Soil hydrology

Water is the primary driver of solute transport, so research on soil hydrology is fundamental to the work of our group. Our research in soil hydrology focuses mainly on the influence of soil structure on hydraulic properties and water flow, but we also have strong current interests in the role of plants in regulating the hydrologic cycle, the effects of crop and soil management on the water balance and the application of proximal sensing methods to identify hydrological source areas in the landscape contributing to nutrient and contaminant losses to surface waters.

We integrate experimental approaches, both in the field and the laboratory (e.g. dye tracing for flow pathway visualization, tension infiltrometers to characterize near-saturated hydraulic properties, and soil column and micro-lysimeter experiments), with theoretical approaches and models, both to improve our understanding of the key processes and also to support the development of improved management-oriented decision-support and risk assessment tools for both nutrients and pesticides. Much of our modeling work focuses on the development and application of the numerical dual-permeability model MACRO.