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The world of viticulture connected to wine making has become a very important activity in many inland areas permitting both the generation of important income and the sustaining of agriculture systems. Recent progress in both crop modeling and Decision Support Systems (DSS) applied to viticulture promises important changes that combine both high quality production and environmental sustainability. However, most of this progress is only addressed at the farm level and does not challenge the viticulture landscape, which is a key issue when facing DOC, DOCG areas, wine growers' cooperatives and consortiums and strategic viticulture planning. Thus, this paper aims to demonstrate that a new type of DSS, which is developed on a Geospatial Cyberinfrastructure (GCI) platform, may provide an important web-based operational tool for high quality viticulture as it connects farm and landscape levels better. The GCI platform supports acquisition, management, processing of both static and dynamic data (e.g. pedological, daily climatic, and vineyard distribution), data visualization, and on-the-fly computer applications in order to perform simulation modeling (e.g. grapevine water stress, evaluation of ecosystem services, etc.). These are all potentially accessible via the Web. This is possible thanks to the implementation of a set of modeling clusters that is strongly rooted in soil-plant-atmosphere and physically based simulation modeling. The DSS tool, applied to an area of 20,000 ha in Southern Italy, is designed to address viticulture planning and management by providing operational support for farmers, farmer associations and decision makers involved in the viticulture landscape. Output of the system includes viticulture planning and management scenario analysis, maps and evaluation of potential and current plant water stress. The tool will also be demonstrated through a short selection of practical case studies.

Water deficit limiting yields is one of the negative aspects of climate change. However, this applies particularly when emphasis is on biomass production (e.g. for field crops), but not necessarily for plants where quality, not quantity is most relevant. For grapevine development, mild water stress occurring during specific phenological phases is an important factor when producing good quality wines. It induces the production of anthocyanins and aroma precursors and then could offer an opportunity to increase winegrower's income. A multidisciplinary study was carried out in Campania region (Southern Italy), an area well known for high quality wine production. Growth of Aglianico grapevine cultivar, with a standard clone population on 1103 Paulsen rootstocks, was studied on two different types of soil: Calcisols and Cambisols occurring along a slope of 90 m length with 11% gradient. The agro-hydrological model SWAP was calibrated and applied to estimate soil-plant water status during three consecutive seasons (2011–2013). Crop water stress index (CWSI), as estimated by the model, was related to leaf water potential, sugar content of grape bunches and wine quality (e.g. content of tannins). For both soils, the correlations between quality measurements and CWSI were high (e.g. − 0.97** with sugar; 0.895* with anthocyanins in the grape skins). The model was also applied to explore effects of future climate conditions (2021–2051) obtained from statistical downscaling of Global Circulation Models (AOGCM) and to estimate the effect of the climate on CWSI and hence on grape quality. Effects of climate change on grape quality indicate: (i) a resilient behavior of Calcisol to produce high quality wine, (ii) a good potentiality for improving the quality wine in Cambisol. The present study represents an example of multidisciplinary approach in which soil scientists, hydro-pedologists, crop modellers, plant physiologists and oenologists have integrated their knowledge and skills in order to deal with the complex interactions among different components of an agricultural system.

The efficient use of water in agriculture is one of the most significant agricultural challenges that modern technologies are helping to cope with through Irrigation Advisory Services (IAS) and Decision Support Systems (DSS). These last are considered powerful management instruments able to help farmers achieve the best efficiency in irrigation water use and to increase their incomes through obtaining the highest possible crop yield. In this context, within the project "An advanced low cost system for farm irrigation support - LCIS" (a joint Italian-Israeli R&D project), a fully transferable DSS for irrigation support, based on three different methodologies representative of the state of the art in irrigation management tools (W-Tens, in situ soil sensor; IRRISAT®, remote sensing; W-Mod, simulation modelling of water balance in the soil-plant and atmosphere system), has been developed. These three LCIS-DSS tools have been evaluated, in terms of their ability to support the farmer in irrigation management, in a real applicative case study on maize grown on Andosols in a private farm in southern Italy in the 2018 season. The evaluation considered the predictive performance of the tools and also the pros and cons of their application, due their different spatial scale applicability, costs and complexity of use. The results have shown that all three approaches are able to realise the maximum obtainable maize production. However, the method based on in situ soil sensor (W-Tens) supplied 40% more water compared to the other two methods, whereas the IRRISAT® and W-Mod approaches represent the best solution in terms of irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). Moreover, IRRISAT® has the advantage of being able to work without soil spatial information, although unlike W-Tens both the latter methods need a high level of user expertise and consequently support of external service providers. Integration between different tools represents an opportunity for improved water use efficiency in agriculture (e.g., field sensors and remote sensing).

This paper aims to test a new physically oriented approach to viticulture zoning at farm scale that is strongly rooted in hydropedology and aims to achieve a better use of environmental features with respect to plant requirements and wine production. The physics of our approach are defined by the use of soil–plant–atmosphere simulation models, applying physically based equations to describe the soil hydrological processes and solve soil–plant water status. This study (part of the ZOVISA project) was conducted on a farm devoted to production of high-quality wines (Aglianico DOC), located in southern Italy (Campania region, Mirabella Eclano, AV). The soil spatial distribution was obtained after standard soil survey informed by geophysical survey. Two homogeneous zones (HZs) were identified; in each one a physically based model was applied to solve the soil water balance and estimate the soil functional behaviour (crop water stress index, CWSI) defining the functional homogeneous zones (fHZs). For the second process, experimental plots were established and monitored for investigating soil–plant water status, crop development (biometric and physiological parameters) and daily climate variables (temperature, solar radiation, rainfall, wind). The effects of crop water status on crop response over must and wine quality were then evaluated in the fHZs. This was performed by comparing crop water stress with (i) crop physiological measurement (leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence, leaf water potential, chlorophyll content, leaf area index (LAI) measurement), (ii) grape bunches measurements (berry weight, sugar content, titratable acidity, etc.) and (iii) wine quality (aromatic response). This experiment proved the usefulness of the physically based approach, also in the case of mapping viticulture microzoning.

We evaluate modelling solutions built composing different modelling approaches. Modelling of soil temperature was the case study, evaluating modelling solutions against a multi-year, multi-location database of field recorded data. Widely used simulation packages were re-implemented using advanced techniques, and nine new modelling solutions were built hybridizing across the original ones. Multi-metric indices were developed for modelling solution evaluation.The hybrid solution implementing the Parton's approach (surface temperature) and the SWAT (temperature along the soil profile) led to the best compromise between agreement and robustness under the explored conditions. Differently, choices of soil water redistribution models caused a modest variability with respect to the simulation of soil temperature. The methodology presented allows providing clear indications about model choice and should be considered useful practice in model development.The model libraries used to run the analysis are freely available for download, and they allow for further extension of the composition exercise. We develop nine new modelling solutions (MSs) for soil temperature simulation.New MSs were composed by hybridization of models from known modelling packages.Software component libraries allowed the model composition study.The evaluation of MSs was done on a large dataset via a multi-metric procedure.This is a proof of concept for fine-granularity model composition and MS evaluation.

The quantification of the water balance terms within soil-crop-climate systems is required to derive proper management for plant growth and irrigation. A large number of available models use the well known Richards’ equation for the simulation of water redistribution at field scale. Despite their common basis of the representation of water flow in the unsaturated zone, apparently similar hydrological models give different answers if applied in the same pedological, climatic and agronomic scenarios. The objective of the present study was evaluating and comparing the performance of three well known models (SWAP, MACRO and CropSyst) based on the solution of the Richards’ equation: in a structured fine soil (Calciustepts located in Cerese, Mantova, Italy) and in a structured fine loamy over sandy soil (Hapludalf located in Caviaga, Lodi, Italy), both cropped with maize. The models were compared on the basis of their reliability to predict soil water content, measured by TDR, at 10 depths over 2 years. We compared the three models on the basis of difference-based indexes (CRM and RMSE) and correlation statistics (r and EF): at three depths (0–0.15, −0.4 and −1.0 m), in terms of soil water content profile following a drainage process on bare soil and on soil water content over the whole soil profiles. Although water retention and hydraulic conductivity curves were properly measured in laboratory on undisturbed soil samples, all three models required calibration and validation to obtain good quality simulations. The performances of the three models were quite similar: the average of all (models, sites and depths) root mean square error (RMSE) was 0.032 cm3 cm−3 (±0.007). Generally, SWAP had the best performance especially in simulating surface infiltration and drying processes, followed by CropSyst and then MACRO. The better performance of SWAP respect the other two models seemed rely on the hydraulic properties parameterization (van Genuchten-Mualem vs. Campbell equation), and to the different techniques used for the numerical solutions of Richards’ equation close to the bottom and upper boundaries. Moreover, despite its rather good performance, CropSyst, due to its internal numerical constraints in the parameterization of the retention and conductivity functions, needed a very strong calibration then loosing part of its “physical basis” towards an increasing of its empiricism.

An integrated investigation has been carried out over the soils involved in the landslide phenomena occurred in the 2006 at Mt. Vezzi in the Ischia island (southern Italy). Chemical, physical (i.e. particle size distribution, hydrological analyses and direct measurements of soil porosity), mineralogical and micromorphological properties of three soil profiles selected in two of the main detachment crowns were analysed. The studied soils, having a volcanic origin, showed a substantial abrupt discontinuity of all the studied properties in correspondence of the 2C horizon, also identified as sliding surface of the landslide phenomena. With respect to the above horizons, the 2C showed (i) as a grey fine ash, almost pumices free, with a silt content increased by the 20%, (ii) ks values one order of magnitude lower, (iii) a porosity concentrated in the small size (15 to 30 μm modal class) pores characterized by very low percolation threshold (around 15–25 μm), (iv) occurrence of expandable clay minerals and (v) higher Na content in the exchange complex. Therefore, most of these properties indicated 2C as a lower permeability horizon than the above. Nevertheless, only the identification of a thin (6.5 mm) finely stratified ash layer on the top of 2C enabled to assume this interface as an impeding layer to vertical and horizontal water fluxes, as testified by the hydromorphic features (e.g. Fe / Mn concretions) within and on the top of the layer. Despite the Mt. Vezzi soil environment has many properties (high gradient northern facing slope, similar forestry, volcanic origin of the parent material) in common with those of many Campania debris-mud flows, the results of this study did not support the found relationship between Andosols and debris-mudflows, but emphasize the role of vertical discontinuities as landslide predisposing factor.

This paper aims to test a new physically oriented approach to viticulture zoning at the farm scale, strongly rooted on hydropedology and aiming to achieve a better use of environmental features with respect to plant requirement and wine production. The physics of our approach is defined by the use of soil-plant-atmosphere simulation models which applies physically-based equations to describe the soil hydrological processes and solves soil-plant water status. This study (ZOVISA project) was conducted in a farm devoted to high quality wines production (Aglianico DOC), located in South Italy (Campania region, Mirabella Eclano-AV). The soil spatial distribution was obtained after standard soil survey informed by geophysical survey. Two Homogenous Zones (HZs) were identified; in each one of those a physically based model was applied to solve the soil water balance and estimate the soil functional behaviour (crop water stress index, CWSI) defining the functional Homogeneous Zones (fHzs). In these last, experimental plots were established and monitored for investigating soil-plant water status, crop development (biometric and physiological parameters) and daily climate variables (temperature, solar radiation, rainfall, wind). The effects of crop water status on crop response over must and wine quality were then evaluated in the fHZs. This was performed by comparing crop water stress with (i) crop physiological measurement (leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll a fluorescence, leaf water potential, chlorophyll content, LAI measurement), (ii) grape bunches measurements (berry weight, sugar content, titratable acidity, etc.) and (iii) wine quality (aromatic response). Eventually this experiment has proved the usefulness of the physical based approach also in the case of mapping viticulture microzoning.

Revegetation was one of most successful measures to restore desert sand dunes and to improve regional eco-environments in the Tengger Desert, Northwest China. The potential for soil moisture replenishment by precipitation in the revegetation restored desert ecosystems is influenced strongly by the hydraulic properties of the surface soils. Steady-state infiltration rates from tension disc infiltrometer were measured at revegetation restored desert soils (VS) and unvegetated sand dunes (SD), respectively. Results indicated that the site specific VS and SD hydraulic properties differed significantly. Compared with SD, the long term VS has the effect of decreasing the hydraulic conductivity of the surface soil, while increasing the capillary effect on the infiltration rate. Averagely, the hydraulic conductivity of VS was 0·43 times of SD at the near saturation conditions. At VS, tension infiltration were dominated by capillarity effect more than that of SD, which were ascribed to the differences in soil properties where the former has a higher amount of finer particles, organic matters content and lower bulk densities. Accordingly, the hydraulically functioning mean pore sizes were larger at SD, where the gravity effect dominated the tension infiltration process. Therefore, in the study area under the pulse precipitation events in the growing seasons, VS contains more soil water by capillarity effect than SD does, which would contribute to shallow rooted herbage and cryptogam water consumption. Nevertheless, looking at the whole soil profile, for the actual rainfall water regimes, VS has insignificant effects on the soil profile water regime, with unchanged deep fluxes.

The first results of the LIFE+ SOILCONSWEB project that aims to combine digital soil mapping, soil modeling, digital soil databases and land assessment to produce, to test and to apply a Spatial Decision Supporting System (S-DSS) are shown. The practical focus of this system is to support (stakeholders) decision on landscape issues aiming to both the best soil conservation and agricultural land management. The S-DSS system is being developed, tested and applied in an area of about 20,000 hectares in South Italy (Valle Telesina, province of Benevento in the Campania region). The system acknowledge that soils and landscapes have the well recognized "multiple functions" as a fundamental feature. Then it is not surprising that this decision supporting system requires, as fundamental feature, to include and mix many different high quality digital information, engine and processing in order to be successfully applied. Our web-based S-DSS system includes modeling procedures at different level of complexity. Here we present tools calculating soil water/solute balance using Richards' based modeling on benchmark soils of the different 47 soil types. This Soil-Plant-Atmosphere (SPA) modeling is used for different purposes including among others (i) estimate of vineyard water stress (affecting wine quality), (ii) estimate of loss of hydrological soil function due to soil sealing, (iii) soil protective capacity towards groundwater pollution expressed by the outflow/inflow ratio. The SPA model is based on the original desktop based SWAP model (Kroes et al, 2008) and enables to be run "on the fly" through the web S-DSS system. The user at this stage can choose between different options including: area (farm, municipality, district, or just drawing the polygon of interest), crop (olive, grapes, maize, bare soil) and date interval for the simulation run. Others options will be further implemented. The S-DSS system every day acquires spatialized data for the upper boundary condition (rainfall and temperatures to estimate ET0 by the Heargraves model) as input for the SPA model running. Hydraulic properties of each soil horizon of the 47 soil profiles were measured in the laboratory by the Wind's method and estimated through HYPRES PTF. Water retention and hydraulic conductivity relationships were parameterized according to the van Genuchten-Mualem model; lab-derived parameters were scaled to field condition by taking into account the coarse fragment content (from the pedological survey) and the hysteretic field behavior of the soil water retention curve. Initial condition was set to h=-50 cm along the soil profile. The simulation starts the 1st January 2011 to manage uncertainty in initial conditions setting. Examples of outcomes are the soil water storage at different depths, inflow/outflow ratio, ETa/ET0, but many others can be implemented, showing the potentiality of the system to allow different scenarios in many field of interest where the balance of the water in the system soil-plant-atmosphere is required. Then decision makers (individuals, groups of interests and public bodies) can have real-time (or near real-time) access to critical, accurate, complete and up-to-date spatial data/output models held/processed in multiple data stores. The system produce detailed spatial documents, report and maps on a series of questions including agriculture, environment and climate change. The tool is available at www.landconsultingweb.eu/.

The role of soil water status on crop vine responses in terms of grape quality responses (sugar, acidity, poliphenols, antocians, etc.) is widely discussed in literature, but the ensemble of processes involved, their quantification and management options is generally not examined. For these reasons the use of physically based soil-plant-atmosphere hydrological model can represent an useful tool to study and evaluate effects of soil-water and plant processes in order to (i) analyse the crop water stress, (ii) relate it to wine quality and therefore (iii) improve the classification of landscape addressed to the grapevine and wine with high quality suggesting also management options. In this way we tested a new physically oriented approach to terroir analysis, based on the use of the soil-plant-atmosphere simulation models in viticultural zoning. The study was conducted in the farm Quintodecimo located in Mirabella Eclano (AV), Southern Italy, and devoted to quality wines production (Aglianico DOC). The soil spatial distribution was recognized through geophysical analysis and classical methodologies; then the soil-plant water status was monitored in two experimental plots from two very different soils spacing 60 meters apart along a slope. Hydraulic properties of the soil horizons were measured in the laboratory by the Wind's method. Daily soil water variables (through TDR probes and tensiometers installed at different depths), crop development (biometric and physiological parameters) and daily climate variables (temperature, solar radiation, rainfall, wind) were monitored along two years. The agro-hydrological model SWAP was calibrated and validated on the soil water content data. Then it was applied to estimate soil-plant water status in different crop phenological stages, being anyone of these stages crucial for specific grape quality responses. The effects of crop water status on crop response and wine quality was evaluated in the two different soil types occurring in two different geomorphic settings (upslope and downslope positions), comparing the crop water stress index with: crop physiological measurement (leaf gas exchange, chlorophyll-? fluorescence, leaf water potential, chlorophyll content, LAI measurement), grape bunches measurement (berry weight, sugar content, titrable acidity, etc.) and wine quality (aromatic response).

Soil water processes control soil hydrological behavior in the vadose zone at a wide range of scales. At local scale, flux and storage of water in the unsaturated zone is adequately described by the classical nonlinear Richards' equation. Extrapolating the theory to a larger-scale system for modeling field-scale water flows is ordinary practice (scale-invariant equation) but its application set two major and strictly related problems; namely (i) the characterization and parameterization of soil hydraulic properties and (ii) their inherent variability at the field scale. In order to address the first issue, the soils hydraulic properties are typically derived either through expensive laboratory and/or field experiments or with alternative approaches like pedotranfer functions in order to increase cost effectiveness. On the other side the variability of soil hydraulic properties at the field scale can be treated by a feasible approach, considering soils in the field as an ensemble of parallel and statistically independent tubes, assuming only vertical flows. Each stream tube defines local flow properties that are assumed to vary randomly between the different stream tubes. We used the Monte Carlo technique, which treats any uncertain parameter as a random variable that obeys a given probabilistic distribution, for analyzing soil hydraulic properties probabilistic uncertainty (second issue). The goals of this work, placed at the core of the issues (i) and (ii), are the following: o recognize the sensitivity of a Richard-based model to the measured variability of ?(h) and k(?) parameters; o establish the predictive capability and effectiveness of PTFs by using measured data and independent and spatially distributed information (NDVI) as data quality control. The study area is located in the Po plain (Lodi) in Northern Italy and it has an extension of approximately 2000 hectares; most of the area has corn land use. A considerable number (about 100) of topsoil sample sites, throughout the whole study site, were identified for hydropedological analysis. All samples were analyzed for texture, bulk density, organic matter content and other chemical properties, and for about 60 samples water retention curves and saturated hydraulic conductivities were determined and parameterized following the Mualem-van Genuchten functional relationships. Several pedotransfer functions were tested on the 60 measured hydraulic properties; then the PTF HYPRES was applied to derive hydraulic properties of the entire soil database. The data from the PTF showed a good agreement with the measured one and, as expected, a smoothing effect was recognized. Furthermore, a site was also settled within the area, for continuous monitoring of soil water variables for model calibration and validation. The model was applied and the Monte Carlo approach was used to analyze the sensitivity of the applied model to two measured input parameters: the slope of water retention curve (n) and the saturated hydraulic conductivity (k0). The analysis was performed singularly for each parameter and jointly for both. The analysis has shown that the "n" parameter affects the variability of the process simulated to an extent significantly higher than the k0 parameter, although the former is much less variable. Despite only slight differences arise between measurements and estimated data, the sensitivity analysis of the applied model underline the absolute need for a correct assessment of the "n" parameters. In fact, while direct and significant correlations were found between the "n" hydraulic parameter obtained from measured water retention curves and the NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) using high resolution remotely sensed data on maize cultivation, this relationship does not occur with estimated water retention curves.

The FAO framework for Land Evaluation (LE) has been the primary procedure used worldwide to address local, regional, and national land use planning. Despite its widespread and long-term application, the process has been criticised by the scientific community for its qualitative and empirical base, which is not effective to address many new agro-environmental challenges where the dynamic characterisation of the interrelated physical and chemical processes taking place in the soil landscape is a must. In today's environment, the LE expert is asked to choose the best LE methodology considering costs, complexity of the procedure and benefits in handling a specific land evaluation. Unfortunately very little scientific literature supports this choice especially in terms of the comparison of different LE approaches. In this scenario, we performed a forage maize land suitability study by comparing different methods having increasing complexity and costs. The study area was comprised of approximately 2000 ha and was located on the Lodi Plain (Po Valley) of North Italy. The primary land use in the region is forage maize and this study was designed to assess forage maize biomass. Methods were developed and applied to compare the efficacy of procedures of increasing complexity. The range of the 9 employed methods ranged from standard LE approaches to the extensive use of simulation modelling (SWAP and CropSyst), using as data input pre-existing soil information (soil map 1:50,000) and also hydraulic properties measured as well estimated by PTF(pedotransfer functions). The different methods were compared based on both predictive ability and cost. Independent estimates of forage maize biomass were obtained by locally tested remote sensing measurements, and predictive ability was estimated using statistical indexes including correlation, relative variance, and ANOVA to evaluate the mean differences in maize biomass. The level of expertise required to apply a specific methodology was a factor in the cost of the LE. In addition, an increase in method complexity corresponded to a higher quality/quantity of input parameters and as a consequence higher costs. Generally, more complex methods gave better results in terms of their predictive ability but this occurred in much discontinuous steps; this finding contradicts a simplified view on the better performance of more complex and mechanicistic methods. Methods operating on measurements resulted in increased performance relative to those operating on PTF. Furthermore, methods operating on “true” soils without aggregations (i.e. soil-mapping units) exhibited higher performance.

Mudflows are between the major catastrophic types of landslides occurring in Italy especially in terms of victims and damages. An integrated pedological and hydrological analysis has been performed in Calabria, Campania, Toscana and Lombardia regions on the detachment crowns of some of the most important catastrophic mudflows occurred in Italy in the last decades, including the slides of Sarno (1998), Salerno (1910, 1924, 1954), Platì (1951), Versilia (1996) and Albaredo (1987, 2002) sites. A detailed hydro-pedological study performed in the Campania region, using a 2D Richard's based water balance simulation model, addressed the following issues: (i) the importance of hydrological properties of andic soils, namely soils having large quantities of poorly ordered clay minerals; (ii) the interruption of the pedological continuity of the slope and (iii) the relationship with slope aspect. The main results show an increase in soil water storage (more than 30%) in both North facing landscapes and in slope having an interruption in pedo-continuity with respect to some references. Overall the results at national scale revealed an evident association between the investigated catastrophic mudflows and the presence of andic soils, both in the detachment crowns and on the slopes. We believe that these soils because of the unique hydrological properties and high tixotropy induced high vulnerability in landslide triggering and development mechanisms.

Remote sensing of soil water content from air- or space-borne platforms offer the possibility to provide large spatial coverage and temporal continuity. The water content can be actually monitored remotely in a thin soil layer, usually up to a depth of 0.05m below the soil surface. To the contrary, difficulties arise in the estimation of the water content storage along the soil profile and its spatial (horizontal) distribution, which is closely connected to soil hydraulic properties and their spatial distribution. A major goal of the scientific group is to develop a practical and robust procedure for estimating spatial variability of soil hydraulic properties. This will be done by estimating water contents throughout the soil profile by integrating remotely sensed surface water contents and hydrological modeling, the latter used in a deterministic/stochastic framework. As a first step, in this work, we will show some preliminary results from aircraft images analysis and their validation by field campaign data on a 4 ha bare soil located in the Sele plain, South of Italy. The main data were collected by thermal and multispectral cameras during two flights performed at sunrise and at noon, each at two different altitudes (about 500 and 900 m a.s.l.). The airborne sensors provided data for retrieving land surface temperatures and surface heat fluxes with a very high spatial resolution. The surface water content pattern, as deduced by the thermal inertia estimations, was compared to the surface water contents map measured in situ by time domain reflectometry. A reasonable agreement was found between the remotely sensed water contents pattern and the ground point-scale water contents map. Moreover, remotely monitoring from two different altitudes gave the opportunity to verify the effects of the spatial resolution on the surface water content estimation. The sensors displayed a reasonable capability to deliver surface soil water content distributions at the desired resolution.

For the range of volcanic soils investigated, water retention analysis showed that near-saturation and field capacity water contents are more representative of the whole water retention behavior than the most commonly used “wilting point” water content. The Integral Retention Index, IRI, showed a strong relationship with the different environments; the index also showed a clear relationship with the andic properties (as estimated by Alo+1/2Feo; r=0.84), the soils with the lowest Alo+1/2Feo and also a high content in pumice departing from this linear relationship. This is especially relevant because IRI, has a very important physical meaning with respect to ecosystem fertility.

This research deals with scale-dependency effects on the calibration of parameter in the Arya and Paris method for estimating the soil water retention function from textural data.

Nella presente relazione si riportano i risultati dell'analisi integrata di alcuni suoli lombardi appartenenti alla tipologia pedologica dei terrazzi antichi, eseguita nell'ambito della convenzione ERSAL-CNR ISPAIM 1998-2000, con l'obbiettivo di meglio comprendere il funzionamento di tale tipo di suoli per una loro migliore gestione agricola ed ambientale. Gli approfondimenti analitici sono stati calibrati rispetto alle specifiche problematiche di tale tipologia pedologica. Particolare rilievo, ad esempio, è stato dato alle analisi pedogenetiche di dettaglio rispetto a quelle fisiche di dettaglio.

Nella presente relazione si riportano i risultati dell'analisi integrata di alcuni suoli lombardi appartenenti alla tipologia pedologica delle risaie, eseguita nell'ambito della convenzione ERSAL-CNR ISPAIM 1998-2000, con l'obbiettivo di meglio comprendere il funzionamento di tale tipo di suoli per una loro migliore gestione agricola ed ambientale. Gli approfondimenti analitici sono stati calibrati rispetto alle specifiche problematiche di tale tipologia pedologica. Particolare rilievo, ad esempio, è stato dato alle analisi fisiche di dettaglio rispetto a quelle pedogenetiche di dettaglio.