VVZ API is not affiliated with ETH Zurich. Data might be outdated or incorrect. Please view the official ETHZ Vorlesungsverzeichnis for binding information.

701-0535-00L 3 Credits BSC , MSC , NDS D-USYS , D-ERDW , D-BAUG
You're viewing possible stale or outdated data. Please check the latest semester for more up-to-date information.

Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology

Lecturers & Examiners: Dr. Peter Ulrich Lehmann Grunder
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-02-05 15:36:18

Abstract

The course provides theoretical and practical foundations for understanding and characterizing physical and transport properties of soils/ near-surface earth materials, and quantifying hydrological processes and fluxes of mass and energy at multiple scales.

Objective

Students are able to - characterize porous media at different scales - parameterize structural, flow and transport properties of partially-saturated porous media - quantify driving forces and resulting fluxes of water, solute, and heat in soils - explain links between physical processes in the vadose-zone and major societal and environmental challenges

Content

Weeks 1 to 3: Physical Properties of Soils and Other Porous Media – Units and dimensions, definitions and basic mass-volume relationships between the solid, liquid and gaseous phases; soil texture; particle size distributions; surface area; soil structure. Soil colloids and clay behavior Soil Water Content and its Measurement - Definitions; measurement methods - gravimetric, neutron scattering, gamma attenuation; and time domain reflectometry; soil water storage and water balance. Weeks 4 to 5: Soil Water Retention and Potential (Hydrostatics) - The energy state of soil water; total water potential and its components; properties of water (molecular, surface tension, and capillary rise); modern aspects of capillarity in porous media; units and calculations and measurement of equilibrium soil water potential components; soil water characteristic curves definitions and measurements; parametric models; hysteresis. Modern aspects of capillarity Weeks 6 to 9: Water Flow in Soil - Hydrodynamics: Part 1 - Laminar flow in tubes (Poiseuille's Law); Darcy's Law, conditions and states of flow; saturated flow; hydraulic conductivity and its measurement. Part 2 - Unsaturated steady state flow; unsaturated hydraulic conductivity models and applications; non-steady flow and Richards equation; approximate solutions to infiltration (Green-Ampt, Philip); field methods for estimating soil hydraulic properties. Part 3 - Use of Hydrus model for simulation of unsaturated flow Week 10: Solute Transport in Soils; Transport mechanisms of solutes in porous media; breakthrough curves; convection-dispersion equation; solutions for pulse and step solute application; parameter estimation; salt balance. Week 11: Gas transport in soil and biological processes; gas diffusion as function of water content, Fickian law, biological activity and respiration; root water uptake; soil structure Week 12 to 13: Energy Balance and Land Atmosphere Interactions - Radiation and energy balance; evapotranspiration definitions and estimation; transpiration, plant development and transpirtation coefficients; small and large scale influences on hydrological cycle; surface evaporation. Week 14: Temperature and Heat Flow in Porous Media - Soil thermal properties; steady state heat flow; nonsteady heat flow; estimation of thermal properties; engineering applications.

Resources

Lecture Notes

Classnotes: Vadose Zone Hydrology, by Or D., J.M. Wraith, and M. Tuller(available at the beginning of the semester)

Literature

Supplemental textbook (not mandatory) -Environmental Soil Physics, by: D. Hillel

General Information

Language
English
Levels
BSC , MSC , NDS
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
end-of-semester examination

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture with exercise Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology
  • Wed 16:00-18:00 (ON LI NE)
2 h weekly
exercise Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology
  • Wed 18:00-19:00 (ON LI NE)
2 h weekly

Offered In