This version available http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/510335/ NERC has developed NORA to enable users to access research outputs wholly or partially funded by NERC. Copyright and other rights for material on this site are retained by the rights owners. Users should read the terms and conditions of use of this material at http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/policies.html#access NOTICE: this is the author's version of a work that was accepted for publication in Geoderma. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Geoderma, 241-242. 262-271. 10.1016/j.geoderma.2014.11.015 www.elsevier.com/ Contact CEH NORA team at noraceh@ceh.ac.ukThe NERC and CEH trademarks and logos ('the Trademarks') are registered trademarks of NERC in the UK and other countries, and may not be used without the prior written consent of the Trademark owner. offset ECa data and the subsoil clay content and soil profile depth, implies that along this buried 29 paleo-river structure the subsoil is mainly responsible for better crop development in drought 30 periods. Furthermore, observed stagnant water in the subsoil indicates that this paleo-river 31 structure still plays an important role in subsurface hydrology. These insights should be 32 considered and implemented in local hydrological as well as crop models. 33

No abstract

Inclusion of fibres in soil blocks has been shown to enhance strength development. This study investigates the effect of aspect ratio of coconut, bagasse and oil palm fibres on the mechanical properties of soil blocks. Experiments were conducted on soil blocks with fibre aspect ratios (25-125) to determine the compressive and tensile strength of the blocks. Blocks with coconut and oil palm fibres showed increasing strength with increase aspect ratio, while bagasse fibres showed an initial increase followed by a decline at higher aspect ratio. The study concludes that generally longer aspect ratios produce better mechanical properties of soil blocks.

Leaf Area Index (LAI) is an important variable for numerous processes in various disciplines of bio-and geosciences. In situ measurements are the most accurate source of LAI among the LAI measuring methods, but the in situ measurements have the limitation of being labor intensive and site specific. For spatial-explicit applications (from regional to continental scales), satellite remote sensing is a promising source for obtaining LAI with different spatial resolutions. However, satellite-derived LAI measurements using empirical models require calibration and validation with the in situ measurements. In this study, we attempted to validate a direct LAI retrieval method from remotely sensed images (RapidEye) with in situ LAI (LAIdestr). Remote sensing LAI (LAIrapideye) were derived using different vegetation indices, namely SAVI (Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index) and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index). Additionally, applicability of the newly available red-edge band (RE) was also analyzed through Normalized Difference Red-Edge index (NDRE) and Soil Adjusted Red-Edge index (SARE). The LAIrapideye obtained from vegetation indices OPEN ACCESSRemote Sens. 2015, 7 2809 with red-edge band showed better correlation with LAIdestr (r = 0.88 and Root Mean Square Devation, RMSD = 1. 01 & 0.92). This study also investigated the need to apply radiometric/atmospheric correction methods to the time-series of RapidEye Level 3A data prior to LAI estimation. Analysis of the the RapidEye Level 3A data set showed that application of the radiometric/atmospheric correction did not improve correlation of the estimated LAI with in situ LAI.

Direct detection of saponins in soapnuts (Sapindus mukorossi) using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy is investigated in this project. Potassium bromide powder was mixed with extracted powder of soapnuts and compressed to a thin pellet for examination process. The outcome of the FTIR spectra of saponin demonstrated characteristic triterpenoid saponin absorptions of OH, C = O, C-H, and C = C, while the glycoside linkages to the sapogenins were indicated by the absorptions of C-O. The significance of this study is that saponin absorption peaks are directly detectable in crude aqueous and 95% ethanol extracts of soapnuts powder using FTIR spectroscopy, thereby eliminating the need of further expensive and exhaustive purification steps. The extracts of soapnuts were screened for saponins along with controls by phytochemical tests, and advanced spectroscopic techniques such as ultra fast liquid chromatography and ultra performance liquid chromatography quadrupole-time of flight-mass spectrometry were also implemented to validate the saponins.