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701-0535-00L 3 Credits BSC , MSC D-BAUG , D-ERDW , D-USYS

Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology

Lecturers & Examiners: Dr. Peter Ulrich Lehmann Grunder, Prof. Dr. Andrea Carminati
VVZ CR n/a

Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:07:20

Abstract

The course provides theoretical and practical foundations for understanding and characterizing physical soil properties and processes and their relevance for terrestrial ecosystems, plant growth, hydrological processes and atmospheric-land gas exchange, across all relevant scales.

Objective

Students are able to: -Characterize the different soils based on their key textural and structural properties. -Simulate and predict soil water retention and flow under varying environmental conditions and understand the key driving forces (capillarity, gravity, friction) and related water properties (surface tension and viscosity). -Predict soil hydraulic properties for varying soil textural classes. -Predict solute transport in soils for varying environmental conditions. -Predict energy balance and temperature dynamics in soils. -Predict conditions for plant water stress -Estimate the impact of soil properties on the hydrological cycle and on plant growth.

Content

INTRODUCTION Week 1 (September 17) Presentation of the role of soil physics in environmental sciences and terrestrial ecosystems: soils in the water cycle; soils and vegetation; soils and solute transport. Survey on students' interests and expectations. Presentation of course structure and learning objectives. BASIC SOIL PROPERTIES Week 2 (September 24) and Week 3 (October 01) soil texture, particle size distribution, soil structure, soil surface area, porosity and bulk density Pore scale consideration (water in a single pore), pore sizes and shapes; surface tension; Young-Laplace equation; capillary rise; contact angle Friction and laminar flow; Hagen-Poiseuille’s law; Washburn equation; numerical lab (REPORT 1) SOIL HYDRAULIC PROPERTIES Week (4 October 08) and Week 5 (October 15) Soil water content and soil water potential - The energy state of soil water; total water potential and its components; volumetric and gravimetric water contents; field capacity and wilting point Soil water characteristics and pore size distribution Saturated water flow in soils - Laminar flow in tubes (Poiseuille's Law); Darcy's Law, conditions and states of flow; permeability and hydraulic conductivity, measurement and theoretical concepts; effective conductivity; unsaturated hydraulic conductivity; Buckingham law. Unsaturated water flow in soils - Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity models and applications TOOLBOX – MEASUREMENTS AND MODELING Week (6 October 22) and Week 7 (October 29) Measuring soil hydraulic properties, fitting and interpretation; Lab tour - demonstration of soil physical methods; lecture on HYPROP method; report on Hyprop data (REPORT 2) Modelling unsaturated water flow based on Richards equation - Using Hydrus1D for simulation of unsaturated flow; simulating HYPROP measurements (REPORT 3) SOIL IN THE WATER CYCLE Week 8 (November 05) – Week 9 (November 12) Water infiltration - steady state solutions for infiltration; approximate solutions to infiltration (Green-Ampt, Philip); infiltration rate and ponding; outlook to preferential flow Water evaporation - Energy balance and land atmosphere interactions - potential and actual evaporation, evaporation stages; SOIL PLANT INTERACTIONS Week 10 (November 19) Week 11 (November 26) Root water uptake and transpiration – Theory and mechanisms controlling root water uptake; hydraulic properties of rhizosphere; plant and stomatal conductance. Modelling root water uptake and transpiration; analytical approaches and modeling using Hydrus (REPORT 4) SOLUTE TRANSPORT Week 12 (December 03) Week 13 (December 10) Transport mechanisms of solutes in porous media; breakthrough curves; convection-dispersion equation; solutions for pulse and step solute application Transport of reactive substances, preferential flow, simulations with Hydrus CLOSURE Week 14 (December 17) Summary, course synthesis, connections between the different topics, questions, exam preparation

Resources

Literature

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

General Information

Language
English
Levels
BSC , MSC
Frequency
Yearly recurring

Examination

Type
end-of-semester examination
Mode
oral 30 minutes

Course Components

Type Title Time & Place Hours
lecture Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology No time listed 2 h weekly
exercise Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology No time listed 1 h weekly

Offered In