The advancement in the experimental characterization and modelling of the processes governing Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere (SVA) interaction is essential to improve the prediction of the state and response of geotechnical systems. SVA interaction takes place in an environmental compartment, comprising the rooted soils, the vegetation, and the atmosphere, which acts as boundary condition of any geotechnical system.
Characterizing this environmental compartment represents the core motivation of the international research group RootS, which experienced the take off in Perugia in 2023 and includes geotechnical engineers, agronomists, soil and plant scientists, atmospheric scientists and hydrologists. Such multidisciplinary engagement has been experienced in the two previous RootS meetings, RootS23 and RootS24.
RootS places particular emphasis on the characterization of properties, constitutive laws, and parameters that govern the coupled processes affecting the state and evolution of the RootS environmental compartment. Attention is also devoted to experimental strategies to measure these processes and to the development of appropriate numerical models.
Building on this background, the RootS research community has expressed the intention to establish a clear and visible IDENTITY which is the objective of the upcoming RootS25 International Workshop to be held in Bari in November 2025. To this aim, RootS25 will be organized as a two-day event, structured into three main thematic sections.