Announcements

ISMC Workshop 2025 at Wageningen University

The ISMC chairs and coordination invited for an ISMC workshop at Wageningen University for 24th and 25th of March 2025. In total 18 people attended either onsite or online for discussion but also to join in the presentations given on running EU projects. Major points discussed were the ISMC activities since its foundation and future plans. Additionally, the integration of the EU SOILPROM project was one discussion point and we decided to open up a new working group on Soil Pollution Modelling. Call for this working group will be open soon. We also had 4 presentations from running EU projects (SOILPROM, FARMWISE, OPTAIN, WUNDER), which have been recorded and are now available at our ISMC YouTube Channel. The minutes of the meeting can be found here.

Impression of the ISMC workshop at Wageningen University

SSSA Kirkham Conference 2025 Fukushima, Japan August 19-22, 2025

The SSSA Kirkham Conferences Committee has selected Fukushima, Japan, as the host site for the 2025 Kirkham Conference, scheduled for August 19-22, 2025. The conference will be held at J-Village, located near the damaged nuclear reactor site in central Fukushima Prefecture. The conference is designed to encourage scientists to make organized, in-depth explorations of disciplinary and interdisciplinary subjects and novel ideas within soil physics in ways seldom possible at large meetings. 

Abstract submissions are open for poster presentations. Submission deadline is March 31st. More information, you find here

The SSSA Kirkham Conferences are small topical meetings to encourage scientists to make in-depth explorations of disciplinary and interdisciplinary subjects related to soil physics. The 2025 conference will be held in Fukushima, Japan, August 18-22. . Learn more about the Kirkham Conference.

Featured Paper

Do you want your paper featured?

Please share your recent paper if you want to be featured in the ISMC newsletter. With your contributions, we will select one paper to be featured in every newsletter. Submission can be done here. 

Soil moisture as an essential component for delineating and forecasting agricultural rather than meteorological drought

Drought is a recurring, complex, and extreme climatic phenomenon characterized by subnormal precipitation for months to years triggering negative impacts on agriculture, energy, tourism, recreation, and transportation sectors. Agricultural drought assessment is based on a deficit of soil moisture (SM) during the plant-growing season, whereas meteorological drought corresponds to subnormal precipitation over months to years. However, satellite-derived agricultural and meteorological drought indices (including those comprising root-zone SM) have not been comprehensively compared to evaluate their ability for drought delineation and particularly forecasting across climate regimes, land cover and soil types, and irrigation management (irrigated vs. rainfed) in the contiguous USA (CONUS). Here, we did so from 2015 to 2019 within the CONUS. In most regions except the US Midwest and Southeast, SM-based indices (e.g., Palmer Z, SMAP, SWDI) delineated agricultural drought better than meteorological (e.g., SPI, SPEI) and hybrid (Comprehensive Drought Index, CDI) drought indices. In contrast, the SPI and SPEI showed strong correlation with the aridity index in most part of the CONUS except the Midwest. SM-based and hybrid indices also demonstrated skills for agricultural drought forecasting (represented by end-of-year cumulative GPP), predominantly in the early growing season and particularly in irrigated rather than rainfed croplands. These findings indicate the leading role of SM in controlling ecosystem dryness and confirm “drought memory”, possibly due to SM-memory in land-atmosphere coupling. Proper application of meteorological and agricultural drought indices and their contrasting spatial-temporal controls on plant growth and ecosystem dryness has the potential to improve our understanding of drought evolution and provide early drought forecasting across large regions with diverse climate regimes, land cover types, soil textural classes, and irrigation management. More information can be found here.

The overlooked effects of environmental impacts on root:shoot ratio in experiments and soil-crop models
Process-based soil-crop models are becoming increasingly important to estimate the effects of agricultural management practices and climate change impacts on soil organic carbon (C). Although work has been done on the effects of crop type and climate on the root:shoot (biomass) ratio, there is a gap in research on the effects of specific environmental or management conditions such as drought, temperature, nutrient limitation, elevated CO2 or tillage on the root:shoot ratio and thus, atmospheric C sequestration. In this study, we quantified the effects of these factors on the root:shoot biomass ratio by reviewing the current literature, presented common simulation approaches and performed model simulations using different examples. Finally, we identified different research gaps with respect to the root:shoot ratio with the aim of better estimating and predicting atmospheric C sequestration. A predominantly positive response of the root:shoot ratio was observed in case of elevated CO2 (~12 %), low soil N levels (~44 %), and drought (~14 %). Soil tillage did not affect root:shoot ratio of the major field crops but increased it by ~15 % in case of wheat. There are only few field studies on air temperature increase and the results vary widely (mean − 48 %). The responses of tested models to the mentioned effects root:shoot ratio were slightly positive in case of CO2 elevation (0 to 2 %) and tillage (0 to 8 %), slightly to clearly positive in the case of drought and N limitation depending on the model (1 to 40 %), and very variable in case of the air temperature scenarios. Our study reveals large model uncertainty (especially on temperature effects), particularly for below ground processes that highlight knowledge gaps in simulating root:shoot ratio. We advocate for the need of more model-oriented specific experiments under abiotic stresses to help model improvement. Such research effort would enable more robust and reliable root:shoot ratio simulations. More information can be found here.

Featured Soil Modeler (Giuseppe Brunetti)

Numerical modeling of transport processes in the vadose zone

Giuseppe Brunetti is a hydrologist and Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Calabria (Italy) and leads the Vadose Zone Modeling group. He studied Civil Engineering and earned his PhD at the University of Calabria. In 2018, he was awarded the ISMC Early Career Award for his achievements in soil science and vadose zone hydrology. His main research interest is the numerical modeling of transport processes in the vadose zone.

Please tell us briefly about yourself and your research interests.

Since my undergraduate years, I have developed a deep interest in numerical analysis and physically based modeling in engineering. During my PhD, I had the opportunity to explore these topics further and apply them to the numerical modeling of hydrological processes in nature-based solutions (e.g., green roofs, permeable pavements). Since then, my research has gradually shifted toward the physically based modeling of transport processes in the vadose zone. I have had the opportunity to collaborate closely with Prof. Jiri Šimůnek in developing and implementing multiple modules for the hydrological model HYDRUS (https://www.pc-progress.com/en/Default.aspx?hydrus-modules). I am particularly interested in the probabilistic calibration of physically based vadose zone hydrological models using Bayesian inference and in facilitating their widespread use among scientists and practitioners.

How did you first become interested in soil modeling and learn about ISMC?

My journey in soil modeling began in 2014 when I started my PhD in urban hydrology. One of my research objectives was to model hydrological processes in green roofs, which at the time were typically studied using empirical or conceptual models. To go beyond the state of the art, I began learning about soil physical modeling and developed the idea of applying these concepts not only to green roofs but to nature-based solutions in general. In 2015, I moved to UC Riverside as a visiting scholar to work closely with Prof. Jiri Šimůnek, who kindly invited me to join him on his trip to the ISMC 2016 conference in Austin, USA. There, I had the opportunity to learn about ISMC, meet many board members, and familiarize myself with the various activities ISMC organizes to support the community.

Can you share with us your current research focus? How could your research contribute to ISMC Science Panel activities?

Currently, my research focuses on two main topics:1) the numerical modeling of dynamic changes in soil hydraulic properties due to external stressors (e.g., tillage) and how these changes affect the hydrological behavior of the vadose zone, 2) the development of a mechanistic soil-fruit model to simulate carbohydrate allocation in growing fruits in response to dynamically changing moisture conditions in the root zone. I believe these and other research activities I am engaged in align well with ISMC’s mission and are particularly relevant to the Soil-MIP panel.

How can ISMC help you advance in your career?

ISMC plays a crucial role in bringing together the soil modeling community. This is important for highlighting and promoting the role of soil modeling within other related fields, such as hydrology and plant physiology, where researchers inevitably deal with soil in their studies. By promoting soil modeling, ISMC can create opportunities for multidisciplinary research collaborations, benefiting soil modelers at different stages of their careers.

What resources or skills would you recommend for early career ISMC members? How can ISMC support them?

Besides a strong foundation in mathematics, physics, and statistics, developing proficiency in both low- and high-level programming languages is essential for young soil modelers. Additionally, seeking opportunities to work with established scientists in the soil modeling community is an often overlooked but invaluable asset. I was fortunate to work with Prof. Jiri Šimůnek, who has been both a fantastic mentor and an inspiring figure for me. ISMC can play a significant role in this regard by facilitating collaboration opportunities between early-career and established scientists, helping young researchers gain experience, guidance, and professional connections.