Equipment
Research Soil Science Section
Soil science is about the processes in the upper, living part of the Earth and the interactions with the neighbouring compartments lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere. Physical and biogeochemical processes at interfaces are decisive for the diverse functions of soils. The great importance of the influences of the biosphere, including humans, on soil processes is being increasingly recognised. Using modern methods and approaches from the core scientific disciplines, basic and application-orientated topics are researched and recommendations for sustainable soil management are developed.
Research projects
Publications
Team
Focus soil
Soil is the foundation of life for all of us. On a daily basis, we work on understanding these natural systems in order to protect soil as a resource, even in times of climate change and overuse, and to sustainably utilise it for society. In our research groups Soil biophysics, Soil chemistry and Digital soil mapping, we developed research fields, that go far beyond the traditional areas of soil science. As a system science, soil science bridges the gap between the traditional geosciences and the environmental and agricultural sciences:
- Mineral transformations and formation of mineral-organic associations
- Properties (charge, wetting properties) of particle surfaces in soil
- Influence of interface properties on (micro)hydraulic processes in soils
- Mobilisation and immobilisation processes of substances in soils
- Heterogeneity in soils
- Water movement and solute transport from the mineral to the landscape scale
- Impairment of soil functions
- Substance exchange with atmosphere and hydrosphere
- Global impact of agricultural land use and C-friendly soil management
- Soil reflectance properties and digital mapping of soils from hyperspectral data
