Abichou T., Musagasa J., Yuan L., Chanton J., Tawfiq K., Rockwood D., Licht L.
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida State University Tallahassee, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, FL 32310, United States; Civil Engineering Department, Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Geosyntec Consultants, Columbia, Maryland, United States; Department of Oceanography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States; School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States; Ecolotree, Inc., North Liberty, Iowa, United States
Abichou, T., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida State University Tallahassee, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, FL 32310, United States; Musagasa, J., Civil Engineering Department, Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Yuan, L., Geosyntec Consultants, Columbia, Maryland, United States; Chanton, J., Department of Oceanography, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States; Tawfiq, K., Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, Florida, United States; Rockwood, D., School of Forest Resources and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, United States; Licht, L., Ecolotree, Inc., North Liberty, Iowa, United States
A field study was conducted to assess the ability of landfill covers to control percolation into the waste. Performance of one conventional cover was compared to that of two evapotranspiration (ET) tree covers, using large (7 × 14 m) lined lysimeters at the Leon County Solid Waste management facility in Tallahassee, Florida. Additional unlined test sections were also constructed and monitored in order to compare soil water storage, soil temperature, and tree growth inside lysimeters and in unlined test sections. The unlined test sections were in direct contact with landfill gas.Surface runoff on the ET covers was a small proportion of the water balance (1% of precipitation) as compared to 13% in the conventional cover. Percolation in the ET covers averaged 17% and 24% of precipitation as compared to 33% in the conventional cover. On average, soil water storage was higher in the lined lysimeters (429 mm) compared to unlined test sections (408 mm). The average soil temperature in the lysimeters was lower than in the unlined test sections. The average tree height inside the lysimeters was not significantly lower (8.04 m for eucalyptus and 7.11 m for cottonwood) than outside (8.82 m for eucalyptus and 8.01 m for cottonwood). ET tree covers vegetated with cottonwood or eucalyptus are feasible for North Florida climate as an alternative to GCL covers. © 2012 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
rain; water; article; chemistry; construction work and architectural phenomena; environmental monitoring; Eucalyptus; growth, development and aging; pollution; Populus; season; soil; standard; temperature; tree; United States; waste disposal facility; water flow; water pollution; Environmental Monitoring; Environmental Pollution; Eucalyptus; Facility Design and Construction; Florida; Populus; Rain; Seasons; Soil; Temperature; Trees; Waste Disposal Facilities; Water; Water Movements; Water Pollution; Eucalyptus; Populus