Research

What we study…

Soil is an interface controlling the flow of mass and energy between the atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere. Our research focuses on understanding soil physical processes determining these flows. Our investigations involve laboratory and field experiments, development of new measurement techniques, and numerical modeling.

Major research goals are to:

• Discover mechanisms driving heat and water transfer for evaporation and evapotranspiration
• Improve agricultural system efficiency and enhance services of urban and marginal soils
• Develop techniques and frameworks to quantify soil physical characteristics and processes

Recent and Current Research Projects:

Determining soil water and heat fluxes accompanying phase change (evaporation and freezing) (with Horton, Ren)
Separating evapotranspiration components to improve vineyard water efficiency (with Ben-Gal, Agam, Sauer, Havlin, Giese)
Evaluating tools to improve water infiltration for disturbed soils (with McLaughlin)
Developing an infiltration index for land use decision support (with Amoozegar)
Characterizing soil properties to improve value of the NC Environment and Climate Observing Network (ECONet) (with Boyles, White)
Examining management practices to improve soil health and crop production in the North Carolina Piedmont (with Osmond)