Lecture

Soil Water Stock Estimation and Management

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In course

ENV-222: Soil sciences

Le cours est une introduction aux Sciences du sol. Il a pour but de présenter les principales caractéristiques, propriétés et fonctions des sols. Il fait appel à des notions théoriques mais également à des cas d'étude concrets à l'aide d'exercices et de tr ...

Description

This lecture covers the estimation of soil water stock, decision support for irrigation management, and the characterization of soil water potential and liquid phase. It discusses the concepts of water content, energy state of soil water, and hydraulic head.

Instructors (3)

David Andrew Barry

Research InterestsSubsurface hydrology, constructed wetlands, ecological engineering, in particular contaminant transport and remediation of soil and groundwater; more generally, models of hydrological and vadose zone processes; application of mathematical methods to hydrological processes; coastal zone sediment transport, aquifer-coastal ocean interactions; hydrodynamics and modelling of lakes.

Géraldine Michèle Bullinger

Teaching & PhD Courses Soil sciences ENV-222 This course is an introduction to Soil Sciences, and it focuses on the main soil characteristics, properties, and functions. The teaching is based on theoretical concepts, exercises as well as field and computer experiments.

Gabriele Manoli

Teaching & PhD PhD Students Yuxin Yin, Marc Duran Sala, Guo-Shiuan Lin Courses Adventure on Planet B PENS-231 This course will take students on a cosmic journey and then back to Earth to reflect on planetary challenges and their solutions. Climate and water sensitive urban design ENV-526 This project-based course introduces students to the field of urban climate and hydrology, with a focus on nature-based solutions for the design of climate and water resilient cities. Soi

Official source

Related concepts (32)

Pore space in soil

The pore space of soil contains the liquid and gas phases of soil, i.e., everything but the solid phase that contains mainly minerals of varying sizes as well as organic compounds. In order to understand porosity better a series of equations have been used to express the quantitative interactions between the three phases of soil. Macropores or fractures play a major role in infiltration rates in many soils as well as preferential flow patterns, hydraulic conductivity and evapotranspiration.

Porosity

Porosity or void fraction is a measure of the void (i.e. "empty") spaces in a material, and is a fraction of the volume of voids over the total volume, between 0 and 1, or as a percentage between 0% and 100%. Strictly speaking, some tests measure the "accessible void", the total amount of void space accessible from the surface (cf. closed-cell foam). There are many ways to test porosity in a substance or part, such as industrial CT scanning.

Irrigation

Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been developed by many cultures around the world. Irrigation helps to grow crops, maintain landscapes, and revegetate disturbed soils in dry areas and during times of below-average rainfall. In addition to these uses, irrigation is also employed to protect crops from frost, suppress weed growth in grain fields, and prevent soil consolidation.

Effective porosity

Effective porosity is most commonly considered to represent the porosity of a rock or sediment available to contribute to fluid flow through the rock or sediment, or often in terms of "flow to a borehole". Porosity that is not considered "effective porosity" includes water bound to clay particles (known as bound water) and isolated "vuggy" porosity (vugs not connected to other pores). The effective porosity is of great importance in considering the suitability of rocks or sediments as oil or gas reservoirs, or as aquifers.

Wilting

Wilting is the loss of rigidity of non-woody parts of plants. This occurs when the turgor pressure in non-lignified plant cells falls towards zero, as a result of diminished water in the cells. Wilting also serves to reduce water loss, as it makes the leaves expose less surface area. The rate of loss of water from the plant is greater than the absorption of water in the plant. The process of wilting modifies the leaf angle distribution of the plant (or canopy) towards more erectophile conditions.

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