Work Package 4. Measure and model the spatial and temporal variation of biogeochemical cycles across a range of scales from rhizosphere through catchment to global.

PI: Roland Bol

Key hypothesis: A process-based, quantitative understanding of nutrient and pollutant transport mechanisms will enable modelling and manipulation of pollutant transport and the development of management strategies for minimising transfers to water and air.

Key targets:

• Improved understanding of the temporal scales at which streamflow and water quality variables vary, and the scales at which they are interrelated.
• Develop new innovative technologies for understanding the process and cycling of nutrients and its transfer to water and air.

This WP is focussed on innovative developments in soil and biogeochemical cycles with respect to scale, linking closely with WP3. Particular emphasis is placed on studying the spatial scale of nutrient flows through soil, water and air for scaling up the impact of such flows on the wider environment. In doing this, there is also a need to study temporal variations in flows and to understand the periodicity and cycling of these dynamics at different scales of resolution. The work uses a combination of laboratory experimentation and field observations across a range of scales, combined with geostatistics and modelling to address the issues of scale. The work involves both hypothesis testing, to gain insights into novel processes, and the observation of pattern and complexity, attained from development of new techniques for both measuring and analysing patterns of data from the environment.

The WP has 3 key components:

1. Biogeochemistry and water flows.
2. Measuring and modelling biogeochemical processes.
3. Models.