نشریه علوم آب و خاک (علوم و فنون کشاورزی و منابع طبیعی)
سال بیست و چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 91، بهار 1399)

Shortage of water resources and deterioration of water quality have urged the need to develop new technologies for the removal of contaminants from water. Heavy metals produced by municipal and industrial activities are among the most toxic contaminants present in the natural and waste waters. Different methods have been developed for the elimination of heavy metals from water resources and industrial waste waters. Adsorption is an effective and economic method for the water purification purposes. Nowadays, clays and natural polymers have been widely used as the adsorbents for heavy metals, due to their eco-friendly nature, natural abundance, low cost and high specific surface area. If these adsorbents are used as a hybrid material, some of their physical and chemical restrictions would be alleviated. In this study, polyacrylic acid–bentonite hybrids and natural bentonite were compared in terms of Pb adsorption in the batch and fixed-bed column systems. Besides, the effect of pH on Pb retention was investigated in both systems. The results of the batch studies showed that Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models were appropriate in ing quilibrium Pb sorption data. Pb sorption by the sorbents was increased with the rise in solution of pH from 4 to 6, showing the greatest Pb sorption capacity at pH values of 4 (83.29 mg g-1) and 6 (103.3 mg g-1). Different indices of filtration and adsorption, including average relative effluent concentration, relative adsorption index, relative transmitted index, and filtration coefficient, were calculated from the break-through curves, indicating that the polyacrylic acid-bentonite nanocomposite was superior in the Pb sorbtion, as compared to bentonite. Also, a higher pH value resulted in the greater Pb removal from the solutions.

In general, engineering designs need to optimize the factors affecting the under-study phenomenon; however, this is often a costly and time-consuming process. In this regard, new methods have been developed to optimize with fewer tests; thus, they can make the whole process more affordable. In this study, Taguchi and Taguchi-GRA methods were used to design the geometric parameters of the protective spur dike in order to optimize their efficiency in reducing the scouring in a series of spur dikes. The results of both methods showed the optimal ratio of the length of the protective spur dike to the length of the first spur dike was 2.5 and the angle of the protective spur dike was 90 °. However, the ratio of the length of the protective spur dike to the length of the main spur dike in the Taguchi method was 0.8 and in the Taguchi-GRA method, it was 0.6. In addition, using variance analysis showed that the distance between the protective spur dike from the first spur dike, the protective spur dike angle, and the length of the protective spur dike were, respectively, the most effective on the performance of the protective spur dike. The results of this study, therefore, indicate that both methods are highly effective in optimization and, therefore, can be useful in the hydraulic engineer studies.

This study focused on proposing a new operational perspective within main and lateral irrigation canals based on the economic value of water. To achieve this objective, the operation-economic framework offered in this study consisted of two main components of the PMP model and Operation model. The estimated economic values of water in different regions of the network were employed as the starting point for connecting the economic model with the operation model. It is worth mentioning that the technical perspective targeting adequacy of water distribution within the canals was modified in this study to be applied for the operation-economic framework since the original forms of the indicator were based on physical inherent of the water. Roodasht Irrigation District, located at Zayandeh-Rud basin, was selected as the case study, and the proposed framework was tested on the district. The obtained results revealed that in response to implementing the proposed framework in water distribution within the canal under the water shortage condition, alfalfa and safflower were the two crops those cultivation was decreased drastically in comparison with the other crops. The primary reason for the decrease was the lower values of the economic value of water for these two crops. Also ,the results of the canal operation appraisal from the adequacy of water delivery revealed that for the traditional operating system (without considering the economic perspective), the maximum values of the adequacy indicator were obtained for the upstream four canal reaches. On the other hand, the off-takes numbers of 1, 6, 5, and 12 got the maximum values of the adequacy indicator when the proposed operation-economic framework was applied for the canal system.

The flow fields over a trapezoidal labyrinth weir (two-cycle) and a piano key weir were simulated using Flow3D, studying the impact of each model on the flow field in the weirs and the coefficient of discharge in comparison with the available experimental data. Moreover, the models were investigated experimentally in a 12.5 m long, 0.3 m wide, and 0.4 m high rectangular flume under clear-water conditions. The results showed good agreement between the data from the numerical and experimental models. The piano key weirs had a higher coefficient of discharged compared with labyrinth weirs. The coefficient of discharge was observed to increase by 26 percent as the height of the PKW was increased by 50 percent (from 5 to 7.5 cm). This increase was 24 percent for labyrinth weirs.

In order to increase the available Phosphorous (P), chemical fertilizers are applied; however, P chemical fertilizers are transformed into low available forms over time. Organic amendments could be effective in improving the efficiency of P fertilizers. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of P fertilizers and vermicopost on the availability and fractions of P and maize (Zea Mays L.) indices in a calcareous soil. This study was performed in a factorial completely randomized design with three replicates. The experimental factors included chemical fertilizer (0 and 50 mg/kg P) and vermicopost (0 and 1 %W). After 2 months of planting in greenhouse, the shoots of maize were removed and the maize indices (P concentration, dry matter and P uptake) were determined. Then, the soil samples taken from each pot, P available, and P fractions were evaluated by a modified method developed by Hedley et al (1982). The results showed that the effect of the interaction beyween P fertilizer and vermicopost on the available P was significant. Also, the interaction of P fertilizer and vermicopost on the soluble and exchangeable P (P<0.05) and organic P (P<0.01) was significant. By applying the P fertilizer or % 1 vermicompost, all P fractions (except Ca bound P) were increased. The results, therefore, showed that the effect of the interaction between P fertilizer and vermicopost on P concentration, dry matter and P uptake was not significant (P>0.05). Vermicopost application increased the dry matter from 6.9 to 10.5 g pot-1, while application of 50 mg kg-1 P as fertilizer increased the dry matter from 7.7 to 9.7 g pot-1. Also, by adding vermicopost (11.1%), the i P uptake was increased, as compared to 50 mg kg-1. The results, therefore, indicated that the beneficial effect of vermicompost on the dry matter and P uptake in maize was more than that of the chemical fertilizer. Moreover, P fertilizer and manure could influence P fractions and P availability.

Water supply at a desired rate at any time to meet the water requirements regardless of river discharge must be considered in the general design of intakes provided that the needs do not exceed the river flow. Due to the lack of necessary information in this field and the importance of sediment transport to the lateral intakes at river bends, this study aimed at understanding the mechanism of this phenomenon. To this end, the combined effect of convergence and divergence in lateral intakes on the sediment transport was investigated. According to the results, the diversion discharge to the intake was increased by converging the laboratory flume. By narrowing and converging the end of the flume, the diversion discharge was increased further, so that as the flume was converged to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion discharge to the intake was increased by 13.6% and 75%, respectively. This could be connected to narrowing, flow obstruction and backflow to the intake. In contrast, different results were found by diverging the flume. In other words, the inflow to the intake was decreased by diverging the flume. As the flume end was diverged, the diversion discharge was decreased further. By diverging the flume to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion discharge to the intake was decreased by 21.9 and 31.8%, respectively. The average diversion discharge to the intake at 30, 60 and 90º was 13.2, 15.2 and 11.5%, respectively. By converting the flume to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion sediment to the intake was increased by 18.5 and 71.4%. In contrast, by diverging the flume to the size (b/B) of 0.75 and 0.5, the diversion sediment to the intake was decreased by 35.4 and 49.9%, respectively.

Few studies have been done regarding the role of the raindrop in the hydrodinamic mechanism of soil erosion. In this study, rainfall simulation experiments were conducted to evaluate the role of raindrop in runoff discharge, sediment concentration and hydraulic properties of flow under four slope gradients (5, 10, 15 and 20%) in a clay soil using a 90 mm.h-1 rainfall intensity to reach the steady state flow. Soil sample was packed into the erosion flume with 0.3m× 0.4m × 4 m in dimensions and tested under two soil surface conditions:  one with raindrop impact and one without raindrop impact. The results showed that runoff discharge, sediment concentration, flow depth, shear stress, stream power, Reynolds number and runoff velocity under without raindrop impact condition were significantly lower than those in the condition  with the raindrop impact with a factor of 0.62 to 3.54, 0.08 to 11.83, 0.91 to 0.96, 0.26 to 3.25, 0.52 to 4.45, and 0.36 to 3.27, 0.23 to 0.79 times, respectively; on the other hand, the Darcy Wysbach, Chezy and Manning coefficients were increased significantly under without raindrop impact (P<0.01). Flow velocity was the key hydraulic parameter strongly affecting the hydraulic properties. These findings indicated the importance of raindrop impact in the detachment rate of soil particles through the change of the hydraulic characteristics. This study also revealed the key role of raindrop impact on the runoff hydraulic characteristics, as well as particle detachments rate in rills. Information about the role of raindrop impact is a substantial step in modeling the rill erosion. Therefore, elimination of raindrops impact, especially in the steep slopes, with the conservation of natural vegetation cover can sufficiently prevent runoff production as well as the particle detachment rate.

Growing concerns about water pollution and its potentially harmful effects on human being have stimulated serious efforts to develop reliable biological monitoring techniques. The bioluminescent analysis is one of the most promising approaches for the biomonitoring of the environment, due to the sensitivity of the luminescent system to even micro quantities of the pollutants. The aim of the current study was to assess the petroleum compounds toxicity using Vibrio fischeri bacterium. The growth pattern of the bacterium was determined in photobacterium broth using the optical density measurement at 600 nm, which showed the optimum growth time of 16-18 hours after inoculation. In this research, the effects of environmental parameters such as temperature, pH and various concentrations of oil on the growth and luminescence of Vibrio fischeri were examined. The results revealed that the optimum growth conditions of the bacterium after 16 hours included the temperature of 25 °C and pH 7. Besides, the growth and luminescence intensity of Vibrio fischeri were a function of total petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in the medium, which were significantly reduced in oil concentrations by more than 4% w/v. Therefore, the Vibrio fischeri could, therefore, have the potential for monitoring of petroleum pollutants in the aqueous media.

Today, to reduce the risks of contaminants, new remediation techniques have been focused on low-cost and environmentally friendly manners. Given the frequency of access, inexpensiveness and good physical and chemical properties, biochar has a high potential for the remediation of water pollutants. In this paper, the efficiency of chitosan engineered biochar (Bc-Ch) and pristine biochar (Bg-Bc) prepared from sugarcane bagasse biomass (Bg) in the Cd2+ removal in aqueous solution was investigated. To this aim, the effects of contact time, adsorbent dosage and solution pH on cadmium removal were evaluated by adsorption isotherms and Kinetic models. The results indicated that the Langmuir isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model could be well fitted with the process of cadmium biosorption. The maximum adsorption capacities of Bc-Ch, Bg-Bc and Bg ,according to Langmuir model, were found to be 32/78 mg/g, 11/57 mg/g and 2/23 mg/g, respectively. For these absorbents, the pseudo-second-order kinetic model showed the best fit to the experimental adsorption data. This study, therefore, indicated that the chitosan engineered biochar could be used as an effective, low-cost, and environmentally-friendly sorbent to remediate heavy metals contamination in the environment.

Soil pollution by heavy metals is a serious environmental problem that threatens the human health. The present study was carried out to investigate and detect the contamination of heavy metals of arsenic, copper, lead, zinc and iron due to human and natural activities in the sediment of lake bed and the surface soils of the eastern part of Urmia Province, West Azarbaijan Province. A total of 20 soil samples and surface deposition from the depths of 0 to 30 cm were collected randomly from the studied areas. After preparing the samples, extraction was carried out to determine the concentration of the heavy metals in the soil by using hydrochloric acid and nitric acid, and the total concentration of metals was measured using ICP-OES. The results of the calculation of the contamination factor showed that copper, iron, zinc and lead in the class of low and medium pollution and arsenic in 65.5% of the samples were very high in the class. The high concentrations of copper, lead and zinc contamination in the margin of the city and the contamination of arsenic in the lake bed were observed. The analysis of the contamination factor maps and contamination index with land use and geological map showed that copper, lead and zinc were mostly affected by human activities and arsenic influenced by the maternal materials in the region.

Estimation of soil moisture at various temporal and spatial scales is a key to the strategic management of water resources. Satellite-based microwave observations have coarse spatial resolution despite widespread and continuous of the provision surface soil moisture (SSM). In this study, the SSM data from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer 2 (AMSR2) 25km resolution were used and these products were downscaled by three parameters retrieved from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to 1km resolution. In the next step, the integration of the SSM downscaling model with SMAR model was used to monitor the root zone soil moisture(RZSM) in the study area (Rafsanjan plain). In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, the SSM and the soil profile moisture were measured at 10 points in the Rafsanjan plain. Comparison of AMSR2 25k SSM and downscaled SSM with the field measurement data showed that the mean of total stations for the correlation coefficient(R) was increased from 0.540 to 0.739 and the mean absolute error(MAE) and the root mean square(RMSE) were reduced from 0.039 and 0.040 to 0.018 and 0.020, respectively. Moreover, the results obtained from the validation of the RZSM values showed that the proposed method could estimate the RZSM with high accuracy and indicate the variations.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the temporal variations of dust phenomenon and its relationship with the climatic elements in Yazd city, located near one of the critical centers of dust production in the center of Iran. For this purpose, the Dust Storm Index was first calculated. After the standardization of precipitation, temperature, maximum wind speed, average wind speed, relative humidity and, dust storm index, the co-linearity effect between variables was calculated by using inflation variance factor. Then, several regression models were prepared based on the optimal Ridge parameter. The performance of the models was evaluated based on the determination coefficient, F value and Root Mean Square Error. Finally, by using the most accurate model, the impact of climate parameters on the dust events changes was determined. The results showed that the incidence of dust events in the spring was more than the rest of the year. Based on the optimal model (Model 12), it was found that the main factor influencing the dust storm index variations in different seasons was the surface winds speed. It was also shown that 39%, 25%, 46% and 31% of dust storm index changes in winter, spring, summer, and autumn were due to the interaction of the five climatic parameters studied in this study.

The soil engineering evaluation can be useful for construction and soil use. Aljarafe model has been used to evaluate the soil engineering properties by multiple regression techniques. In this research, Aljarafe model was used to predict the optimum moisture and plasticity index based on 184 series soils data of the Miandoab region. Based on all correlations between clay percentage and plasticity index, the optimum moisture proved to be highly significant (0.88 & 0.72). Also, Cation Exchange Capacity was significantly correlated (0.84 & 0.70) with the engineering properties. However, the correlation coefficients for the organic matter with optimum moisture and plasticity index were very low in the absolute amount. Application of the aljarafe model revealed that 50.3, 5.7, 0 and 44 % of the total extension could be classified as low, moderate and very high, respectively; on the other hand, based on the experiment data, 46, 13, 6 and 35 % could be classified as low, moderate, high and very high plasticity index classes, respectively. So, there was an overall agreement between the aljarafe model and Analytical Plasticity index maps, which was 80.4. Also, the coefficient of Determination, Root Mean Square Error (RMSE), Nash-Sutcliffe index (NES) and Geometric Mean Error Ratio (GMER) between calculated and experiment engendering properties was calculated to be 0.767, 9.3, 0.671 and 0.86 for the plasticity index and 0.739, 14.5, 0.543 and 0.73 for optimum moisture, respectively, were significant (P>5%). Finally, the aljarafe model provided a reliable estimate of engineering properties.

Soils pollution with heavy metals is due to the presence of various metals such as copper, nickel, cadmium, zinc, chromium and lead. Heavy metals have a negative effect on the biological parameters of soil, including size, activity and diversity of soil microbial population, as well as the enzymes involved in the deformation of such elements as P, N, C, and S. Thus, the activity of soil enzymes as a bioavailable agent is reflected as a cheap and fast method for the natural and anthropogenic distribution of heavy metals contamination. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of lead, humidity and their interaction on urease and phosphatase enzyme activity during a 10 week incubation period. Different levels of acetate lead (50,100, 150 and 200 mg/kg soil) were added to the plots containing two different moisture regimes (field capacity and flooding). The activity of urease and phosphatase (alkaline and acidity) was measured after 2,4,6,8 and 10 weeks of incubation. The results indicated different levels of lead had no significant effect on the activity of urease and acidity phosphatase. In contrast, high levels of lead significantly reduced the activity of alkaline phosphatase. Moreover, moisture served a different role in the activity of these enzymes, and it was related to the lead concentration and incubation time. Additionally, the function and interaction of lead, moisture and time were very influential on urease and phosphatase activity. Therefore, the above three characteristics are very important to study soil contamination for the polluted soils.

In this research, the impact of the Alagol wetland on the water treatment of Atrak River was studied. From June, 2016, to May, 2017, on the fifteenth day of the month, four samples of water were collected from the middle and the outlet of the wetland. Also, the wetland was fed only in the months of September, November and February. The parameters of acidity, electrical conductivity, phosphate, nitrate, dissolved oxygen, biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen and ammonia were measured. The water pH at the entrance and exit was significantly different. EC was higher at the entrance, and its value was decreased in the middle and output. DO in the outlet of the wetland was higher than that in the middle and inlet, indicating the improved water quality and high dissolved oxygen in the wetland output. NO3, NH4, PO4, BOD and COD were higher at the entrance to the wetland; also, it was decreased in the outlet and middle, and the difference was significant. Further, according to the results of September, November and February, which were fed to the wetland, water quality in the middle and outlet of the wetland was improved toward the entrance of the wetland. According to the results, Alagol wetlands could reduce the phosphorus, ammonia, BOD, COD and DO, and their concentrations were lower than the limit. However, given that the salinity at the entrance of wetland was too high, its amount in the output was higher than the standard limit and the wetland could not significantly reduce salinity. The results of this study showed that that of water pollution in the inlet, except that the dissolved oxygen parameters and the temperature were high and decreased in the middle outlet. Due to the quality of the wetland outlet, Alagol wetland water could be used for fish farming centers.

In order to plan and manage the land and its changes, it is necessary to identify and evaluate the factors affecting it. Land use / cover changes are one of the main factors in global environmental change that is defined as a change in the type of land use; it is one of the major factors changing hydrologic flow, land erosion and destruction of biodiversity. The main purpose of this study was to assess the trends of land use changes in Beheshtabad Watershed of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province with an area about 3847 square kilometers by using remote sensing and GIS during a 25-year period. In this research, first, analyzing and pre-processing the satellite images of Landsat 5 TM sensors from 1991 and 2008 were done, and Landsat 8 of OLI sensor of 2016 was applied. Then, by using the hybrid classification method, 5 land use classes including pasture lands, urban-building lands, agricultural lands, garden lands and bare lands, land use maps for the three time periods were prepared. The overall accuracy of the obtained land use maps for 1991, 2008 and 2016, was 92.17%, 94.29% and 93.41%, respectively, indicating the acceptable accuracy of the maps. Then, the process of land use change and the contribution of each land use classes and the percentage of changes in each land use class were determined in two study periods. The results of this study showed some changes occurred in the studied watershed. The total area of pasture lands during two periods indicated the decreasing trend, but urban-building and garden lands during two periods represented the increasing one. Agricultural lands during the first period indicated the decreasing trend and during the second period showed the increasing trend, while bare lands during the first period showed the increasing trend and during the second period, reflected the decreasing trend. In general, it should be noted that in the Beheshtabad watershed, we could see an increase in the replacement of pastures by urban-building class, rainfed agriculture, gardens, and bare lands, the incidence of destruction in the region.

Due to the increasing number of small crops, the system of irrigation without a pump can be an economical way. Therefore, in this research, the effects of the type of droplet and the height of water supply system utilization on the characteristics of water distribution (discharge, dispersion uniformity coefficient (CU) and coefficients of variation of discharge) were investigated. In this research, the pressure functions of 1, 2, 3 and 4 meters and three irrigation repeats were investigated; also, the discharge characteristics of jet pots of 2 and 8 nozzles, easy dripper and netafim were addressed. The results indicated that at 1 m pressure, drippers of pots of 2 and 8 nozzles with the uniformity coefficients of distribution were equal to 89.39 and 99.30%, and the discharge rate was 3.60 and 3.62 liters per hour at a pressure of 2 m. An easy-drain drip with a discharge rate of 3.85 L / h and a uniform distribution of 99.44%, at a height of 3 and 4 m, the droplets of the netafim with an outlet discharge were 3.87 and 3.97 liters per hour and the uniformity coefficients of 99.32 and 99.47 percent had the best broadcast conditions. According to these significant differences (P <0.05), it can be concluded that at pressures less than 2 m of jar droplets and at more than 3 m, netafim and Easy Dipper types could  have better leakage due to pressure regulators. In general, each of the four types of emitters produced a uniform dispersion and the optimum discharge at different pressures.

Given the various advantages of applying conservation tillage methods in the agriculture, including reducing the effects of climate change by decreasing the carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere caused by carbon sequestration in soil, this study was conducted with two wheat-cotton and wheat-sesame rotations at Agricultural Research Station Bakhtajerd, in Darab, the southeast of Fars Province, which had a warm and dry climate; this work was carried out in a loam soil during four years. The aim of this investigation was to compare the carbon sequestration (CS) in the soil after application of different conservation tillage methods with the conventional method. The results showed that in wheat-cotton rotation, the maximum and minimum amount of CS in the 0-20 cm depth of soil with the average 17.160 and 13.810 t/ha could be obtained by using no-till and conventional tillage, respectively. Therefore, no-till increased CS by 24.26% in wheat and cotton cultivation, as compared to the conventional tillage. The economic value of this CS increment for the environment was $2459 per hectare. In the wheat-sesame rotation, the highest and lowest CS was obtained with an average of 25.850 and 12.505 t/ha in no-till and conventional tillage, respectively. Namely, direct seeding of wheat and sesame increased the CS at the 0-20 cm depth of soil by 107%, as compared to the conventional tillage with the economic value of $9809.5 per hectare. Under similar conditions, in wheat-cotton and wheat-sesame rotations, the conventional methods could be replaced by no tillage.

For sustainable soil management, the effects of slope position and land use change on soil and water resources are essential. In this research, three land uses including degraded pasture, drought and apple gardens were selected to determine the effect of slope position and land use on some physical and chemical properties of soil in the Koohrang area of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province. Each of the applications was divided according to the position of the slope, and from three applications and organic matter (OM), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks), water repellency (RI), dispersible clay (DC) and weighted average aggregate diameter (MWD)  were studied as the  physical and chemical properties of soil. The results showed that Ks had the greatest coefficient of variation. Also, the results of the mean comparison revealed that all of the measured physical and chemical properties had a significant difference in different slope applications and positions at 5% level. In general, the garden and the base position of the slope had better qualitative conditions than other land uses and slope positions. Rangeland degradation and change in the use of pasture from dryland cultivation led to a decrease in soil quality, which could reduce soil utilization and exhaust some of the land from the production cycle. The results of the correlation between chemical and physical properties of soil showed that in general soil organic matter had the highest correlation with other parameters.

Biocementation through microbial induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a recently developed new branch in geotechnical engineering that improves the mechanical properties of bio-treated soils. The potential application of MICP to handle problems such as liquefaction and erosion has been established; this technique offers an environmentally friendly, cost-effective and convenient alternative to traditional soil improvement approaches. Nevertheless, in spite of the widespread demonstration of the process at laboratory scale, few field and practical applications have been implemented to assess the efficiency of the biochemical process. Therefore, this paper presents a review of the utilization of MICP for soil improvement and discusses the treatment process including the key constituents involved and the main affecting factors, especially in field scale applications. The major contribution of this research is to identify the main parameters restricting the application of this method on site. Finally, technical and commercial progress in the industrial adoption of the technology and the main challenges that are ahead for the future research prior to real practical application are briefly discussed.