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The soil water retention curve (SWRC) is a key soil property required for predicting basic hydrological processes. SWRC is often obtained in laboratory with non-harmonized methods. Moreover, procedures associated to each method are not standardized. This can induce a lack of reproducibility between laboratories using different methods and procedures or using the same methods with different procedures. The goal of this study was to estimate the inter/intralaboratory variability of the measurement of the wet part (from 10 to 300 hPa) of the SWRC. An interlaboratory comparison was conducted between 14 laboratories, using artificially constructed, porous and structured samples as references. The bulk densities of samples were different at the very beginning of the experiment. This resulted in a variability of retention properties between the samples, which was estimated by a linear mixed model with a "sample" random effect. Our estimate of inter/intralaboratory variability was therefore not affected by intrinsic differences between samples. The greatest portion of the differences in the measurement of SWRCs was due to interlaboratory variability. The intralaboratory variability was highly variable depending on the laboratory. Some laboratories successfully reproduced the same SWRC on the same sample, while others did not. The mean intralaboratory variability over all laboratories was smaller than the mean interlaboratory variability. A possible explanation for these results is that all laboratories used slightly different methods and procedures. We believe that this result may be of great importance regarding the quality of SWRC databases built by pooling SWRCs obtained in different laboratories. The quality of pedotransfer functions or maps that might be derived is probably hampered by this inter-/intralaboratory variability. The way forward is that measurement procedures of the SWRC need to be harmonized and standardized.

Plastic is an emerging pollutant, and the quantities in rivers and oceans are expected to increase. Rivers are assumed to transport land-based plastic into the ocean, and the fluvial and marine transport processes have been relatively well studied to date. However, the processes controlling the transport in tidal rivers and estuaries, the interface between fluvial and marine systems, remain largely unresolved. For this reason, current estimates of riverine plastic pollution and export into the ocean remain highly uncertain. Hydrodynamics in tidal rivers and estuaries are influenced by tides and freshwater discharge. As a consequence, flow velocity direction and magnitude can change diurnally. In turn, this impacts the transport dynamics of solutes and pollutants, including plastics. Plastic transport dynamics in tidal rivers and estuaries remain understudied, yet the available observations suggest that plastics can be retained here for long time periods, especially during periods of low net discharge. Additional factors such as riparian vegetation and riverbank characteristics, in combination with bidirectional flows and varying water levels, can lead to even higher likelihood of long-term retention. Here, we provide a first observation-based estimate of net plastic transport on a daily time scale in tidal rivers. For this purpose, we developed a simple Eulerian approach using sub-hourly observations of plastic transport and discharge during full tidal cycles. We applied our method to the highly polluted Saigon river, Vietnam, throughout six full tidal cycles in May 2022. We show that the net plastic transport is about 27–32 % of the total plastic transport. We found that plastic transport and river discharge are positively and significantly correlated (Pearson's r = 0.87, R2 = 0.75). The net transport of plastic is higher than the net discharge (27–32 % and 18 %, respectively), suggesting that plastic transport is governed by other factors than water flow. Such factors include wind, varying plastic concentrations in the water, and entrapment of plastics downstream of the measurement site. The plastic net transport rates alternate between positive (seaward) net transport and negative (landward) net transport, as a result of the diurnal inequality in the tidal cycles. We found that soft and neutrally buoyant items had considerably lower net transport rates than rigid and highly buoyant items (11–17 % vs 31–39 %), suggesting the retention time strongly depends on item characteristics. Our results demonstrate the crucial role of tidal dynamics and bidirectional flows in net plastic transport. With this paper we emphasize the importance of understanding fundamental transport dynamics in tidal rivers and estuaries to ultimately reduce the uncertainties of plastic emission estimates into the ocean.

Long-term conventional tillage leads to soil compaction and formation of a plough layer, which affects soil physical properties, transport of water, and growth of crop roots toward deeper soil, resulting in soil degradation and a decline in crop productivity. Long-term sub-soiling tillage has proven to be an effective measure for remediating the plough layer and improving the structure and physical properties of the soil. In this study, we experimentally investigated the effects of long-term sub-soiling tillage in an arid region of Henan Province, China, along a deep soil (0–100 cm) profile over 8 years of sub-soiling tillage at a depth of 30 cm and compared the results against conventional tillage at a depth of 15 cm. We measured soil pore distributions of macropores (> 1 mm in diameter), mesopores (0.16–1.0 mm), and total pores (> 0.16 mm) measured by X-ray computed tomography (CT), soil total porosity (ϕ) and > 0.16 mm equivalent porosity measured by conventional methods, soil bulk density (ρs), soil organic carbon content (SOC), the proportion of macroaggregates (> 0.25 mm) (PMA), soil field moisture capacity (fc), available moisture content, and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat). The results indicate that long-term sub-soiling tillage increased soil pore numbers at 0–35 cm depth (macropores, mesopores, and total pores), improved pore shape, and significantly increased porosity at 0–20 cm depth (macropores, mesopores, and total pores; p < 0.05) compared to conventional tillage. In addition, ϕ and > 0.16 mm equivalent porosity were increased by 10.4 and 87.1% at depths of 0–60 cm under sub-soiling tillage, respectively. SOC (0–55 cm depth), fc (0–45 cm depth), available moisture content (0–40 cm depth), Ksat (0–40 cm depth), and PMA (0–50 cm depth) were increased by 16.7, 14.3, 23.8, 471.5, and 98.3%, respectively, and ρs (0–60 cm depth) was reduced by 8.6%. Observed correlations between SOC, soil pore parameters, and soil physical properties suggest that soil pore parameters and soil physical properties can be improved by increasing SOC. These correlations are stronger under sub-soiling than that under conventional tillage. Therefore, sub-soiling is an effective technique for improving soil pore characteristics and physical properties while preventing soil degradation.

Plastic pollution is a threat to both human health and ecosys-tems. Quantification efforts often rely on observations in the field, which can be costly and labour-intensive. Satellite remote sensing offers an opportunity for upscaling plastic detection in time and space, as it enables covering large areas and using historical images. To date, several approaches have been successful for the detection of marine plastics, but detecting riverine plastics with satellite imagery are lacking. In this paper, we explore the use of satellite imagery for direct and indirect detection of floating plastics in rivers, ultimately calculating river surface plastic densities. The direct detection was done using Worldview-3 imagery and enables to detect large objects ( 1.2 m of size). The indirect approach uses plastic entrapped in water hyacinths as a proxy for plastic density at the river surface. Sentinel-1 imagery allowed to estimate water hyacinth coverage, which we combined with field data to estimate entrapment ratio and plastic density within hyacinths. Items as small as 2.7 cm could be detected with field data. The indirect approach detects a thousand more plastic items (2.1 × 104 items km-2) than the direct approach (5.8 × 101 items km-2), a likely result of the larger range of item size detectable with this method.

Soil erosion by gullies in Ethiopia is causing environmental and socioeconomic problems. A sound soil and water management plan requires accurately predicted gully erosion hotspot areas. Hence, this study develops a gully erosion susceptibility map (GESM) using frequency ratio (FR) and random forest (RF) algorithms. A total of 56 gullies were surveyed, and their extents were derived by digitizing Google Earth imagery. Literature review and a multicollinearity test resulted in 14 environmental variables for the final analysis. Model prediction potential was evaluated using the area under the curve (AUC) method. Results showed that the best prediction accuracy using the FR and RF models was obtained by using the top four most important gully predictor factors: drainage density, elevation, land use, and groundwater table. The notion that the groundwater table is one of the most important gully predictor factors in Ethiopia is a novel and significant quantifiable finding and is critical to the design of effective watershed management plans. Results from separate variable importance analyses showed land cover for Nitisols and drainage density for Vertisols as leading factors determining gully locations. Factors such as texture, stream power index, convergence index, slope length, and plan and profile curvatures were found to have little significance for gully formation in the studied catchment.

Super absorbent polymer (SAP) and organic manure (OM) may improve soil structure and change soil organic carbon (SOC) composition and agroecosystem functioning. However, the understanding of the effects of SAP and OM on SOC composition, specifically in deeper soil layers, is still not clear. The objectives of this study were to examine the effects of long-term application of SAP and OM (8 years) on changes in SOC and soil structure down to a soil depth of 100 cm. Therefore, in order to investigate the stability of soil structure and the distribution of organic carbon at different soil depths (0-10 cm, 10-20 cm,…, 90-100 cm) under long-term application of SAP, OM, and a control treatment, soil structure and soil organic carbon content were analyzed in mixed soil samples and undisturbed soil samples. The results indicated that with depth, the proportion of large aggregates (0.5-2.0 mm) decreased gradually, while the proportion of small aggregates (0.5 mm soil aggregates in the 0-30 cm and 40-60 cm soil layers (P < 0.05) and 0.25-0.5 mm in the 0-50 cm soil layer (P < 0.05), and while the OM treatment had the same effect in the 0-30 cm soil layer (P < 0.05). The total organic carbon content (TOC) and labile organic carbon content (LOC) of bulk soil increased (0-20 cm) initially with depth, and then decreased (20-70 cm) approximately. In the 0-50 cm soil layer, the TOC and LOC under SAP treatment were higher than those under OM treatment. The SAP treatment was more beneficial to the increase of the TOC and LOC of 0.5-2.0 mm and 0.25-0.5 mm aggregates in the 10-40 cm soil layer compared with the control and OM treatment (P < 0.05). The SAP treatment was also more beneficial in increasing the contribution rate of organic carbon (CROC) in> 0.5 mm aggregates in 0-40 cm soil depth, while the OM treatment was more beneficial in increasing the CROC of > 0.5 mm aggregates in 0-30 cm soil depth. The SAP treatment improved the stability of the soil structure in 0-30 cm and 40-60 cm depths, and the OM treatment had the same effect in the 0-30 cm depth. Compared with the control and OM treatments, SAP treatment has shown to be the most beneficial in improving soil structure and increasing organic carbon content.

Accurate estimates of root zone soil moisture (RZSM) at relevant spatio-temporal scales are essential for many agricultural and hydrological applications. Applications of machine learning (ML) techniques to estimate root zone soil moisture are limited compared to commonly used process-based models based on flow and transport equations in the vadose zone. However, data-driven ML techniques present unique opportunities to develop quantitative models without having assumptions on the processes operating within the system being investigated. In this study, the Random Forest (RF) ensemble learning algorithm, is tested to demonstrate the capabilities and advantages of ML for RZSM estimation. Interpolation and extrapolation of RZSM on a daily timescale was carried out using RF over a small agricultural catchment from 2016 to 2018 using in situ measurements. Results show that RF predictions have slightly higher accuracy for interpolation and similar accuracy for extrapolation in comparison with RZSM simulated from a process-based model combined with data assimilation. RF predictions for extreme wet and dry conditions were, however, less accurate. This was inferred to be due to infrequent sampling of such conditions that led to poor learning in the trained RF model and to incomplete representation of relevant subsurface processes at the study sites in the RF covariates. Since RF does not depend on parameters required to estimate subsurface water flow, it is more advantageous than a process-based model in data-poor regions where soil hydraulic parameters are incomplete or missing, especially when the primary goal is only the estimation of soil moisture states.

Biochar has been lauded as a cure-all for improving water availability in soils. Yet the effect of pyrolysis temperature and feedstock type on biochar hydraulic properties and its subsequent effects on soils are not well known. We therefore systematically studied water retention, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) and hydrophobicity of 12 standard biochars (six feedstocks and two pyrolysis temperatures) developed by the UK Biochar Research Centre. The hydraulic properties were determined for pure crushed biochar, as well as for a sandy soil amended with 10 t ha−1 biochar (assessed three times over a period of 15 months). For pure biochar, the effect of feedstock-temperature treatments on the water retention curve was negligible. Rice husk at a pyrolysis temperature of 700 °C had a significantly lower saturated water content, plant available water content and Ksat than all other biochar treatments. This can be attributed to its severe hydrophobicity: while all other treatments were non-hydrophobic and rice husk at 550 °C and Miscanthus straw at 550 °C were both strongly hydrophobic, rice husk at 700 °C was severely hydrophobic. Incorporation of the biochar into a sandy soil did not significantly influence soil water retention, saturated hydraulic conductivity and hydrophobicity. There were also no significant differences between the biochar treatments. These results indicate that except for rice husk at 700 °C the different biochar feedstock types and pyrolysis temperatures yield surprisingly similar material in terms of hydraulic characteristics. Improved soil hydrology should not be a main reason to apply biochar on sandy soils, but if biochar is applied differences in hydrophobicity should be considered.

It is the core task of geoscientists to gain insight into the complex systems of nature. Yet, complexity may be perceived very differently and a plethora of models with different degrees of complexity is available. How do we, geoscientists, decide what model complexity is warranted? Does this differ among disciplines? And, how do we even define model complexity? We developed a short questionnaire to investigate the geoscientific community's views on complexity in models. The response was overwhelming, with 618 completed responses. The results show that the number of processes explicitly included and the number of interactions / feedbacks incorporated were seen as important determinants of complexity. Confidence was not per se higher in the simulations of a complex model compared to a simple one. Interestingly, neither gender, the discipline within the geosciences, nor career stage or work sector, explained the characterization of model complexity. The results of the questionnaire demonstrate that there is no general consensus on how model complexity is perceived or should be defined, and that formal definitions are not broadly or generally accepted. In an environment seeking greater collaboration and interdisciplinarity, these results indicate the need for conscious dialogue about this topic among different model users.

Elucidating segregation of precipitation in different components in forest stands is important for proper forest ecosystems management. However, there is a lack of information on important rainfall components viz. throughfall, interception and stemflow in forest watersheds particularly in developing countries. We therefore investigated the spatiotemporal variation of important component of throughfall for a forest stand in a Hyrcanian plain forest in Noor City, northern Iran. The study area contained five species of Quercus castaneifolia, Carpinus betulus, Populus caspica and Parrotia persica. The research was conducted from July 2013 to July 2014 using a systematic sampling method. Ninetysix throughfall collectors were installed in a 3.5 m × 3.5 m grid cells. The canopy covers during the growing/leaf-on (i.e., from May to November) and non-growing/leaf-off (i.e., from December to March) seasons were approximately 41% and 81%, respectively. The mean cumulative throughfall during the study period was 623±31 mm. The average throughfall (TF) as % of rainfall (TFPR) during leaf-on and leaf-off periods were calculated 56±14% and 77±10%, respectively. TF was significantly (R2 = 0.97, p = 0.00006) correlated with gross precipitation. Percent of canopy cover was not correlated with TF except when gross precipitation was

Although plastic pollution happens globally, the micro- (−1), to earthworm casts (14.8 ± 28.8 particles g−1), to chicken feces (129.8 ± 82.3 particles g−1). Chicken gizzards contained 10.2 ± 13.8 microplastic particles, while no microplastic was found in crops. An average of 45.82 ± 42.6 macroplastic particles were found per gizzard and 11 ± 15.3 macroplastic particles per crop, with 1–10 mm particles being significantly more abundant per gizzard (31.8 ± 27.27 particles) compared to the crop (1 ± 2.2 particles). The data show that micro- and macroplastic are capable of entering terrestrial food webs.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are used in a growing number of applications and products. Previous studies showed AgNPs can leach from these products to the environment. As a result of AgNPs leaching, sediment, soil and sludge-treated soils may be contaminated with AgNPs. Methods to detect, quantify and characterize AgNPs in soil are urgently needed. This study describes the development and validation of a method for the extraction, quantification and particle size determination of AgNPs in soils. The final method consists of pre-wetting the sample followed by an aqueous extraction, using sonication to re-suspend adsorbed AgNPs, and analysis of the aqueous extract with single particle ICP-MS. Validation of the method showed that the recovery of AgNPs spiked to soil was 44% for sandy soil and 42% for clayey soil. Although this recovery is relatively low, the repeatability and reproducibility values of the particle concentration were within the limits of Horwitz ratio, which makes the method suitable for its purpose. Further, the method concentration detection limit, LODc., is 5 μg kg −1 soil. The developed method can be applied in eco-toxicological and risk-assessments studies for AgNP in the soil environment.

Valley bottomland provides diverse agricultural and ecosystem benefits. Due to concentrated flow paths, they are more vulnerable to gully erosion than hillslope areas. The objective of this review was to show what caused valley bottoms gullies and to present deficiencies in existing rehabilitation measures. From the literature review, we found the following general trends: watershed characteristics determine location of valley bottom gullies, an increase in water transported from the watershed initiates the formation of gullies, the rate of change of the valley bottom gullies, once initiated, depends on the amount of rainfall and the soil and bedrock properties. Especially in humid climates, the presence of subsurface flow greatly enhances bank slippage and advancement of gully heads. Valley bottom gully reclamation measures are generally effective in arid and semi-arid areas with the limited subsurface flow and deep groundwater tables, whereas, for (sub) humid regions, similar remedial actions are not successful as they do not account for the effects of subsurface flows. To ensure effective implementation of rehabilitation measures, especially for humid regions, an integrated landscape approach that accounts for the combined subsurface and surface drainage is needed.

Environmental regulations aim to protect the environment from anthropogenic detrimental effects. To ensure their effectivity and to avoid unexpected results and budget losses, environmental regulations need careful designs grounded in observational data. Comprehensive monitoring campaigns are not always achievable in developing economies, since environmental monitoring is not always prioritized due to resource constraints. We propose to tackle the problem using an opportunistic data analysis approach as supplementary information for environmental monitoring. We applied this approach to evaluate the application of Chilean phosphorus (P) fertilization subsidy. A risk assessment for P surplus was performed using three datasets: (1) secondary data acquired from thousands of unclassified laboratory records from the private sector (n = 7957); (2) a dataset of soil available P from a budged-restricted monitoring campaign, and; (3) a conjoint dataset that comprises 1 and 2. Results indicate that while laboratory records represented the general characteristics of the study area, field monitoring data evidenced a surplus of soil P. Using the laboratory records to enrich the data acquired by field monitoring modified the reality reflected by the monitoring data alone. The use of the conjoint dataset leads to the conclusion that soils in the study area had enough available P for optimum production, and that farmers were already using external sources of P fertilizers within the current market structure. Our study constitutes an example of the use of private data to contribute to public soil monitoring programs and environmental regulation designs. The case study serves as a successful example of opportunistic data usage in environmental monitoring, as a low-cost alternative to complement field observations.

The use of heavy mobile machinery in agriculture for tillage and harvesting is now indispensable since it facilitates farming over large areas. However, one of the impacts of regular and prolonged use of heavy mobile machinery is soil compaction. To help minimize this harmful effect, trafficability of agricultural fields needs to be determined. Soil moisture acts as one of the dominant controls for field trafficability. Therefore satellites such as Sentinel-1, which is one source of spatio-temporal soil moisture information, could be useful in assessing trafficable conditions. One limitation of satellite-derived soil moisture is that only the upper surface layer is mapped. In this study, we determined the feasibility of Sentinel-1 surface soil moisture to monitor trafficability over 2016–2017. We first determined coupled conditions when surface soil moisture is a good indicator for values at the subsurface. We applied a probabilistic approach to determine trafficability using extensive in situ measurements of penetration resistance and surface soil moisture over a variety of crops. Trafficability is expressed as the probability that penetration resistance will exceed a threshold, for a given soil moisture value. Furthermore, we investigated the variability encountered from these measurements to gain insights on other temporal controls. Our results show coupled conditions for soil moisture ≥0.19 cm3 cm−3 and there is an almost 1:1 correspondence between surface and subsurface values. For decoupled conditions, values at the subsurface can be two times more than the surface. An increase in penetration resistance variability coincided with the maturity of crops for cultivated fields. Aside from soil moisture, root growth may have a significant impact on the temporal variability of soil's penetration resistance. The status of trafficability can be monitored through the high temporal resolution of Sentinel-1. However, aggregation to coarser resolutions maybe necessary as its original 10 m resolution may be suboptimal, based on validation against in situ measurements. Days favorable for traffic were observed in early spring. This information can aid farmers in the timing of tillage activities or for water managers in deciding to adjust water levels to meet agricultural demands.

1. Climate change is a world-wide threat to biodiversity and ecosystem structure, functioning and services. To understand the underlying drivers and mechanisms, and to predict the consequences for nature and people, we urgently need better understanding of the direction and magnitude of climate change impacts across the soil–plant–atmosphere continuum. An increasing number of climate change studies are creating new opportunities for meaningful and high-quality generalizations and improved process understanding. However, significant challenges exist related to data availability and/or compatibility across studies, compromising opportunities for data re-use, synthesis and upscaling. Many of these challenges relate to a lack of an established ‘best practice’ for measuring key impacts and responses. This restrains our current understanding of complex processes and mechanisms in terrestrial ecosystems related to climate change. 2. To overcome these challenges, we collected best-practice methods emerging from major ecological research networks and experiments, as synthesized by 115 experts from across a wide range of scientific disciplines. Our handbook contains guidance on the selection of response variables for different purposes, protocols for standardized measurements of 66 such response variables and advice on data management. Specifically, we recommend a minimum subset of variables that should be collected in all climate change studies to allow data re-use and synthesis, and give guidance on additional variables critical for different types of synthesis and upscaling. The goal of this community effort is to facilitate awareness of the importance and broader application of standardized methods to promote data re-use, availability, compatibility and transparency. We envision improved research practices that will increase returns on investments in individual research projects, facilitate second-order research outputs and create opportunities for collaboration across scientific communities. Ultimately, this should significantly improve the quality and impact of the science, which is required to fulfil society's best practice, coordinated experiments, data management and documentation, ecosystem, experimental macroecology, methodology, open science, vegetation This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2019 The Authors. Methods in Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of British Ecological Society.

Although only representing 0.05% of global freshwater, or 0.001% of all global water, soil water supports all terrestrial biological life. Soil moisture behaviour in most models is constrained by hydraulic parameters that do not change. Here we argue that biological feedbacks from plants, macro- fauna and the microbiome influence soil structure, and thus the soil hydraulic parameters and the soilwater content signals we observe. Incorporating biological feedbacks into soil hydrological models is therefore important for understanding environmental change and its impacts on ecosystems. We anticipate that environmental change will accelerate and modify soil hydraulic function. Increasingly we understand the vital role that soil moisture exerts on the carbon cycle and other environmental threats such as heatwaves, droughts and floods, wildfires, regional precipitation patterns, disease regulation and infrastructure stability, in addition to agricultural production. Biological feedbacks may result in changes to soil hydraulic function that could be irreversible, resulting in alternative stable states (ASS) of soil moisture. To explore this, we need models that consider all the major feedbacks between soil properties and soil-plant- faunal-microbial- atmospheric processes, which is something we currently do not have. Therefore, a new direction is required to incorporate a dynamic description of soil structure and hydraulic property evolution into soil-plant-atmosphere, or land surface, models that consider feedbacks from land use and climate drivers of change, so as to better model ecosystem dynamics.

Publisher's version (útgefin grein), This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through online media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focused on the process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come., We would like to thank the members of the IAHS, EGU, AGU and IAH for supporting this initiative. The LinkedIn group and overall secretariat was hosted by the IAHS, the Splinter meeting by EGU and the Vienna Catchment Science Symposium by the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems (DK W1219-N28) funded by the Austrian Science Funds (FWF)., "Peer Reviewed"

Recent advances in radar remote sensing popularized the mapping of surface soil moisture at different spatial scales. Surface soil moisture measurements are used in combination with hydrological models to determine subsurface soil moisture values. However, variability of soil moisture across the soil column is important for estimating depth-integrated values, as decoupling between surface and subsurface can occur. In this study, we employ new methods to investigate the occurrence of (de)coupling between surface and subsurface soil moisture. Using time series datasets, lagged dependence was incorporated in assessing (de)coupling with the idea that surface soil moisture conditions will be reflected at the subsurface after a certain delay. The main approach involves the application of a distributed-lag nonlinear model (DLNM) to simultaneously represent both the functional relation and the lag structure in the time series. The results of an exploratory analysis using residuals from a fitted loess function serve as a posteriori information to determine (de)coupled values. Both methods allow for a range of (de)coupled soil moisture values to be quantified. Results provide new insights into the decoupled range as its occurrence among the sites investigated is not limited to dry conditions.

Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) can enter the environment when released from products containing them. As AgNPs enter soil, they are often retained in the soil profile and/or leached to the groundwater. This research assessed the transport of AgNPs in their “particle form” through the soil profile using a series of columns. Three soil types were put into soil columns: LSH (loam with high organic matter (OM)), LSL (loam with low OM), and Sand (no OM). The results showed that AgNP transport and retention in soil as well as particle size changes are affected by soil organic matter (OM) and the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of soil. OM affected the transport and retention of AgNPs. This was evident in the LSH columns where the OM concentration was the highest and the AgNP content the lowest in the soil layers and in the effluent water. The highest transported AgNP content was detected in the Sand columns where OM was the lowest. CEC had an impact on the particle size of the AgNPs that were retained in the soil layers. This was clear in columns packed with high CEC-containing soils (LSL and LSH) where AgNP particle size decreased more substantially than in the columns packed with sand. However, the decrease in AgNP sizes in the effluent water was less than the decrease in particle size of AgNPs transported through but retained in the soil. This means that the AgNPs that reached the effluent were transported directly from the first layer through the soil macropores. This work highlights the ability to track AgNPs at low concentrations (50 μg kg−1) and monitor the changes in particle size potential as the particles leach through soil all of which increases our knowledge about AgNP transport mechanisms in porous media.

Agricultural land suitability evaluation is a good way to distinguish soil suitability in order to improve the soils by addressing major limitations. This study investigated the influence of soil factors variability on the suitability of 12 Mediterranean crops in southern Spain. To represent the variability in elevation, lithology, and soil, two latitudinal and longitudinal soil transects (TA and TB) were considered and sampled in 63 representative points at regular 4. km intervals. This research also aimed to determine how to maximize soil potential by improving limiting factors as drainage, carbonate content, salinity, and sodium saturation. Soil suitability evaluation ranged between optimum and not suitable classes along TA and TB. The decrease in the severity of soil limiting factors in the improved scenario leads to an increase in soil suitability for the 12 crops along TA and TB transects, except in segments with shallow soils and very coarse texture. Soil evaluation and spatial analyses of soil suitability for the 12 crops under current situation and improved scenario, including optimum and not suitable soils, are helpful to achieve a sustainable land management in the studied area. The improvement of soil limitation it could be as adaptation strategies for the long term of environmental changes as climate changes, this work has a real impact, which means the results valuable and easy to grasp for the decision makers.

The soil water retention curve (WRC) plays a major role in a soil’s hydrodynamic behavior. Many measurement techniques are currently available for determining the WRC in the laboratory. Direct in situ WRC can be obtained from simultaneous soil moisture and water potential readings covering a wide tension range, from saturation to the wilting point. There are many widely used soil moisture probes. Whereas near-saturation tension can be measured using water-filled tensiometers, wider ranges of water potential require new, more expensive, and less widely used probes. We compared three types of soil water potential sensors that could allow us to measure water potential in the field, with a range relevant to water uptake by plants. Polymer tensiometers (POTs), MPS-2 probes, and pF meters were compared in a controlled drying experiment. The study showed that the POTs and MPS-2 probes had good reliability in their respective ranges. Combined with a soil moisture probe, these two sensors can provide observed WRCs. The pF meters below −30 kPa were inaccurate, and their response was sensitive to measurement interval, with greater estimated suction at shorter measurement intervals. In situ WRC can provide supplementary information, particularly with regard to its spatial and temporal variability. It could also improve the results of other measurement techniques, such as geophysical observations.

Pollution caused by plastic debris is an urgent environmental problem. Here, we assessed the effects of microplastics in the soil surface litter on the formation and characterization of burrows built by the anecic earthworm Lumbricus terrestris in soil and quantified the amount of microplastics that was transported and deposited in L. terrestris burrows. Worms were exposed to soil surface litter treatments containing microplastics (Low Density Polyethylene) for 2 weeks at concentrations of 0%, 7%, 28%, 45% and 60%. The latter representing environmentally realistic concentrations found in hot spot soil locations. There were significantly more burrows found when soil was exposed to the surface treatment composed of 7% microplastics than in all other treatments. The highest amount of organic matter in the walls of the burrows was observed after using the treatments containing 28 and 45% microplastics. The highest microplastic bioturbation efficiency ratio (total microplastics (mg) in burrow walls/initial total surface litter microplastics (mg)) was found using the concentration of 7% microplastics, where L. terrestris introduced 73.5% of the surface microplastics into the burrow walls. The highest burrow wall microplastic content per unit weight of soil (11.8 ± 4.8 g kg-1) was found using a concentration of 60% microplastics. L. terrestris was responsible for size-selective downward transport when exposed to concentrations of 7, 28 and 45% microplastics in the surface litter, as the fraction ≤50 μm microplastics in burrow walls increased by 65% compared to this fraction in the original surface litter plastic. We conclude that the high biogenic incorporation rate of the small-fraction microplastics from surface litter into burrow walls causes a risk of leaching through preferential flow into groundwater bodies. Furthermore, this leaching may have implications for the subsequent availability of microplastics to terrestrial organisms or for the transport of plastic-associated organic contaminants in soil.

The Tropical Montane Cloud Forest (TMCF) is a hydrologically unique and highly vulnerable ecosystem to changes in land-use and climate. Assessing the impacts of these changes needs to consider soil-water dynamics. In particular, the organic layer and its functioning requires attention because its difference in water retention characteristics and root density compared to the underlying mineral soils. A higher root density and a higher water storage capacity of the organic layer compared to the mineral soils suggests that most nutrient and water uptake occurs in this layer. However, hydraulic properties of mineral soils and their impact on hydrology of TMCFs have been poorly studied. Here we provide organic layer water retention curves for TMCF soils that were measured in the laboratory. With these data we assessed the potential land-use and climate change impacts on TMCF soil moisture dynamics. From the land-use change perspective, we estimated the water storage capacity loss by slash-and-burn deforestation practices. These estimates show that the storage loss ranges from 35 to 59 mm when TMCFs are converted to pastures. This is several times higher than the estimated TMCF canopy storage capacity (2 to 5 mm). Therefore, the higher peak flow observations in deforested catchments might not only be explained by a decreasing canopy water storage but also likely due to a decreasing soil water storage. From the climate change perspective, we evaluated the effect of contrasting dry season conditions on soil moisture and transpiration using a 1-D water-flow model, and assessed the sensitivity of these hydrological variables to uncertainties in saturated hydraulic conductivity. Although transpiration was not limited by soil moisture during the mild dry season, it was affected during the severe dry season and continued to decline under expected climate change with the prolongation of dry spells. Our results show that the organic layer is a key element in TMCF's hydrological functioning and call for an increased focus on the role of organic soils when evaluating effects of land-use change.

Groundwater sources supply fresh drinking water to almost half of the World’s population and are a main source of water for irrigation across world. Characterization of groundwater resources, surface-groundwater interactions and their link to the global water cycle and modern global change are important themes in hydrogeological research, whereas little attention has been given to the relation between groundwater and past climate variations. A ground-water system’s history is vital to assess its vulnerability under future and potentially adverse climatic changes. The scientific initiative Groundwater and Global Palaeoclimate Signals (G@GPS) investigates major recharge periods of large groundwater aquifers worldwide. We describe the findings for a major basin on each permanently inhabited continent and one with coastal influences in Australia. As palaeo-signals in groundwater are inherently low-resolution records, they can only be related to considerable amounts of r echarge. Long periods with substantial groundwater recharge ought to be well identifiable in terrestrial records. Correlation with regional and global climate records may give ideas of the conditions under which such large amounts of recharge were initiated.

Studies on the Earth’s hydrology in general thrive on abundant data, while data on certain groundwater systems are virtually absent as a result of their inaccessibility. This poses challenges for understanding and modeling such systems, yet modeling is often the only option to study them. When it comes to limited data availability, a simple model may have a better predictive performance than a complex model. In a case study of a subpermafrost groundwater system on Svalbard we applied three simplified models which do not cover all processes, and compared their outcomes. The results of all models were different and sometimes contrasting. By combining all model results within their associated assumptions we show how dynamic processes in data-limited subpermafrost groundwater systems can be interpreted. Using multiple interpretations of a system by making different assumptions can thus be used to understand processes in data limited groundwater systems. Our results also illuminate the fierce data scarcity of subpermafrost groundwater systems, and the necessity of resolving this.

A significant number of emerging pollutants (EPs) resulting from point and diffuse pollution is present in the aquatic environment. These are chemicals that are not commonly monitored but have the potential to enter the environment and cause adverse ecological and human health effects. According to the NORMAN network, at least 700 substances categorized into 20 classes, have been identified in the European aquatic environment. In light of their potential impact action is urgently required. In this study, we present a concept that shows the current state of art and challenges for monitoring programs, fate and risk assessment tools and requirements for policies with respect to emerging pollutants as a base for sustainable water resource management. Currently, methods for sampling and analysis are not harmonized, being typically focused on certain EP classes. For a number of known highly hazardous EPs detection limits are too high to allow proper risk assessment. For other EPs such as microplastics method development is in its infancy. Advanced ultra-sensitive instrumental techniques should be used for quantitative determination of prioritized EPs in water, suspended matter, soil and biota. Data on EPs' and their metabolites' properties that determine their fate in the environment are often not available. National surveys on water quality often use different parameters for water quality assessment and often do not include EPs. A harmonized monitoring of surface and groundwater is not yet achieved and urgently required. Specific component integrated into models assessing the fate of EPs in a multi compartment environmental approach are missing and must be developed. The main goal of risk assessment is the overall protection of ecological communities in the aquatic environment and human health. New methods for assessing the cumulative risks from combined exposures to several stressors, including mixtures of EPs in a multi-scale approach are required. A combination of regulations and management measures with respect to use/emissions of EPs into the environment, as well as to their occurrence in the environment are fundamental to reach an efficient water resource management.

Soil plant atmosphere continuum concepts used in vadose zone hydrology approach plants as physical entities. This approach has proven very valuable in the past decades. The need to upscale such concepts provokes the question if plant functional biology should be considered, as larger scales also imply variation in (micro)climate and soil composition. Habitat manifestation is an expression of its evolutionary history and although the spatial distribution of habitats is largely driven by current climates, a soil's water holding capacity and hence its formation over time may have played a role.Separate mechanisms involved in the soil plant atmosphere continuum are often understood and incorporated in numerical models for predictive purposes, yet interrelationships pose challenges, especially when such relationships cross traditional scientific disciplinary boundaries. In fact, the exact driver for root water uptake is itself subject of scientific debate, as there is no consensus on whether the driver for root water uptake is soil moisture content (e.g. [1]) or soil water potential (e.g. [2]). To evaluate soil water availability in relation to crop yield prognoses and the stability of natural vegetation, integrated concepts are sorely needed, especially in the perspective of climate change [3] and global water scarcity [4]. We present considerations and possible approaches for linking plant functional biology and vadose zone processes.

Several earlier studies reported that microplastics (MP) accumulated on soil surfaces could be transported into the subsoil and ingested by soil biota, such as earthworms. The present study explores how networks of earthworm burrows and MP (low‐density polyethylene, LDPE) in subsoil affect the soil hydraulic properties and saturated water flow. A repacked and saturated sandy soil column experiment was conducted in an environment‐controlled laboratory with earthworms (anecic, Lumbricus terrestris) inoculated into the soil columns to form networks of macropore. The macropore network parameters (i.e., number, length, volume, diameter, soil saturated conductivity, and tracer breakthrough curves of soil columns) have been determined. The relative arrival times of the tracer mass (i.e. T5%, T25%, and T50%) were determined in order to describe the shapes of the breakthrough curves. The results show that in some breakthrough curves for the treatments with earthworms, there are two peaks. This is an indication that water was flowing faster in the macropores than in the soil matrix. There is a significant correlation between 5% arrival time and the median burrow volume, and the correlation coefficient was .571 (at the level of p

Leaching of contaminants from the vadose zone to the groundwater depends on the soil properties and the infiltration rate. In this thesis, organic degradable contaminants were studied, such as de-icing chemicals (consisting of propylene glycol, PG) and pesticides. Heterogeneous soil properties lead to spatial variability in leaching, which is particularly important for degradable contaminants. The infiltration rate determines the travel time in the vadose zone, and thus the time available for degradation. Two field experiments were performed with a multi-compartment sampler (consisting of 10 x 10 cells of 3.15 x 3.15 cm2each) to examine the dependence of spatial variability in contaminant leaching on the infiltration rate. The first experiment was carried out during the snowmelt period, characterized by high infiltration rates from snowmelt. The second experiment was carried out with irrigation to mimic homogeneous rainfall. The preferential flow paths were similar for both experiments. With a high infiltration rate during the snowmelt experiment, the leaching was distributed more homogeneous than during the irrigation experiment. Therefore, it is concluded that the soil heterogeneity is mainly caused by spatial differences in the soil hydraulic properties, and not by macropores. The leached masses of the degradable PG and a nondegradable tracer were highly correlated. At the scale of the experiment, heterogeneous infiltration resulting from spatial differences in snowmelt did not have much influence on the flow and solute paths. The results from the field experiment were used to parameterize a random field for the scaling factor of the retention curve. As a criterion to compare the results from simulations and observations, the sorted and cumulative total drainage in a cell was used. The effect of the ratio of the infiltration rate over the degradation rate on leaching of degradable solutes was investigated. Furthermore, the spatial distribution of the leaching of degradable and non-degradable solutes was compared. The infiltration rate influences contaminant leaching in two ways. Firstly, the travel time of the contaminant in the vadose zone depends on the infiltration rate. Secondly, the fraction of the soil which is active in transport is influenced by the infiltration rate. As a result, the spatial distribution of contaminant leaching, and therefore the leached fraction, depends on the infiltration rate. The leached fraction of a degradable contaminant is often estimated from average soil properties and stationary weather series. For contaminants that degrade in both the adsorbed and aqueous phase, it is known how these averaged properties should be derived from heterogeneous properties. However, for contaminants that only degrade in the aqueous phase, this is not well known. In soils that are layered with respect to the adsorption constant, the propagation of the contaminant plume, and thus the travel time in the vadose zone, depends on the adsorption constant, degradation rate, and dispersivity. Regarding variable weather series, seasonal fluctuations in precipitation lead to large differences in travel times in a dry climate, and thus large differences in the leached fraction, especially for contaminants with little adsorption. In a wet climate, the effect of such seasonal fluctuations is diminished. In the vadose zone, PG can be degraded by micro-organisms, for which electron-acceptors are needed. A field experiment showed that aerobic as well as anaerobic degradation occurs in the vadose zone. For anaerobic degradation, manganese-oxides (which are present in the soil) or nitrate (applied to enhance biodegradation) can be used as electron-acceptors. Reduced forms of manganese can be transported to the groundwater, and thus the soil could be depleted from manganese-oxides. A model was developed in which both types of degradation were included. The application of nitrate did not lead to a lower PG leaching, or in a slower depletion of manganese-oxides. The leached fraction is higher with a thick snowcover and high meltrate, as then PG is transported rapidly in the soil. Snowmelt did not result in anaerobic soil, despite the high soil moisture content, and thus low oxygen diffusion.