Articles | Volume 9, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-365-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/soil-9-365-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Original research article
| 
30 Jun 2023
Original research article |
| 30 Jun 2023
| 30 Jun 2023
Reproducibility of the wet part of the soil water retention curve: a European interlaboratory comparison
Benjamin Guillaume
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Uliège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Hanane Aroui Boukbida
Instrumentation, Moyens Analytiques, observatoire en Géophysique et
Océanographie (UAR IMAGO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), 13002 Marseille, France
Gerben Bakker
Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
Andrzej Bieganowski
Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lublin, Poland
Yves Brostaux
Uliège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Wim Cornelis
Ghent University, Gent, Belgium
Wolfgang Durner
Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Christian Hartmann
Instrumentation, Moyens Analytiques, observatoire en Géophysique et
Océanographie (UAR IMAGO), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), 13002 Marseille, France
Bo V. Iversen
Department of Agroecology, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Mathieu Javaux
UCLouvain, Earth and Life Institute, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Joachim Ingwersen
Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Hohenheim, Germany
Krzysztof Lamorski
Institute of Agrophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Lublin, Poland
Axel Lamparter
Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, Hanover, Germany
András Makó
Department of Soil Physics and Water Management, Institute for Soil Sciences, Centre for Agricultural Research, Herman Ottó Street 15,
1022 Budapest, Hungary
Ana María Mingot Soriano
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Ingmar Messing
Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Attila Nemes
Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås, Norway
Alexandre Pomes-Bordedebat
Uliège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Martine van der Ploeg
Wageningen University and Research, Wageningen, Netherlands
Tobias Karl David Weber
Institute of Soil Science and Land Evaluation, University of Hohenheim, Hohenheim, Germany
Lutz Weihermüller
Agrosphere Institute IBG-3, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich, Germany
Joost Wellens
Uliège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
Aurore Degré
Uliège – Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Passage des Déportés 2, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium
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Joost Buitink, Anne M. Swank, Martine van der Ploeg, Naomi E. Smith, Harm-Jan F. Benninga, Frank van der Bolt, Coleen D. U. Carranza, Gerbrand Koren, Rogier van der Velde, and Adriaan J. Teuling
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 6021–6031, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-6021-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-6021-2020, 2020
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The amount of water stored in the soil is critical for the productivity of plants. Plant productivity is either limited by the available water or by the available energy. In this study, we infer this transition point by comparing local observations of water stored in the soil with satellite observations of vegetation productivity. We show that the transition point is not constant with soil depth, indicating that plants use water from deeper layers when the soil gets drier.
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Short summary
Measurements of soil water retention properties play an important role in a variety of societal issues that depend on soil water conditions. However, there is little concern about the consistency of these measurements between laboratories. We conducted an interlaboratory comparison to assess the reproducibility of the measurement of the soil water retention curve. Results highlight the need to harmonize and standardize procedures to improve the description of unsaturated processes in soils.
Measurements of soil water retention properties play an important role in a variety of societal...
