Both empirical and process-simulation models are useful for evaluating the effects of management practices on environmental quality and crop yield. The use of these models is limited, however, because they need many soil property values as input. The first step towards modelling is the collection of input data. Soil properties can be highly variable spatially and temporally, and measuring them is time-consuming and expensive. Efficient methods, which consider the uncertainty and cost of measurements, for estimating soil hydraulic properties form the main thrust of this study. Hydraulic properties are affected by other soil physical, and chemical properties, therefore it is possible to develop empirical relations to predict them. This idea quantified is called a pedotransfer function. Such functions may be global or restricted to a country or region. The different classification of particle-size fractions used in Australia compared with other countries presents a problem for the immediate adoption of exotic pedotransfer functions. A database of Australian soil hydraulic properties has been compiled. Pedotransfer functions for estimating water-retention and saturated hydraulic conductivity from particle size and bulk density for Australian soil are presented. Different approaches for deriving hydraulic transfer functions have been presented and compared. Published pedotransfer functions were also evaluated, generally they provide a satisfactory estimation of water retention and saturated hydraulic conductivity depending on the spatial scale and accuracy of prediction. Several pedotransfer functions were developed in this study to predict water retention and hydraulic conductivity. The pedotransfer functions developed here may predict adequately in large areas but for site-specific applications local calibration is needed. There is much uncertainty in the input data, and consequently the transfer functions can produce varied outputs. Uncertainty analysis is therefore needed. A general approach to quantifying uncertainty is to use Monte Carlo methods. By sampling repeatedly from the assumed probability distributions of the input variables and evaluating the response of the model the statistical distribution of the outputs can be estimated. A modified Latin hypercube method is presented for sampling joint multivariate probability distributions. This method is applied to quantify the uncertainties in pedotransfer functions of soil hydraulic properties. Hydraulic properties predicted using pedotransfer functions developed in this study are also used in a field soil-water model to analyze the uncertainties in the prediction of dynamic soil-water regimes. The use of the disc permeameter in the field conventionally requires the placement of a layer of sand in order to provide good contact between the soil surface and disc supply membrane. The effect of sand on water infiltration into the soil and on the estimate of sorptivity was investigated. A numerical study and a field experiment on heavy clay were conducted. Placement of sand significantly increased the cumulative infiltration but showed small differences in the infiltration rate. Estimation of sorptivity based on the Philip's two term algebraic model using different methods was also examined. The field experiment revealed that the error in infiltration measurement was proportional to the cumulative infiltration curve. Infiltration without placement of sand was considerably smaller because of the poor contact between the disc and soil surface. An inverse method for predicting soil hydraulic parameters from disc permeameter data has been developed. A numerical study showed that the inverse method is quite robust in identifying the hydraulic parameters. However application to field data showed that the estimated water retention curve is generally smaller than the one obtained in laboratory measurements. Nevertheless the estimated near-saturated hydraulic conductivity matched the analytical solution quite well. Th author believes that the inverse method can give a reasonable estimate of soil hydraulic parameters. Some experimental and theoretical problems were identified and discussed. A formal analysis was carried out to evaluate the efficiency of the different methods in predicting water retention and hydraulic conductivity. The analysis identified the contribution of individual source of measurement errors to the overall uncertainty. For single measurements, the inverse disc-permeameter analysis is economically more efficient than using pedotransfer functions or measuring hydraulic properties in the laboratory. However, given the large amount of spatial variation of soil hydraulic properties it is perhaps not surprising that lots of cheap and imprecise measurements, e.g. by hand texturing, are more efficient than a few expensive precise ones.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning). Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2003. / Härtill 6 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning). Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 3 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Western Australia, 2006.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Tennessee, Knoxville, 2007. / Title from title page screen (viewed on Sept. 24, 2008). Thesis advisor: Randall Gentry. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (doctoral)-- Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht, 1994. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-195).

abstract: Though it is a widespread adaptation in humans and many other animals, parental care comes in a variety of forms and its subtle physiological costs, benefits, and tradeoffs related to offspring are often unknown. Thus, I studied the hydric, respiratory, thermal, and fitness dynamics of maternal egg-brooding behavior in Children's pythons (Antaresia childreni). I demonstrated that tight coiling detrimentally creates a hypoxic developmental environment that is alleviated by periodic postural adjustments. Alternatively, maternal postural adjustments detrimentally elevate rates of egg water loss relative to tight coiling. Despite ventilating postural adjustments, the developmental environment becomes increasingly hypoxic near the end of incubation, which reduces embryonic metabolism. I further demonstrated that brooding-induced hypoxia detrimentally affects offspring size, performance, locomotion, and behavior. Thus, parental care in A. childreni comes at a cost to offspring due to intra-offspring tradeoffs (i.e., those that reflect competing offspring needs, such as water balance and respiration). Next, I showed that, despite being unable to intrinsically produce body heat, A. childreni adjust egg-brooding behavior in response to shifts in nest temperature, which enhances egg temperature (e.g., reduced tight coiling during nest warming facilitated beneficial heat transfer to eggs). Last, I demonstrated that A. childreni adaptively adjust their egg-brooding behaviors due to an interaction between nest temperature and humidity. Specifically, females' behavioral response to nest warming was eliminated during low nest humidity. In combination with other studies, these results show that female pythons sense environmental temperature and humidity and utilize this information at multiple time points (i.e., during gravidity [egg bearing], at oviposition [egg laying], and during egg brooding) to enhance the developmental environment of their offspring. This research demonstrates that maternal behaviors that are simple and subtle, yet easily quantifiable, can balance several critical developmental variables (i.e., thermoregulation, water balance, and respiration). / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Biology 2011

A Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Pardo é uma das 9 (nove) bacias que integram a Região Hidrográfica do Guaíba, no Rio Grande do Sul, sendo sua área de drenagem de aproximadamente 3.636 km². Os rios Pardo e Pardinho são os principais cursos de água, com extensões de aproximadamente 200 e 90 km, respectivamente. Estudos realizados recentemente sobre a situação atual dos recursos hídricos da Bacia do Rio Pardo constataram a ocorrência de deficiências hídricas em determinados períodos do ano e em algumas regiões. Estas deficiências foram atribuídas, principalmente, à demanda de água pela orizicultura, que representa 87% do volume total requerido anualmente e 97% do volume total requerido em janeiro, mês de maior demanda de água na Bacia. Dentro deste contexto, esta dissertação teve como objetivo geral analisar, sob as perspectivas da orizicultura irrigada, a situação hídrica quantitativa da Bacia Hidrográfica do Rio Pardo no cenário atual e em cenários futuros. Buscou-se quantificar os déficits hídricos (quando existentes) e identificar os cenários menos impactantes para os usuários da água da Bacia. Um modelo para estimativa da disponibilidade hídrica da Bacia foi testado e analisado. No entanto, quando da realização dos balanços hídricos, preferiu-se utilizar vazões observadas e medidas nos principais rios da Bacia, adotando-se, como disponibilidade hídrica, as vazões com 90% de garantia de excedência. Foram estabelecidos dois cenários futuros para a orizicultura – Tendencial e Otimista – os quais foram analisados sob duas projeções (4 e 12 anos). Os cenários foram configurados com base na combinação entre diferentes sistemas de cultivo e ciclo das cultivares de arroz, que, juntos, determinam diferentes demandas específicas, e, conseqüentemente, diferentes volumes totais por cenário. A demanda hídrica de cada cenário foi estimada utilizando-se um modelo matemático integrado a ferramentas de geoprocessamento. O modelo considera os principais componentes da demanda hídrica para irrigação (evapotranspiração, saturação do solo, lâmina superficial e fluxo lateral). Os resultados indicaram uma tendência de melhoria na eficiência de uso da água para irrigação na Bacia, com aumento de área cultivada e diminuição da demanda hídrica por unidade de área. Esse quadro pode ser atribuído, principalmente, ao aumento de lavouras sistematizadas, que garantem menor demanda hídrica, devido ao melhor aproveitamento da água de irrigação. A melhoria na eficiência de utilização da água é ainda maior nos cenários otimistas, em que se pressupõe, além do aumento de áreas sistematizadas, a utilização de cultivares de ciclo menor, condicionando reduções no período de irrigação. Apesar disso, os balanços hídricos realizados para cada cenário indicam a ocorrência de déficits hídricos mais graves do que os atuais nos cenários futuros. Esta configuração é atribuída ao aumento da área cultivada, que, mesmo com demanda específica menor, não garante que os conflitos sejam minimizados. Mesmo assim, os resultados mostraram que, dentro de uma mesma projeção futura, existe a possibilidade de haver significativas reduções na utilização de água, o que é evidenciado através das diferenças constatadas na comparação dos cenários tendenciais e otimistas, sendo estes últimos, menos impactantes na disponibilidade hídrica. A gestão e o planejamento de recursos hídricos, neste contexto, permitem disciplinar o uso e alocar a água entre os diversos usuários de uma bacia hidrográfica através da implementação de instrumentos de gestão e planejamento, como a outorga e a cobrança; no entanto, subsídios como os apresentados neste trabalho são necessários, pois, para que haja efetividade na implementação dos instrumentos, é fundamental que se conheçam as distribuições espacial e temporal das disponibilidades e demandas hídricas de cada Bacia Hidrográfica, e que se considerem as tecnologias empregadas nos diferentes sistemas de produção, que têm a água como insumo básico. / The Pardo River Basin (3.636 km²) is one of the 9 (nine) basins integrating the Guaíba Watershed Region, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Pardo and Pardinho rivers are the most important water courses, with extensions of about 200 and 90 km, respectively. Recent studies about current water availability and water demand in Pardo River Basin showed the occurrence of water deficiencies in some periods of the year and in some areas. These deficiencies were attributed, mainly, to demand to rice irrigation that represents 84% of total volume requested annually, and 97% of total volume requested in January, month of higher water demand in the Basin. This study had as main objective to analyze, under the perspectives of the irrigated rice crop, the quantitative water situation in Rio Pardo River Basin in current and futures sceneries. It looked for quantifying water deficits (when existent) and to identify the less impactant sceneries to the Basin water users. A model to estimate water availability was tested and analyzed. However, to water balances, it was preferred using observed discharge measured in the principal rivers of the Basin, adopting, as water availability, the discharge with 90% of chance to exceeding. Two future sceneries were established related to rice system crop – Tendencial and Optimist – that were analyzed under two projections (4 and 12 years). The sceneries were configured based on combination of cultivation systems (soil manage) and rice variety cycle, that, together, determines different specific demands, and, consequently, different total volumes for each scenery. The water demand in each scenario was calculated using a mathematical model integrated to geoprocessing tools. The model considers the main components of irrigation demand to rice crop (evapotranspiration, soil saturation, superficial depth and lateral flow). Results indicated a tendency to improve efficiency of water use in rice irrigation, with increase of cultivated area and decrease in specific water demand. This frame can be attributed, mainly, to increasing of systematized crop soil that assures smaller water demand, due to the best use of water irrigation. The improvement in water use efficiency is larger in optimistic sceneries, when it’s presupposed, in addition to increase of systematized areas, the use of rice variety with smaller cycle, conditioning reductions in irrigation period. In spite of that, the water balances to the futures sceneries indicate the occurrence of worse water deficits than in the current one. This configuration is attributed to increasing in cultivated area that, even with smaller specific water demand, does not assure that conflicts are minimized. Even so, the results showed that there are possible reducing water use into a same future projection, evidenced through differences verified in the comparison between tendencial and optimists sceneries, when these last, are less impactant in the water availability. The water resources management, in this context, allow disciplining water use and to allocate it among several existent users through planning instruments implementation, as the grant and collection; however, subsidies as showed in this work, are essential to implement these instruments. Is fundamental that spatial and temporary distribution of water availability and water demand are known, and that technologies employed in different production systems using water like a basic input be considered.

abstract: The North American Monsoon System (NAMS) contributes ~55% of the annual rainfall in the Chihuahuan Desert during the summer months. Relatively frequent, intense storms during the NAMS increase soil moisture, reduce surface temperature and lead to runoff in ephemeral channels. Quantifying these processes, however, is difficult due to the sparse nature of coordinated observations. In this study, I present results from a field network of rain gauges (n = 5), soil probes (n = 48), channel flumes (n = 4), and meteorological equipment in a small desert shrubland watershed (~0.05 km2) in the Jornada Experimental. Using this high-resolution network, I characterize the temporal and spatial variability of rainfall, soil conditions and channel runoff within the watershed from June 2010 to September 2011, covering two NAMS periods. In addition, CO2, water and energy measurements at an eddy covariance tower quantify seasonal, monthly and event-scale changes in land-atmosphere states and fluxes. Results from this study indicate a strong seasonality in water and energy fluxes, with a reduction in Bowen ratio (B, the ratio of sensible to latent heat fluxes) from winter (B = 14) to summer (B = 3.3). This reduction is tied to shallow soil moisture availability during the summer (s = 0.040 m3/m3) as compared to the winter (s = 0.004 m3/m3). During the NAMS, I analyzed four consecutive rainfall-runoff events to quantify the soil moisture and channel flow responses and how water availability impacted the land-atmosphere fluxes. Spatial hydrologic variations during events occur over distances as short as ~15 m. The field network also allowed comparisons of several approaches to estimate evapotranspiration (ET). I found a more accurate ET estimate (a reduction of mean absolute error by 38%) when using distributed soil moisture data, as compared to a standard water balance approach based on the tower site. In addition, use of spatially-varied soil moisture data yielded a more reasonable relationship between ET and soil moisture, an important parameterization in many hydrologic models. The analyses illustrates the value of high-resolution sampling for quantifying seasonal fluxes in desert shrublands and their improvements in closing the water balance in small watersheds. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering 2011