Soil physics applied to Agronomy and Environment

Teacher(s)

Bielders Charles (coordinator); Javaux Mathieu;

Language

French

Prerequisites

General knowledge in soil science : texture, structure, composition, etc.

Main themes

- Characteristics of a porous medium
- Water retention and water potential in soils
- Flow of water in saturated and unsaturated media
- Techniques for characterizing water content, water potential and hydraulic conductivity
- Introduction to solute transfer
- Transfer of gas and heat in soils
- Soil Mechanics

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :
1	a. Contribution de l'activité au référentiel AA (AA du programme)     M1.2 ; M1.4 ; M2.2 ; M2.3 ; M2.4 ; M6.5 ; M6.8 b. Formulation spécifique pour cette activité des AA du programme     At the end of the course, the student will be able to:     - Explain the factors that determine the physical properties of soil     - Master the basic techniques of characterization of soil physical properties     - Explain the impact of soil physical properties on the retention and flow of water, the transfer of gas, heat and dissolved substances, and mechanical properties of soils     - Establish the profiles of total water potential from baseline data     - Establish the basis for modeling the dynamics of soil water in space and time, and applying Darcy's equation to estimate steady water flow     - Associated with a given type of soil, depending on texture and structure, the physical properties that correspond to it, and interpret soil physical data     - Describe the principle of operation, advantages and disadvantages of conventional methods and instruments used for the characterization of soil physical properties     - Extract soil samples in situ and characterize the basic hydraulic properties in the laboratory     - Write a report according to scientific standards and critically and consistently analyze results     - Contribute effectively to collegial data acquisition, analysis and writing of the results and conclusions.

Content

Lectures :
    - Reminder regarding the characteristics of a porous medium
    - Retention of water in soil, capillarity, water retention, hysteresis
    - Potential of water in soils: gravitational, matrix, hydrostatic, overburden, osmotic, barometric potential
    - Techniques for characterizing water content and water potential
    - Water flow in soils under steady saturated and unsaturated conditions : laws of Poiseuille, Darcy Equation and Richards equation
    - Techniques for characterizing the hydraulic conductivity curve
    - Equation of water transport in soil: Examples of analytical solutions
    - Introduction to solute transport in soils
    - Transfer of gas and heat in soil : processes
    - Mechanical properties of soils , compaction, and characterization techniques
    Practicals :
    - Sampling of soil
    - Measurement of bulk density
    - Measurement of infiltration : constant head infiltrometer and permeameter
    - Characterization of the water retention curve
    - Calculation of water potentials
    - Calculation of water balance

Teaching methods

- Classes, largely illustrated by photos, schematics and exercices
-  Inverted classrooms, based on Videos from the MOOC 'L'eau et le sol' (in French) (water retention and flow in soils)
- Practicals in the lab and in the field
- Exercise solving sessions
 

Evaluation methods

Report of practicals (40%)
Oral exam based on solving of exercises (written preparation, 2h, open-book - computer not allowed) (40%)
Oral exam based on 3 theoretical questions (no préparation, questions available before the exam via Moodle) (20%)

Online resources

Moodle
MOOC "L'eau et le sol"

Bibliography

Ouvrage de référence :
- "Environmental Soil physics", D. Hillel
- Transparents des cours sur iCampus
- MOOC "L'eau et le sol" (EDX)

Teaching materials

• Transparents sur Moodle

Faculty or entity

AGRO