by the density of the observational network contributing to the initialization. The second study focuses on streamflow prediction. The relative contributions of snow and soil moisture initialization to skill in streamflow prediction at seasonal lead, in the absence of knowledge of meteorological anomalies during the forecast period, were quantified with several land surface models using uniquely designed numerical experiments and naturalized streamflow data covering mUltiple decades over the western United States. In several basins, accurate soil moisture initialization is found to contribute significant levels of predictive skill. Depending on the date of forecast issue, the contributions can be significant out to leads of six months. Both studies suggest that improvements in soil moisture initialization would lead to increases in predictive skill. The relevance of SMOS and SMAP satellite-based soil moisture information to prediction are discussed in the context of these

Carbon use efficiency (CUE) and biomass turnover of soil microbial communities as affected by bedrock, land management and soil temperature and moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Zheng, Qing; Hu, Yuntao; Richter, Andreas; Wanek, Wolfgang

2017-04-01

Soil microbial carbon use efficiency (CUE), defined as the proportion of organic C taken up that is allocated to microbial growth, represents an important synthetic representation of microbial community C metabolism that describes the flux partitioning between microbial respiration and growth. Therefore, studying microbial CUE is critical for the understanding of soil C cycling. Microbial CUE is thought to vary with environmental conditions (e.g. temperature and soil moisture). Microbial CUE is thought to decrease with increasing temperature and declining soil moisture, as the latter may trigger stress responses (e.g. the synthesis of stress metabolites), which may consequently lower microbial community CUE. However, these effects on microbial CUE have not been adequately measured so far due to methodological restrictions. The most widely used methods for microbial CUE estimation are based on tracing 13C-labeled substrates into microbial biomass and respiratory CO2, approaches that are known to overestimate microbial CUE of native organic matter in soil. Recently, a novel substrate-independent approach based on the measurement of (i) respiration rates and (ii) the incorporation rates of 18O from labelled water into newly formed microbial DNA has been developed in our laboratory for measuring microbial CUE. This approach overcomes the shortcomings of previously used methods and has already been shown to yield realistic estimations of soil microbial CUE. This approach can also be applied to concurrently measure microbial biomass turnover rates, which also influence the sequestration of soil organic C. Microbial turnover rates are also thought to be impacted by environmental factors, but rarely have been directly measured so far. Here, we aimed at determining the short-term effects of environmental factors (soil temperature and soil moisture) on microbial CUE and microbial biomass turnover rates based on the novel 18O approach. Soils from three land-use types (arable

Differential responses of production and respiration to temperature and moisture drive the carbon balance across a climatic gradient in New Mexico

Science.gov (United States)

Kristina J. Anderson-Teixeira; John P. Delong; Andrew M. Fox; Daniel A. Brese; Marcy E. Litvak

2011-01-01

Southwestern North America faces an imminent transition to a warmer, more arid climate, and it is critical to understand how these changes will affect the carbon balance of southwest ecosystems. In order to test our hypothesis that differential responses of production and respiration to temperature and moisture shape the carbon balance across a range of spatio-temporal...

Using Whole-House Field Tests to Empirically Derive Moisture Buffering Model Inputs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woods, J.; Winkler, J.; Christensen, D.; Hancock, E.

2014-08-01

Building energy simulations can be used to predict a building's interior conditions, along with the energy use associated with keeping these conditions comfortable. These models simulate the loads on the building (e.g., internal gains, envelope heat transfer), determine the operation of the space conditioning equipment, and then calculate the building's temperature and humidity throughout the year. The indoor temperature and humidity are affected not only by the loads and the space conditioning equipment, but also by the capacitance of the building materials, which buffer changes in temperature and humidity. This research developed an empirical method to extract whole-house model inputs for use with a more accurate moisture capacitance model (the effective moisture penetration depth model). The experimental approach was to subject the materials in the house to a square-wave relative humidity profile, measure all of the moisture transfer terms (e.g., infiltration, air conditioner condensate) and calculate the only unmeasured term: the moisture absorption into the materials. After validating the method with laboratory measurements, we performed the tests in a field house. A least-squares fit of an analytical solution to the measured moisture absorption curves was used to determine the three independent model parameters representing the moisture buffering potential of this house and its furnishings. Follow on tests with realistic latent and sensible loads showed good agreement with the derived parameters, especially compared to the commonly-used effective capacitance approach. These results show that the EMPD model, once the inputs are known, is an accurate moisture buffering model.

Remote Sensing of Surface Soil Moisture using Semi-Concurrent Radar and Radiometer Observations

Science.gov (United States)

Li, L.; Ouellette, J. D.; Colliander, A.; Cosh, M. H.; Caldwell, T. G.; Walker, J. P.

2017-12-01

Radar backscatter and radiometer brightness temperature both have well-documented sensitivity to surface soil moisture, particularly in the microwave regime. While radiometer-derived soil moisture retrievals have been shown to be stable and accurate, they are only available at coarse spatial resolutions on the order of tens of kilometers. Backscatter from Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) is similarly sensitive to soil moisture but can yield higher spatial resolutions, with pixel sizes about an order of magnitude smaller. Soil moisture retrieval from radar backscatter is more difficult, however, due to the combined sensitivity of radar scattering to surface roughness, vegetation structure, and soil moisture. The algorithm uses a time-series of SAR data to retrieval soil moisture information, constraining the SAR-derived soil moisture estimates with radiometer observations. This effectively combines the high spatial resolution offered by SAR with the precision offered by passive radiometry. The algorithm is a change detection approach which maps changes in the radar backscatter to changes in surface soil moisture. This new algorithm differs from existing retrieval techniques in that it does not require ancillary vegetation information, but assumes vegetation and surface roughness are stable between pairs of consecutive radar overpasses. Furthermore, this method does not require a radar scattering model for the vegetation canopy, nor the use of a training data set. The algorithm works over a long time series, and is constrained by hard bounds which are defined using a coarse-resolution radiometer soil moisture product. The presentation will include soil moisture retrievals from Soil Moisture Active/Passive (SMAP) SAR data. Two sets of optimization bounds will constrain the radar change detection algorithm: one defined by SMAP radiometer retrievals and one defined by WindSat radiometer retrievals. Retrieved soil moisture values will be presented on a world map and will

Preparation and Properties of Moisture-absorbing Film Impregnated with Polyacrylic Acid Partial Sodium Salt Material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Youn Suk; Park, Insik; Choi, Hong Yeol

2014-01-01

Moisture is a major factor causing the deteriorative physical change, microbial growth, and chemical reaction of the products. In this study, the moisture absorbing composite films have been prepared with moisture absorbing material of polyacrylic acid partial sodium salt (PAPSS) impregnated on LLDPE polymer for the functional packaging applications. The results showed that PAPSS impregnated film illustrated uniformly dispersed PAPSS particles in the LLDPE polymer matrix. The transparency of the PAPSS impregnated film decreased slightly at higher PAPSS concentrations. An increase in the PAPSS content for moisture-absorbing films showed a similar decrease in tensile strength, percent elongation at break, and tear strength. Their values of films impregnated with PAPSS of 0.5, 1, and 2% showed no significant difference. Meanwhile, 4% PAPSS films significantly decreased the values of mechanical properties compared to the films impregnated with different PAPSS levels. Values of the oxygen permeability and water vapor permeability for PAPSS impregnated films decreased significantly with greater PAPSS. The results indicate that 4% PAPSS impregnated in LLDPE films had high affinity of moisture absorbencies compared to the other films. The mathematical equation that best described the moisture sorption isotherm of each film sample was the GAB equation at 25 .deg. C. The crystallization and melting temperatures of PAPSS films were influenced by the addition of PAPSS material, but showed good thermal stability

Preparation and Properties of Moisture-absorbing Film Impregnated with Polyacrylic Acid Partial Sodium Salt Material

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lee, Youn Suk; Park, Insik [Yonsei University, Wonju (Korea, Republic of); Choi, Hong Yeol [CJ Cheiljedang, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2014-08-15

Moisture is a major factor causing the deteriorative physical change, microbial growth, and chemical reaction of the products. In this study, the moisture absorbing composite films have been prepared with moisture absorbing material of polyacrylic acid partial sodium salt (PAPSS) impregnated on LLDPE polymer for the functional packaging applications. The results showed that PAPSS impregnated film illustrated uniformly dispersed PAPSS particles in the LLDPE polymer matrix. The transparency of the PAPSS impregnated film decreased slightly at higher PAPSS concentrations. An increase in the PAPSS content for moisture-absorbing films showed a similar decrease in tensile strength, percent elongation at break, and tear strength. Their values of films impregnated with PAPSS of 0.5, 1, and 2% showed no significant difference. Meanwhile, 4% PAPSS films significantly decreased the values of mechanical properties compared to the films impregnated with different PAPSS levels. Values of the oxygen permeability and water vapor permeability for PAPSS impregnated films decreased significantly with greater PAPSS. The results indicate that 4% PAPSS impregnated in LLDPE films had high affinity of moisture absorbencies compared to the other films. The mathematical equation that best described the moisture sorption isotherm of each film sample was the GAB equation at 25 .deg. C. The crystallization and melting temperatures of PAPSS films were influenced by the addition of PAPSS material, but showed good thermal stability.

Influence of temperature and organic matter content on soil respiration in a deciduous oak forest

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zsolt Kotroczó

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The increasing temperature enhances soil respiration differently depend on different conditions (soil moisture, soil organic matter, the activity of soil microbes. It is an essential factor to predicting the effect of climate change on soil respiration. In a temperate deciduous forest (North-Hungary we added or removal aboveground and belowground litter to determine total soil respiration. We investigated the relationship between total soil CO2 efflux, soil moisture and soil temperature. Soil CO2 efflux was measured at each plot using chamber based soil respiration measurements. We determined the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration. The effect of doubled litter was less than the effect of removal. We found that temperature was more influential in the control of soil respiration than soil moisture in litter removal treatments, particularly in the wetter root exclusion treatments (NR and NI (R2: 0.49-0.61. Soil moisture (R2: 0.18-0.24 and temperature (R2: 0.18-0.20 influenced soil respiration similarly in treatments, where soil was drier (Control, Double Litter, Double Wood. A significantly greater increase in temperature induced higher soil respiration were significantly higher (2-2.5-fold in root exclusion treatments, where soil was wetter throughout the year, than in control and litter addition treatments. The highest bacterial and fungal count was at the DL treatment but the differences is not significant compared to the Control. The bacterial number at the No Litter, No Root, No Input treatment was significantly lower at the Control. Similar phenomenon can be observed at the fungal too, but the differences are not significant. The results of soil respiration suggest that the soil aridity can reduce soil respiration increases with the temperature increase. Soil bacterial and fungal count results show the higher organic matter content and soil surface cover litter favors the activity.

Experimental and finite element study of the effect of temperature and moisture on the tangential tensile strength and fracture behavior in timber logs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Finn; Ormarsson, Sigurdur

2014-01-01

Timber is normally dried by kiln drying, in the course of which moisture-induced stresses and fractures can occur. Cracks occur primarily in the radial direction due to tangential tensile strength (TSt) that exceeds the strength of the material. The present article reports on experiments and nume......Timber is normally dried by kiln drying, in the course of which moisture-induced stresses and fractures can occur. Cracks occur primarily in the radial direction due to tangential tensile strength (TSt) that exceeds the strength of the material. The present article reports on experiments...... and numerical simulations by finite element modeling (FEM) concerning the TSt and fracture behavior of Norway spruce under various climatic conditions. Thin log disc specimens were studied to simplify the description of the moisture flow in the samples. The specimens designed for TS were acclimatized...... to a moisture content (MC) of 18% before TSt tests at 20°C, 60°C, and 90°C were carried out. The maximum stress results of the disc simulations by FEM were compared with the experimental strength results at the same temperature levels. There is a rather good agreement between the results of modeling...

Moisture Durability with Vapor-Permeable Insulating Sheathing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepage, R. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Lstiburek, J. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

2013-09-01

Exterior sheathing insulation is an effective strategy in increasing the overall R-value of wall assemblies; other benefits include decreasing the effects of thermal bridging and increasing the moisture durability of the built assembly. Vapor-permeable exterior insulation, such as mineral board or expanded polystyrene foam, are one such product that may be used to achieve these benefits. However, uncertainty exists on the effects of inward driven moisture and the interaction of increased sheathing temperatures on the moisture durability of the edifice. To address these concerns, Building Science Corporation (BSC) conducted a series of hygrothermal models for cities representing a range of different climate zones. This report describes the research project, key research questions, and the procedures utilized to analyse the problems.

Moisture Durability with Vapor-Permeable Insulating Sheathing

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lepage, R. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States); Lstiburek, J. [Building Science Corporation, Somerville, MA (United States)

2013-09-01

Exterior sheathing insulation is an effective strategy in increasing the overall R-value of wall assemblies; other benefits include decreasing the effects of thermal bridging and increasing the moisture durability of the built assembly. Vapor-permeable exterior insulation, such as mineral board or expanded polystyrene foam, are one such product that may be used to achieve these benefits. However,uncertainty exists on the effects of inward driven moisture and the interaction of increased sheathing temperatures on the moisture durability of the edifice. To address these concerns, Building Science Corporation (BSC) conducted a series of hygrothermal models for cities representing a range of different climate zones. This report describes the research project, key research questions, and theprocedures utilized to analyse the problems.

Interactions Between Structure and Processing that Control Moisture Uptake in High-Performance Polycyanurates (Briefing Charts)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-03-24

Motivation • SOTA Theories of Moisture Uptake in Thermosetting Networks • New Tools and New Discoveries • Unresolved Issues and Ways to Address Them...Temperature Thermosetting Polymers: Cyanate Esters • Glass transition temperatures at full cure of 200 – 400°C • Uncured resins exist as low-melting solids...Summary: Basic Studies of Moisture Uptake in Cyanate Ester Networks • Many aspects of moisture uptake (and its minimization) in thermosetting polymer

Microwave emission measurements of sea surface roughness, soil moisture, and sea ice structure

Science.gov (United States)

Gloersen, P.; Wilheit, T. T.; Schmugge, T. J.

1972-01-01

In order to demonstrate the feasibility of the microwave radiometers to be carried aboard the Nimbus 5 and 6 satellites and proposed for one of the earth observatory satellites, remote measurements of microwave radiation at wavelengths ranging from 0.8 to 21 cm have been made of a variety of the earth's surfaces from the NASA CV-990 A/C. Brightness temperatures of sea water surfaces of varying roughness, of terrain with varying soil moisture, and of sea ice of varying structure were observed. In each case, around truth information was available for correlation with the microwave brightness temperature. The utility of passive microwave radiometry in determining ocean surface wind speeds, at least for values higher than 7 meters/second has been demonstrated. In addition, it was shown that radiometric signatures can be used to determine soil moisture in unvegetated terrain to within five percentage points by weight. Finally, it was demonstrated that first year thick, multi-year, and first year thin sea ice can be distinguished by observing their differing microwave emissivities at various wavelengths.

Effects of moisture migration on shrinkage, pore pressure and other concrete properties

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chapman, D.A.; England, G.L.

1977-01-01

This work investigates the uniaxial migration of moisture in long, upright, limestone concrete cylinders, sealed at the base and sides, and open at the top. The design represents a section through a concrete pressure vessel wall. The cylinders are subjected to a sustained temperature difference between their ends, with maximum temperatures between 105 0 C and 200 0 C. Readings of pore pressure, water content and temperature are taken at various positions along the axis of the cylinders. In one cylinder transverse and longitudinal shrinkage readings are also recorded. The results for the cylinders show that moisture migration is away from the hot face of the specimens, causing reduction in both pore pressure and water content values in this region. The moisture migration creates a drying front which moves slowly up the specimens. Evaporation drying takes place from the unsealed end of the specimen. A drying front moves into the concrete and considerable weight loss is recorded as moisture escapes to the atmosphere. The rate of movement of the drying front is slower than that of the hot front and is proportional to the temperature difference between the top of the specimen and the surrounding atmosphere. In the shrinkage specimen, values of transverse and longitudinal shrinkage reflect the water content results. The specimen indicates that shrinkage occurs in a concrete pressure vessel, in the regions where moisture is lost. The restraint of the mass of concrete surrounding these regions sets up a three dimensional state of internal tensile stress. The areas into which the moisture migrates tend to swell, creating an internal stress situation, which is this

Model Based Control of Moisture Sorption in a Historical Interior

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Zítek

2005-01-01

Full Text Available This paper deals with a novel scheme for microclimate control in historical exhibition rooms, inhibiting moisture sorption phenomena that are inadmissible from the preventive conservation point of view. The impact of air humidity is the most significant harmful exposure for a great deal of the cultural heritage deposited in remote historical buildings. Leaving the interior temperature to run almost its spontaneous yearly cycle, the proposed non-linear model-based control protects exhibits from harmful variations in moisture content by compensating the temperature drifts with an adequate adjustment of the air humidity. Already implemented in a medieval interior since 1999, the proposed microclimate control has proved capable of permanently maintaining constant a desirable moisture content in organic or porous materials in the interior of a building. 

Effects of soil moisture on the diurnal pattern of pesticide emission: Comparison of simulations with field measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Reichman, Rivka; Yates, Scott R.; Skaggs, Todd H.; Rolston, Dennis E.

2013-02-01

Pesticide volatilization from agricultural soils is one of the main pathways in which pesticides are dispersed in the environment and affects ecosystems including human welfare. Thus, it is necessary to have accurate knowledge of the various physical and chemical mechanisms that affect volatilization rates from field soils. A verification of the influence of soil moisture modeling on the simulated volatilization rate, soil temperature and soil-water content is presented. Model simulations are compared with data collected in a field study that measured the effect of soil moisture on diazinon volatilization. These data included diurnal changes in volatilization rate, soil-water content, and soil temperature measured at two depths. The simulations were performed using a comprehensive non-isothermal model, two water retention functions, and two soil surface resistance functions, resulting in four tested models. Results show that the degree of similarity between volatilization curves simulated using the four models depended on the initial water content. Under fairly wet conditions, the simulated curves mainly differ in the magnitude of their deviation from the measured values. However, under intermediate and low moisture conditions, the simulated curves also differed in their pattern (shape). The model prediction accuracy depended on soil moisture. Under normal practices, where initial soil moisture is about field capacity or higher, a combination of Brooks and Corey water retention and the van de Grind and Owe soil surface resistance functions led to the most accurate predictions. However, under extremely dry conditions, when soil-water content in the top 1 cm is below the volumetric threshold value, the use of a full-range water retention function increased prediction accuracy. The different models did not affect the soil temperature predictions, and had a minor effect on the predicted soil-water content of Yolo silty clay soil.

Impact of Soil Moisture Initialization on Seasonal Weather Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Koster, Randal D.; Suarez, Max J.; Houser, Paul (Technical Monitor)

2002-01-01

The potential role of soil moisture initialization in seasonal forecasting is illustrated through ensembles of simulations with the NASA Seasonal-to-Interannual Prediction Project (NSIPP) model. For each boreal summer during 1997-2001, we generated two 16-member ensembles of 3-month simulations. The first, "AMIP-style" ensemble establishes the degree to which a perfect prediction of SSTs would contribute to the seasonal prediction of precipitation and temperature over continents. The second ensemble is identical to the first, except that the land surface is also initialized with "realistic" soil moisture contents through the continuous prior application (within GCM simulations leading up to the start of the forecast period) of a daily observational precipitation data set and the associated avoidance of model drift through the scaling of all surface prognostic variables. A comparison of the two ensembles shows that soil moisture initialization has a statistically significant impact on summertime precipitation and temperature over only a handful of continental regions. These regions agree, to first order, with regions that satisfy three conditions: (1) a tendency toward large initial soil moisture anomalies, (2) a strong sensitivity of evaporation to soil moisture, and (3) a strong sensitivity of precipitation to evaporation. The degree to which the initialization improves forecasts relative to observations is mixed, reflecting a critical need for the continued development of model parameterizations and data analysis strategies.

Fuel optimization in a multi chamber incinerator by the moisture control of oily sludge and medical wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haider, I.; Hussain, S.; Khan, S.; Mehran, T.

2011-01-01

Experiments have been performed to study the effects of %age moisture content on fuel optimization during the waste feed combustion of oily sludge, medical waste and mix blend waste in a 50 kg/hr multi chamber incinerator installed at NCPC- ARL RWP. Intention is to find out the optimum and in compliance with NEQs incinerator performance at various moisture contents in the different waste feeds. Optimum performances of the incinerator, so that optimum operating moisture conditions, which has been used for multi purpose waste, feeds, may be defined. Three waste feeds of 10 kg batch size were used for the experimentation namely; Oily Sludge, Medical waste and Mix blend waste (oily sludge and medical), with the primary chamber preheating temperature 655 deg. C for 15 mins. interval monitoring. The secondary chamber temperature was set to 850 deg. C. By the data obtained it is apparent that rising the waste moisture content tend to increase fuel consumption specifically in case of medical waste and hence lowering the overall combustion efficiency. In the emissions the CO/sub 2/ concentration is showing the incineration efficiency. Higher efficiency of the system could have been achieved by increasing the CO/sub 2/ in the gases leaving the incinerator, lower fuel usage per kg waste feed and maintain proper operating conditions. Fuel consumption for the oily sludge with 10% moisture content, was found to be least as compared with the same %age of medical waste and mix blend waste. However environmental compliance of the operation is shown by the flue gas analysis. The results shows that using mix blend(oily sludge and medical) waste having 12-13% moisture content would be suitable for incineration in multi-chamber incinerator .Other makes it possible to determine the optimum incinerator temperature control settings and operating conditions, as well as to assure continuous, efficient, environmentally satisfactory operation. The optimum fuel consumption for 10 kg each waste

Role of soil moisture vs. recent climate change for heat waves in western Russia

Science.gov (United States)

Hauser, Mathias; Orth, Rene; Seneviratne, Sonia

2015-04-01

Using the framework of event attribution, anthropogenic climate change was found to have a discernible influence on the occurence-probability of heat waves, such as the one in Russia in 2010. Soil moisture, on the other hand, is an important physical driver for heat waves as its availability has a large influence on the partitioning of the available surface net radiation into latent and sensible heat flux. The presented study investigates the relative importance of both controls, soil moisture and increasing greenhouse gas concentrations, on heat waves in the region of the 2010 Russian heat wave. This is done with a large number of ensemble members from climate simulations with and without interactive soil moisture for both, the 2000s and the 1960s. The simualtions allow to determine the occurence-probability of heat waves with and without the soil moisture-temperature feedback and to compare it to the change caused by climate change. Thereby, we expect to see the largest effect on daytime maximum temperatures (TXx) and a smaller influence of soil moisture on the mean temperatures and cold extremes.

Measured moisture in buildings and adverse health effects: a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendell, Mark J; Macher, Janet M; Kumagai, Kazukiyo

2018-04-23

It has not yet been possible to quantify dose-related health risks attributable to indoor dampness or mold (D/M), to support the setting of health-related limits for D/M. An overlooked target for assessing D/M is moisture in building materials, the critical factor allowing microbial growth. A search for studies of quantified building moisture and occupant health effects identified three eligible studies. Two studies assessed associations between measured wall moisture content and respiratory health in the UK. Both reported dose-related increases in asthma exacerbation with higher measured moisture, with one study reporting an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 7.0 for night-time asthma symptoms with higher bedroom moisture. The third study assessed relationships between infrared camera-determined wall moisture and atopic dermatitis in South Korea, reporting an adjusted OR of 14.5 for water-damaged homes and moderate or severe atopic dermatitis. Measuring building moisture has, despite extremely limited available findings, potential promise for detecting unhealthy D/M in homes and merits more research attention. Further research to validate these findings should include measured "water activity," which directly assesses moisture availability for microbial growth. Ultimately, evidence-based, health-related thresholds for building moisture, across specific materials and measurement devices, could better guide assessment and remediation of D/M in buildings. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Effectiveness of Humidification with Heat and Moisture Exchanger-booster in Tracheostomized Patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzalez, Isabel; Jimenez, Pilar; Valdivia, Jorge; Esquinas, Antonio

2017-08-01

The two most commonly used types of humidifiers are heated humidifiers and heat and moisture exchange humidifiers. Heated humidifiers provide adequate temperature and humidity without affecting the respiratory pattern, but overdose can cause high temperatures and humidity resulting in condensation, which increases the risk of bacteria in the circuit. These devices are expensive. Heat and moisture exchanger filter is a new concept of humidification, increasing the moisture content in inspired gases. This study aims to determine the effectiveness of the heat and moisture exchanger (HME)-Booster system to humidify inspired air in patients under mechanical ventilation. We evaluated the humidification provided by 10 HME-Booster for tracheostomized patients under mechanical ventilation using Servo I respirators, belonging to the Maquet company and Evita 4. There was an increase in the inspired air humidity after 1 h with the humidifier. The HME-Booster combines the advantages of heat and moisture exchange minimizing the negatives. It increases the amount of moisture in inspired gas in mechanically ventilated tracheostomized patients. It is easy and safe to use. The type of ventilator used has no influence on the result.

Modeling of the process of moisture loss during the storage of dried apricots.

Science.gov (United States)

Miranda, G; Berna, A; Bon, J; Mulet, A

2011-10-01

Moisture content is a reference parameter for dried food because the growth of most microorganisms is inhibited below certain water activity levels. In addition, it has a determining influence on the evolution of important parameters, such as color and flavor, and on other properties and deterioration reactions, such as texture, oxidation processes and nutritional value. During the storage of some dried fruits, moisture is produced due to Maillard reactions and exchanged with the surrounding environment through the packaging. The evolution of dried foods during their shelf life depends on the storage conditions. The aim of this study is to analyze the evolution of the moisture content in dried apricots packaged in different types of containers, namely glass and thermosealed polypropylene trays. The samples were stored at constant temperatures: 5, 15, 25 and 35 °C and were analyzed periodically over a period of 12 months. The sorption isotherms of apricots used in this study were also determined. In order to model how the moisture evolved, an empirical kinetic model was tested. This model considers both water transfer from the fruit and also water production as a result of the Maillard processes. The explained variance was higher than 95% in the samples stored in trays, which were thermosealed with film.

Durability of pellets made from different wood fuel assortments - The effect of moisture content, particle size and temperature development during storage. A laboratory-scale study; Haallfasthet hos braenslepellets tillverkade av olika traedbraenslesortiment - betydelsen av fukthalt, fraktionsstorlek och temperaturutveckling under lagringen. En laboratoriestudie

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lehtikangas, Paeivi [Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala (Sweden). Dept. of Forest Management and Products

2001-02-01

Durability of fuel pellets is one of the most important quality variables. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of moisture content and particle size distribution on the durability of pellets made out of sawdust, logging residues and bark from Norway spruce and Scots pine. Moreover, the durability of pellets made out of logging residues which were exposed to high temperature development was investigated. Pellets were manufactured using a laboratory press CPM Europe. The determined quality parameters were moisture content, percentage of accept-pellets (percentage of pellets of the total amount of raw material), temperature and density of individual pellets. The pelleting process was controlled by monitoring the raw material input to the press, vibration and power consumption. From the results of this study the following preliminary conclusions can be drawn: * Increase moisture content and temperature during pelleting had a positive correlation with the percentage of the accept-pellets, especially concerning the bark assortments, and * Pellets made out of particles smaller than 1 mm resulted in a significantly (Student's t-test) higher percentage of accept-pellets than pellets made out of particles of 1-2 mm. Moreover, the process temperature was probably too low (max. 86 deg C) to activate softening of the lignin. A lower press temperature was sufficient to produce the same percentage of accept-pellets of fresh bark than with other raw materials. A possible reason for that is the presence of high amounts of extractives in bark, which could develop an adhesive nature during thermal treatment.

Molecular Modeling for Calculation of Mechanical Properties of Epoxies with Moisture Ingress

Science.gov (United States)

Clancy, Thomas C.; Frankland, Sarah J.; Hinkley, J. A.; Gates, T. S.

2009-01-01

Atomistic models of epoxy structures were built in order to assess the effect of crosslink degree, moisture content and temperature on the calculated properties of a typical representative generic epoxy. Each atomistic model had approximately 7000 atoms and was contained within a periodic boundary condition cell with edge lengths of about 4 nm. Four atomistic models were built with a range of crosslink degree and moisture content. Each of these structures was simulated at three temperatures: 300 K, 350 K, and 400 K. Elastic constants were calculated for these structures by monitoring the stress tensor as a function of applied strain deformations to the periodic boundary conditions. The mechanical properties showed reasonably consistent behavior with respect to these parameters. The moduli decreased with decreasing crosslink degree with increasing temperature. The moduli generally decreased with increasing moisture content, although this effect was not as consistent as that seen for temperature and crosslink degree.

N2O emission from urine in the soil in the beef production in Southeast Brazil: soil moisture content and temperature effects

Science.gov (United States)

Simões Barneze, Arlete; Mancebo Mazzetto, Andre; Fernandes Zani, Caio; Siqueira Neto, Marcos; Clemente Cerri, Carlos

2014-05-01

.05 probability level. Nitrogen mineralization and nitri?cation were higher at the higher temperature and higher soil water content. Significant effects of urine application and moisture were found (P

Plasticisation of amylodextrin by moisture. Consequences for compaction behaviour and tablet properties

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Steendam, R; Frijlink, H W; Lerk, C F

2001-01-01

Purpose: Amylodextrin, a starch-based controlled release excipient, spontaneously absorbs moisture during storage. The aim of this study was to investigate plasticisation of amylodextrin by moisture and its effect on compaction and tablet characteristics. Methods: The glass transition temperature

Monitoring of Double-Stud Wall Moisture Conditions in the Northeast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueno, K. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-03-01

Double-stud walls insulated with cellulose or low-density spray foam can have R-values of 40 or higher. However, double-stud walls have a higher risk of interior-sourced condensation moisture damage when compared with high-R approaches using exterior insulating sheathing. Moisture conditions in double-stud walls were monitored in Zone 5A (Massachusetts); three double-stud assemblies were compared.

Monitoring of Double Stud Wall Moisture Conditions in the Northeast

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ueno, K. [Building Science Corporation, Westford, MA (United States)

2015-03-01

Double-stud walls insulated with cellulose or low-density spray foam can have R-values of 40 or higher. However, double stud walls have a higher risk of interior-sourced condensation moisture damage, when compared with high-R approaches using exterior insulating sheathing.; Moisture conditions in double stud walls were monitored in Zone 5A (Massachusetts); three double stud assemblies were compared.

[Co-composting high moisture vegetable waste and flower waste in a sequential fed operation].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiangfeng; Wang, Hongtao; Nie, Yongfeng

2003-11-01

Co-composting of high moisture vegetable wastes (celery and cabbage) and flower wastes (carnation) were studied in a sequential fed bed. The preliminary materials of composting were celery and carnation wastes. The sequential fed materials of composting were cabbage wastes and were fed every 4 days. Moisture content of mixture materials was between 60% and 70%. Composting was done in an aerobic static bed of composting based temperature feedback and control via aeration rate regulation. Aeration was ended when temperature of the pile was about 40 degrees C. Changes of composting of temperature, aeration rate, water content, organic matter, ash, pH, volume, NH4(+)-N, and NO3(-)-N were studied. Results show that co-composting of high moisture vegetable wastes and flower wastes, in a sequential fed aerobic static bed based temperature feedback and control via aeration rate regulation, can stabilize organic matter and removal water rapidly. The sequential fed operation are effective to overcome the difficult which traditional composting cannot applied successfully where high moisture vegetable wastes in more excess of flower wastes, such as Dianchi coastal.

Moisture effect on the dielectric response and space charge behaviour of mineral oil impregnated paper insulation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hao Jian; Liao Ruijin; Chen, George

2011-01-01

Dielectric response and space charge behaviour of oil-paper insulation sample with different moisture contents were investigated using the frequency dielectric spectroscopy (FDS) and the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) technique, respectively. The influence of moisture on the dielectric response and space charge behaviour of oil impregnated paper insulation was analysed. Results show that the moisture has great effect on the FDS and space charge behaviour of oil impregnated paper insulation. In the frequency range of 10 -2 ∼10 6 Hz, the conductivity and the capacitance of oil impregnated paper increases with its moisture content. The space charge distribution of oil-paper sample with lower and higher moisture contents is very different from each other. The higher the moisture concentration of the oil impregnated paper, the easier the negative charge penetration into the insulation paper. There is a significant amount of positive charge accumulated at the paper-paper interface near to the cathode for oilpaper sample with lower moisture content. However, the positive charge appears in the middle layer paper for oil-paper sample with higher moisture content. Due to the high conductivity, the charge trapped in the oil-paper sample with higher moisture content disappears much faster than that in the oil-paper sample with lower moisture content after removing the voltage.

Moisture effect on the dielectric response and space charge behaviour of mineral oil impregnated paper insulation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hao Jian; Liao Ruijin [State Key Laboratory of Power Transmission Equipment and System Security and New Technology, Chongqing University (China); Chen, George, E-mail: jh210v@ecs.soton.ac.uk [School of Electronics and Computer Science, University of Southampton (United Kingdom)

2011-08-12

Dielectric response and space charge behaviour of oil-paper insulation sample with different moisture contents were investigated using the frequency dielectric spectroscopy (FDS) and the pulsed electroacoustic (PEA) technique, respectively. The influence of moisture on the dielectric response and space charge behaviour of oil impregnated paper insulation was analysed. Results show that the moisture has great effect on the FDS and space charge behaviour of oil impregnated paper insulation. In the frequency range of 10{sup -2}{approx}10{sup 6}Hz, the conductivity and the capacitance of oil impregnated paper increases with its moisture content. The space charge distribution of oil-paper sample with lower and higher moisture contents is very different from each other. The higher the moisture concentration of the oil impregnated paper, the easier the negative charge penetration into the insulation paper. There is a significant amount of positive charge accumulated at the paper-paper interface near to the cathode for oilpaper sample with lower moisture content. However, the positive charge appears in the middle layer paper for oil-paper sample with higher moisture content. Due to the high conductivity, the charge trapped in the oil-paper sample with higher moisture content disappears much faster than that in the oil-paper sample with lower moisture content after removing the voltage.

Sources of Sahelian-Sudan moisture: Insights from a moisture-tracing atmospheric model

Science.gov (United States)

Salih, Abubakr A. M.; Zhang, Qiong; Pausata, Francesco S. R.; Tjernström, Michael

2016-07-01

The summer rainfall across Sahelian-Sudan is one of the main sources of water for agriculture, human, and animal needs. However, the rainfall is characterized by large interannual variability, which has attracted extensive scientific efforts to understand it. This study attempts to identify the source regions that contribute to the Sahelian-Sudan moisture budget during July through September. We have used an atmospheric general circulation model with an embedded moisture-tracing module (Community Atmosphere Model version 3), forced by observed (1979-2013) sea-surface temperatures. The result suggests that about 40% of the moisture comes with the moisture flow associated with the seasonal migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and originates from Guinea Coast, central Africa, and the Western Sahel. The Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Peninsula, and South Indian Ocean regions account for 10.2%, 8.1%, and 6.4%, respectively. Local evaporation and the rest of the globe supply the region with 20.3% and 13.2%, respectively. We also compared the result from this study to a previous analysis that used the Lagrangian model FLEXPART forced by ERA-Interim. The two approaches differ when comparing individual regions, but are in better agreement when neighboring regions of similar atmospheric flow features are grouped together. Interannual variability with the rainfall over the region is highly correlated with contributions from regions that are associated with the ITCZ movement, which is in turn linked to the Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation. Our result is expected to provide insights for the effort on seasonal forecasting of the rainy season over Sahelian Sudan.

ASSESSMENT OF THE MOISTURE EFFECT ON GASEOUS PRODUCTS OF SELF-HEATING OF WOOD CHIPS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hana VĚŽNÍKOVÁ

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Biofuels are stored in large quantities and may be susceptible to self-ignition. The possible methods of indication of temperature increase include the analysis of the gaseous products of heating where concentrations of certain gases may increase with increasing temperature. Gas release is also affected by the moisture of the material given that the moisture level changes surface accessibility for oxygen on the one side and serves as a catalyst of the oxidation reactions on the other. The present project analysed the effect of temperature and moisture on gaseous products of heating of wood chips, one of frequently used biofuels, with the aim to determine a suitable gaseous indicator of beginning self-ignition.

Relative importance of moisture migration and amylopectin retrogradation for pound cake crumb firming.

Science.gov (United States)

Luyts, A; Wilderjans, E; Van Haesendonck, I; Brijs, K; Courtin, C M; Delcour, J A

2013-12-15

Moisture migration largely impacts cake crumb firmness during storage at ambient temperature. To study the importance of phenomena other than crumb to crust moisture migration and to exclude moisture and temperature gradients during baking, crustless cakes were baked using an electrical resistance oven (ERO). Cake crumb firming was evaluated by texture analysis. First, ERO cakes with properties similar to those baked conventionally were produced. Cake batter moisture content (MC) was adjusted to ensure complete starch gelatinisation in the baking process. In cakes baked conventionally, most of the increase in crumb firmness during storage was caused by moisture migration. Proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) showed that the population containing protons of crystalline starch grew during cake storage. These and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) data pointed to only limited amylopectin retrogradation. The limited increase in amylopectin retrogradation during cake storage cannot solely account for the significant firming of ERO cakes and, hence, other phenomena are involved in cake firming. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The modulation of oceanic moisture transport by the hemispheric annular modes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raquel eNieto

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Leaving aside the contribution made by recycling, it is the main oceanic moisture sources that are responsible for most of the precipitation that falls on the continents. The transport of moisture from these sources can be affected by large-scale variability according to the hemispheric annular modes. The influence of the two dominant modes of extratropical winter climate: the Northern and the Southern Annular Modes (NAM and SAM are herein investigated to assess how they affect the transport of moisture from the major oceanic moisture sources. A Lagrangian model was used, together with ERA-Interim reanalysis data (1979-2012, and differences between the composites of the six strongest higher and lower events observed for both phases of the two modes for the period were analysed. The method is able to reproduce the general pattern of known variations for both annular patterns. Lower values of the NAM Index are associated with the displacement of the storm track towards tropical latitudes. Thus, moisture transport is enhanced from the Northern Pacific towards the northeastern basin and from the Northern Atlantic and Mediterranean towards southern Europe. On the other hand, during higher values of NAM, moisture transport is favoured from the Northern Pacific towards eastern Asia, and moisture transport is enhanced from the Northern Atlantic towards the Caribbean Sea. In the Southern Hemisphere, during higher values of SAM more moisture is transported from the Atlantic and Indian oceanic sources southwards and eastwards than during the opposite phase. In this SAM phase it is also noted by an enhancement of moisture transport from the Coral Sea and Southern Pacific sources towards the Indian Ocean/West Pacific Warm Pool. Southeastern South America received more moisture from the Pacific and Atlantic sources during years with a lower SAM, episodes which also favoured the influx of moisture from the Southern Atlantic towards Africa, causing monsoon

On the assimilation of satellite derived soil moisture in numerical weather prediction models

Science.gov (United States)

Drusch, M.

2006-12-01

Satellite derived surface soil moisture data sets are readily available and have been used successfully in hydrological applications. In many operational numerical weather prediction systems the initial soil moisture conditions are analysed from the modelled background and 2 m temperature and relative humidity. This approach has proven its efficiency to improve surface latent and sensible heat fluxes and consequently the forecast on large geographical domains. However, since soil moisture is not always related to screen level variables, model errors and uncertainties in the forcing data can accumulate in root zone soil moisture. Remotely sensed surface soil moisture is directly linked to the model's uppermost soil layer and therefore is a stronger constraint for the soil moisture analysis. Three data assimilation experiments with the Integrated Forecast System (IFS) of the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) have been performed for the two months period of June and July 2002: A control run based on the operational soil moisture analysis, an open loop run with freely evolving soil moisture, and an experimental run incorporating bias corrected TMI (TRMM Microwave Imager) derived soil moisture over the southern United States through a nudging scheme using 6-hourly departures. Apart from the soil moisture analysis, the system setup reflects the operational forecast configuration including the atmospheric 4D-Var analysis. Soil moisture analysed in the nudging experiment is the most accurate estimate when compared against in-situ observations from the Oklahoma Mesonet. The corresponding forecast for 2 m temperature and relative humidity is almost as accurate as in the control experiment. Furthermore, it is shown that the soil moisture analysis influences local weather parameters including the planetary boundary layer height and cloud coverage. The transferability of the results to other satellite derived soil moisture data sets will be discussed.

Moisture buffering and its consequence in whole building hygrothermal modeling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten; Grau, Karl

2008-01-01

Moisture absorption and desorption of materials in contact with indoor air of buildings can be used as a passive, i.e., nonmechanical, way to moderate the variation of indoor humidity. This phenomenon, which is recognized as,moisture buffering', could potentially be used as an attractive feature...... for ventilation if indoor humidity is a parameter for controlling ventilation rate, 2. it is possible to improve the perceived acceptability of indoor air, as judged by the temperature and humidity of the air, by using moisture buffering to control the indoor humidity. The results of the whole building...

The influence of ventilation on moisture conditions in facades with wooden cladding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ernst Jan de Place; Brandt, Erik

2009-01-01

A ventilated cavity behind the cladding of timber frame walls is often considered good building practice that facilitates the removal of moisture from the construction. However, moisture will only be removed from the construction by ventilating it with dry air, whereas ventilating with humid air...... might add moisture to the construction. Full-size wall elements with wooden cladding placed in a test building were exposed to natural climate on the outside and to a humid indoor climate on the inside. Temperature and moisture conditions inside the wall elements and climate parameters were monitored...

Effect of grain moisture content during milling on pasting profile and functional properties of amaranth fractions.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, K Vishnuswamy Preetham; Dharmaraj, Usha; Sakhare, Suresh D; Inamdar, Aashitosh A

2016-05-01

Evaluation of functional properties of milled fractions of grain amaranth may be useful to decide the end uses of the grain. Hence, pasting profiles of amaranth fractions obtained by milling the grains at different moisture contents were studied in relation with their starch profile and also with their swelling power and solubility indices. It was observed that, for flour fraction, the viscosity parameters were lowest at 14-16 % moisture content. Swelling power and solubility indices of the samples varied as a function of grain moisture content. The middling fraction also showed similar pasting pattern with the variation of grain moisture content. The seed coat fractions showed higher gelatinization temperature compared to that of fine flour and middling fractions. However, starch content of the fine seed coat fraction was comparable with that of the flour and middling fractions. The coarse seed coat fraction showed lower viscosity parameters than the other samples. Viscosity parameters correlated well among themselves while, they did not show significant correlation with the starch content. However, the viscosity parameters showed negative correlation with the soluble amylose content. The study revealed that, the fractions obtained by milling the grains at different moisture content show differential pasting profiles and functional properties.

Equilibrium moisture content of OSB panels made from Eucalyptus urophylla clones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lourival Marin Mendes

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This work aimed to verify the efficiency of Nelson's equation to estimate equilibrium moisture content of this material and provide a model for determination of moisture content of panels based on air relative moisture content, as well as to evaluate the effect of some processing variables on the equilibrium moisture content of OSB (Oriented Strand Board panels. The 25 x 25 mm samples were put in an acclimation room where they were kept at 30ºC and had their mass determined after stabilization at the relative air moisture contents of 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90%. By the results obtained it was possible to conclude that: Nelson's equation tended to underestimate moisture values of the panel; the polynomial model adjusted based on the relative moisture of the air presented great potential to be used; although different behavior may be observed for the isotherms of treatments, there was no significant effect of the variables panel density, wood basic density, mat type and pressure temperature on mean equilibrium moisture content in desorption 1, adsorption and desorption 2.

Global Soil Moisture from the Aquarius/SAC-D Satellite: Description and Initial Assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Bindlish, Rajat; Jackson, Thomas; Cosh, Michael; Zhao, Tianjie; O'Neil, Peggy

2015-01-01

Aquarius satellite observations over land offer a new resource for measuring soil moisture from space. Although Aquarius was designed for ocean salinity mapping, our objective in this investigation is to exploit the large amount of land observations that Aquarius acquires and extend the mission scope to include the retrieval of surface soil moisture. The soil moisture retrieval algorithm development focused on using only the radiometer data because of the extensive heritage of passive microwave retrieval of soil moisture. The single channel algorithm (SCA) was implemented using the Aquarius observations to estimate surface soil moisture. Aquarius radiometer observations from three beams (after bias/gain modification) along with the National Centers for Environmental Prediction model forecast surface temperatures were then used to retrieve soil moisture. Ancillary data inputs required for using the SCA are vegetation water content, land surface temperature, and several soil and vegetation parameters based on land cover classes. The resulting global spatial patterns of soil moisture were consistent with the precipitation climatology and with soil moisture from other satellite missions (Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for the Earth Observing System and Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity). Initial assessments were performed using in situ observations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Little Washita and Little River watershed soil moisture networks. Results showed good performance by the algorithm for these land surface conditions for the period of August 2011-June 2013 (rmse = 0.031 m(exp 3)/m(exp 3), Bias = -0.007 m(exp 3)/m(exp 3), and R = 0.855). This radiometer-only soil moisture product will serve as a baseline for continuing research on both active and combined passive-active soil moisture algorithms. The products are routinely available through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration data archive at the National Snow and Ice Data Center.

Shelf stable intermediate moisture fruit cubes using radiation technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mishra, Bibhuti B.; Saxena, Sudhanshu; Gautam, Satyendra; Chander, Ramesh; Sharma, Arun

2009-01-01

A process has been developed to prepare shelf stable ready-to-eat (RTE) intermediate moisture pineapple slices and papaya cubes using radiation technology. The combination of hurdles including osmotic dehydration, blanching, infrared drying, and gamma radiation dose of 1 kGy successfully reduced the microbial load to below detectable limit. The shelf life of the intermediate moisture pineapple slices and papaya cubes was found to be 40 days at ambient temperature (28 ± 2 deg C). The control samples spoiled within 6 days. The RTE intermediate moisture fruit products were found to have good texture, colour and sensory acceptability during this 40 days storage. (author)

Low temperature distillation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vandegrift, J N; Postel, C

1929-04-09

To recover gas, oil tars, and coked residues by low temperature distillation from bituminous coals, lignites, oil shales, and the like, the raw material is fed from a hopper into a rotary retort which is zonally heated, the temperature being greatest at the discharge end. The material is heated first to a relatively low temperature, thereby removing the moisture and lighter volatiles which are withdrawn through a pipe by the suction of a pump, while the higher boiling point volatiles and fixed gases are withdrawn by suction through an outlet from the higher temperature zone. The vapors withdrawn from the opposite ends of the retort pass through separate vapor lines and condensers, and the suction in each end of the retort, caused by the pumps, is controlled by valves, which also control the location of the neutral point in the retort formed by said suction. Air and inert gas may be introduced into the retort from pipe and stack respectively through a pipe, and steam may be admitted into the high temperature zone through a pipe.

Spatial Variation of Soil Type and Soil Moisture in the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Buckley, R.

2001-06-27

Soil characteristics (texture and moisture) are typically assumed to be initially constant when performing simulations with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS). Soil texture is spatially homogeneous and time-independent, while soil moisture is often spatially homogeneous initially, but time-dependent. This report discusses the conversion of a global data set of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) soil types to RAMS soil texture and the subsequent modifications required in RAMS to ingest this information. Spatial variations in initial soil moisture obtained from the National Center for Environmental Predictions (NCEP) large-scale models are also introduced. Comparisons involving simulations over the southeastern United States for two different time periods, one during warmer, more humid summer conditions, and one during cooler, dryer winter conditions, reveals differences in surface conditions related to increases or decreases in near-surface atmospheric moisture con tent as a result of different soil properties. Three separate simulation types were considered. The base case assumed spatially homogeneous soil texture and initial soil moisture. The second case assumed variable soil texture and constant initial soil moisture, while the third case allowed for both variable soil texture and initial soil moisture. The simulation domain was further divided into four geographically distinct regions. It is concluded there is a more dramatic impact on thermodynamic variables (surface temperature and dewpoint) than on surface winds, and a more pronounced variability in results during the summer period. While no obvious trends in surface winds or dewpoint temperature were found relative to observations covering all regions and times, improvement in surface temperatures in most regions and time periods was generally seen with the incorporation of variable soil texture and initial soil moisture.

Spatio-temporal Root Zone Soil Moisture Estimation for Indo - Gangetic Basin from Satellite Derived (AMSR-2 and SMOS) Surface Soil Moisture

Science.gov (United States)

Sure, A.; Dikshit, O.

2017-12-01

Root zone soil moisture (RZSM) is an important element in hydrology and agriculture. The estimation of RZSM provides insight in selecting the appropriate crops for specific soil conditions (soil type, bulk density, etc.). RZSM governs various vadose zone phenomena and subsequently affects the groundwater processes. With various satellite sensors dedicated to estimating surface soil moisture at different spatial and temporal resolutions, estimation of soil moisture at root zone level for Indo - Gangetic basin which inherits complex heterogeneous environment, is quite challenging. This study aims at estimating RZSM and understand its variation at the level of Indo - Gangetic basin with changing land use/land cover, topography, crop cycles, soil properties, temperature and precipitation patterns using two satellite derived soil moisture datasets operating at distinct frequencies with different principles of acquisition. Two surface soil moisture datasets are derived from AMSR-2 (6.9 GHz - `C' Band) and SMOS (1.4 GHz - `L' band) passive microwave sensors with coarse spatial resolution. The Soil Water Index (SWI), accounting for soil moisture from the surface, is derived by considering a theoretical two-layered water balance model and contributes in ascertaining soil moisture at the vadose zone. This index is evaluated against the widely used modelled soil moisture dataset of GLDAS - NOAH, version 2.1. This research enhances the domain of utilising the modelled soil moisture dataset, wherever the ground dataset is unavailable. The coupling between the surface soil moisture and RZSM is analysed for two years (2015-16), by defining a parameter T, the characteristic time length. The study demonstrates that deriving an optimal value of T for estimating SWI at a certain location is a function of various factors such as land, meteorological, and agricultural characteristics.

Mathematical and Simulation Modelling of Moisture Diffusion Mechanism during Plastic IC Packages Disassembly

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peng Mou

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Reuse of plastic IC packages disassembled from printed circuit boards (PCBs has significant environmental benefits and economic value. The interface delamination caused by moisture diffusion is the main failure mode of IC packages during the disassembling process, which greatly reduces the reusability and reliability of disassembled IC packages. Exploring moisture diffusion mechanism is a prerequisite to optimize prebaking processes before disassembling that is an effective way to avoid the interface delamination. To this end, a computational model with variable boundary conditions is developed based on the different combination state of water in IC packages. The distribution characteristics and mechanism of moisture diffusion behavior are analyzed including the humidity distribution field and the relation among baking temperature, water loss rate, and baking time during baking process, and then the results are validated by FEA simulation based on the improved definition of relative moisture concentration. Baking under variable temperature is proposed and compared with the baking process and baking efficiency under constant temperature to find out the optimized baking parameters. Finally, a set of curves which indicate the relation between baking energy consumption and temperature are determined under actual industrial baking experiments, which could be used as references to develop industrial standards for PCB disassembling process.

Dynamic Moisture Sorption and Desorption in Fumed Silica-filled Silicone Foam

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Trautschold, Olivia Carol [Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

2016-09-02

Characterizing dynamic moisture sorption and desorption in fumed silica-filled silicone foam is necessary for determining material compatibilities and life predictions, particularly in sealed environments that may be exposed to a range of environmental conditions. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) were performed on S5470 fumed silica-filled silicone foam to determine the weight percent of moisture at saturation. Additionally, TGA was used to determine the time, temperature, and relative humidity levels required for sorption and desorption of physisorbed moisture in S5470.

Moisture buffer capacity of cement-lime plasters with enhanced thermal storage capacity

Science.gov (United States)

Fořt, Jan; Pavlíková, Milena; Pavlík, Zbyšek

2017-07-01

Indoor air temperature and relative humidity represent important parameters for health and working efficiency of buildings occupants. Beside the moderation of temperature, investigation of hygric properties of building materials with connection to indoor relative humidity variation became recognized as a relevant factor for energy efficient building maintenance. The moisture buffer value introduced in the Nordtest protocol can be used for estimation of moisture buffer capacity of building materials or their multi-layered systems. In this paper, both the ideal and real moisture buffer values are examined on the basis of simulation of diurnal relative humidity fluctuations in plasters with incorporated PCM admixture. Retrieved data points to a complex effect of the tested plasters on possible moderation of buildings interior climate.

Seasonal reversal of temperature-moisture response of net carbon exchange of biocrusted soils in a cool desert ecosystem.

Science.gov (United States)

Tucker, C.; Reed, S.; Howell, A.

2017-12-01

Carbon cycling associated with biological soil crusts, which occur in interspaces between vascular plants in drylands globally, may be an important part of the coupled climate-carbon cycle of the Earth system. A major challenge to understanding CO2 fluxes in these systems is that much of the biotic and biogeochemical activity occurs in the upper few mm of the soil surface layer (i.e., the `mantle of fertility'), which exhibits highly dynamic and difficult to measure temperature and moisture fluctuations. Here, we report data collected in a cool desert ecosystem over one year using a multi-sensor approach to simultaneously measuring temperature and moisture of the biocrust surface layer (0-2 mm), and the deeper soil profile (5-20 cm), concurrent with automated measurement of surface soil CO2 effluxes. Our results illuminate robust relationships between microclimate and field CO2 pulses that have previously been difficult to detect and explain. The temperature of the biocrust surface layer was highly variable, ranging from minimum of -9 °C in winter to maximum of 77 °C in summer with a maximum diurnal range of 61 °C. Temperature cycles were muted deeper in the soil profile. During summer, biocrust and soils were usually hot and dry and CO2 fluxes were tightly coupled to pulse wetting events experienced at the biocrust surface, which consistently resulted in net CO2 efflux (i.e., respiration). In contrast, during the winter, biocrust and soils were usually cold and moist, and there was sustained net CO2 uptake via photosynthesis by biocrust organisms, although during cold dry periods CO2 fluxes were minimal. During the milder spring and fall seasons, short wetting events drove CO2 loss, while sustained wetting events resulted in net CO2 uptake. Thus, the upper and lower bounds of net CO2 exchange at a point in time were functions of the seasonal temperature regime, while the actual flux within those bounds was determined by the magnitude and duration of biocrust

Disaggregation of remotely sensed soil moisture under all sky condition using machine learning approach in Northeast Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, S.; Kim, H.; Choi, M.; Kim, K.

2016-12-01

Estimating spatiotemporal variation of soil moisture is crucial to hydrological applications such as flood, drought, and near real-time climate forecasting. Recent advances in space-based passive microwave measurements allow the frequent monitoring of the surface soil moisture at a global scale and downscaling approaches have been applied to improve the spatial resolution of passive microwave products available at local scale applications. However, most downscaling methods using optical and thermal dataset, are valid only in cloud-free conditions; thus renewed downscaling method under all sky condition is necessary for the establishment of spatiotemporal continuity of datasets at fine resolution. In present study Support Vector Machine (SVM) technique was utilized to downscale a satellite-based soil moisture retrievals. The 0.1 and 0.25-degree resolution of daily Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM) L3 soil moisture datasets from Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) were disaggregated over Northeast Asia in 2015. Optically derived estimates of surface temperature (LST), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and its cloud products were obtained from MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) for the purpose of downscaling soil moisture in finer resolution under all sky condition. Furthermore, a comparison analysis between in situ and downscaled soil moisture products was also conducted for quantitatively assessing its accuracy. Results showed that downscaled soil moisture under all sky condition not only preserves the quality of AMSR2 LPRM soil moisture at 1km resolution, but also attains higher spatial data coverage. From this research we expect that time continuous monitoring of soil moisture at fine scale regardless of weather conditions would be available.

Influence of cookies composition on temperature profiles and qualitative parameters during baking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ž. Kožul

2014-01-01

Full Text Available During baking of bakery products temperature of baking, temperature profiles, moisture content, volume and colour changes are strongly coupled. The objective of this paper was to study the influence of the cookies composition on temperature profiles and quality parameters (width and thickness, colour formation and textural properties: hardness, fracturability and work of breaking force during baking process. Composition of cookies differs due to flour type and initial moisture content. Cookies were baked at 205 °C and temperature was measured in the centre of samples which were 7 mm thick with a 60 mm diameter. The results of temperature profiles of the cookies during baking have shown the same trend for all of the 18 samples. Samples with the higher initial water content have lower values of total colour difference and also significantly affect textural properties.

CPAC optical moisture monitoring: Characterization of composition and physical effects on moisture determination Task 2A report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Veltkamp, D.J.

1994-01-01

The impact of particle size and chemical composition variations on determination of tank simulant moisture from near infrared (NIR) optical spectra are presented. This work shows particle size and chemical variations will impact moisture predictions from NIR spectra. However, the prediction errors can be minimized if calibration models are built with samples containing these variations as interferents. Prior work showed the NIR spectral region (1100 to 2500 nm) could be used to predict moisture content of BY-104 tank simulant with a standard error less of approximately 0.5 wt%. Particle size will increase moisture prediction error if calibration-models do not include the same particle size ranges as unknown samples. A combined particle size model with 0-420 x10 -6 m, 420-841 x 10 -6 m, and 841 x 10 -6 m-2 mm diameter particles predicted 0.59, 0.34 nd 0.23 wt% errors respectively for samples containing only these size ranges and 0.80 wt% error for a samples with all particle size ranges. Chemical composition would also increase moisture prediction error if calibration model samples chemically differ from unknown samples. For a BY-104 simulant, increases in NaOH, NaAlO 2 , Na 2 SiO 3 , and Na 3 PO 4 produced moisture predictions that were lower than the actual moisture levels while increases in FE(NO 3 ) 3 , Ca(NO 3 ) 2 , and Mg (NO 3 ) 2 resulted in a higher than actual moisture prediction. Systematic changes in the NIR spectra could be observed for these families of materials. When all of the composition variations were included in a single model, the model had a moisture prediction error of 1.41 wt% as compared to a 2.96 wt% error without model changes. This work shows a calibration model based on a single set of tightly controlled experimental conditions will tend to have somewhat larger prediction errors when applied to samples collected with variations outside of such conditions

Soil moisture determination with Tesla NZK 203 neutron gage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hally, J.

1977-01-01

Soil moisture was measured using the NZK 203 neutron probe manufactured by Tesla Premysleni. The individual measuring sites were spaced at a distance of 100 m. The NZK 203 set consists of a NPK 202 moisture gage and a NSK 301 scintillation detector and features the following specifications: moisture density measuring range 20 to 500 kg/m 3 , 241 Am-Be fast neutron source having a neutron flux of 7.5x10 4 n.sec -1 +-10%, operating temperature -10 to +45 degC. The measured counting rate was primarily affected by the statistical fluctuation of ionizing radiation and by instrument instability. In order that these effects should be limited each measurement was repeated 10 times with the optimum measurement time at an interval of 20 to 100 sec. The NZK 203 Tesla set was proven to be suitable for rapid and reproducible determination of moisture profiles. (J.P.)

[The stratification of moisture content and its dynamics in co-composting of sewage sludge and pig manure].

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Wei; Chen, Tong-bin; Gao, Ding; Zheng, Yu-qi; Zheng, Guo-di

2004-03-01

The experiment of co-composting of sewage sludge and pig manure was studied. The moisture contents were 50.82%-60.87% at the stage of temperature rising and 38.7%-52.17% at the stage of thermophilic fermentation, and the stratification of moisture content were not obvious for both stages because the door, the internal wall and the depth of the composting bay had little effect on the stratification. At the stage of cooling, the moisture content was 24.54%-49.39%, and the stratification of moisture content was remarkable as the door, the internal wall and the depth of the composting bay had great influence on it. At the stage of maturity, the moisture content was 19.18%-49.34%, and the stratification of moisture weakened, for which the door and the internal wall were mainly responsible. At the different composting stage, the degree of difference of moisture content on the profiles of the pile was of the order: maturity stage > cooling stage > thermophilic stage = temperature rising stage, and the moisture content in the pile was as follows: the lower > the middle > the upper. The relation between moisture content and composting time meeted with two-order kinetics equation.

A Novel Bias Correction Method for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS Soil Moisture: Retrieval Ensembles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ju Hyoung Lee

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Bias correction is a very important pre-processing step in satellite data assimilation analysis, as data assimilation itself cannot circumvent satellite biases. We introduce a retrieval algorithm-specific and spatially heterogeneous Instantaneous Field of View (IFOV bias correction method for Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS soil moisture. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to present the probabilistic presentation of SMOS soil moisture using retrieval ensembles. We illustrate that retrieval ensembles effectively mitigated the overestimation problem of SMOS soil moisture arising from brightness temperature errors over West Africa in a computationally efficient way (ensemble size: 12, no time-integration. In contrast, the existing method of Cumulative Distribution Function (CDF matching considerably increased the SMOS biases, due to the limitations of relying on the imperfect reference data. From the validation at two semi-arid sites, Benin (moderately wet and vegetated area and Niger (dry and sandy bare soils, it was shown that the SMOS errors arising from rain and vegetation attenuation were appropriately corrected by ensemble approaches. In Benin, the Root Mean Square Errors (RMSEs decreased from 0.1248 m3/m3 for CDF matching to 0.0678 m3/m3 for the proposed ensemble approach. In Niger, the RMSEs decreased from 0.14 m3/m3 for CDF matching to 0.045 m3/m3 for the ensemble approach.

Identification of a dynamic temperature threshold for soil moisture freeze/thaw (F/T) state classification using soil real dielectric constant derivatives.

Science.gov (United States)

Pardo, R.; Berg, A. A.; Warland, J. S.

2017-12-01

The use of microwave remote sensing for surface ground ice detection has been well documented using both active and passive systems. Typical validation of these remotely sensed F/T state products relies on in-situ air or soil temperature measurements and a threshold of 0°C to identify frozen soil. However, in soil pores, the effects of capillary and adsorptive forces combine with the presence of dissolved salts to depress the freezing point. This is further confounded by the fact that water over this temperature range releases/absorbs latent heat of freezing/fusion. Indeed, recent results from SLAPEx2015, a campaign conducted to evaluate the ability to detect F/T state and examine the controls on F/T detection at multiple resolutions, suggest that using a soil temperature of 0°C as a threshold for freezing may not be appropriate. Coaxial impedance sensors, like Steven's HydraProbeII (HP), are the most widely used soil sensor in water supply forecast and climatological networks. These soil moisture probes have recently been used to validate remote sensing F/T products. This kind of validation is still relatively uncommon and dependent on categorical techniques based on seasonal reference states of frozen and non-frozen soil conditions. An experiment was conducted to identify the correlation between the phase state of the soil moisture and the probe measurements. Eight soil cores were subjected to F/T transitions in an environmental chamber. For each core, at a depth of 2.5 cm, the temperature and real dielectric constant (rdc) were measured every five minutes using HPs while two heat pulse probes captured the apparent heat capacity 24 minutes apart. Preliminary results show the phase transition of water is bounded by inflection points in the soil temperature, attributed to latent heat. The rdc, however, appears to be highly sensitive to changes in the water preceding the phase change. This opens the possibility of estimating a dynamic temperature threshold for

Toxicity of a metal(loid)-polluted agricultural soil to Enchytraeus crypticus changes under a global warming perspective: Variations in air temperature and soil moisture content

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gonzalez Alcaraz, M.N.; van Gestel, C.A.M.

2016-01-01

This study aimed to assess how the current global warming perspective, with increasing air temperature (20 °C vs. 25 °C) and decreasing soil moisture content (50% vs. 30% of the soil water holding capacity, WHC), affected the toxicity of a metal(loid)-polluted agricultural soil to Enchytraeus

Moisture conditions in buildings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rode, Carsten

2012-01-01

Growth of mould requires the presence of moisture at a certain high level. In a heated indoor environment such moisture levels occur only if there is a reason for the moisture supply. Such moisture can come from the use of the building, because of malfunctioning constructions, or it can be the re......Growth of mould requires the presence of moisture at a certain high level. In a heated indoor environment such moisture levels occur only if there is a reason for the moisture supply. Such moisture can come from the use of the building, because of malfunctioning constructions, or it can...

Parameterization of L-, C- and X-band Radiometer-based Soil Moisture Retrieval Algorithm Using In-situ Validation Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Gao, Y.; Colliander, A.; Burgin, M. S.; Walker, J. P.; Chae, C. S.; Dinnat, E.; Cosh, M. H.; Caldwell, T. G.

2017-12-01

Passive microwave remote sensing has become an important technique for global soil moisture estimation over the past three decades. A number of missions carrying sensors at different frequencies that are capable for soil moisture retrieval have been launched. Among them, there are Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's (JAXA's) Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-EOS (AMSR-E) launched in May 2002 on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Aqua satellite (ceased operation in October 2011), European Space Agency's (ESA's) Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity (SMOS) mission launched in November 2009, JAXA's Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) onboard the GCOM-W satellite launched in May 2012, and NASA's Soil Moisture Active Passive (SMAP) mission launched in January 2015. Therefore, there is an opportunity to develop a consistent inter-calibrated long-term soil moisture data record based on the availability of these four missions. This study focuses on the parametrization of the tau-omega model at L-, C- and X-band using the brightness temperature (TB) observations from the four missions and the in-situ soil moisture and soil temperature data from core validation sites across various landcover types. The same ancillary data sets as the SMAP baseline algorithm are applied for retrieval at different frequencies. Preliminary comparison of SMAP and AMSR2 TB observations against forward-simulated TB at the Yanco site in Australia showed a generally good agreement with each other and higher correlation for the vertical polarization (R=0.96 for L-band and 0.93 for C- and X-band). Simultaneous calibrations of the vegetation parameter b and roughness parameter h at both horizontal and vertical polarizations are also performed. Finally, a set of model parameters for successfully retrieving soil moisture at different validation sites at L-, C- and X-band respectively are presented. The research described in this paper is supported by the Jet Propulsion

Potential feedbacks between snow cover, soil moisture and surface energy fluxes in Southern Norway

Science.gov (United States)

Brox Nilsen, Irene; Tallaksen, Lena M.; Stordal, Frode

2017-04-01

At high latitudes, the snow season has become shorter during the past decades because snowmelt is highly sensitive to a warmer climate. Snowmelt influences the energy balance by changing the albedo and the partitioning between latent and sensible heat fluxes. It further influences the water balance by changing the runoff and soil moisture. In a previous study, we identified southern Norway as a region where significant temperature changes in summer could potentially be explained by land-atmosphere interactions. In this study we hypothesise that changes in snow cover would influence the summer surface fluxes in the succeeding weeks or months. The exceptionally warm summer of 2014 was chosen as a test bed. In Norway, evapotranspiration is not soil moisture limited, but energy limited, under normal conditions. During warm summers, however, such as in 2014, evapotranspiration can be restricted by the available soil moisture. Using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model we replace the initial ground conditions for 2014 with conditions representative of a snow-poor spring and a snow-rich spring. WRF was coupled to Noah-MP at 3 km horizontal resolution in the inner domain, and the simulations covered mid-May through September 2014. Boundary conditions used to force WRF were taken from the Era-Interim reanalysis. Snow, runoff, soil moisture and soil temperature observational data were provided by the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate for validation. The validation shows generally good agreement with observations. Preliminary results show that the reduced snowpack, hereafter "sim1" increased the air temperature by up to 5 K and the surface temperature by up to 10 K in areas affected by snow changes. The increased snowpack, hereafter "sim2", decreased the air and surface temperature by the same amount. These are weekly mean values for the first eight simulation weeks from mid May. Because of the higher net energy available ( 100 Wm-2) in sim 1, both

Variability of Moisture Retention and Hydrophobicity Among Biochars

Science.gov (United States)

This research identifies factors and mechanisms that control changes in moisture retention when biochars produced from different feedstocks and under different heat treatment temperatures are mixed with fine sand. While substantial experimental research has been conducted on the ...

Moisture Performance of Energy-Efficient and Conventional Wood-Frame Wall Assemblies in a Mixed-Humid Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel Glass; Vladimir Kochkin; S. Drumheller; Lance Barta

2015-01-01

Long-term moisture performance is a critical consideration for design and construction of building envelopes in energy-efficient buildings, yet field measurements of moisture characteristics for highly insulated wood-frame walls in mixed-humid climates are lacking. Temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content of wood framing and oriented strand board (OSB)...

Relative skills of soil moisture and vegetation optical depth retrievals for agricultural drought monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Soil moisture condition is an important indicator for agricultural drought monitoring. Through the Land Parameter Retrieval Model (LPRM), vegetation optical depth (VOD) as well as surface soil moisture (SM) can be retrieved simultaneously from brightness temperature observations from the Advanced Mi...

A review of precipitation and temperature control on seedling emergence and establishment for ponderosa and lodgepole pine forest regeneration

Science.gov (United States)

Petrie, Matthew; Wildeman, A.M.; Bradford, John B.; Hubbard, R.M.; Lauenroth, W.K.

2016-01-01

The persistence of ponderosa pine and lodgepole pine forests in the 21st century depends to a large extent on how seedling emergence and establishment are influenced by driving climate and environmental variables, which largely govern forest regeneration. We surveyed the literature, and identified 96 publications that reported data on dependent variables of seedling emergence and/or establishment and one or more independent variables of air temperature, soil temperature, precipitation and moisture availability. Our review suggests that seedling emergence and establishment for both species is highest at intermediate temperatures (20 to 25 °C), and higher precipitation and higher moisture availability support a higher percentage of seedling emergence and establishment at daily, monthly and annual timescales. We found that ponderosa pine seedlings may be more sensitive to temperature fluctuations whereas lodgepole pine seedlings may be more sensitive to moisture fluctuations. In a changing climate, increasing temperatures and declining moisture availability may hinder forest persistence by limiting seedling processes. Yet, only 23 studies in our review investigated the effects of driving climate and environmental variables directly. Furthermore, 74 studies occurred in a laboratory or greenhouse, which do not often replicate the conditions experienced by tree seedlings in a field setting. It is therefore difficult to provide strong conclusions on how sensitive emergence and establishment in ponderosa and lodgepole pine are to these specific driving variables, or to investigate their potential aggregate effects. Thus, the effects of many driving variables on seedling processes remain largely inconclusive. Our review stresses the need for additional field and laboratory studies to better elucidate the effects of driving climate and environmental variables on seedling emergence and establishment for ponderosa and lodgepole pine.

Moisture supply in Danish single-family houses – the influence of building style

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Ernst Jan de Place; Møller, Eva B.

2017-01-01

According to ISO 13788 internal moisture supply in dwellings can be described by humidity classes defined by outdoor temperature, occupancy and ventilation. Hygrothermal measurements in 500 Danish single-family houses were made to investigate if building style and geographical location are import......According to ISO 13788 internal moisture supply in dwellings can be described by humidity classes defined by outdoor temperature, occupancy and ventilation. Hygrothermal measurements in 500 Danish single-family houses were made to investigate if building style and geographical location...

Engineering properties of sunflower seed: Effect of dehulling and moisture content

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mudasir Ahmad Malik

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The study diagnosed engineering properties on varying moisture content of sunflower seed and kernel from 7.6 to 25% (wet basis. On increasing moisture, dimensional values increased for both seed and kernel. Bulk density, true density and porosity were found higher for kernel as compared to seed at each moisture content. On increasing the moisture content from 7.6 to 25%, true density, porosity and thousand kernel weight increased. Coefficient of static friction on plywood was found maximum for kernel at 25% moisture content, while it was minimum for seed on glass at 7.6% moisture content. The angle of repose was maximum for kernel as compared to seed. Initial cracking force, average rupture force and average rupture energy for seed and kernel decreased with an increase in the moisture content. The kernel was found to be more resistant to initial cracking than seed.

Influence of cracking clays on satellite estimated and model simulated soil moisture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. Y. Liu

2010-06-01

Full Text Available Vertisols are clay soils that are common in the monsoonal and dry warm regions of the world. One of the characteristics of these soil types is to form deep cracks during periods of extended dry, resulting in significant variation of the soil and hydrologic properties. Understanding the influence of these varying soil properties on the hydrological behavior of the system is of considerable interest, particularly in the retrieval or simulation of soil moisture. In this study we compare surface soil moisture (θ in m³ m⁻³ retrievals from AMSR-E using the VUA-NASA (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam in collaboration with NASA algorithm with simulations from the Community Land Model (CLM over vertisol regions of mainland Australia. For the three-year period examined here (2003–2005, both products display reasonable agreement during wet periods. During dry periods however, AMSR-E retrieved near surface soil moisture falls below values for surrounding non-clay soils, while CLM simulations are higher. CLM θ are also higher than AMSR-E and their difference keeps increasing throughout these dry periods. To identify the possible causes for these discrepancies, the impacts of land use, topography, soil properties and surface temperature used in the AMSR-E algorithm, together with vegetation density and rainfall patterns, were investigated. However these do not explain the observed θ responses. Qualitative analysis of the retrieval model suggests that the most likely reason for the low AMSR-E θ is the increase in soil porosity and surface roughness resulting from cracking of the soil. To quantitatively identify the role of each factor, more in situ measurements of soil properties that can represent different stages of cracking need to be collected. CLM does not simulate the behavior of cracking soils, including the additional loss of moisture from the soil continuum during drying and the infiltration into cracks during rainfall events

Moisture Adsorption and Thermodynamic Properties of California Grown Almonds (Varieties: Nonpareil and Monterey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Li Zuo Taitano

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Moisture adsorption characteristics of California grown almonds (Nonpareil: pasteurized and unpasteurized almonds; Monterey: pasteurized, unpasteurized and blanched almonds were obtained using the gravimetric method over a range of water activities from 0.11 to 0.98 at 7-50ºC. The weights of almonds were measured until samples reached a constant weight. The relationship between equilibrium moisture content and water activity was established using the Guggenheim-Anderson-de Boer model. The diffusion coefficient of water in almond kernels was calculated based on Ficks second law. The monolayer moisture value of almonds ranged from 0.020 to 0.035 kg H2O kg-1 solids. The diffusion coefficient increased with temperature at a constant water activity, and decreased with water activity at a constant temperature. The thermodynamic properties (net isosteric heat, differential enthalpy and entropy were also determined. The net isosteric heat of adsorption decreased with the increasing moisture content, and the plot of differential enthalpy versus entropy satisfied the enthalpy-entropy compensation theory. The adsorption process of almond samples was enthalpy driven over the range of studied moisture contents.

Automated Quality Control of in Situ Soil Moisture from the North American Soil Moisture Database Using NLDAS-2 Products

Science.gov (United States)

Ek, M. B.; Xia, Y.; Ford, T.; Wu, Y.; Quiring, S. M.

2015-12-01

The North American Soil Moisture Database (NASMD) was initiated in 2011 to provide support for developing climate forecasting tools, calibrating land surface models and validating satellite-derived soil moisture algorithms. The NASMD has collected data from over 30 soil moisture observation networks providing millions of in situ soil moisture observations in all 50 states as well as Canada and Mexico. It is recognized that the quality of measured soil moisture in NASMD is highly variable due to the diversity of climatological conditions, land cover, soil texture, and topographies of the stations and differences in measurement devices (e.g., sensors) and installation. It is also recognized that error, inaccuracy and imprecision in the data set can have significant impacts on practical operations and scientific studies. Therefore, developing an appropriate quality control procedure is essential to ensure the data is of the best quality. In this study, an automated quality control approach is developed using the North American Land Data Assimilation System phase 2 (NLDAS-2) Noah soil porosity, soil temperature, and fraction of liquid and total soil moisture to flag erroneous and/or spurious measurements. Overall results show that this approach is able to flag unreasonable values when the soil is partially frozen. A validation example using NLDAS-2 multiple model soil moisture products at the 20 cm soil layer showed that the quality control procedure had a significant positive impact in Alabama, North Carolina, and West Texas. It had a greater impact in colder regions, particularly during spring and autumn. Over 433 NASMD stations have been quality controlled using the methodology proposed in this study, and the algorithm will be implemented to control data quality from the other ~1,200 NASMD stations in the near future.

Experimental study of moisture-driven distortion and fracture in solid wood

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Finn; Ormarsson, Sigurdur; Olesen, John Forbes

2010-01-01

Moisture-induced fracture and lack of shape stability in solid wood products are well known problems to the saw-milling and building industries. Cracks that initiate during the drying process may cause severe material losses and the building industry may be forced to use alternative building....... An experimental study has been performed to reveal the cracking behaviour of Norway spruce during drying from green moisture content down to equilibrium moisture content (EMC) at a temperature of 22-24°C and a RH of 64%. The moisture related strains and crack widths were measured with a digital image correlation...... than the thinner ones (15 mm) and the crack patterns developed differently. For the thicker discs the early cracks which may partly be caused by the moisture gradient in the longitudinal direction of the log, closed and became invisible later during the drying process. This indicates that sealing...

Soft computing modelling of moisture sorption isotherms of milk-foxtail millet powder and determination of thermodynamic properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Simha, H V Vikram; Pushpadass, Heartwin A; Franklin, Magdaline Eljeeva Emerald; Kumar, P Arun; Manimala, K

2016-06-01

Moisture sorption isotherms of spray-dried milk-foxtail millet powder were determined at 10, 25 and 40 °C. Sorption data was fitted using classical and soft-computing approaches. The isotherms were of type II, and equilibrium moisture content (EMC) was temperature dependent. The BET monolayer moisture content decreased from 3.30 to 2.67 % as temperature increased from 10 to 40 °C. Amongst the classical models, Ferro-Fontan gave the best fit of EMC-aw data. However, the Sugeno-type adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) with generalized bell-shaped membership function performed better than artificial neural network and classical models with RMSE as low as 0.0099. The isosteric heat of sorption decreased from 150.32 kJ mol(-1) at 1 % moisture content to 44.11 kJ mol(-1) at 15 % moisture. The enthalpy-entropy compensation theory was validated, and the isokinetic and harmonic mean temperatures were determined as 333.1 and 297.5 K, respectively.

On the intrinsic moisture permeation rate of remote microwave plasma-deposited silicon nitride layers

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Assche, F. J. H.; Unnikrishnan, S.; Michels, J. J.; van Mol, A. M. B.; van de Weijer, P.; M. C. M. van de Sanden,; Creatore, M.

2014-01-01

We report on a low substrate temperature (110 °C) remote microwave plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process of silicon nitride barrier layers against moisture permeation for organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) and other moisture sensitive devices such as organic

Soil sample moisture content as a function of time during oven drying for gamma-ray spectroscopic measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benke, R.R.; Kearfott, K.J.

1999-01-01

In routine gamma-ray spectroscopic analysis of collected soil samples, procedure often calls to remove soil moisture by oven drying overnight at a temperature of 100 deg. C . Oven drying not only minimizes the gamma-ray self-attenuation of soil samples due to the absence of water during the gamma-ray spectroscopic analysis, but also allows for a straightforward calculation of the specific activity of radionuclides in soil, historically based on the sample dry weight. Because radon exhalation is strongly dependent on moisture , knowledge of the oven-drying time dependence of the soil moisture content, combined with radon exhalation measurements during oven drying and at room temperature for varying soil moisture contents, would allow conclusions to be made on how the oven-drying radon exhalation rate depends on soil moisture content. Determinations of the oven-drying radon exhalation from soil samples allow corrections to be made for the immediate laboratory gamma-ray spectroscopy of radionuclides in the natural uranium decay chain. This paper presents the results of soil moisture content measurements during oven drying and suggests useful empirical fits to the moisture data

Investigation of Historic Equilibrium Moisture Content Data from the Forest Products Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Samuel V. Glass; Samuel L. Zelinka; Jay A. Johnson

2014-01-01

The Forest Products Laboratory (FPL) has provided equilibrium moisture content (EMC) values of wood for given temperature and relative humidity (RH) conditions in various forms over the course of its history, primarily for practical purposes related to drying lumber and controlling moisture content. The FPL EMC data have been widely cited and reprinted, not only in...

Optimum moisture levels for biodegradation of mortality composting envelope materials.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahn, H K; Richard, T L; Glanville, T D

2008-01-01

Moisture affects the physical and biological properties of compost and other solid-state fermentation matrices. Aerobic microbial systems experience different respiration rates (oxygen uptake and CO2 evolution) as a function of moisture content and material type. In this study the microbial respiration rates of 12 mortality composting envelope materials were measured by a pressure sensor method at six different moisture levels. A wide range of respiration (1.6-94.2mg O2/g VS-day) rates were observed for different materials, with alfalfa hay, silage, oat straw, and turkey litter having the highest values. These four envelope materials may be particularly suitable for improving internal temperature and pathogen destruction rates for disease-related mortality composting. Optimum moisture content was determined based on measurements across a range that spans the maximum respiration rate. The optimum moisture content of each material was observed near water holding capacity, which ranged from near 60% to over 80% on a wet basis for all materials except a highly stabilized soil compost blend (optimum around 25% w.b.). The implications of the results for moisture management and process control strategies during mortality composting are discussed.

Understanding natural moisturizing mechanisms: implications for moisturizer technology.

Science.gov (United States)

Chandar, Prem; Nole, Greg; Johnson, Anthony W

2009-07-01

Dry skin and moisturization are important topics because they impact the lives of many individuals. For most individuals, dry skin is not a notable concern and can be adequately managed with current moisturizing products. However, dry skin can affect the quality of life of some individuals because of the challenges of either harsh environmental conditions or impaired stratum corneum (SC) dry skin protection processes resulting from various common skin diseases. Dry skin protection processes of the SC, such as the development of natural moisturizing factor (NMF), are complex, carefully balanced, and easily perturbed. We discuss the importance of the filaggrin-NMF system and the composition of NMF in both healthy and dry skin, and also reveal new insights that suggest the properties required for a new generation of moisturizing technologies.

Aspen increase soil moisture, nutrients, organic matter and respiration in Rocky Mountain forest communities.

Science.gov (United States)

Buck, Joshua R; St Clair, Samuel B

2012-01-01

Development and change in forest communities are strongly influenced by plant-soil interactions. The primary objective of this paper was to identify how forest soil characteristics vary along gradients of forest community composition in aspen-conifer forests to better understand the relationship between forest vegetation characteristics and soil processes. The study was conducted on the Fishlake National Forest, Utah, USA. Soil measurements were collected in adjacent forest stands that were characterized as aspen dominated, mixed, conifer dominated or open meadow, which includes the range of vegetation conditions that exist in seral aspen forests. Soil chemistry, moisture content, respiration, and temperature were measured. There was a consistent trend in which aspen stands demonstrated higher mean soil nutrient concentrations than mixed and conifer dominated stands and meadows. Specifically, total N, NO(3) and NH(4) were nearly two-fold higher in soil underneath aspen dominated stands. Soil moisture was significantly higher in aspen stands and meadows in early summer but converged to similar levels as those found in mixed and conifer dominated stands in late summer. Soil respiration was significantly higher in aspen stands than conifer stands or meadows throughout the summer. These results suggest that changes in disturbance regimes or climate scenarios that favor conifer expansion or loss of aspen will decrease soil resource availability, which is likely to have important feedbacks on plant community development.

Opto-thermal moisture content and moisture depth profile measurements in organic materials

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Xiao, P.; Guo, X.; Cui, Y.Y.; Imhof, R.; Bicanic, D.D.

2004-01-01

Opto-thermal transient emission radiometry(OTTER) is a infrared remote sensing technique, which has been successfully used in in vivo skin moisture content and skin moisture depth profiling measurements.In present paper, we extend this moisture content measurement capability to analyze the moisture

Equilibrium moisture content of OSB panels produced with veneer inclusion and different types of adhesive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lourival Marin Mendes

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study was to evaluate different statistical models to estimate the equilibrium moisture content of OSB panels exposed to different conditions of air temperature and relative humidity, And also to evaluate the influence of the adhesive and veneer inclusion in the equilibrium moisture content. The panels were produced with three different adhesive types (phenol-formaldehyde - FF, melamine-urea-formaldehyde - MUF, and phenol-melamine-urea-formaldehyde - PMUF and with and without veneer inclusion. The evaluation of the equilibrium moisture content of the panels was carried out at temperatures of 30, 40 and 50°C and relative humidity of 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90%. The modeling of equilibrium moisture content was performed using the statistical non-linear and polynomial models. In general, the polynomial models are most indicated for determining the equilibrium moisture content of OSB. The models adjusted only with air relative humidity presented the best precision measurements. The type of adhesive affected the equilibrium moisture content of the panels, being observed for adhesives PMUF and FF the same trend of variation, and the highest values obtained for the panels produced with adhesive MUF. The veneer inclusion decreased the equilibrium moisture content only in the panels with MUF adhesive.

Evaluation of Assimilated SMOS Soil Moisture Data for US Cropland Soil Moisture Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Zhengwei; Sherstha, Ranjay; Crow, Wade; Bolten, John; Mladenova, Iva; Yu, Genong; Di, Liping

2016-01-01

Remotely sensed soil moisture data can provide timely, objective and quantitative crop soil moisture information with broad geospatial coverage and sufficiently high resolution observations collected throughout the growing season. This paper evaluates the feasibility of using the assimilated ESA Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS)Mission L-band passive microwave data for operational US cropland soil surface moisture monitoring. The assimilated SMOS soil moisture data are first categorized to match with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) survey based weekly soil moisture observation data, which are ordinal. The categorized assimilated SMOS soil moisture data are compared with NASSs survey-based weekly soil moisture data for consistency and robustness using visual assessment and rank correlation. Preliminary results indicate that the assimilated SMOS soil moisture data highly co-vary with NASS field observations across a large geographic area. Therefore, SMOS data have great potential for US operational cropland soil moisture monitoring.

Radiolysis of Aqueous Benzene Solutions at higher temperatures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Christensen, H

1964-07-15

Aqueous solutions of benzene have been irradiated with Co {gamma}-rays with doses of up to 2.3 Mrad in the temperature region 100 - 200 C. At 100 C a linear relationship between the phenol concentration and the absorbed dose was obtained, but at 150 C and at higher temperatures the rate of the phenol formation increased significantly after an initial constant period. With higher doses the rate decreased again, falling almost to zero at 200 C after a dose of 2.2 Mrad. The G value of phenol in the initial linear period increased from 2.8 at 100 C to 8.0 at 200 C. The reaction mechanism is discussed and reactions constituting a chain reaction are suggested. The result of the addition of iron ions and of a few inorganic oxides to the system is presented and briefly discussed.

Radiolysis of Aqueous Benzene Solutions at higher temperatures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Christensen, H.

1964-07-01

Aqueous solutions of benzene have been irradiated with Co γ-rays with doses of up to 2.3 Mrad in the temperature region 100 - 200 C. At 100 C a linear relationship between the phenol concentration and the absorbed dose was obtained, but at 150 C and at higher temperatures the rate of the phenol formation increased significantly after an initial constant period. With higher doses the rate decreased again, falling almost to zero at 200 C after a dose of 2.2 Mrad. The G value of phenol in the initial linear period increased from 2.8 at 100 C to 8.0 at 200 C. The reaction mechanism is discussed and reactions constituting a chain reaction are suggested. The result of the addition of iron ions and of a few inorganic oxides to the system is presented and briefly discussed

Sandwich panels with high performance concrete thin plates at elevated temperatures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hulin, Thomas; Hodicky, Kamil; Schmidt, Jacob Wittrup

2015-01-01

concerned HMT modelling and elastic stress analysis with nonlinear temperature effects of a full size loaded sandwich wall, qualitatively assessing the location of critically stressed zones. Modelling output was compared to published experimental results. The model reproduced experimental temperature...... recordings satisfactorily, except phase changes of water at low heating rates. It was suggested that the function governing moisture evolution with temperature and pressure should be updated for HPC. Pore pressure was found critical for sandwich structures due their higher temperatures. Adding polypropylene...

Settlement determination of operating moisture of autoclaved aerated concrete in different climatic zones

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pastushkov Pavel Pavlovich

Full Text Available In the process of operation of buildings the moisture state of enveloping structures materials is changing depending on their construction features, properties of the material, temperature and moisture conditions in the premises, climatic conditions of the construction area. Moisture mode determines the operational properties of the enveloping structures of a building. It directly influences the thermal characteristics of enveloping structure and energy efficiency of the applied materials. The analysis of the methods for calculation of moisture behavior of enclosing structures is carried out. The research relevance of operational moisture of AAC is substantiated. Experimental studies and results of the sorption moisturizing and water vapor permeability of leading marks of aerated concrete are carried out. The authors offer the results of numerical calculations of the moisture behavior of aerated concrete in the walls with mark D400 with facade thermal insulation composite systems - with external plaster layers for different climatic zones of construction.

Highly Efficient Moisture-Triggered Nanogenerator Based on Graphene Quantum Dots.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Yaxin; Cheng, Huhu; Shi, Gaoquan; Qu, Liangti

2017-11-08

A high-performance moisture triggered nanogenerator is fabricated by using graphene quantum dots (GQDs) as the active material. GQDs are prepared by direct oxidation and etching of natural graphite powder, which have small sizes of 2-5 nm and abundant oxygen-containing functional groups. After the treatment by electrochemical polarization, the GQDs-based moisture triggered nanogenerator can deliver a high voltage up to 0.27 V under 70% relative humidity variation, and a power density of 1.86 mW cm -2 with an optimized load resistor. The latter value is much higher than the moisture-electric power generators reported previously. The GQD moisture triggered nanogenerator is promising for self-power electronics and miniature sensors.

Effects of temperature and immersion time on diffusion of moisture and minerals during rehydration of osmotically treated pork meat cubes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Šuput Danijela Z.

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to study the changes in osmotically treated pork meat during rehydration. Meat samples were osmotically treated in sugar beet molasses solution, at temperature of (23±2°C for 5 hours. After being osmotically treated, meat samples were rehydrated at constant temperature (20- 40°C during different times (15-60 min in distilled water. The effective diffusivity were between 8.35 and 9.11•10-10 (m2•s-1 for moisture, 6.30-6.94 • 10-10 (m2•s-1, for Na, 5.73-7.46 10-10 (m2•s-1, for K, 4.43-6.25 • 10-10 (m2•s-1, for Ca, 5.35-6.25 • 10-10 (m2•s-1, for Mg, 4.67-6.78 10-10 (m2•s-1, for Cu, 4.68-5.33 • 10-10 (m2•s-1, for Fe, 4.21-5.04 • 10-10 (m2•s-1, for Zn and 5.44-7.16 10-10 (m2•s-1, for Mn. Zugarramurdi and Lupin’s model was used to predict the equilibrium condition, which was shown to be appropriate for moisture uptake and solute loss during rehydration. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR-31055: Osmotic dehydration of food - energy and environmental aspects of sustainable production

Technique for mass-spectrometric determination of moisture content in fuel elements and fuel element claddings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurillovich, A.N.; Pimonov, Yu.I.; Biryukov, A.S.

1988-01-01

A technique for mass-spectroimetric determination of moisture content in fuel elements and fuek claddings in the 2x10 -4 -1.5x10 -2 g range is developed. The relative standard deviation is 0.13. A character of moisture extraction from oxide uranium fuels in the 20-700 deg C temperature range is studied. Approximately 80% of moisture is extracted from the fuels at 300 deg C. The moisture content in fuel elements with granular uranium oxide fuels is measured. Dependence of fuel element moisture content on conditions of hot vacuum drying is shown. The technique permits to optimize the fuel element fabrication process to decrease the moisture content in them. 4 refs.; 3 figs.; 2 tabs

Multiscale soil moisture estimates using static and roving cosmic-ray soil moisture sensors

Science.gov (United States)

McJannet, David; Hawdon, Aaron; Baker, Brett; Renzullo, Luigi; Searle, Ross

2017-12-01

Soil moisture plays a critical role in land surface processes and as such there has been a recent increase in the number and resolution of satellite soil moisture observations and the development of land surface process models with ever increasing resolution. Despite these developments, validation and calibration of these products has been limited because of a lack of observations on corresponding scales. A recently developed mobile soil moisture monitoring platform, known as the rover, offers opportunities to overcome this scale issue. This paper describes methods, results and testing of soil moisture estimates produced using rover surveys on a range of scales that are commensurate with model and satellite retrievals. Our investigation involved static cosmic-ray neutron sensors and rover surveys across both broad (36 × 36 km at 9 km resolution) and intensive (10 × 10 km at 1 km resolution) scales in a cropping district in the Mallee region of Victoria, Australia. We describe approaches for converting rover survey neutron counts to soil moisture and discuss the factors controlling soil moisture variability. We use independent gravimetric and modelled soil moisture estimates collected across both space and time to validate rover soil moisture products. Measurements revealed that temporal patterns in soil moisture were preserved through time and regression modelling approaches were utilised to produce time series of property-scale soil moisture which may also have applications in calibration and validation studies or local farm management. Intensive-scale rover surveys produced reliable soil moisture estimates at 1 km resolution while broad-scale surveys produced soil moisture estimates at 9 km resolution. We conclude that the multiscale soil moisture products produced in this study are well suited to future analysis of satellite soil moisture retrievals and finer-scale soil moisture models.

Microwave radiometric measurements of soil moisture in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Macelloni

2003-01-01

Full Text Available Within the framework of the MAP and RAPHAEL projects, airborne experimental campaigns were carried out by the IFAC group in 1999 and 2000, using a multifrequency microwave radiometer at L, C and X bands (1.4, 6.8 and 10 GHz. The aim of the experiments was to collect soil moisture and vegetation biomass information on agricultural areas to give reliable inputs to the hydrological models. It is well known that microwave emission from soil, mainly at L-band (1.4 GHz, is very well correlated to its moisture content. Two experimental areas in Italy were selected for this project: one was the Toce Valley, Domodossola, in 1999, and the other, the agricultural area of Cerbaia, close to Florence, where flights were performed in 2000. Measurements were carried out on bare soils, corn and wheat fields in different growth stages and on meadows. Ground data of soil moisture (SMC were collected by other research teams involved in the experiments. From the analysis of the data sets, it has been confirmed that L-band is well related to the SMC of a rather deep soil layer, whereas C-band is sensitive to the surface SMC and is more affected by the presence of surface roughness and vegetation, especially at high incidence angles. An algorithm for the retrieval of soil moisture, based on the sensitivity to moisture of the brightness temperature at C-band, has been tested using the collected data set. The results of the algorithm, which is able to correct for the effect of vegetation by means of the polarisation index at X-band, have been compared with soil moisture data measured on the ground. Finally, the sensitivity of emission at different frequencies to the soil moisture profile was investigated. Experimental data sets were interpreted by using the Integral Equation Model (IEM and the outputs of the model were used to train an artificial neural network to reproduce the soil moisture content at different depths. Keywords: microwave radiometry, soil moisture

Estimating surface turbulent heat fluxes from land surface temperature and soil moisture using the particle batch smoother

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Yang; Dong, Jianzhi; Steele-Dunne, Susan; van de Giesen, Nick

2016-04-01

This study is focused on estimating surface sensible and latent heat fluxes from land surface temperature (LST) time series and soil moisture observations. Surface turbulent heat fluxes interact with the overlying atmosphere and play a crucial role in meteorology, hydrology and other climate-related fields, but in-situ measurements are costly and difficult. It has been demonstrated that the time series of LST contains information of energy partitioning and that surface turbulent heat fluxes can be determined from assimilation of LST. These studies are mainly based on two assumptions: (1) a monthly value of bulk heat transfer coefficient under neutral conditions (CHN) which scales the sum of the fluxes, and (2) an evaporation fraction (EF) which stays constant during the near-peak hours of the day. Previous studies have applied variational and ensemble approaches to this problem. Here the newly developed particle batch smoother (PBS) algorithm is adopted to test its capability in this application. The PBS can be seen as an extension of the standard particle filter (PF) in which the states and parameters within a fix window are updated in a batch using all observations in the window. The aim of this study is two-fold. First, the PBS is used to assimilate only LST time series into the force-restore model to estimate fluxes. Second, a simple soil water transfer scheme is introduced to evaluate the benefit of assimilating soil moisture observations simultaneously. The experiments are implemented using the First ISLSCP (International Satellite Land Surface Climatology Project) (FIFE) data. It is shown that the restored LST time series using PBS agrees very well with observations, and that assimilating LST significantly improved the flux estimation at both daily and half-hourly time scales. When soil moisture is introduced to further constrain EF, the accuracy of estimated EF is greatly improved. Furthermore, the RMSEs of retrieved fluxes are effectively reduced at both

Unsaturated zone moisture and vapor movement induced by temperature variations in asphalt barrier field lysimeters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holford, D.J.; Fayer, M.J.

1990-08-01

Protective barriers are being considered for use at the Hanford Site to enhance the isolation of radioactive wastes from water, plant, and animal intrusion. Lysimeters were constructed to evaluate the performance of asphalt barrier formulations under natural environmental conditions. These lysimeters were constructed of 1.7-m lengths of PVC pipe that have a diameter of 30 cm. The lysimeters were filled with layers of gravel, coarse sand, and asphalt. The sand and gravel placed under the asphalt barrier were wet when installed. TOUGH was used to conduct simulations to assess the effect of temperature variations on moisture and vapor movement beneath the asphalt layer in field test lysimeters. All variables in TOUGH were converted to double precision so that simulations could be run on a Sun-4 UNIX workstation. A radially symmetric grid was used to simulate the lysimeter. 8 refs., 9 figs

Semi-empirical prediction of moisture build-up in an electronic enclosure using analysis of variance (ANOVA)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shojaee Nasirabadi, Parizad; Conseil, Helene; Mohanty, Sankhya

2016-01-01

Electronic systems are exposed to harsh environmental conditions such as high humidity in many applications. Moisture transfer into electronic enclosures and condensation can cause several problems as material degradation and corrosion. Therefore, it is important to control the moisture content...... and the relative humidity inside electronic enclosures. In this work, moisture transfer into a typical polycarbonate electronic enclosure with a cylindrical shape opening is studied. The effects of four influential parameters namely, initial relative humidity inside the enclosure, radius and length of the opening...... and temperature are studied. A set of experiments are done based on a fractional factorial design in order to estimate the time constant for moisture transfer into the enclosure by fitting the experimental data to an analytical quasi-steady-state model. According to the statistical analysis, temperature...

HIRS-AMTS satellite sounding system test - Theoretical and empirical vertical resolving power. [High resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder - Advanced Moisture and Temperature Sounder

Science.gov (United States)

Thompson, O. E.

1982-01-01

The present investigation is concerned with the vertical resolving power of satellite-borne temperature sounding instruments. Information is presented on the capabilities of the High Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) and a proposed sounding instrument called the Advanced Moisture and Temperature Sounder (AMTS). Two quite different methods for assessing the vertical resolving power of satellite sounders are discussed. The first is the theoretical method of Conrath (1972) which was patterned after the work of Backus and Gilbert (1968) The Backus-Gilbert-Conrath (BGC) approach includes a formalism for deriving a retrieval algorithm for optimizing the vertical resolving power. However, a retrieval algorithm constructed in the BGC optimal fashion is not necessarily optimal as far as actual temperature retrievals are concerned. Thus, an independent criterion for vertical resolving power is discussed. The criterion is based on actual retrievals of signal structure in the temperature field.

Moisture diffusion and permeability characteristics of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose and hard gelatin capsules.

Science.gov (United States)

Barham, Ahmad S; Tewes, Frederic; Healy, Anne Marie

2015-01-30

The primary objective of this paper is to compare the sorption characteristics of hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC) and hard gelatin (HG) capsules and their ability to protect capsule contents. Moisture sorption and desorption isotherms for empty HPMC and HG capsules have been investigated using dynamic vapour sorption (DVS) at 25°C. All sorption studies were analysed using the Young-Nelson model equations which distinguishes three moisture sorption types: monolayer adsorption moisture, condensation and absorption. Water vapour diffusion coefficients (D), solubility (S) and permeability (P) parameters of the capsule shells were calculated. ANOVA was performed with the Tukey comparison test to analyse the effect of %RH and capsule type on S, P, and D parameters. The moisture uptake of HG capsules were higher than HPMC capsules at all %RH conditions studied. It was found that values of D and P across HPMC capsules were greater than for HG capsules at 0-40 %RH; whereas over the same %RH range S values were higher for HG than for HPMC capsules. S values decreased gradually as the %RH was increased up to 60% RH. To probe the effect of moisture ingress, spray dried lactose was loaded into capsules. Phase evolution was characterised by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The capsules under investigation are not capable of protecting spray dried lactose from induced solid state changes as a result of moisture uptake. For somewhat less moisture sensitive formulations, HPMC would appear to be a better choice than HG in terms of protection of moisture induced deterioration. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Moisture parameters and fungal communities associated with gypsum drywall in buildings.

Science.gov (United States)

Dedesko, Sandra; Siegel, Jeffrey A

2015-12-08

/or species, temperature, and nutrient availability. Despite these complexities, meaningful measurements can still be made to inform fungal growth by making localised, long-term, and continuous measurements of surface moisture. Such an approach will capture variations in a material's surface moisture, which could provide insight on a number of conditions that could lead to fungal proliferation.

The SMOS Validation Campaign 2010 in the Upper Danube Catchment: A Data Set for Studies of Soil Moisture, Brightness Temperature, and Their Spatial Variability Over a Heterogeneous Land Surface

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

T. dall' Amico, Johanna; Schlenz, Florian; Loew, Alexander

2013-01-01

resolutions from roughly 400 m to 2 km. The contemporaneous distributed ground measurements include surface soil moisture, a detailed land cover map, vegetation height, phenology, and biomass. Furthermore, several ground stations provide continuous measurements of soil moisture and soil temperature as well...... infrared and L-band passive microwave data were collected together with spatially distributed in situ measurements. Two airborne radiometers, EMIRAD and HUT-2D, were used during the campaigns providing two complementary sets of measurements at incidence angles from 0$^{circ}$ to 40$^{circ}$ and with ground...

Anthropogenic moisture production and its effect on boundary layer circulations over New York City

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bornstein, R.D.; Tam, Y.T.

1975-01-01

A heat and moisture excess over New York City is shown to exist by the analysis of helicopter soundings of temperature and wet bulb depression. The magnitude of the temporal and spatial distribution of anthropogenic moisture emissions in New York City were estimated from fuel usage data. The URBMET urban boundary layer model was used to evaluate the effects on the dynamics of the urban boundary layer resulting from the observed urban moisture excess. Work is currently in progress which seeks to determine the fraction of the observed moisture excess over New York that is due to anthropogenic sources. (auth)

Effect of moisture and temperature variation on DOC release from a peatland: conflicting results from laboratory, field and historical data analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Preston, Michael D; Eimers, M Catherine; Watmough, Shaun A

2011-03-01

Peatlands are large repositories of atmospheric carbon and concern has been raised over the stability of this carbon store because increasing dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations have been observed in peatland drainage waters. A number of potential causes have been proposed in the literature, and conflicting results among studies conducted at different spatial and temporal scales suggest that the methodological approach may be an important confounding factor. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of moisture and temperature on DOC release from a south-central Ontario peatland during the fall (a major export period) following three commonly used approaches: laboratory microcosms, an intensive field study and analysis of long-term data (1980-2008). The effect of variations in temperature and moisture differed among microcosm, field study and analysis of the long-term record. Water content was important at the microcosm scale as DOC concentration and aromaticity increased with peat water-saturation. Drought caused a decrease in DOC concentration and pH, and an increase in sulphate and base cation concentrations. In contrast, the field study indicated that DOC concentration was strongly associated with temperature, and weakly correlated (negatively) with stream discharge. Average fall DOC concentration (but not export) increased over the 29 year record, and was correlated with fall discharge and precipitation (negative) and summer precipitation and fall stream pH (positive). As no common strong predictor of fall DOC was found at three scales of investigation at a single, well-studied site, it may be unreasonable to expect to identify a universal driver behind the widespread increase in DOC concentration. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Moisture variation associated with water input and evaporation during sewage sludge bio-drying.

Science.gov (United States)

Cai, Lu; Gao, Ding; Chen, Tong-Bin; Liu, Hong-Tao; Zheng, Guo-Di; Yang, Qi-Wei

2012-08-01

The variation of moisture during sewage sludge bio-drying was investigated. In situ measurements were conducted to monitor the bulk moisture and water vapor, while the moisture content, water generation, water evaporation and aeration water input of the bio-drying bulk were calculated based on the water mass balance. The moisture in the sewage sludge bio-drying material decreased from 66% to 54% in response to control technology for bio-drying. During the temperature increasing and thermophilic phases of sewage sludge bio-drying, the moisture content, water generation and water evaporation of the bulk initially increased and then decreased. The peak water generation and evaporation occurred during the thermophilic phase. During the bio-drying, water evaporation was much greater than water generation, and aeration facilitated the water evaporation. Copyright © 2012. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Model for Anomalous Moisture Diffusion through a Polymer-Clay Nanocomposite

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Drozdov, Aleksey D.; Christiansen, Jesper de Claville; Gupta, R.K.

2003-01-01

Experimental data are reported on moisture diffusion and the elastoplastic response of an intercalated nanocomposite with vinyl ester resin matrix and montmorillonite clay filler at room temperature. Observations in diffusion tests showed that water transport in the neat resin is Fickian, whereas...... platelets. Constitutive equations are developed for moisture diffusion through and the elastoplastic behavior of a nanocomposite. Adjustable parameters in these relations are found by fitting the experimental data. Fair agreement is demonstrated between the observations and the results of numerical...

Specification of indoor climate design parameters at the assessment of moisture protective properties of enclosing structures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kornienko Sergey Valer’evich

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Due to wide implementation of enveloping structures with increased heat-insulation properties in modern construction here appeared a necessity to assess their moisture conditions. Assessment of moisture conditions of enveloping structures is carried out according to maximum allowable moisture state basing on determining the surface of maximum damping. In relation to it the necessity of additional vapour barrier is checked using moisture balance equation. Though the change of indoor climate parameters in premises is not taken into account in moisture balance equations defined for different seasons. The author improves the method of calculating moisture protective parameters of enclosing structures according to the maximum allowable damping state for a year and a period of moisture accumulation. It is shown in this article that accounting of temperature and relative humidity change of inside air allows specifying calculated parameters of indoor climate in residential and office rooms in assessment of moisture protective properties of enclosing structures for the case of an effective enclosing structure with a façade heat-insulation composite system. Coordinates of the maximum moistened surface of the envelope depends on indoor climate design parameters. It is concluded that the increase of requirements for moisture protection of enclosing structures when using design values of temperature and relative humidity of internal air according to the Russian regulation (SP 50.13330.2012 is not always reasonable. Accounting of changes of indoor climate parameters allows more precise assessment of moisture protective properties of enclosing structures during their design.

Temperature variation of higher-order elastic constants of MgO

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

series of strains using Taylor's series expansion. The coefficients of quadratic, cu- ... as thermal expansion, specific heat at higher temperature, temperature variation of ultrasonic velocity and attenuation, .... such studies have an impression that linear variation of elastic constant is true. The experimental study shows that ...

Moisture Performance of Energy-Efficient and Conventional Wood-Frame Wall Assemblies in a Mixed-Humid Climate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Samuel V. Glass

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Long-term moisture performance is a critical consideration for design and construction of building envelopes in energy-efficient buildings, yet field measurements of moisture characteristics for highly insulated wood-frame walls in mixed-humid climates are lacking. Temperature, relative humidity, and moisture content of wood framing and oriented strand board (OSB structural panel sheathing were measured over a period from mid-November 2011 through March 2013 in both north- and south-facing orientations in test structures near Washington, DC, USA. Wall configurations varied in exterior cladding, water-resistive barrier, level of cavity insulation, presence of exterior continuous insulation, and interior vapor retarder. The combination of high interior humidity and high vapor permeance of painted gypsum board led to significant moisture accumulation in OSB sheathing during winter in walls without a vapor retarder. In contrast, wintertime moisture accumulation was not significant with an interior kraft vapor retarder. Extruded polystyrene exterior insulation had a predictable effect on wall cavity temperature but a marginal impact on OSB moisture content in walls with vinyl siding and interior kraft vapor retarder. Hygrothermal simulations approximately captured the timing of seasonal changes in OSB moisture content, differences between north- and south-facing walls, and differences between walls with and without an interior kraft vapor retarder.

Validation of soil moisture ocean salinity (SMOS) satellite soil moisture products

Science.gov (United States)

The surface soil moisture state controls the partitioning of precipitation into infiltration and runoff. High-resolution observations of soil moisture will lead to improved flood forecasts, especially for intermediate to large watersheds where most flood damage occurs. Soil moisture is also key in d...

Shivering and rewarming after cardiac surgery: comparison of ventilator circuits with humidifier and heated wires to heat and moisture exchangers.

Science.gov (United States)

McEvoy, M T; Carey, T J

1995-07-01

Detrimental physiologic effects of shivering in the cardiac surgery patient have been well documented. Rewarming techniques have been compared, with noted differences in the incidence of shivering. Ventilator circuits have not been examined independently from other rewarming variables. To compare heated wire humidification circuits with heat and moisture exchanger circuits on the incidence of shivering and speed and pattern of rewarming in mechanically ventilated patients. A prospective, descriptive, correlational study was done on 140 adult cardiac surgery patients in a university teaching medical center. All subjects underwent cardiac surgical procedures with hypothermic cardiopulmonary bypass. Subjects were randomized to humidified, heated wire circuits (n = 70) or heat and moisture exchanger circuits (n = 70). Heated water blankets were used on all patients. Mean intensive care unit admission temperature was 35.28 degrees C. No statistical differences were found in preoperative, demographic, or operative course data between treatment and control groups. Shivering was more common in the heat and moisture exchanger group than in the heated wire group. In our analysis, the only variable associated with shivering was the type of ventilator circuit. Patients using heated wire systems rewarmed more rapidly and had significantly higher temperatures than did patients using heat and moisture exchangers. These data suggest that use of heated wire humidified ventilator circuits with heated water blankets in adult cardiac surgery patients significantly reduces the incidence of shivering and results in a more rapid return to normothermia.

Controlling moisture content of wood samples using a modified soil-pan decay method

Science.gov (United States)

Jerrold E. Winandy; Simon F. Curling; Patricia K. Lebow

2005-01-01

In wood, the threshold level below which decay cannot occur varies with species or type of wood product and other factors such as temperature, humidity, and propensity of exposure or service-use to allow rain-induced wetting and subsequent drying. The ability to control wood moisture content (MC) during laboratory decay testing could allow research on the moisture...

A model for anomalous moisture diffusion through a polymer-clay nanocomposite

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Drozdov, Aleksey D.; Christiansen, Jesper de Claville; Gupta, R.K.

2002-01-01

Experimental data are reported on moisture diffusion and the elastoplastic response in uniaxial tensile tests of an intercalated nanocomposite with vinyl ester resin matrix and montmorillonite clay filler at room temperature. Observations in diffusion tests show that the moisture transport...... diffusion through a nanocomposite and for its elastoplastic behavior. Adjustable parameters in these relations are found by fitting the experimental data. Fair agreement is demonstrated between the observations and the results of numerical simulation....

Fort St. Vrain high temperature gas-cooled reactor. Pt. 12. The dew point moisture monitor testing program

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olson, H.G. (Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (USA). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering); Brey, H.L. (Public Service Co. of Colorado, Denver (USA)); Swart, F.E. (Gas-Cooled Reactor Associates, La Jolla, CA (USA)); Forbis, J.M. (Storage Technology Corp., Louisville, CO (USA))

1982-09-01

Moisture ingress into the core volume could cause damaging reactions with the moderator-reflector graphite and burnable poison, therefore a dew point moisture monitoring system has been developed with the basic design criteria that a plant protective system trip is signaled after the system detects high primary coolant helium moisture levels and that the system is able to correctly identify which of two steam generator loops is leaking. Modifications to the sample supplies to the monitors were necessary to reduce the system's unsatisfactory response time at lower reactor power levels.

The Impacts of Heating Strategy on Soil Moisture Estimation Using Actively Heated Fiber Optics.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, Jianzhi; Agliata, Rosa; Steele-Dunne, Susan; Hoes, Olivier; Bogaard, Thom; Greco, Roberto; van de Giesen, Nick

2017-09-13

Several recent studies have highlighted the potential of Actively Heated Fiber Optics (AHFO) for high resolution soil moisture mapping. In AHFO, the soil moisture can be calculated from the cumulative temperature ( T cum ), the maximum temperature ( T max ), or the soil thermal conductivity determined from the cooling phase after heating ( λ ). This study investigates the performance of the T cum , T max and λ methods for different heating strategies, i.e., differences in the duration and input power of the applied heat pulse. The aim is to compare the three approaches and to determine which is best suited to field applications where the power supply is limited. Results show that increasing the input power of the heat pulses makes it easier to differentiate between dry and wet soil conditions, which leads to an improved accuracy. Results suggest that if the power supply is limited, the heating strength is insufficient for the λ method to yield accurate estimates. Generally, the T cum and T max methods have similar accuracy. If the input power is limited, increasing the heat pulse duration can improve the accuracy of the AHFO method for both of these techniques. In particular, extending the heating duration can significantly increase the sensitivity of T cum to soil moisture. Hence, the T cum method is recommended when the input power is limited. Finally, results also show that up to 50% of the cable temperature change during the heat pulse can be attributed to soil background temperature, i.e., soil temperature changed by the net solar radiation. A method is proposed to correct this background temperature change. Without correction, soil moisture information can be completely masked by the background temperature error.

Assessment of the SMAP Passive Soil Moisture Product

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Steven K.; Bindlish, Rajat; O'Neill, Peggy E.; Njoku, Eni; Jackson, Tom; Colliander, Andreas; Chen, Fan; Burgin, Mariko; Dunbar, Scott; Piepmeier, Jeffrey;

Temperature measurements from a horizontal heater test in G-Tunnel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lin, Wunan; Ramirez, A.L.; Watwood, D.

1991-10-01

A horizontal heater test was conducted in G-Tunnel, Nevada Test Site, to study the hydrothermal response of the rock mass due to a thermal loading. The results of the temperature measurements are reported here. The measured temperatures agree well with a scoping calculation that was performed using a model which investigates the transport of water, vapor, air, and heat in fractured porous media. Our results indicate that the temperature field might be affected by the initial moisture content of the rock, the fractures in the rock, the distance from the free surface of the alcove wall, and the temperature distribution on the heater surface. Higher initial moisture content, higher fracture density, and cooling from the alcove wall tend to decrease the measured temperature. The temperature on top of the horizontal heater can was about 30 degrees C greater than at the bottom throughout most of the heating phase, causing the rock temperatures above the heater to be greater than those below. Along a radius from the center of the heater, the heating created a dry zone, followed by a boiling zone and condensation zone. Gravity drainage of the condensed water in the condensation zone had a strong effect on the boiling process in the test region. The temperatures below and to the side of the heater indicated a region receiving liquid drainage from an overlying region of condensation. We verified that a thermocouple in a thin-wall tubing measures the same temperature as one grouted in a borehole

Dynamic analysis of temporal moisture profiles in heatset printing studied with near-infrared spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tåg, C-M; Toiviainen, M; Juuti, M; Gane, P A C

2010-01-01

Dynamic analysis of the water transfer onto coated paper, and its permeation and absorption into the porous structure were studied online in a full-scale heatset web offset printing environment. The moisture content of the paper was investigated at five different positions during the printing process. Changes in the moisture content of the paper were studied as a function of the web temperature, printing speed and silicone application in the folding unit positioned after the hot air drying oven. Additionally, the influence of fountain solution composition on the pick-up by the paper was investigated. The water content of the fountain solution transferred to the paper from the printing units was observed as changes in near-infrared absorbance. A calibration data set enabled the subsequent quantification of the dynamic moisture content of the paper at the studied locations. An increase in the printing speed reduced the water transfer to the paper and an increase in web temperature resulted in a reduction in the moisture content. An increase in the dosage level of the water–silicone mixture was observed as a re-moistening effect of the paper. Differences in the drying strategy resulted in different moisture profiles depending on the type of fountain solution used. As a conclusion, the near-infrared signal provides an effective way to characterize the moisture dynamics online at different press units

Impact of Soil Moisture Assimilation on Land Surface Model Spin-Up and Coupled LandAtmosphere Prediction

Science.gov (United States)

Santanello, Joseph A., Jr.; Kumar, Sujay V.; Peters-Lidard, Christa D.; Lawston, P.

2016-01-01

Advances in satellite monitoring of the terrestrial water cycle have led to a concerted effort to assimilate soil moisture observations from various platforms into offline land surface models (LSMs). One principal but still open question is that of the ability of land data assimilation (LDA) to improve LSM initial conditions for coupled short-term weather prediction. In this study, the impact of assimilating Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS (AMSR-E) soil moisture retrievals on coupled WRF Model forecasts is examined during the summers of dry (2006) and wet (2007) surface conditions in the southern Great Plains. LDA is carried out using NASAs Land Information System (LIS) and the Noah LSM through an ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) approach. The impacts of LDA on the 1) soil moisture and soil temperature initial conditions for WRF, 2) land-atmosphere coupling characteristics, and 3) ambient weather of the coupled LIS-WRF simulations are then assessed. Results show that impacts of soil moisture LDA during the spin-up can significantly modify LSM states and fluxes, depending on regime and season. Results also indicate that the use of seasonal cumulative distribution functions (CDFs) is more advantageous compared to the traditional annual CDF bias correction strategies. LDA performs consistently regardless of atmospheric forcing applied, with greater improvements seen when using coarser, global forcing products. Downstream impacts on coupled simulations vary according to the strength of the LDA impact at the initialization, where significant modifications to the soil moisture flux- PBL-ambient weather process chain are observed. Overall, this study demonstrates potential for future, higher-resolution soil moisture assimilation applications in weather and climate research.

Effect of Organic Vapour on Porous Alumina Based Moisture Sensor in Dry Gases

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saakshi DHANEKAR

2009-08-01

Full Text Available A capacitive porous alumina based trace moisture sensor in the range of 50 to 500 ppm (V was fabricated by low cost sol-gel technique. The cross-sensitivities due to the presence of organic vapours like ethanol, methanol, acetone and benzene were studied. The change in response and recovery time with ppm for moisture sensing was also calculated. The experimental results conclude that moisture sensor is responsive to the polar organic vapours but has almost negligible response to the nonpolar molecules like benzene. Response of the sensor to the organic vapours as compared to the moisture sensitivity is very less. The effect of ambient temperature was found to be negligible.

Estimating the responses of winter wheat yields to moisture variations in the past 35 years in Jiangsu Province of China.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Xiangying; Gao, Ping; Zhu, Xinkai; Guo, Wenshan; Ding, Jinfeng; Li, Chunyan

2018-01-01

Jiangsu is an important agricultural province in China. Winter wheat, as the second major grain crop in the province, is greatly affected by moisture variations. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there were significant trends in changes in the moisture conditions during wheat growing seasons over the past decades and how the wheat yields responded to different moisture levels by means of a popular drought index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). The study started with a trend analysis and quantification of the moisture conditions with the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's Slope method, respectively. Then, correlation analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between de-trended wheat yields and multi-scalar SPEI. Finally, a multivariate panel regression model was established to reveal the quantitative yield responses to moisture variations. The results showed that the moisture conditions in Jiangsu were generally at a normal level, but this century appeared slightly drier in because of the relatively high temperatures. There was a significant correlation between short time scale SPEI values and wheat yields. Among the three critical stages of wheat development, the SPEI values in the late growth stage (April-June) had a closer linkage to the yields than in the seedling stage (October-November) and the over-wintering stage (December-February). Moreover, the yield responses displayed an asymmetric characteristic, namely, moisture excess led to higher yield losses compared to moisture deficit in this region. The maximum yield increment could be obtained under the moisture level of slight drought according to the 3-month SPEI at the late growth stage, while extreme wetting resulted in the most severe yield losses. The moisture conditions in the first 15 years of the 21st century were more favorable than in the last 20 years of the 20th century for wheat production in Jiangsu.

Estimating the responses of winter wheat yields to moisture variations in the past 35 years in Jiangsu Province of China.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangying Xu

Full Text Available Jiangsu is an important agricultural province in China. Winter wheat, as the second major grain crop in the province, is greatly affected by moisture variations. The objective of this study was to investigate whether there were significant trends in changes in the moisture conditions during wheat growing seasons over the past decades and how the wheat yields responded to different moisture levels by means of a popular drought index, the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI. The study started with a trend analysis and quantification of the moisture conditions with the Mann-Kendall test and Sen's Slope method, respectively. Then, correlation analysis was carried out to determine the relationship between de-trended wheat yields and multi-scalar SPEI. Finally, a multivariate panel regression model was established to reveal the quantitative yield responses to moisture variations. The results showed that the moisture conditions in Jiangsu were generally at a normal level, but this century appeared slightly drier in because of the relatively high temperatures. There was a significant correlation between short time scale SPEI values and wheat yields. Among the three critical stages of wheat development, the SPEI values in the late growth stage (April-June had a closer linkage to the yields than in the seedling stage (October-November and the over-wintering stage (December-February. Moreover, the yield responses displayed an asymmetric characteristic, namely, moisture excess led to higher yield losses compared to moisture deficit in this region. The maximum yield increment could be obtained under the moisture level of slight drought according to the 3-month SPEI at the late growth stage, while extreme wetting resulted in the most severe yield losses. The moisture conditions in the first 15 years of the 21st century were more favorable than in the last 20 years of the 20th century for wheat production in Jiangsu.

Thermal–moisture dynamics of embankments with asphalt pavement in permafrost regions of central Tibetan Plateau

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wen, Zhi; Zhang, Mingli; Ma, Wei; Wu, Qingbai; Niu, Fujun; Yu, Qihao; Fan, Zhaosheng; Sun, Zhizhong

2014-09-01

Subsurface moisture content is one of the critical factors that control the thermal dynamics of embankments. However, information on the subsurface moisture movement and distribution in embankments is still limited. To better understand the coupled water and heat transport within embankments, subsurface temperature and moisture of an asphalt pavement highway were extensively measured from 2009 to 2011. Collected data indicate that pure heat conduction is the overall main mechanism of heat transport in the embankment and heat convection plays a relatively unimportant role in heat transport. The results also indicate that subsurface moisture and temperature dynamics in the asphalt layer is strongly related to the rainfall events, while the subsurface moisture content below the road base course maintains relatively constant. Rainfall in summer leads to rapid cooling of the subsurface soil. Our results suggest that frequent and small rainfall events favour the thermal stability of the embankment due to the loss of latent heat of water evaporation. Moisture migration during freezing still occurred in the gravel fill and the water infiltrated into the active layer during thawing period. Freezing-induced water migration may result in the increase in water content of the embankment and the decrease in compactness of gravel fill.

MoisturEC: a new R program for moisture content estimation from electrical conductivity data

Science.gov (United States)

Terry, Neil; Day-Lewis, Frederick D.; Werkema, Dale D.; Lane, John W.

2018-01-01

Noninvasive geophysical estimation of soil moisture has potential to improve understanding of flow in the unsaturated zone for problems involving agricultural management, aquifer recharge, and optimization of landfill design and operations. In principle, several geophysical techniques (e.g., electrical resistivity, electromagnetic induction, and nuclear magnetic resonance) offer insight into soil moisture, but data‐analysis tools are needed to “translate” geophysical results into estimates of soil moisture, consistent with (1) the uncertainty of this translation and (2) direct measurements of moisture. Although geostatistical frameworks exist for this purpose, straightforward and user‐friendly tools are required to fully capitalize on the potential of geophysical information for soil‐moisture estimation. Here, we present MoisturEC, a simple R program with a graphical user interface to convert measurements or images of electrical conductivity (EC) to soil moisture. Input includes EC values, point moisture estimates, and definition of either Archie parameters (based on experimental or literature values) or empirical data of moisture vs. EC. The program produces two‐ and three‐dimensional images of moisture based on available EC and direct measurements of moisture, interpolating between measurement locations using a Tikhonov regularization approach.