SAFETY LEVEL
State in which the risk of harm (to persons) or damage is limited to an acceptable level (ISO 8402). Freedom from those conditions that can cause death, injury, or occupational illness, or damage to or loss of equipment or property, or damage to the environment (882C).
SALINITY
A measure of the total concentration of dissolved salts in water. The salinity of ocean water is in the range 33-38 parts per thousand.
SALINIZATION
Change in the salinity status of the soil. It can be caused by improper management of irrigation schemes, mainly in the arid and semiarid regions covering small areas or it may also occur if seawater or fossil saline groundwater intrudes in coastal regions or in closed basins with aquifers of different salt content when there is an excessive use of groundwater. It usually takes place where human activities lead to an increased evapotranspiration in soils on salt containing parent material or with saline groundwater. (source: United Nation, Statistics Division, Environment Glossary)
SAMPLING
Methods and techniques used to obtain a representative sample of the material under investigation.
SAND
Loose mixture of minerals and rock fragment sediments in which at least 50% have grain sizes that range in size from 0.02 to 2 millimeters in diameter. Quartz, feldspars, micas, and heavy minerals are predominant.
SAND DUNE
A mound, ridge, or hill of windblown sand.
SAPROPHAGOUS
Refers to organisms that feed on decaying or decayed plant or animal matter.
SATELLITE
a)A small, natural celestial body (such as our Moon) revolving around a larger one. b)A man-made object (such as a spacecraft) placed in orbit around the Earth, another planet or the Sun.
SCAVENGER
An organism that feeds on dead or decomposing animals or macrophytes.
SCIOPHILOUS
Thriving in shaded situations, or in habitats of low light intensity.
