Session 1: Thermo-Hydraulic (TH) processes part of the Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere (SVA) interaction, acting either below or above ground level
• Sub-session 1a: Experimental characterisation of thermo-hydraulic, TH, properties of the rooted soils
Sub-session 1a will report experimental research on the thermo-hydraulic, TH, properties of rooted soils, focusing on the soil-root system, i.e. the sub-surface component of the environmental domain. This sub-session will include studies exploring the multi-physical processes that govern soil matrix–root interaction, with special focus on the measurement of the thermal and the hydraulic parameters of the constitutive laws controlling seepage, evaporation, transpiration, and, on the whole, the water balance. Biological processes will also be considered, including root development and plant biological activity, both of which influence the evolving properties and state of the rooted soil. To this aim, contributions will present datasets characterising the TH properties of rooted soils over time. The presented data may derive from laboratory experiments, physical modelling, or field investigations.
• Sub-session 1b: Site-scale hydrological processes within the RootS environmental domain – Runoff and Leaf Interception
Sub-session 1b will address the hydrological processes part of the SVA interaction, with particular emphasis on the investigation, monitoring and characterisation of runoff and leaf interception at the site scale. This session will bring together contributions from hydrologists and plant scientists, aimed at interpreting and modelling how the vegetation influences surface water dynamics. The session will cover both methodological outlines and case studies, giving evidence to the advances in the field monitoring techniques, the data interpretation and modelling.
• Sub-session 1c: Monitoring evaporation and transpiration fluxes within the RootS environmental domain
Sub-session 1c will focus on the monitoring of evaporation and transpiration water fluxes, both at the site scale and in physical models. The monitoring datasets will be presented and discussed in order to advance in the experimental knowledge about TH processes generating the water phase transition and the overall water balance taking place for different types of soils, vegetation and atmospheric conditions. The monitoring datasets represent the terms of comparison for the predictions resulting from the numerical modelling discussed in sub-session 1d.
• Sub-session 1d: Coupled numerical Thermo-Hydraulic, TH, modelling of SVA interaction
Sub-session 1d will be devoted to the numerical modelling of Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere (SVA) interaction, intended to reproduce both the water and energy balances occurring within the RootS environmental domain. Particular attention will be given to new numerical modelling schemes and approaches, designed to simulate the processes characterized in Subsections 1a, 1b, and 1c. The presentations may account for different levels of coupling of the thermal – hydraulic – mechanical – biological processes, investigated in the experimental sessions.