Advanced ground-based technologies for assessing vadose zone properties and processes
ORGANIZED BY
Giorgio Cassiani
University of Padua, Italy
Antonio Coppola
University of Basilicata, Italy
Paolo Castiglione
Meter Group, Inc., United States
ABSTRACT
Assessing vadose zone properties and processes is fundamental for the sustainable management of agro-forestry systems. Water and contaminant migration through the unsaturated soil is driven by fundamental physical principles of mass and energy conservation, but the actual behavior of these systems strongly depends on the space-time variability of soil properties, that in turn produce large variations in soil states such as moisture content and solute concentrations. New technologies are needed to increase the accuracy, the resolution and extent of the characterization of water flow and solute transport in soil as well as soil properties. The coupling of advanced data with accurate process modelling can provide major advances in this science.
This session aims at gathering studies presenting recent technological advances in assessing vadose zone properties and processes, with particular but non exclusive attention to minimally invasive techniques.
We welcome contributions about the development and the application of advanced techniques, such as:
- Electromagnetic Induction methods;
- Electrical Resistivity Tomography;
- Ground Penetrating Radar;
- Time Domain Reflectometry;
- Dye tracing;
- data driven modelling via data assimilation techniques.
ABOUT THE CONVENERS
Giorgio Cassiani is Professor of Applied Geophysics at the Department of Geosciences of the University of Padua. He studied Mining Engineering at the University of Trieste in 1991, holds a Doctorate in Applied Geophysics from the same University (1996), a Master of Science (1995) and a Ph.D. (1997) in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Duke University, USA. He had Lecturer positions at Lancaster University (UK) and University of Milano-Bicocca. His research interests include Hydro-geophysical methods and more specific approaches to monitor plant root systems. He is author of over 100 scientific papers in international listed journals, and over 200 communications.
Antonio Coppola is Professor of Agricultural and Forestry Watershed Hydrology at the Agricultural, Forestry and Environmental Sciences of the University of Basilicata. Current research focuses on measuring and modeling water and solute transport in unsaturated heterogeneous and layered porous media. Specific topics include: soil hydrology; water and solute preferential flow; stochastic approaches; numerical modelling, irrigation at field and district scale; proximal sensing; soil salinity management.
Paolo Castiglione, PhD, is a senior soil scientist, currently working at the Research and Development department of METER Group Inc. (Pullman, Washington State, USA), where he designs sensing devices for commercial agriculture, environmental monitoring and food industry. He is also affiliated with the Washington State University and assists with the Environmental Biophysics postgraduate course.
