Water balance assessment of different substrates on potash tailings piles using non-weighable lysimeters

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Authors

  • Carolina Bilibio
  • Christian Schellert
  • Stefanie Retz
  • Oliver Hensel
  • Helge Schmeisky
  • Daniel Uteau
  • Stephan Peth

External Research Organisations

  • University of Kassel
  • Schmeisky Environmental Consultancy
View graph of relations

Details

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)633-643
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Environmental Management
Volume196
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2017
Externally publishedYes

Abstract

Water balance is an important tool to evaluate water deficit or excess in crop systems. However, few studies have evaluated the water balance of vegetation grown on the residues from potash mining because the high sodium chloride levels of the residues hinder agricultural development. Therefore, this study aims to measure the water balance components in eight non-weighing lysimeters installed on a potash tailings pile in Heringen (Werra), Germany. These lysimeters were filled with different mixtures of household waste incineration slags and coal combustion residues, resulting in 4 different substrates with two repetitions. Manual seeding was performed using 65% perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), 25% red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) and 10% Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Environmental conditions were monitored using an automatic weather station; ground-level and 1-m-high rain gauges. Precipitation and drainage were recorded weekly following the initial saturation of the lysimeters. Water balance components were determined for two hydrological years based on the expression: ET (mm) = P – D, where ET = evapotranspiration, P = precipitation and D = drainage. In addition, evapotranspiration was studied using the standard FAO Penman-Monteith equation and Haude's method. The lysimeter water balance measured in 2014 revealed an actual evapotranspiration rate of 66.4% for substrate 1, 66.9% for substrate 2, 65.1% for substrate 3 and 64.1% for substrate 4. In 2015, evapotranspiration ranged from 65.7% for substrate 4 to 70.2% for substrate 1. We observed that the FAO Penman-Monteith and Haude's evapotranspiration models generally overestimated the water use of the green coverage by 67% and 23%, respectively. Our study suggests that an evapotranspiration cover for potash tailings piles may decrease brine drainage from these piles and reduce soil and water contamination.

Keywords

    Evapotranspiration, Perennial grass, Drainage, Potash mining, Rain gauges, Crop coefficient

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Cite this

Water balance assessment of different substrates on potash tailings piles using non-weighable lysimeters. / Bilibio, Carolina; Schellert, Christian; Retz, Stefanie et al.
In: Journal of Environmental Management, Vol. 196, 01.07.2017, p. 633-643.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer review

Bilibio C, Schellert C, Retz S, Hensel O, Schmeisky H, Uteau D et al. Water balance assessment of different substrates on potash tailings piles using non-weighable lysimeters. Journal of Environmental Management. 2017 Jul 1;196:633-643. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.01.024
Bilibio, Carolina ; Schellert, Christian ; Retz, Stefanie et al. / Water balance assessment of different substrates on potash tailings piles using non-weighable lysimeters. In: Journal of Environmental Management. 2017 ; Vol. 196. pp. 633-643.
Download
@article{0b7b479147c041599d5597acbf0f7428,
title = "Water balance assessment of different substrates on potash tailings piles using non-weighable lysimeters",
abstract = "Water balance is an important tool to evaluate water deficit or excess in crop systems. However, few studies have evaluated the water balance of vegetation grown on the residues from potash mining because the high sodium chloride levels of the residues hinder agricultural development. Therefore, this study aims to measure the water balance components in eight non-weighing lysimeters installed on a potash tailings pile in Heringen (Werra), Germany. These lysimeters were filled with different mixtures of household waste incineration slags and coal combustion residues, resulting in 4 different substrates with two repetitions. Manual seeding was performed using 65% perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), 25% red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) and 10% Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Environmental conditions were monitored using an automatic weather station; ground-level and 1-m-high rain gauges. Precipitation and drainage were recorded weekly following the initial saturation of the lysimeters. Water balance components were determined for two hydrological years based on the expression: ET (mm) = P – D, where ET = evapotranspiration, P = precipitation and D = drainage. In addition, evapotranspiration was studied using the standard FAO Penman-Monteith equation and Haude's method. The lysimeter water balance measured in 2014 revealed an actual evapotranspiration rate of 66.4% for substrate 1, 66.9% for substrate 2, 65.1% for substrate 3 and 64.1% for substrate 4. In 2015, evapotranspiration ranged from 65.7% for substrate 4 to 70.2% for substrate 1. We observed that the FAO Penman-Monteith and Haude's evapotranspiration models generally overestimated the water use of the green coverage by 67% and 23%, respectively. Our study suggests that an evapotranspiration cover for potash tailings piles may decrease brine drainage from these piles and reduce soil and water contamination.",
keywords = "Evapotranspiration, Perennial grass, Drainage, Potash mining, Rain gauges, Crop coefficient",
author = "Carolina Bilibio and Christian Schellert and Stefanie Retz and Oliver Hensel and Helge Schmeisky and Daniel Uteau and Stephan Peth",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2017 Elsevier Ltd",
year = "2017",
month = jul,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.01.024",
language = "English",
volume = "196",
pages = "633--643",
journal = "Journal of Environmental Management",
issn = "0301-4797",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

}

Download

TY - JOUR

T1 - Water balance assessment of different substrates on potash tailings piles using non-weighable lysimeters

AU - Bilibio, Carolina

AU - Schellert, Christian

AU - Retz, Stefanie

AU - Hensel, Oliver

AU - Schmeisky, Helge

AU - Uteau, Daniel

AU - Peth, Stephan

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2017/7/1

Y1 - 2017/7/1

N2 - Water balance is an important tool to evaluate water deficit or excess in crop systems. However, few studies have evaluated the water balance of vegetation grown on the residues from potash mining because the high sodium chloride levels of the residues hinder agricultural development. Therefore, this study aims to measure the water balance components in eight non-weighing lysimeters installed on a potash tailings pile in Heringen (Werra), Germany. These lysimeters were filled with different mixtures of household waste incineration slags and coal combustion residues, resulting in 4 different substrates with two repetitions. Manual seeding was performed using 65% perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), 25% red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) and 10% Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Environmental conditions were monitored using an automatic weather station; ground-level and 1-m-high rain gauges. Precipitation and drainage were recorded weekly following the initial saturation of the lysimeters. Water balance components were determined for two hydrological years based on the expression: ET (mm) = P – D, where ET = evapotranspiration, P = precipitation and D = drainage. In addition, evapotranspiration was studied using the standard FAO Penman-Monteith equation and Haude's method. The lysimeter water balance measured in 2014 revealed an actual evapotranspiration rate of 66.4% for substrate 1, 66.9% for substrate 2, 65.1% for substrate 3 and 64.1% for substrate 4. In 2015, evapotranspiration ranged from 65.7% for substrate 4 to 70.2% for substrate 1. We observed that the FAO Penman-Monteith and Haude's evapotranspiration models generally overestimated the water use of the green coverage by 67% and 23%, respectively. Our study suggests that an evapotranspiration cover for potash tailings piles may decrease brine drainage from these piles and reduce soil and water contamination.

AB - Water balance is an important tool to evaluate water deficit or excess in crop systems. However, few studies have evaluated the water balance of vegetation grown on the residues from potash mining because the high sodium chloride levels of the residues hinder agricultural development. Therefore, this study aims to measure the water balance components in eight non-weighing lysimeters installed on a potash tailings pile in Heringen (Werra), Germany. These lysimeters were filled with different mixtures of household waste incineration slags and coal combustion residues, resulting in 4 different substrates with two repetitions. Manual seeding was performed using 65% perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), 25% red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) and 10% Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.). Environmental conditions were monitored using an automatic weather station; ground-level and 1-m-high rain gauges. Precipitation and drainage were recorded weekly following the initial saturation of the lysimeters. Water balance components were determined for two hydrological years based on the expression: ET (mm) = P – D, where ET = evapotranspiration, P = precipitation and D = drainage. In addition, evapotranspiration was studied using the standard FAO Penman-Monteith equation and Haude's method. The lysimeter water balance measured in 2014 revealed an actual evapotranspiration rate of 66.4% for substrate 1, 66.9% for substrate 2, 65.1% for substrate 3 and 64.1% for substrate 4. In 2015, evapotranspiration ranged from 65.7% for substrate 4 to 70.2% for substrate 1. We observed that the FAO Penman-Monteith and Haude's evapotranspiration models generally overestimated the water use of the green coverage by 67% and 23%, respectively. Our study suggests that an evapotranspiration cover for potash tailings piles may decrease brine drainage from these piles and reduce soil and water contamination.

KW - Evapotranspiration

KW - Perennial grass

KW - Drainage

KW - Potash mining

KW - Rain gauges

KW - Crop coefficient

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85016420666&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.01.024

DO - 10.1016/j.jenvman.2017.01.024

M3 - Article

C2 - 28365548

VL - 196

SP - 633

EP - 643

JO - Journal of Environmental Management

JF - Journal of Environmental Management

SN - 0301-4797

ER -

By the same author(s)