Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

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Waste Management
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Modeling the effects of vegetation on methane oxidation and emissions

through soil landfill final covers across different climates
Tarek Abichou a,⇑, Tarek Kormi b,c, Lei Yuan d, Terry Johnson e, Escobar Francisco a
a
Dept of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida State University, 2525 Pottsdamer Street, Tallahassee, FL 32311, USA
b
Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Gabès, University of Gabès, Rue Omar Ibn-Elkhattab 6029, Gabès, Tunisia
c
LASMAP, Ecole Polytechnique de Tunisie, University of Carthage, B.P. 743, La Marsa 2078, Tunisia
d
Geosyntec Consultants, Columbia, MD 21046, USA
e
Waste Management, Inc., Minneapolis, MN 55337, USA

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Plant roots are reported to enhance the aeration of soil by creating secondary macropores which improve
Received 6 March 2014 the diffusion of oxygen into soil as well as the supply of methane to bacteria. Therefore, methane oxida-
Accepted 3 November 2014 tion can be improved considerably by the soil structuring processes of vegetation, along with the increase
Available online xxxx
of organic biomass in the soil associated with plant roots. This study consisted of using a numerical model
that combines flow of water and heat with gas transport and oxidation in soils, to simulate methane
Keywords: emission and oxidation through simulated vegetated and non-vegetated landfill covers under different
Vegetation
climatic conditions. Different simulations were performed using different methane loading flux
Methane oxidation
Landfill emissions
(5–200 g m2 d1) as the bottom boundary. The lowest modeled surface emissions were always obtained
Percent oxidation with vegetated soil covers for all simulated climates. The largest differences in simulated surface
Final covers emissions between the vegetated and non-vegetated scenarios occur during the growing season. Higher
Greenhouse gas emissions average yearly percent oxidation was obtained in simulations with vegetated soil covers as compared to
non-vegetated scenario. The modeled effects of vegetation on methane surface emissions and percent
oxidation were attributed to two separate mechanisms: (1) increase in methane oxidation associated
with the change of the physical properties of the upper vegetative layer and (2) increase in organic matter
associated with vegetated soil layers. Finally, correlations between percent oxidation and methane
loading into simulated vegetated and non-vegetated covers were proposed to allow decision makers to
compare vegetated versus non-vegetated soil landfill covers. These results were obtained using a modeling
study with several simplifying assumptions that do not capture the complexities of vegetated soils under
field conditions.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction and background
The microbiological process of oxidizing CH4 to CO2 by methan-
otrophs is called microbial CH4 oxidation. Several previous studies
on landfill CH4 oxidation in the cover layer have demonstrated the
ability of methane oxidation as a mechanism to reduce CH4 emis-
sions from landfill surfaces (Bogner et al., 1995; Börjesson and
Svensson, 1997; Kjeldsen et al., 1997; Scheutz et al., 2003;
Huber-Humer, 2004; Bogner and Spokas, 1993, to name few).
However, the capacity of landfill cover soil to oxidize CH4 depends
on both the physical and the chemical properties of landfill cover
materials such as soil type, moisture content, density, organic
and nutrient content. Additionally, environmental conditions such
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 850 410 6661; fax: +1 850 410 6142.
E-mail address: abichou@eng.fsu.edu (T. Abichou).
as temperature and precipitation can also impact the performance
of landfill cover soils to oxidize CH4. Plant roots are also reported to
enhance the aeration of soil by creating secondary macropores
which improve the diffusion of oxygen into soil as well as the sup-
ply of methane to bacteria. Therefore, methane oxidation can be
affected by the soil structuring processes of vegetation, along with
the increase of organic biomass in the soil associated with plant
roots.
In addition to agglomeration, isolation against high tempera-
ture variability, mechanical stabilization, and protection from ero-
sion, vegetation has positive effects on methane oxidation in
landfill covers. Vegetation growing on final landfill covers can
improve the air capacity of less permeable soil materials through
soil aggregation, formation of secondary macropores via spreading
roots and transpiration of pore water within the limit of the avail-
able field capacity. The main objective of this study was to use a

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
0956-053X/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Please cite this article in press as: Abichou, T., et al. Modeling the effects of vegetation on methane oxidation and emissions through soil landfill final covers
across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
2 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
modeling approach similar to the one employed by Abichou et al.
(2010, 2013) to compare methane oxidation in simulated vege-
tated and non-vegetated landfill final covers across climatic zones
of the United States. The second objective of the study was to sep-
arate the increase in methane oxidation associated with the change
of the physical properties of the vegetative soil layer from that
caused by the increase of organic matter associated with vegetated
soil layers.
1.1. Main factors affecting methane oxidation in landfill covers
1.1.1. Soil water content and temperature profile
Water content is a very important factor affecting CH4 oxidation
in landfill cover soils. Abichou et al. (2010) reported that little to no
bacterial activity (very low oxidation rate) was occurring when the
gravimetric water content was lower than 10%. Czepiel et al.
(1996) and Boeckx et al. (1996) reported a significant drop in oxi-
dation capacity at water contents lower than 5% and credited that
to water stress. Abichou et al. (2010) showed that microbial activ-
ity seems to increase with increasing water content and reaches an
upper limit or when the soil reaches a water content higher than
18–20%. These results are consistent with other literature data
indicating a maximum oxidation rate when the water content is
in the range of 10–20% (gravimetric) (Boeckx et al., 1996; Park
et al. 2002; Schnell and King, 1996; Albanna and Fernandes,
2009). Bender and Conrad, (1995) reported optimal water content
in the range of 20–35%.
Generally, CH4 oxidation rates increase with rising temperature
(De Visscher et al., 2001; Whalen et al., 1990; Nozhevnikova et al.,
1993; Börjesson and Svensson, 1997; Visvanathan et al., 1999;
Czepiel et al., 1996; Humer and Lechner, 2001; Boeckx et al.,
1996; Nesbit, 1992; Spokas and Bogner, 2011; Albanna and
Fernandes, 2009; Schnell and King, 1996; Borjesson et al., 2004;
De Visscher and Van Cleemput, 2003; Dunfield et al., 1993;
Christophersen et al., 2000; Abichou et al., 2010; Powelson et al.,
2006). Czepiel et al. (1996) and Abichou et al. (2010) reported that
oxidation rate increased as temperature increased to 36 °C and that
CH4 oxidation essentially stopped when temperature reached
45 °C. Börjesson and Svensson (1997) reported that the optimum
temperatures for CH4 oxidation were 25–35 °C. Boeckx et al.
(1996) reported that the optimal incubation temperatures for
CH4 oxidation were 20–30 °C and decreased with increasing
water content. Dunfield et al. (1993) measured optimum methane
oxidation temperatures of 20–25 °C.
1.1.2. Organic matter content and porosity
Generally, oxidation rates accelerate with increasing organic mat-
ter content in soils. The use of cover soils with higher organic matter
contents has been reported to be an efficient way to mitigate CH4
emissions (Börjesson and Svensson, 1997; Christophersen et al.,
2000; Nozhevnikova et al., 1993; Visvanathan et al., 1999). Highly
organic material such as compost has been known to be very effi-
cient in regards to CH4 oxidization. Humer and Lechner (2001)
reported that compost covers enriched with organic matter were
able to entirely oxidize all CH4 emitted from their respective land-
fills. Additionally, organic matter provides nutrients for methano-
trophic bacteria and has a high porosity which allows for more O2
penetration. The porosity of soil directly influences the penetration
of O2 into soil and provides channels for O2 penetration and contact-
ing surface areas for methanotrophic bacteria. Soils with high poros-
ity retain CH4 and O2 longer, leading to higher oxidation rates
(Humer and Lechner, 1999).
1.1.3. Vegetation and methane oxidation
Vegetation type influences soil properties such as pH, water
content, and gas transport. They also provide channels for O2
Please cite this article in press as: Abichou, T., et al. Modeling the effects of vegetation on methane oxidation and emissions through soil landfill final covers
across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
penetration into soil, therefore enhancing CH4 oxidation. Plants
may indirectly affect O2 penetration through mechanical soil alter-
ations such as soil density reductions. The root systems of vegeta-
tion also induce a more suitable microbiological environment for
CH4 oxidation. Vegetation on landfills covers could help encourage
the penetration of oxygen downward into the rhizosphere via plant
lacunae or aerenchyma as well.
Vegetation also has positive effects on final soil landfill covers
since it improves agglomeration, thermal isolation against high
temperature variability along with mechanical stabilization. Soils
such as clay and silt are rich in fine-grained particles that can seal
the surface layer of the soil surface when wet. This process can lead
to blocked pores that restrain soil air diffusivity, and diminish
methane oxidation due to limited oxygen concentration (King,
1994). A well-developed vegetation zone should counteract this
kind of vertical erosion and stabilize the particles. Additionally,
plant roots can enhance the aeration of soil by creating larger mac-
ropores, which improve the diffusion of oxygen into soil as well as
the supply of methane to bacteria. As a result, the methane oxida-
tion potential of vegetated soils is expected to increase. The follow-
ing is a limited literature review of the effects of vegetation on
methane oxidation.
Hilger et al. (2000) conducted a study to evaluate the effects of
vegetation, N fertilizers, and lime on landfill CH4 oxidation. Col-
umns filled with compacted sandy loam and sparged with syn-
thetic landfill gas were used to simulate a landfill cover. Bare-soil
and grass-topped columns reduced CH4 emissions by 37% and
47%, respectively, at peak uptake. The oxidation rate for both col-
umns was about 18% at steady state. Tantachoon et al. (2008) used
lab-scale column studies with different types of soil and vegetation
to investigate the influence of vegetation on physical soil proper-
ties and thus the methane oxidation process. The results showed
that without vegetation, air influx into cover soil was limited by
a decreased share in pores available for gas transport. All of their
vegetated columns contained high amounts of methanotrophs
(10–30% of the DAPI counts) at almost entire column depth, espe-
cially at the rhizosphere, whereas columns without vegetation
revealed an abundance of methanotrophs only at the top soil (5–
15 cm). Amaral et al. (1995) reported that type I methanotrophs
were abundant in the top layer and rhizosphere where high oxygen
and nitrogen were available. Furthermore, root systems responded
significantly to the abundance of methanotrophs in the lower part
when compared to non-vegetated columns. The oxygen supplied in
deeper zones by root systems seems to be an important factor in
regulating methanotrophic growth. Gebert (2008) reported that
vegetation growing on the top layer alters soil physical properties,
stabilizes and protects the top cover soil from erosion by spreading
roots, and improves the natural aeration and thus the diffusion of
oxygen into the soil as well as the supply of methane to localized
methane-oxidizing bacteria. Due to these effects, methane oxida-
tion can be enhanced by at least 50%.
2. Methods
A numerical model (FSU model) that combines flow of water
and heat with gas transport and oxidation in soils, was used to esti-
mate methane emission and oxidation from simulated vegetated
and non-vegetated landfills with different climates. Compacted
clay final covers (60 cm clay barrier and 45 cm of vegetative or top-
soil layer) were simulated in climate zones: Mediterranean, Semi-
arid (Cold), and Humid Subtropical. Average climatic conditions
were obtained from available data sets (Table 1). Climatic input
data for Semiarid (Cold) was obtained from a weather station built
in Montana as part of the U.S. EPA Alternative Cover Assessment
Program (ACAP). Other sites’ historical data were obtained from
 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 3

Table 1
Summary of climates of simulated locations.

Precipitation (Annual) (cm) PET (Annual) (cm) P/PET Avg. temp. (°C) Growing season
Semiarid (Cold) 45 139 0.32 7.5 Day 131 – Day 248
Mediterranean 78 140 0.56 14.4 Day 59 – Day 338
Humid subtropical 150 125 1.2 19.3 Day 52 – Day 330

regional climate centers. The data included daily precipitation,
potential evapotranspiration (PET), growing seasons, maximum
temperature, minimum temperature, and average temperature.
These climate data were used as a time-variable atmospheric
boundary condition of the simulated soil profiles. A period of 5
consecutive 1-year periods were modeled. At the end of this per-
iod, daily water content and temperature in each node were
obtained for the input of gas transport and oxidation module.
The vegetated compacted clay covers consisting of a 60 cm clay
barrier and 45 cm of vegetative soil layer were assumed to have
undergone several freeze-thaw and desiccation cycles. The long-
term saturated hydraulic conductivity of the vegetative layer and
the clay barrier were assigned to be 1  104 cm/s and
5  105 cm/s, respectively. The vegetation was assumed to intro-
duce more macropores into the upper vegetative layer and increase
its hydraulic conductivity to 5  104 cm/s. The vegetation was
also allowed to increase the porosity of the upper vegetative layer
from 0.50 to 0.55. The rest of the unsaturated soil properties were
allowed to be predicted based on the soil gradation, (Top 45 cm:
Percent sand = 65, percent silt = 25, percent clay = 10, Gs = 2.2, Bot-
tom 60 cm: Percent sand = 10, percent silt = 55, percent clay = 35,
Gs = 2.5) by the built-in Rosetta in the model. It is important to
note that in real landfill covers, vegetation influence many more
soil physical parameters. In this study, only changes in hydraulic
conductivity and porosity (two major soil transport properties)
were considered. The long term unsaturated soil properties, meth-
ane oxidation capacities, along with several other parameters
(defined later in the text) are shown in Table 2. The change in soil
properties was simulated in the vegetated zone (upper 45 cm). The
clay barrier was assumed to not have been affected by roots.
Simulations were performed using different rates of methane
loading into the soil cover under each climatic condition. Three
vegetation scenarios were simulated for each climatic condition:
Non-vegetated with low maximum methane oxidation capacity,
vegetated with high maximum methane oxidation capacity, and
vegetated with low maximum methane oxidation capacity. For
each climate, several simulations were performed using methane
loading varying from 5 to 200 g m2 d1. The landfill gas entering
the bottom of soil profile was partitioned equally to CH4 and CO2
(volume based). Since the surface of the cover soil is open to the
atmosphere, the gas composition above the surface node of the
model was assumed to be the atmospheric gas compositions (back-
ground), which are 21.2% oxygen, 1.8 ppmv methane, 385.0 ppmv
carbon dioxide and 78.8% nitrogen. However at the surface node
of the model, the concentration will be different due to the mixing
with the landfill gas (for a detailed explanation see De Visscher and
Van Cleemput, 2003).
2.1. HYDRUS1D modeling description
The daily volumetric water content and temperature profile of
the simulated landfill cover were predicted by the water and heat
flow in variably saturated soils computer code HYDRUS1D v3.0
(Simunek et al., 2005). The program numerically solves the Rich-
ards’ equation for saturated–unsaturated water flow as follows:
  
@h @ @h
¼ K þ cos a  S ð1Þ
@t @x @x
where h is volumetric water content, h is pressure head [L], x is the
spatial coordinate [L], t is time [T], S is the sink term [L3 L3 T1], a is
the angle between the flow direction and the vertical axis (i.e., a = 0
for vertical flow, 90 for horizontal flow, and 0 < a < 90 for inclined
flow). S in is a sink term to account for water uptake by plant roots
and is defined later in the text. The soil hydraulic property K [m s1]
was represented by the Mualem–van Genuchten function (Van
Genutchen, 1980).
n ð1=n1Þ
Se ¼ ½1 þ ðahÞ  ð2Þ
  ð11=nÞ 2
K r ¼ K s Sle 1  1  Se1=ð11=nÞ ð3Þ
where Ks is saturated hydraulic conductivity, Kr is relative hydraulic
conductivity, l is a hydraulic conductivity parameter, a is related to
the air-entry value [m1], and n is a pore size distribution parame-
ter. Se in Eq. (3) is expressed by Eq. (4)
h  hr
Se ¼ ð4Þ
hs  hr
where hr is the residual water content [m3 m3], and hs is the satu-
rated water content [m3 m3].
S in Eq. (1) is a sink term to account for water uptake by plant
roots and is defined as:
SðhÞ ¼ aðhÞT p =LR ð5Þ
where a(h) is the plant water stress function, Tp is the potential
transpiration rate [L T1], LR the depth [L] of the root zone. Grass
was considered as the dominant option for vegetating covers. The
Leaf Area Index (LAI) was assumed to increase from zero (start of
growing season) to 1.5 linearly in a period of two months. Then
after, the LAI stays constant at 1.5 until one month before the end
of the growing season, where it starts to decrease linearly to reach
zero at the end of the growing season. The root density function was
considered to vary linearly with depth, from fully rooted at the top
of the soil profile to zero roots at the bottom of the vegetative

Table 2
Unsaturated soil properties, thickness, and oxidation parameters for simulated vegetated and non-vegetated covers.

hr hs a (1/cm) n Ks (cm/s) Thickness (cm) Vmax (nm/Kg Dry Soil/s) km (%)

Non-vegetated
Vegetative top layer 0.04 0.5 0.02 1.45 1.E04 45 150 5
Bottom barrier layer 0.09 0.482 0.02 1.52 5.E05 60 0 na
Vegetated
Vegetative top layer 0.04 0.55 0.02 1.45 5.E04 45 600/150 5
Bottom barrier layer 0.09 0.482 0.02 1.52 5.E05 60 0 na

Please cite this article in press as: Abichou, T., et al. Modeling the effects of vegetation on methane oxidation and emissions through soil landfill final covers
across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
4 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

topsoil layer. Roots were not allowed to penetrate the compacted always lower than those obtained for the non-vegetated cover
clay barrier. HYDRUS-1D calculates actual evaporation and transpi- and reaches residual water content during the growing season.
ration from the PET using Root Water Uptake Models (Feddes et al.’s Table 4 shows a summary of all average modeled soil water
(1978) approach). content and temperature simulations for vegetative 45-cm-thick
Heat transport through the cover was coupled with water trans- layer for the entire year and during the growing season only. When
port and is described with a convection–dispersion equation of the the entire year averages are considered, statistical significance
form: (Annova analysis) difference exists between modeled soil water
  content in the top of the vegetated versus the non-vegetated cov-
@C p ðhÞT @ @T @qT
¼ kðhÞ  Cw  C w ST ð6Þ ers only for Semiarid and Mediterranean climates. For instance, for
@t @x @x @x the Semiarid (Cold), the average water content during the entire
where T is soil temperature, kðhÞ is the coefficient of apparent ther- year was 0.18 and 0.14 for the simulated non-vegetated and vege-
mal conductivity of the soil [M m s3 K1], Cp(h) and Cw are the vol- tated scenarios. The same statistical difference exists between the
umetric heat capacities [M m1 s2 K1] of the porous medium and water contents obtained at mid depth of the vegetated soil layer
the liquid phase, respectively, and q is the Darcian fluid flux density for the Mediterranean and Semi-arid (Cold) climates. No significant
[m s1]. difference existed at any depth for simulations with Humid Sub-
tropical climate with a P/PET of 1.2 and a yearly precipitation of
2.2. Methane transport and oxidation model 150 cm for all depths.
During the growing season, however, statistical significant dif-
The continuity equation describing the reactive transport of gas ference exists between soil water content in the vegetated versus
component i in landfill cover soils can be written as follows: the non-vegetated covers for all three climates for all depths. The
difference is less significant (but still statistically different) for
@C i the water content at the bottom of topsoil layer for simulations
e ¼ r  J i þ qbulk  r i ð7Þ
@t with Humid Subtropical climate. These results show that soil water
content and therefore the air filled porosity of the topsoil layer is
where e is air-filled porosity (m3gas/m3soil), Ci is the molar concentra-
significantly higher for the vegetated landfill covers. This increase
tion of gas component i (mol m3), Ji is the flux of gas component i
in air filled porosity should help oxygen to diffuse deeper into
due to advection and diffusion (mol m2 s1), qbulk is the bulk den-
3 the soil cover and will be addressed in the gas transport simulation
sity
 of soil (kg m ), and ri is the production rate of gas component
1 1 presented later. The difference in the change of soil air filled poros-
i mol kgdrys s .
ity depends on the climatic conditions.
The reaction rate of CH4 is given as:
Fig. 1 also shows the soil temperature at three depths (top,
C CH4 C O2 middle, and bottom) of the topsoil or vegetated soil layer of the
r CH4 ¼ V max ð8Þ
K m½CH4  þ C CH4 K m½O2  þ C O2 simulated vegetated and non-vegetated final covers for the Medi-
terranean climate obtained from the HYDRUS1D simulations. As
where Vmax is the maximum methane consumption rate expected, simulated soil temperature in the topsoil layer showed
(nm/Kg Dry Soil/s), and K m½CH4  and K m½O2  are the half-saturation seasonal variation with the change in air temperature. The effects
constants of CH4 and O2 (mol m3), respectively. Temperature,
moisture, and scaling correction factors were considered for the
kinetic parameters in Eq. (7) as described in Abichou et al. (2010)
Table 3
and Abichou et al. (2011). Vmax was assumed to equal 150, and
Values of measured Vmax from literature.
600 (nm/Kg Dry Soil/s) for soil covers with no vegetation, and well
vegetated cover soils, respectively (Abichou et al., 2011). These Vmax Reference Material
(nm/Kg
values are conservative since they are on the lower side of possible
Dry Soil/s)
Vmax. Table 3 shows values of Vmax measured on different soils with
63 Bogner and Spokas (1993) Landfill cover soil
and without organic amendments obtained from the available
246 Wilshusen et al. (2004) Loam from landfill cover
literature. More details about the model can be found in Abichou 277 Bender and Conrad (1994) Coarse sand from landfill cover
et al. (2009), Yuan et al. (2009), Abichou et al. (2008, 2010), 491 Powelson et al. (2006) Soil layer in biofilter
Chanton et al. (2011) and Abichou et al. (2011, 2013). 278 Kightley et al. (1995) Coarse sand
721 Czepiel et al. (1996a,b) Sandy-clay loam
260 De Visscher et al. (1999) Loamy agricultural soil
3. Results and discussions 8333 Wilshusen et al. (2004) Compost
278 Stein and Hettiaratchi (2001) Loam
3.1. Soil water content and soil temperature profiles 42 Hilger et al. (2000)a Sandy loam
819 De Visscher et al. (2001) Sandy loam
2049 Scheutz and Kjheldsen (2004) Loamy sand
Fig. 1 shows the soil water content and soil temperature at 27 Scheutz et al. (2003) Sandy silt
three depths (top, middle, and bottom) of the topsoil or vegetated 434 Park et al. (2005) Sandy soil
soil layer of the simulated vegetated and non-vegetated final cov- 1500 Figueroa (1993) Humic soil
694 Figueroa (1993) Till
ers for the Mediterranean climate obtained from the HYDRUS1D
2222 Figueroa (1993) Biowaste compost
simulations. The rest of the simulations with the other two climate 3 Jones and Nedwell (1993) Sandy loam
types resulted in similar graphs on how climatic conditions affect 47 Whalen et al. (1990) Sand mixed with clay
soil water content and soil temperature of a vegetated versus a 0 Boeckx et al. (1996) Sandy loam
non-vegetated cover. Fig. 1 shows how climatic conditions and 0 Boeckx et al. (1996) Sandy loam
330 Christophersen et al. (2000) Sandy loam
vegetation affect the water content profile in the upper layer of
0 Bender and Conrad (1994) Loamy clay
the simulated landfill covers. For both, vegetated and non- 326 Borjesson et al. (2004) Sandy loam
vegetated covers, simulated soil water content decreases during 438 Borjesson et al. (2004) Sandy loam
the growing season due to the higher ET during the growing peri- 3003 Börjesson and Svensson (1997) Silty loam
833 Börjesson (1997) Sandy loam
ods. Simulations results show that soil water contents in the top
278 Börjesson and Svensson (1997) Sand
and middle of the topsoil layer in the vegetated landfill cover are

Please cite this article in press as: Abichou, T., et al. Modeling the effects of vegetation on methane oxidation and emissions through soil landfill final covers
across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 5

Fig. 1. Variation of modeled daily soil water content and temperature in the upper vegetative layer for vegetated and non-vegetated scenarios for mediterranean climate.

Table 4
Summary of simulation results of soil water content and temperature in vegetative soil layer.

During entire year During growing season

Semiarid (Cold) Avg. soil water content Avg. soil temperature (°C) Avg. soil water content Avg. soil temperature (°C)
Non veg. 100% veg. Non veg. 100% veg. Non veg. 100% veg. Non veg. 100% veg.
Top of vegetative layer 0.18 0.14 6.4 6.3 0.14 0.10 16.2 15.8
Middle of vegetative layer 0.23 0.15 11.8 12.0 0.21 0.10 19.9 20.1
Bottom of vegetative layer 0.24 0.17 15.4 15.7 0.23 0.15 21.8 22.2
Mediterranean
Top of vegetative layer 0.26 0.16 13.7 14.1 0.228 0.126 15.4 15.8
Middle of vegetative layer 0.29 0.15 17.3 17.8 0.271 0.123 18.8 20.1
Bottom of vegetative layer 0.31 0.27 19.7 20.8 0.29 0.259 21 22.2
Humid subtropical
Top of vegetative layer 0.275 0.273 16.7 17.1 0.274 0.270 17.7 18.1
Middle of vegetative layer 0.335 0.302 21.5 21.4 0.337 0.300 22.4 22.4
Bottom of vegetative layer 0.375 0.325 23.0 23.0 0.358 0.324 23.7 23.7

Please cite this article in press as: Abichou, T., et al. Modeling the effects of vegetation on methane oxidation and emissions through soil landfill final covers
across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
6 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

of air temperature on soil temperature are more prevalent closer to
the surface of the simulated covers. No significant difference
existed between the simulated soil temperature in the vegetated
and non-vegetated covers inside and outside the growing season.
It is theorized that the constant temperature boundary condition
maintained on the bottom of the simulated soil covers (30 °C) also
tempered the effects of climatic conditions on soil temperature at
the lower layer of the soil profiles.
3.2. Gas transport and oxidation results
As described earlier, the daily soil water content and tempera-
tures (Fig. 1) were used as a daily input of the gas transport module
of the model. Different simulations with varying methane loading
into each soil profile (5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200 g m2 d1) were per-
formed for each climatic condition and each vegetation scenario.
Typical results of one set of these simulations for Mediterranean
climate are shown in Figs. 2–4 as examples of how surface emis-
sions and percent oxidation vary daily with soil water content
and temperature profile for different methane loadings. Similar
plots were obtained for the simulations with the other two
climates.
For all vegetation scenarios, simulated surface emissions are
very low when the methane loading is below 50 g m2 d1 and
for all methane loadings, emissions are lower during the growing
season (Figs. 2a, 3a, 4a). The lowest surface emissions were always
obtained with simulated vegetated soil covers with a high Vmax,
followed by simulated vegetated with low Vmax, and then non-
vegetated scenario. As seen in Figs. 2a, 3a, 4a, the largest differ-
ences in surface emissions between the scenarios occur during
the growing season. When the same results are expressed in terms
of percent oxidation (fox) (Figs. 2b, 3b, 4b), it is clear that percent
oxidation is highest for the methane loading less than 50 g m2
d1. The highest percent oxidation surface emissions corresponded
to simulations with vegetated soil covers with a higher Vmax,
followed by vegetated with low Vmax, and then non-vegetated sce-
nario. As seen in Figs. 2a, 3a, 4a, the largest differences in percent
oxidation between the scenarios occur during the growing season.

Fig. 2. Typical simulated daily surface methane emissions and percent oxidation results for simulated non-vegetated landfill cover in mediterranean climate at different
methane loadings.

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 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 7

Similar plots were obtained for the other three climates but are not
shown for brevity. The results shown in Figs. 2–4 are evidence that
methane emissions and methane oxidation are influenced by daily
climatic conditions, methane loading at the bottom of the final
cover, and the simulated vegetated scenarios. They also suggest
that effects of vegetation on methane surface emissions and per-
cent oxidation can be attributed to two separate mechanisms.
The average oxidation rate and percent oxidation for the entire
year were calculated for each simulation (each methane loading
and for each vegetation scenario). The yearly averages of oxidation
rate and percent oxidation were then plotted versus methane load-
ing in Fig. 5, for Mediterranean Climate. At lower methane loading,
oxidation rate is equal to methane loading rate and increases with
increasing methane loading rate (Fig. 5a). In this region, the soil
cover is able to oxidize all of the methane coming from below,
and the slope of the curve of methane oxidation rate and methane
loading is 1:1. At these methane loading rates the soil cover was
able to oxidize 100% of the incoming methane. Fig. 5a also shows
that the cover soil seems to have a maximum capacity to oxidize
the incoming methane for each vegetation scenario. Fig. 5a shows
that for Mediterranean climate, the methane oxidation capacity of
the simulated final cover is around 20, 31, and 65 g m2 d1 for
non-vegetated, vegetated with low Vmax, and vegetated with high
Vmax, respectively. These results suggest that, for the Mediterra-
nean climate simulations, the change in soil properties of the top
layer of the cover (porosity, saturated hydraulic conductivity)
increased the maximum methane oxidation capacity of the soil
cover from 20 to 31 g m2 d1. The additional increase in oxidation
capacity, from 31 to 65 g m2 d1 was caused by the increase in
Vmax. This additional 100% increase in maximum methane oxida-
tion capacity, associated with the increase in Vmax, is theorized to
be caused by the increase in organic matter in the soil profile of
vegetated soils (Fig. 5a). Similar curves were obtained for the rest
of the simulated climates showing the same trends observed in
Fig. 5. Fig. 6a shows the additional oxidation rate due to the change
of physical properties of the upper vegetative layer separated from
that due to the use of high Vmax (associated with increase in
organic matter in the soil profile of vegetated soils) for the simula-
tions with Mediterranean climate. Similar curves were also
obtained using the other two climates. At low MLF (0–20 g m2

Fig. 3. Typical simulated daily surface methane emissions and percent oxidation results for simulated vegetated landfill cover at different methane loading, with high Vmax in
mediterranean climate.

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across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
8 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Fig. 4. Typical simulated daily surface methane emissions and percent oxidation results for simulated vegetated landfill cover with different methane loading, with low Vmax
in mediterranean climate.

d1), the change in soil physical properties has almost the same
effects on methane oxidation as the increase in Vmax. Each mecha-
nism accounted for an additional methane oxidation rate of
5 g m2 d1. At higher MLF the increase in Vmax is more responsible
for the higher increases in methane oxidation rates than the
change in the soil physical properties.
When the same yearly simulated oxidation data are expressed
in fraction oxidized or percent oxidation (Fig. 5b), there also seems
to be a methane loading rate below which methane oxidation is
equal to 100%. Above this methane loading, the cover is not able
to oxidize all of the incoming methane. Therefore, percent oxida-
tion starts to decrease as the methane loading increases. Fig. 5b
shows all of the modeling results for all three vegetation scenarios
for the simulations performed with Mediterranean climate. Similar
curves were obtained for the rest of the simulated climates. At any
methane loading, percent oxidation is highest for vegetated with
high Vmax, followed by vegetated with low Vmax, and then the
non-vegetated simulations. Fig. 6b shows the additional percent
oxidation or fraction oxidized due to the change of physical prop-
erties of the upper vegetative layer, separated from that due to the
use of high Vmax (associated with increase in organic matter in the
soil profile of vegetated soils). Fig. 6b is a good presentation of the
anticipated increase of percent oxidation due to vegetation and
how to assign the increase in percent oxidation to the two separate
processes associated with the effects of vegetation on methane oxi-
dation: change in soil physical properties and the increase in Vmax.
At low MLF, the change in soil physical properties can lead to an
increase in percent oxidation of up to a 17%. For higher MLFs, the
increase of Vmax is more responsible for the increase in percent oxi-
dation for vegetated soil covers. These results, of course, were
obtained using a modeling study with several simplifying assump-
tions that do not capture the complexities of vegetated soils under
field conditions. Field verification of these observations are
warranted.
4. Application
Simulations results can be used to encourage vegetating closed
landfills by developing a protocol to estimate methane emission

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across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx 9

Fig. 5. Typical simulated average yearly methane oxidation rate and percent
oxidation results for simulated vegetated and non-vegetated landfill cover with
different methane loading and Vmax in mediterranean climate.

Fig. 7. Typical simulated average yearly percent oxidation power functions for
simulated vegetated and non-vegetated landfill cover with different methane
loading and Vmax in mediterranean climate.

and to quantify the improvement of performance (emissions and

oxidation) of compacted clay final covers if they are vegetated.
Such protocol can help decision makers quantify additional meth-
ane oxidation capabilities of vegetated covers. The modeled per-
cent oxidation for each scenario and for each climate was
expressed as a power function of the assumed methane loading
flux (MLF) for Mediterranean Climate. Similar curves were
obtained for the rest of the simulated climates (Fig. 7). Fig. 7 shows
how modeled percent oxidation, fox, can be expressed as a function
percent Oxidation added by Vegetation

30%
of methane loading for compacted clay cover designs under one
25% climatic condition. These quantities could be thought of as unique
and are dependent on vegetation scenario and climatic conditions
20% for compacted clay covers. These quantities are the characteristics
that combine all the modeled effects of climate, soil type, and cover
15%
type on methane oxidation:
10%
f ox ¼ aMLFb ð9Þ
5% Change in Physical Properties
Increase in Vmax The methane loading at which the cover can theoretically oxi-
0% dize 100% of the methane coming from below (No surface emis-
0 50 100 150 200
sions) were obtained for each climate and shown in Fig. 7 for
Methane Loading Flux (g/m2d)
Mediterranean climate and in Table 5 for all climates.
Fig. 6. Increase of methane oxidation rate and percent oxidation due to change in Several protocols and models are being used to estimate meth-
physical soil properties and due to increase in Vmax for mediterranean climate. ane generation from the waste mass in kg/year such as: the Landfill

Please cite this article in press as: Abichou, T., et al. Modeling the effects of vegetation on methane oxidation and emissions through soil landfill final covers
across different climates. Waste Management (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2014.11.002
10 T. Abichou et al. / Waste Management xxx (2014) xxx–xxx

Table 5
Correlations between percent oxidation and methane loading flux.

Non-vegetated Vegetated low Vmax Vegetated high Vmax

b b
Methane fox = a MLF Zero Methane fox = a MLF Zero Methane fox = a MLFb Zero
oxidation emission oxidation emission oxidation emission
capacity MLF capacity MLF capacity MLF
(g m2 d1) (g m2 d1) (g m2 d1) (g m2 d1) (g m2 d1) (g m2 d1)
a b a b a b
Semi-arid (Cold) 21 4.36 0.684 9.0 29 3.36 0.547 9.2 53 2.19 0.341 10.0
Mediterranean 20 3.36 0.630 6.8 31 2.80 0.489 8.2 65 1.90 0.288 9.0
Humid subtropical 20 3.62 0.645 7.3 24 3.13 0.581 7.8 49 2.26 0.370 9.1

Gas Emissions Model, LandGEM, (U.S. EPA, 2005) which estimate
fugitive emissions of landfills, with the following approach:
h  g i
CMP ¼ UMP  1  col  ð1  f ox Þ
100
where CMP is the fugitive surface mass emissions of methane (kg/
year), UMP is the methane generation from the waste mass in kg/
year, gcol is the efficiency of the landfill gas collection system and
the term fox is the fraction of methane biologically oxidized by the
cover soil.
Methane Loading Flux (MLF) from old closed landfills can be
estimated as follow:
MLF ¼ UMp  ð1  gcol Þ=Landfilled Waste Area
The literature has default values for collection efficiency for
final soil covers. For instance, 75% collection efficiency is associated
with final soil covers (example: Spokas et al., 2006). Surface emis-
sions of methane at a landfill can be estimated using variation of
Eq. (10), where fox in Eq. (10) is estimated at different climates
using Eq. (9) with the appropriate constants (a and b) associated
with each climate shown in Table 5.
5. Summary and conclusions
covers with a higher Vmax, followed by vegetated with low Vmax,
and then non-vegetated scenario. The largest differences in surface
emissions between the vegetated and non-vegetated scenarios
ð10Þ occur during the growing season. The highest percent oxidation
surface emissions corresponded to simulations with vegetated soil
covers with a higher Vmax, followed by vegetated with low Vmax,
and then non-vegetated scenario. The largest differences in percent
oxidation between the scenarios occur during the growing season.
They also explain that the effects of vegetation on methane surface
emissions and percent oxidation can be attributed to two separate
mechanisms: (1) increase in methane oxidation associated with
the change of the physical properties of the vegetative soil layer
ð11Þ and (2) the increase of organic matter associated with vegetated
soil layers.
Finally, the main conclusion of the study is that vegetation can
influence methane oxidation due to the changes of the physical
properties of soil and due to changes in the capacity of biological
oxidation. The simulations results presented herein showcased
the effects of vegetation on oxidation through a simplified
approach to capture each phenomena separately (change in soil
physical properties and change in oxidation capacity). In reality,
of course, these changes are more complex and are not indepen-
dent from each other.

Based on the presented literature review, in addition to agglom-

eration, isolation against high temperature variability, mechanical
stabilization, and protection from erosion, vegetation has positive
effects on methane oxidation in landfill covers. Plant roots enhance
the aeration of soil by creating secondary macropores which
improve the diffusion of oxygen into soil as well as the supply of
methane to bacteria. Vegetation growing on final old landfill covers
can improve the air capacity of less permeable soil materials
through soil aggregation, formation of secondary macropores via
spreading roots and transpiration of pore water within the limit
of the available field capacity. Therefore, a soil with an inherently
poor methane oxidation potential can be improved considerably
by the soil structuring processes of vegetation. The development
of an optimized methane oxidizing landfill cover system can
include the choice of vegetation, in addition to the inherent prop-
erties of the cover soils.
This study consisted of using a numerical model, which com-
bines water balance, heat transport models with a gas transport
and oxidation, to simulate methane emission and oxidation
through vegetated and non-vegetated landfills with different cli-
mates. Soil water contents in the top and middle of the topsoil
layer in the vegetated landfill cover are always lower than those
obtained for the non-vegetated cover. Soil temperature in the top-
soil layer showed seasonal variation with the change in air temper-
ature. No significant difference existed between the simulated soil
temperature in the vegetated and non-vegetated covers.
For all vegetation scenarios, simulated surface emissions are
very low when the methane loading is below 50 g m2 d1. The
lowest surface emissions were always obtained with vegetated soil
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