Andrea Carminati: Catalogue data in Autumn Semester 2023 |
| Name | Prof. Dr. Andrea Carminati |
| Field | Physics of Soils and Terrestrial Ecosystems |
| Address | Physik der Böden u. terr. Ökosys. ETH Zürich, CHN F 29.1 Universitätstrasse 16 8092 Zürich SWITZERLAND |
| Telephone | +41 44 633 61 60 |
| andrea.carminati@usys.ethz.ch | |
| Department | Environmental Systems Science |
| Relationship | Full Professor |
| Number | Title | ECTS | Hours | Lecturers | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 061-0101-00L | Climate / Water / Soil   | 2 credits | 3G | H. Joos, R. Kretzschmar, R. Weingartner, A. Carminati, S. Dötterl, M. G. Fellin, A. Frossard, T. Galí-Izard, N. Gruber, V. Picotti, S. Schemm, J. Schwaab, C. Steger, H. Wernli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Lectures, exercises and excursions serve as an introduction to atmospheric sciences, soil science and hydrology. Students gain a broad vision of the cutting edge topics that are being researched and studied at the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH, Eawag, WSL a.o. This will be the base for a future dialog between the field of landscape architecture and the field of sciences. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Students acquire basic knowledge in atmospheric sciences, hydrology and soil science: - Understanding basic chemical and physical processes in the atmosphere that influence weather and climate - Fundamentals about the classification of soils, soil-forming processes, physical and chemical soil properties, soil biology and ecology, soil degradation and protection - Knowledge of water balance, principles of integral water management and climatic factors in the field of hydrology Students develop an understanding of the relevance of these topics in the field of landscape architecture. Temporal and physical scale, research methods, units of measurement, lexicon, modes of representation and critical literature form the framework for the joint discourse. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | The course unit consists of the three courses "Climate", "Soil" and "Water", which are organized in modules. Module 1 “Climate”, 25.–28.09.2023 - Atmospheric dynamics: weather conditions, precipitation formation, weather forecast - Carbon Cycle: atmospheric CO2 concentrations and its interaction with the physical climate system - Land-climate dynamics: interaction between the land surface and the climate system - Hydrology and water cycle: extreme precipitation, influence of climate change on the cryosphere - Introduction to geology: formation of rocks, geologic times, structural geology Module 2 “Soil”, 2.10.–5.10.23 - Introduction to soils: definition, function, formation, classification and mapping - Soil physics: soil texture, soil structure, soil water potentials, hydraulic conductivity - Soil chemistry and fertility: clay minerals and oxides, cation exange capacity, soil pH, essential plant nutrients - Soil biology and ecology: soil fauna and microflora, fungi, bacteria, food web, organic matter - Soil degradation and threats to soil resources: erosion, compactation, sealing, contamination, salinization Module 3 “Water”, 09.10.–12.10.2023 Basics: - Water supply: water balance, groundwater, water quality (water protection) - River restoration - Flooding, evapotranspiration/cooling of landscapes - Hydropower (everything is managed - lake levels, water flows, pumping) - hydrology in the anthropocene - Water management and storage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lecture notes | Course material will be provided. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | The course material includes a reading list. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | The courses "Climate", "Water" and "Soil" are organized with the Fundamental Studio I as joint one-week modules. The weekly schedules will be provided with the course materials. Module 1 "Climate", 25.–28.09.2023 Module 2 "Soil", 2.10.–5.10.23 Module 3 "Water", 09.10.–12.10.2023 - The courses are held in English - The written session examination covers all three courses "Climate", "Soil" and "Water". | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Competencies |
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| 701-0535-00L | Environmental Soil Physics/Vadose Zone Hydrology | 3 credits | 2V + 1U | A. Carminati, P. U. Lehmann Grunder | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | The course provides theoretical and practical foundations for understanding and characterizing physical and transport properties of soils/ near-surface earth materials, and quantifying hydrological processes and fluxes of mass and energy at multiple scales. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Students are able to: -Characterize the different soils based on their key textural and structural properties. -Simulate and predict soil water retention and flow under varying environmental conditions and understand the key driving forces (capillarity, gravity, friction) and related water properties (surface tension and viscosity). -Predict soil hydraulic properties for varying soil textural classes. -Predict solute transport in soils for varying environmental conditions. -Predict energy balance and temperature dynamics in soils. -Predict conditions for plant water stress | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | Week 1 (September 20): Introduction, content, structure of the course, objectives, bibliography, grading and evaluation; soil texture, particle size distribution, soil structure, soil surface area, porosity and bulk density Week 2 (September 27): Pore scale consideration (water in a single pore), pore sizes and shapes; surface tension; Young-Laplace equation; capillary rise; contact angle Week 3 (October 04): Friction and laminar flow; Hagen-Poiseuille’s law; Washburn equation; numerical lab (including report; report 1) Week 4 (October 11): Soil water content; soil water potential - The energy state of soil water; total water potential and its components; volumetric and gravimetric water contents; field capacity and wilting point Week 5 (October 18): Soil water characteristics - definitions and measurements; parametric models, fitting and interpretation, hysteresis; parameters) Week 6 (October 25): Saturated water flow in soils - Laminar flow in tubes (Poiseuille's Law); Darcy's Law, conditions and states of flow; permeability and hydraulic conductivity, measurement and theoretical concepts (Kozeny-Carman); effective conductivity; unsaturated hydraulic conductivity; Buckingham law. Unsaturated water flow in soils - Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity models and applications; Richards equation, Week 7 (November 01): Lab tour -demonstration of soil physical methods; lecture on HYPROP method; report on Hyprop data (report 2) Week 8 (November 08): Analytical description of unsaturated flow - steady state solutions for evaporation and infiltration; approximate solutions to infiltration (Green-Ampt, Philip); outlook on unstable and preferential flow Week 9 (November 15): Numerical solution of Richards equation – Using Hydrus1D for simulation of unsaturated flow; simulating HYPROP measurements (report 3) Week 10 (November 22): Energy balance and land atmosphere interactions - energy balance and heat flow; evapotranspiration, potential and actual evaporation, evaporation stages; thermal properties of soils Week 11 (November 29): Root water uptake and transpiration – Theory and mechanisms controlling root water uptake; hydraulic properties of rhizosphere; plant and stomatal conductance. Week 12 (November 06): Modeling root water uptake and transpiration; analytical approaches and modeling using Hydrus (report 4) Week 13 (December 13): Solute and gas transport in soils - Transport mechanisms of solutes in porous media; breakthrough curves; convection-dispersion equation; solutions for pulse and step solute application; parameter estimation. Week 14 (December 20): Summary, course synthesis, connections between the different topics, questions, old exam | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Supplemental textbook (not mandatory) -Introduction to Environmental Soil Physics, by: D. Hillel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 701-1343-00L | Soil-Plant Water Relations | 3 credits | 2V | A. Carminati | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Water limitation is a primary constraint on plant growth and terrestrial fluxes worldwide. In this course, the principles of water flow in soil and plants are discussed, with particular attention on the effect of drought on root water uptake, transpiration and plant growth. Strategies of plants to tolerate drought are discussed in relation to both agricultural and ecological implications. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The students are able to: explain and compare systematically the drivers of water stress to plants; to solve the equations of water flow in soil and plants and to calculate plant water status for varying soil and climatic conditions and plant traits; to critically review and present one research question in soil-plant water relations; to openly debate on the current trends in soil and plant water research and climate change ecology. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | Part 1 - Lectures Week 1: Introduction. Week 2: Soil water relations; Principles of soil water retention and soil water flow; Soil hydraulic properties. Week 3: Root water uptake; soil hydraulic constraints on transpiration Week 4: Rhizosphere processes and properties; root-soil contact; root hairs; mycorrhiza; rhizodeposition. Week 5: Water flow in roots and xylem; root anatomy, architecture and plasticity; cavitation. Week 6: Transpiration; Vapor Pressure Deficit; Photosynthesis; Stomatal regulation. Week 7: Soil-plant-atmospheric continuum; Below- and above-ground feedbacks; Soil and atmospheric drivers of transpiration losses. Part 2 - Seminars Week 8: Modelling Soil-Plant Water Relations (Concept) Week 9: Modelling Soil-Plant Water Relations (Implementation) Week 10: Plant response to drought and consequences for agriculture and forests. Open questions and introduction to seminar topics. Week 11: Independent work Week 12: Seminar (presentations) Week 13: Seminar (presentations) Week 14: Seminar (presentations) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Lecture notes; selection of articles | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | Vadose Zone Hydrology/Environmental Soil Physics (recommended but not required) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 701-1673-00L | Environmental Measurement Laboratory | 5 credits | 4G | P. U. Lehmann Grunder, A. Carminati | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Measurements are the sole judge of scientific truth and provide access to unpredictable information, enabling the characterization and monitoring of complex terrestrial systems. Based on lectures and field- and laboratory training, the students learn to apply modern methods to determine forest inventory parameters and to measure subsurface properties and processes. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | The students will be able to: - explain measurement principles that are used for characterization of landscapes and terrestrial systems - select appropriate measurement methods and sampling design to quantify key variables and processes above ground and in the subsurface - deploy sensors in the field - interpret collected laboratory and field data and report main conclusions deduced from measurements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Content | Week 1: Plant-Soil interactions – short introduction before sensor demonstration and installation in forest lab; Scholander pressure bomb (suction in leaves); LiCOR soil chamber Weeks 2 to 6 - Experimental Methods for Soil Health Assessment - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Week 2: Lecture on soil health and soil indicators; defining measurable soil health indicators for case studies for different soil threats and climate regions Week 3: Short lecture on sampling, sensors and data logging; preparing sensors and data loggers in the lab; measurements on water content and temperature in the lab Week 4: Short introduction on field installation; sensor installation at field site Hönggerberg Week 5: Lecture on geophysical methods on subsurface characterization: basic principles of ERT, GPR, and EM; planning of field experiment to assess soil health Week 6: Short introduction on data analysis; field sampling and conducting field experiment to assess soil health Week 7: Analysis of experimental data and soil health assessment; poster presentation and discussion - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Week 8: Lecture on plant soil relationship; connecting information below and above ground – data analysis Weeks 9 and 10: Forest characterization/ inventory: Principles of LiDAR; structures and features of the tree crowns, size/volume of the leaf area tree positions and diameters at breast height Weeks 11 and 12: Eddy covariance methods -Principles for field measurement of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and energy exchange between terrestrial surfaces and the atmosphere; Analysis of measured time series to determine evaporation rate and CO2-fluxes Week 13: Swiss Soil Monitoring networks – Monitoring of soil water content and potential; climate change and droughts Week 14: Global data – Global modeling and data interpretation; SoilGrids and OpenLandMap; exercises on Budyko analysis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literature | Lecture material will be online for registered students using moodle | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prerequisites / Notice | The details of the schedule will be optimized based on the number of students; some blocks of the course will be offered as well to students of Environmental Engineering | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| 701-1695-00L | Soil Science Seminar | 0 credits | 1S | R. Kretzschmar, A. Carminati, S. Dötterl, E. Frossard, M. Hartmann | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Abstract | Invited external speakers present their research on current issues in the field of soil science and discuss their results with the participants. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Learning objective | Master and PhD students are introduced to current areas of research in soil sciences and get first-hand experience in scientific discussion. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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