Orthogonal contrasts in the analyses of ammonia volatilization control in composting

Abstract

Orthogonal contrasts have been very useful in the analysis of experiments and this technique has been efficient in obtaining estimates of main, interaction and nested effects. Generally this technique has been useful for the analysis of data from non-conventional experiments, with no defined structure. The aim of this work was to apply this technique to the data obtained by an experiment to control losses of ammonia by volatilization with different levels of residual acidity associated with three levels of additives, and four rate levels. In this way the statistical analysis was carried out according to a one-way layout in a mixture with an additional treatment. The main effects of additives and rate as well as the nested and interaction effects were estimated using orthogonal contrasts. This technique is an alternative form to analyze non-conventional experiments in order to extract all the effects involved in the analysis.