New experiment begun on subsurface water redistribution

Ph.D. student Trenton Franz has begun a new experiment to investigate the potential of sub-surface gravity driven mounds to contribute to hillslope water balance in sites with many macropores and a high degree of soil bioturbation caused by organisms like termites. His initial work is looking at the utility of resistivity as a means of characterizing fast-response sub-surface dynamics. In the coming weeks he will also be testing the accuracy of derived analytical solutions to the movement of gravity driven mounds within an large-scale lab experiment. Once the lab work is complete, Trenton plans to start making larger-scale measurements of field patterns of soil resistivity and to conduct field experiments of macropore effects through massive infiltration tests. It should be a fun and very busy semester for Trenton!