Rainfall

Physical appearance, as well as flavor quaUty and strength, can be iafluenced by soil conditions, rainfall, storms, blights, iasects, growing and harvesting methods, storage, etc. AH of these must be considered to evaluate a particular lot and to harvest, seH, or buy the lot and use it ia a food product. 

Climate and Environmental Factors. The biomass species selected for energy appHcations and the climate must be compatible to faciUtate operation of fuel farms. The three primary climatic parameters that have the most influence on the productivity of an iadigenous or transplanted species are iasolation, rainfall, and temperature. Natural fluctuations ia these factors remove them from human control, but the information compiled over the years ia meteorological records and from agricultural practice suppHes a valuable data bank from which to develop biomass energy appHcations. Ambient carbon dioxide concentration and the availabiHty of nutrients are also important factors ia biomass production. 

Precipita.tlon. Precipitation as tain, snow, sleet, or hail is governed by movement of air and is generally abundant wherever air currents are predominately upward. The greatest precipitation should therefore occur near the equator. The average annual rainfall in the United States is about 79 cm. 

Mineral Deposits. The only iodine obtained from minerals has been a by-product of the processing of nitrate ores in Chile. CaUche occurs in the Atacama desert of Northern Chile and west of the Andes mountains. The Atacama desert is known as the driest of the world s deserts, where measurable (>1 mm) rainfalls may be as infrequent as once every 5—29 years (58). The caUche deposits occur in an area averaging 700 km (north—south) by 30 km (east—west). The iodine may total over 5 x 10 t (59). 

Because many pesticides are appHed to the soil surface, the transport of pesticide during water infiltration is important. Water infiltration is characterized by high initial infiltration rates which decrease rapidly to a nearly constant rate. Dry soils have greater rates of infiltration than wet soils during the initial appHcation of water. Thus, perfluridone movement after appHcation of 3.8 cm of water was considerably greater in soil at a water content of <1% of field capacity than at 50% of field capacity (62). Fluometuron moved deeper into the soil in response to greater rainfall intensity or after rainfall onto a dry rather than a moist soil (63). 

Chlorine plays a less significant role in chemical weathering processes than do sulfur and carbon. Most geochemists beHeve that much, or most, of the chloride in stream water in coastal areas is derived from sea salt that is carried landward or deposited by rainfall. Farther inland, however, a major part of the chloride loads in streams is the result of human activities. 

Bromine compounds are found ia the atmosphere ia small amounts the sea is a primary source. Rainfall over the Pacific and Indian Oceans has been found to contain 60—80 f-lg/L of bromine (46). Approximately 10 parts per trillion (v/v) of bromine is found ia the stratosphere (47). 

Solar Evaporation. Recovery of salts by solar evaporation (1 3) is favored in hot dry climates. Solar evaporation is also used in temperate 2ones where evaporation exceeds rainfall and in areas where seasons of hot and dry weather occur. Other factors (4,5) affecting solar pond selection are wind, humidity, cloud cover, and land terrain. 

In a service in which sudden temperature change would cause upset and loss of product, the induced-draft unit gives more protection in that only a fraction of the surface (as compared with the forced-draft unit) is ejmosed to rainfall, sleet, or snow... 

Leachate in landfills. Leachate may be defined as hquid that has percolated through sohd waste and has extracted dissolved or suspended materials from it. In most landfills, the liqiiid portion of the leachate is composed of the liquid produced from the decomposition of the wastes and liquid that has entered the landfill from external sources, such as surface drainage, rainfall, groundwater, and water form underground springs. Representative data on chemical characteristics of leachate are reported in Table 25-72. 

A critical situation arises in summer when the tank is heated by strong radiation, then cooled by sudden rainfall. Heavy rainfall results in a rapid drop in ambient temperature and the formation of a rainwater nlm that flows on the top of the tank and down the tank wall. The wall and, with a certain lag, the gas in the tank are cooled, and air must flow into the tank to prevent a significant pressure difference from arising between the inside and outside of the tank. If vapors in the tank are condensed, more air must flow into the tank. 

The initial gas temperature in a tank can reach a value of 55°C (131°F) as a result of strong solar radiation. Ambient rainfall is assumed to be 15°C (59°F). The maximum flow rate of air into the... 

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