title: Field performance of alternative landfill covers vegetated with cottonwood and eucalyptus trees.
abstract: 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 x 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 mfor eucalyptus and 7.11 mfor 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.
authors.affiliation: Florida State University Tallahassee, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, FL 32310, USA. abichou@eng.fsu.edu
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Abichou
authors.forename: Jubily
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Musagasa
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chanton
authors.forename: Kamal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tawfiq
authors.forename: Donald
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rockwood
authors.forename: Louis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Licht
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005052:Eucalyptus / Q000254:growth & development*; D005160:Facility Design and Construction; D005431:Florida; D032107:Populus / Q000254:growth & development*; D011891:Rain; D012621:Seasons; D012987:Soil / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D014197:Trees; D064091:Waste Disposal Facilities / Q000592:standards; D014867:Water; D014872:Water Movements; D014876:Water Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D014867:Water