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Sand Fence
A sand fence or sandbreak, similar to a snow fence, is a barrier used to force windblown, drifting sand to accumulate in a desired place. Sand fences are employed to control erosion, help sand dune stabilization, keep sand off roadways, and to recruit new material in desert areas. Sand fences are also commonly employed following storm events in order to aid in the dune recovery process, particularly in developed areas where dunes are critical for protection of property. A typical construction is to attach a perforated plastic sheet to stakes at regular intervals, similar to construction site fencing or temporary sports field fencing. Another is a cedar or other lightweight wood strip and wire fence, also attached to metal stakes. A permanent sand fence is generally of larger wooden poles set deeply into the ground with large wooden planks running horizontally across them. The drifting and settling of sand behind and in front of such a fence occurs because the wind speed on bo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nakatajima Sand Dunes 03
are located at the southern part of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture at the Pacific Ocean coast of Japan. The sand dune area measures approximately 0.6 km from north to south and 4.0 km from east to west. It is considered one of Japan's three largest sand dune areas along with the Tottori Sand Dunes in Tottori Prefecture and Kujyūkurihama in Chiba Prefecture. The dunes were created by sediment deposits carried from the Southern Japanese Alps by the Tenryū River into the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hamamatsu. Sea currents and strong wind help bring the sand from the bottom up onto the shore, where the wind constantly rearranges their shape. The dunes have existed for thousands of years, but the area of the dunes has been steadily decreasing due to numerous dams built on the Tenryū River for hydroelectric power generation and irrigation. Additionally, concrete barriers erected to protect the coast from tsunami and typhoon tidal surges have disrupted the current ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Energy-efficient Landscaping
Energy-efficient landscaping is a type of landscaping designed for the purpose of conserving energy. There is a distinction between the embedded energy of materials and constructing the landscape, and the energy consumed by the maintenance and operations of a landscape. Terminology and definition Landscaping often refers to the practice of landscape design and gardening, which traditionally concern with designing sites with vegetation and craft for aesthetic, cultural, social, and religious purposes. Landscape architecture and landscape engineering, on the other hand, are multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary professions that integrate technical considerations, such as geography, ecology, biology,and engineering, into the design of landscape and the actualization of it. Energy-efficient landscaping falls into the categories of the latter, and it stresses the energy conservation in site operation or the creation of the site. Among its various term usage, energy-efficient land ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Environmental Soil Science
Environmental soil science is the study of the interaction of humans with the pedosphere as well as critical aspects of the biosphere, the lithosphere, the hydrosphere, and the atmosphere. Environmental soil science addresses both the fundamental and applied aspects of the field including: buffers and surface water quality, vadose zone functions, septic drain field site assessment and function, land treatment of wastewater, stormwater, erosion control, soil contamination with metals and pesticides, remediation of contaminated soils, restoration of wetlands, soil degradation, nutrient management, movement of viruses and bacteria in soils and waters, bioremediation, application of molecular biology and genetic engineering to development of soil microbes that can degrade hazardous pollutants, land use, global warming, acid rain, and the study of anthropogenic soils, such as terra preta. Much of the research done in environmental soil science is produced through the use of models ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Windbreak
A windbreak (shelterbelt) is a planting usually made up of one or more rows of trees or shrubs planted in such a manner as to provide shelter from the wind and to protect soil from erosion. They are commonly planted in hedgerows around the edges of fields on farms. If designed properly, windbreaks around a home can reduce the cost of heating and cooling and save energy. Windbreaks are also planted to help keep snow from drifting onto roadways or yards. Farmers sometimes use windbreaks to keep snow drifts on farm land that will provide water when the snow melts in the spring. Other benefits include contributing to a microclimate around crops (with slightly less drying and chilling at night), providing habitat for wildlife, and, in some regions, providing wood if the trees are harvested. Windbreaks and intercropping can be combined in a farming practice referred to as alleycropping, or being deployed along riparian buffer stripes. Fields are planted in rows of different crops surr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snow Fence
A snow fence, similar to a sand fence, is a barrier that forces windblown, drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are primarily employed to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and railways. Farmers and ranchers use snow fences to create drifts in basins for a ready supply of water in the spring. Ski resorts also use snow fences in order to increase snow depth in specified areas, or for avalanche control. Description and physical mechanism Temporary snow fences are usually one of two varieties: perforated orange plastic sheeting attached to stakes at regular intervals (the type usually used for construction site fencing or temporary sports field fencing), or a cedar or other lightweight wood strip and wire fence, also attached to metal stakes. A permanent snow fence usually consists of poles with horizontal planks running across them so that they cover just over one-half of the total fence area. The bottom 10% to 15% of the fence should be left open so tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macro-engineering
In engineering, macro-engineering (alternatively known as macroengineering or macro engineering and as mega engineering) is the implementation of extremely large-scale design projects. It can be seen as a branch of civil engineering or structural engineering but just on a very large land area. In particular, macro-engineering is the process of marshaling and managing of resources, technology and public opinion on a large scale to carry out complex tasks that last over a long period. In contrast to conventional engineering projects, macro-engineering projects (called macro-projects or mega-projects) are multidisciplinary, involving collaboration from all fields of study; they involve not only engineers, but scientists, lawyers, industrialists, soldiers and politicians as well. Macro-projects are usually international; they override political boundaries because most countries lack the social, financial or physical ability to undertake them alone. As a consequence, macro-projects have ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hedgerow
A hedge or hedgerow is a line of closely spaced shrubs and sometimes trees, planted and trained to form a barrier or to mark the boundary of an area, such as between neighbouring properties. Hedges that are used to separate a road from adjoining fields or one field from another, and are of sufficient age to incorporate larger trees, are known as hedgerows. Often they serve as windbreaks to improve conditions for the adjacent crops, as in bocage country. When clipped and maintained, hedges are also a simple form of topiary. A hedge often operates as, and sometimes is called, a "live fence". This may either consist of individual fence posts connected with wire or other fencing material, or it may be in the form of densely planted hedges without interconnecting wire. This is common in tropical areas where low-income farmers can demarcate properties and reduce maintenance of fence posts that otherwise deteriorate rapidly. Many other benefits can be obtained depending on the specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Plains Shelterbelt
The Great Plains Shelterbelt was a project to create windbreaks in the Great Plains states of the United States, that began in 1934. President Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated the project in response to the severe dust storms of the Dust Bowl, which resulted in significant soil erosion and drought. The United States Forest Service believed that planting trees on the perimeters of farms would reduce wind velocity and lessen evaporation of moisture from the soil. By 1942, 220 million trees had been planted, covering in a 100-mile-wide zone from Canada to the Brazos River. Even , "the federal response to the Dust Bowl, including the Prairie States Forestry Project which planted the Great Plains Shelterbelt and creation of the Soil Erosion Service, represents the largest and most-focused effort of the .S.government to address an environmental problem". History The "Number One Shelterbelt" is located in Greer County, in southwestern Oklahoma. Oklahoma's first State Forester, George ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Groyne
A groyne (in the U.S. groin) is a rigid hydraulic structure built perpendicularly from an ocean shore (in coastal engineering) or a river bank, interrupting water flow and limiting the movement of sediment. It is usually made out of wood, concrete, or stone. In the ocean, groynes create beaches, prevent beach erosion caused by longshore drift where this is the dominant process and facilitate beach nourishment. There is also often cross-shore movement which if longer than the groyne will limit its effectiveness. In a river, groynes slow down the process of erosion and prevent ice-jamming, which in turn aids navigation. Groynes run generally perpendicular to the shore, extending from the upper foreshore or beach into the water. All of a groyne may be underwater, in which case it is a ''submerged groyne''. They are often used in tandem with seawalls and other coastal engineering features. Groynes, however, may cause a shoreline to be perceived as unnatural. Groynes are generally ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desertification
Desertification is a type of land degradation in drylands in which biological productivity is lost due to natural processes or induced by human activities whereby fertile areas become increasingly arid. It is the spread of arid areas caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and overexploitation of soil as a result of human activity. Throughout geological history, the development of deserts has occurred naturally. In recent times, the potential influences of human activity, improper land management, deforestation and climate change on desertification is the subject of many scientific investigations. Definitions of words As recently as 2005, considerable controversy existed over the proper definition of the term "desertification." Helmut Geist (2005) identified more than 100 formal definitions. The most widely acceptedGeist (2005)p. 2/ref> of these was that of the Princeton University Dictionary which defined it as "the process of fertile land ''transforming into ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Snow Fence
A snow fence, similar to a sand fence, is a barrier that forces windblown, drifting snow to accumulate in a desired place. They are primarily employed to minimize the amount of snowdrift on roadways and railways. Farmers and ranchers use snow fences to create drifts in basins for a ready supply of water in the spring. Ski resorts also use snow fences in order to increase snow depth in specified areas, or for avalanche control. Description and physical mechanism Temporary snow fences are usually one of two varieties: perforated orange plastic sheeting attached to stakes at regular intervals (the type usually used for construction site fencing or temporary sports field fencing), or a cedar or other lightweight wood strip and wire fence, also attached to metal stakes. A permanent snow fence usually consists of poles with horizontal planks running across them so that they cover just over one-half of the total fence area. The bottom 10% to 15% of the fence should be left open so tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buffer Strip
A buffer strip is an area of land maintained in permanent vegetation that helps to control air quality index, air quality, soil quality, and water quality, along with other environmental problems, dealing primarily on land that is used in agriculture. Buffer strips trap sediment, and enhance filtration of nutrients and pesticides by slowing down surface runoff that could enter the local surface waters. The root, root systems of the planted vegetation in these buffers hold soil particles together which alleviate the soil of Aeolian processes, wind erosion and stabilize stream bed, stream banks providing protection against substantial erosion and landslides. Farmers can also use buffer strips to square up existing crop fields to provide safety for equipment while also farming more efficiently. Buffer strips can have several different configurations of vegetation found on them varying from simply grass to combinations of grass, trees, and shrubs. Areas with diverse vegetation provid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
