SPECIAL SESSION #18
Measurements in soil hydrological processes and properties
ORGANIZED BY
Vincenzo Alagna
Vincenzo Alagna
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences (SAAF), University of Palermo, Italy
Simone Di Prima
Simone Di Prima
School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences (SAFE), University of Basilicata, Italy
Leonor Rodriguez Sinobas
Leonor Rodriguez Sinobas
Escuela Técnica Superior de Ing. Agronómica, Alimentaria y de Biosistemas. Agro-Forestry Engineering Dpt. Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, Spain
Deniz Yilmaz
Deniz Yilmaz
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Munzur University, Turkey
Dario Autovino
Dario Autovino
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences (SAAF), University of Palermo, Italy
Massimo Iovino
Massimo Iovino
Department of Agricultural, Food and Forest Sciences (SAAF), University of Palermo, Italy
ABSTRACT
Climate changes have the strongest impacts on arid and semi-arid regions. In these environments, much more than in any other places, the soil hydrological processes have implications on numerous soil functions: i) water and nutrients availability for the development of plants, ii) contrast of the punctual or diffuse pollution of aquifers, iii) water conservation measures and sustain agro-systems production, and iv) control of soil water erosion. Considering the above, measurements of soil hydrological processes and properties at different spatial and temporal scales is therefore crucial for the management of water resources which are increasingly limiting. In this context, infiltration experiments as well as high-resolution measurements of soil state variables, both over space and time, represent proper means to describe and analyse soil hydraulic properties adequately. This scientific session takes into consideration studies on different techniques for estimating the soil hydraulic properties and sensors for measuring the soil physical state variables (water content and potential). Are welcome contributions from simulated and real data investigations in the laboratory or field-based experiments and the presentation of new and promising modelling approaches, scenarios, and techniques.
TOPICS
Specific topics include, but are not limited to:
- Field and laboratory infiltration measuring techniques
- Measuring soil hydraulic properties
- Measuring soil water status
- Innovative soil-water measurements techniques for supporting the interactions between soil, plant and atmosphere compartments
- Modelling soil physics dynamics at different temporal and spatial scales
- Impact of hydrology changes on agricultural ecosystems
- Soil use and management in arid and semi-arid environments
- Non-conventional water use effects on soil hydraulic properties
ABOUT THE ORGANIZERS
Vincenzo Alagna, PhD. Since 2021, he has been a researcher of Agricultural Hydraulics and Watershed Management at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forest Sciences (SAAF) of the University of Palermo. In 2011, he obtained the MSc in Agricultural Sciences and Technologies at the University of Palermo and in 2017 he was awarded with the PhD in Agricultural, Forest and Environmental Sciences. In 2017, his PhD thesis received the “Giuseppe Benini” award for the best thesis in Agricultural Hydraulics and Watershed Management. The award was assigned by the Italian Society of Agricultural Engineering during the XI National Congress “Biosystems Engineering Addressing the Human Challenges of the 21st Century”. His research interests are mainly related to soil hydrology and agricultural water management, with particular focus on the implementation of strategies aimed at optimizing water resources and to increase water use efficiency.
Dr. Simone Di Prima (PhD, 2016) is researcher at the School of Agricultural, Forestry, Food and Environmental Sciences (SAFE), University of Basilicata, Italy. His main scientific interests focus on soil hydrology and water resources management with specific regard to laboratory and field determination of soil hydraulic properties, infiltration processes, simulation of water flow in the vadose zone and geophysical techniques applied to soil hydrology.
Leonor Rodriguez Sinobas is a Full Professor, in the area of Hydraulic and Hydrology Engineering at the Agricultural Engineering School, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid. Her academic and scientific contributions focus on the management of irrigation systems and water resources in irrigated areas, considering either the hydraulic and/or hydrology characteristics, in order to improve sustainability. The results have been published in more than 60 publications on international peer-reviewed journals and several books’ chapters. In addition, she has also collaborated in the teaching programs of several South American universities (Costa Rica, Bolivia, Brasil, Argentina) Palermo University and Demirel-Suleyman University (Turkey). During the last decade, she has been the main UPM and /or coordinator of several European projects: ERASMUS+ (Capacity building), PRIMA, Horizon 2020 and has collaborated in one FAO project regarding the good agricultural practices and damage and loss assessment for comprehensive disaster risk management and sustainable agriculture adapted to climate change.
Deniz Yilmaz is Associate Professor in the hydraulic section of the civil engineering department of the engineering faculty at Munzur University in Turkey. His field of expertise is the modelling of infiltration processes in anthropic and natural areas through infiltrometry tests. He did his PhD in France and participated in several research project such as study of eco-compatibility of technosol for greening application in urban aera, on green roof for rainwater mitigation and revalorisation of waste material for remediation solution for ecological transition. He continues his research in methodological developments, in order to better describe the flow processes in anthropogenic hydrosystems, to take into account the heterogeneity (stratification, double permeability, hydrophobicity, biological activity) of the unsaturated zone. All this research is in line with the conservation of the urban water cycle and the promotion of biodiversity and agricultural applications at urban scale.
Dario Autovino, Ph.D. in Environmental Hydronomy, is researcher of Agricultural Hydraulics and Watershed Management at the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forest Sciences (SAAF) of the University of Palermo. His main research interests focus on soil hydrology, with particular reference on modelling of water flow and solute transport at different spatial scale in the Soil Plant Atmosphere continuum, in order to improve the agricultural water management.
Massimo Iovino holds a Ph.D. in Hydrology and is Full Professor of “Agricultural Hydraulics” at the University of Palermo. His main scientific interests focus on soil hydrology and water resources management with specific regard to laboratory and field determination of soil hydraulic properties and modelling of agro-hydrological processes. He supervised several research projects funded by Italian Ministry of University (PRIN) and Regione Sicilia. He is coordinator of the PhD course in Mediterranean Agricultural Food and Forest Systems (SAAFM) at the university of Palermo. He authored 100 scientific papers on ISI journals and 2 books edited by Hoepli, Milan, and Springer International Publishing, Switzerland. He is referee for several international scientific journals and Associate Editor of Journal of Hydrology and Hydromechanics. For the time spell 2020-2022, he chaired the subdivision SSS6 “Soil Physics” of European Geosciences Union (EGU).
