Poster, International Symposium Soil processes under extreme meteorological conditions, Bayreuth: 25.02.2007 - 28.02.2007
Abstract:
Due to climate changes, the extreme meteorological events will become common in future. This means that drying/rewetting and freezing/thawing of soils will occur more frequently. In order to better understand the mechanisms of such processes in soils, a drying/rewetting and freezing/thawing experiment was conducted at a spruce forest site in Fichtelgebirge (Germany). We monitored this experiment by measuring soil water potential, soil moisture and soil temperature. Dynamics of drying/rewetting and freezing/thawing of soils modifies soil structure and so influences water flow through the soil. Therefore dye tracer experiments were performed to analyse changes in water flow patterns. Dye tracing is often used in vadose zone studies to understand water flow (Feyen et al. 1999; Flury and Wai 2003). In this paper, we present the results of our monitoring activities as well as those of the tracer study.