Descripción del proyecto
THIS PROJECT AIMS TO STUDY THE HYDROLOGIC AND EROSIVE PROCESSES THAT GOVERN SOURCES AND SINKS OF RUNOFF, SEDIMENT, AND THE ORGANIC CARBON ASSOCIATED TO THEM IN AGRICULTURAL MEDITERRANEAN CATCHMENTS, AS WELL AS THEIR INFLUENCE ON THE TOTAL DELIVERY OF SOIL, WATER AND ORGANIC CARBON FROM CATCHMENTS, WITH THE PURPOSE OF IMPROVING SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION AND CARBON SEQUESTRATION PRACTICES, THEREFORE, THE PROJECT WILL MOSTLY CONCENTRATE IN ONE OF THE KEY AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS IN SOUTHERN SPAIN: OLIVE TREE ORCHARDS IN SLOPING AREAS, THESE PROCESSES WILL BE STUDIED IN EXPERIMENTAL CATCHMENTS PREVIOUSLY INSTALLED BY THE RESEARCH TEAMS, WE WILL COMBINE THREE COMPLEMENTARY APPROACHES CARRIED OUT THROUGH THREE DISTINCT SUBPROJECTS THAT WILL BE COORDINATED, ALL THIS IN ORDER TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF SYNERGIES AMONG THE THREE APPROACHES AND RESEARCH TEAMS,A FIRST LINE OF RESEARCH WILL BE THE ANALYSIS OF THE RUNOFF GENERATION PROCESS AND SURFACE FLOW ROUTING, SOIL DETACHMENT AND REDISTRIBUTION DURING SEDIMENT TRANSPORT, AND REMOVAL AND DEPOSITION OF ORGANIC CARBON DUE TO WATER AND SOIL PARTICLE MOVEMENT AT DIFFERENT SCALES, AND CONSIDERING THE INTERACTIONS OF VEGETATION, TOPOGRAPHY, MANAGEMENT PRACTICES AND SOIL MOISTURE AT THREE SMALL EXPERIMENTAL CATCHMENTS UNDER OLIVE CULTIVATION, THIS WILL BE DONE USING A COMBINATION OF CLASSICAL TECHNIQUES OF RUNOFF AND SEDIMENT MEASUREMENTS AT DIFFERENT SCALES, WHILE TRACKING THE SEDIMENT WITH EROSION TRACERS,A SECOND LINE OF RESEARCH AIMS AT CHARACTERIZING RELEVANT SOIL MOISTURE-RELATED HYDROLOGICAL SUBSURFACE PATTERNS THROUGH THE USE OF NON-INVASIVE NEAR-SURFACE GEOPHYSICAL METHODS IN ORDER TO OPTIMIZE THE DEPLOYMENT OF DIFFERENT WIRELESS SOIL MOISTURE SENSOR NETWORKS, AND TO IMPROVE THE SPATIAL CHARACTERIZATION AND MODELING OF HYDROLOGICAL AND EROSIVE PROCESSES IN AGRICULTURAL WATERSHEDS,IN THE THIRD LINE OF RESEARCH, HYDROLOGIC AND EROSIVE MODELS WILL BE DEVELOPED BASED ON SOME EXISTING MODELS THAT PARTIALLY DESCRIBE THE PROCESSES, BUT NEGLECT SOME ASPECTS THAT MAY BE ESSENTIAL IN A TREE DOMINATED LANDSCAPE, OR DO NOT TAKE INTO ACCOUNT THE VARIATION IN SOIL AND SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS LIKE THE DEPOSITION OF SEDIMENTS, THE REFORMULATED OR NEW MODELS WILL USE THE BGK LATTICE MODEL, SUCH MODEL PROVIDES AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH TO MORE CONVENTIONAL MODELS BY USING A MORE REDUCED NUMBER OF PARAMETERS THAN THE CONVENTIONAL MODELS, WHILE BEING SO VERSATILE THAT INCLUDES DIFFERENT INITIAL AND BOUNDARY CONDITIONS IN A SIMPLER WAY, INNOVATIVE STRATEGIES FOR CALIBRATION AND VALIDATION WILL BE APPLIED TO GET AN INSIGHT OF THE POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENT OF MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ABOVE MENTIONED,ALL OF THE DIFFERENT RESEARCH LINES, EACH OF THEM REPORTING ON TO THE CORRESPONDING COORDINATED SUBPROJECT, WILL START INTERACTING ACTIVELY FROM THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE PROJECT, THIS WILL MEAN COORDINATING THE DIFFERENT EXPERIMENTS AND THE CORRESPONDING INTERPRETATION WITH THE MODELS WITH THE AIM OF TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THEIR COMPLEMENTARITY, EROSION\HIDROLOGIA\FUENTES\SUMIDEROS\ESCORRENTIA\SEDIMENTO\CARBONO\ESCALA\MEDITERRANEO\AGRICOLA