Credit hours
In-class work per week |
Practice per week |
Credits |
Duration |
Total |
6 |
0 |
12 |
15 weeks |
180 hours |
Instructor
Quirijn de Jong van Lier
Objective
Convey the physical principles that govern soil behavior, applying them to the processes of mass and energy transport in both the soil and the rhizosphere, and linking this knowledge to the agronomic and ecological quality of the soil.Teach the use and development of analytical and numerical models to simulate and predict the processes involved. Encourage critical thinking in interpreting the static indices commonly used to assess soil physical quality, with a particular emphasis on those related to transpiration and water availability to plants.
Content
Modeling of transfer processes in the soil, at the surface, and in the rhizosphere: water, gas, and heat fluxes; radiation balance; vapor flow and evapotranspiration. Conservation laws and principles; continuity equation. Boundary conditions and the use of analytical and numerical models to describe and apply soil physical properties. Microscopic models (single root) and macroscopic models (root system). Limitations to water extraction from the soil due to water scarcity, excess solutes, and aeration deficit. Modeling plant transpiration during the declining rate phase: reduction curve. Distribution of water extraction along the root system in depth. Hydrological modeling: use of predictive models such as SWAP and HYDRUS. Laboratory and field methods for measuring soil physical properties. Estimation of these properties using inverse modeling techniques. Soil physical quality: concept and critical analysis of its indicators. Reading, interpretation, and presentation of recent scientific papers related to the course topics. Exploring research opportunities, topics, and methods applied to soil physics.
Bibliography
Campbell, G.S.; Norman, J.M. An Introduction To Environmental Biophysics. Springer Verlag, New York, 1998.
Dane, J.H.; Topp, G.C. (eds) Methods of Soil Analysis: Part 4, Physical Methods. SSSA Book Series No 5. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, WI, 2002
De Jong van Lier, Q. Física do Solo. Sociedade Brasileira de Ciência do Solo, 2010
De Jong van Lier, Q. Física do Solo baseada em processos. Edição do Autor, 2020
Hillel, D. Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics. Elsevier Academic Press, 2004.
Jury, W. A .; Horton, R.. Soil physics. 6th ed. John Wiley & Sons, New York, 2004.
Shukla, M.J. Soil physics: an introduction. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida. 2013.