How much importance does the soil hydrologic behavior play on water dynamics in the soil-vegetation-atmosphere system? A voyage of recent progress through scales

Major limitations of current studies on assessing the impacts of climate and land-use changes are lack of: (i) good quality observational data and model parameters, especially the soil hydraulic characteristics, and (ii) information on how the nature of spatial variability of soils affects the soil hydrologic response over a range of scales. Traditional methods for soil hydraulic characterization are burdensome, whereas information on soil spatial variability are particularly relevant for certain studies, such as distributed hydrologic modelling and precision agriculture. All these issues are particularly relevant when assessing the effects that hydrologic and sediment connectivity exerts on land and water resources management and soil erosion.