A range of continental-scale soil datasets exists in Europe with different spatial representation and based on different principles. We developed comprehensive pedotransfer functions (PTFs) for applications principally on spatial datasets with continental coverage. The PTF development included the prediction of soil water retention at various matric potentials and prediction of parameters to ch...

Based on the field measurements of the physical properties of fractured rocks, the anisotropic properties of hydraulic conductivity (HC) of the fractured rock aquifer can be assessed and presented using a tensor approach called hydraulic conductivity tensor. Three types of HC values, namely point value, axial value and flow direction one, are derived for their possible applications. The HC valu...

Passive systems possess the beneficial properties of ease of human control, and stable interaction with arbitrary passive systems. Motivated by these properties, our research has been directed towards developing passive hydraulic systems. A novel hydraulic element called the passive valve was first developed. The passive valve was used in single degree of freedom passive bilateral teleoperation...

Cross-borehole flowmeter tests have been proposed as an efficient method to investigate preferential flowpaths in heterogeneous aquifers, which is a major task in the characterization of fractured aquifers. Cross-borehole flowmeter tests are based on the idea that changing the pumping conditions in a given aquifer will modify the hydraulic head distribution in large-scale flowpaths, producing m...

The influence of the multiscale fracture roughness on the heat exchange when a cold fluid enters a fractured hot solid is studied numerically on the basis of the Stokes equation and in the limit of both hydrolubrication and thermolubrication. The geometrical complexity of the fracture aperture is modeled by small self-affine perturbations added to a uniform aperture field. Thermal and hydraulic...

We evaluated drought resistance mechanisms in a drought-tolerant clone (CN5) and a drought-sensitive clone (ST51) of Eucalyptus globulus Labill. based on the responses to drought of some physiological, biophysical and morphological characteristics of container-grown plants, with particular emphasis on root growth and hydraulic properties. Water loss in excess of that supplied to the containers ...

Fluid flow in the vadose zone is governed by Richards equation; it is parameterized by hydraulic conductivity, which is a nonlinear function of pressure head. Investigations in the vadose zone typically require characterizing distributed hydraulic properties. Saturation or pressure head data may include direct measurements made from boreholes. Increasingly, proxy measurements from hydrogeophysi...

Plant water loss, regulated by stomata and driven by atmospheric demand, cannot exceed the maximum steady-state supply through roots. Just as an electric circuit breaks when carrying excess current, the soil-plant continuum breaks if forced to transport water beyond its capacity. Exciting new molecular, biophysical and ecological research suggests that roots are the weakest link along this hydr...

Compacted clay has traditionally been used as a lining material in municipal solid waste landfills. However, natural clays may not always provide good contaminant sorption properties. One alternative material that is abundant in some parts of Europe and Turkey as well as Western United States is sepiolite. A laboratory study was undertaken to investigate the feasibility of sepiolite as a liner ...

Hydraulic fracturing and matrix stimulation are two major methods of the reservoir stimulation. Hydraulic fracturing, which is the newest technique and technically more complex, is very useful in low permeability reservoirs. Although it has been used widely in hydrocarbon production wells, it is a new method in Iran. In this paper, the effect of sufficient barrier layers on hydraulic fracturing...