701-1673-00L  Environmental Measurement Laboratory

Courses

Catalogue data

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
Competencies	Subject-specific Competencies Concepts and Theories fostered Techniques and Technologies fostered Method-specific Competencies Decision-making fostered Problem-solving fostered Project Management fostered Social Competencies Communication fostered Cooperation and Teamwork fostered Personal Competencies Creative Thinking fostered Critical Thinking fostered Integrity and Work Ethics fostered

Performance assessment

Performance assessment information (valid until the course unit is held again)
Performance assessment as a semester course
ECTS credits	5 credits
Examiners	P. U. Lehmann Grunder, A. Carminati
Type	ungraded semester performance
Language of examination	English
Repetition	Repetition only possible after re-enrolling for the course unit.

Learning materials

Groups

Restrictions

Offered in

Programme	Section	Type
Environmental Sciences Master	Methods and Tools: Lab Courses	W
Environmental Sciences Master	Methods and Tools	W