Soil hydrology in the Earth system

authored by

Harry Vereecken, Wulf Amelung, Sara L. Bauke, Heye Bogena, Nicolas Brüggemann, Carsten Montzka, Jan Vanderborght, Michel Bechtold, Günter Blöschl, Andrea Carminati, Mathieu Javaux, Alexandra G. Konings, Jürgen Kusche, Insa Neuweiler, Dani Or, Susan Steele-Dunne, Anne Verhoef, Michael Young, Yonggen Zhang

Abstract

Soil hydrological processes (SHP) support ecosystems, modulate the impact of climate change on terrestrial systems and control feedback mechanisms between water, energy and biogeochemical cycles. However, land-use changes and extreme events are increasingly impacting these processes. In this Review, we describe SHP across scales and examine their links with soil properties, ecosystem processes and climate. Soil structure influences SHP such as infiltration, soil water redistribution and root water uptake on small scales. On local scales, SHP are driven by root water uptake, vegetation and groundwater dynamics. Regionally, SHP are impacted by extreme events such as droughts, floods, heatwaves and land-use change; however, antecedent and current SHP partially determine the broader effects of extreme events. Emerging technologies such as wireless and automated sensing, soil moisture observation through novel synthetic aperture radars satellites, big data analysis and machine learning approaches offer unique opportunities to advance soil hydrology. These advances, in tandem with the inclusion of more key soil types and properties in models, will be pivotal in predicting the role of SHP during global change.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Environmental Physics in Civil Engineering

External Organisation(s)

Forschungszentrum Jülich
University of Bonn
KU Leuven
TU Wien (TUW)
ETH Zurich
Stanford University
Delft University of Technology
University of Reading
University of Texas at Austin
Tianjin University

Type

Review article

Journal

Nature Reviews Earth and Environment

Volume

3

Pages

573–587

No. of pages

15

Publication date

09.2022

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Pollution, Earth-Surface Processes, Atmospheric Science, Nature and Landscape Conservation

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 13 - Climate Action, SDG 15 - Life on Land

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1038/s43017-022-00324-6 (Access: Closed)