Institute of Hydrology
Topic
Mitigating the impact of climate change on soil water storage by using a biochar
PhD. program
Year of admission
2024
Name of the supervisor
Ing. Justína Vitková, PhD.
Contact:
Receiving school
Stavebná fakulta STU
Annotation
Increasingly frequent extreme weather events have a significant impact on soil water storage. In the summer months, more and more of our country, and therefore farmland, is exposed to prolonged droughts; in the winter months, on the other hand, we see snow cover only at the highest altitudes, while air temperatures often do not fall below 0 °C for long periods. These signs of climate change have an impact on soil water storage, which in turn affects the quality and quantity of agricultural crops. Domestic and international studies show that biochar is one of the possible tools that can help mitigate and adapt to ongoing climate change. The aim of this work is to investigate the retention and hydrophysical properties of low organic sandy soil and to compare them with the changes in these properties after biochar application. The data measured in the laboratory will be verified with the results under field conditions. Soil water storage will be monitored at different depths under field conditions, both because of the movement of biochar in the vertical direction and also in terms of the accessibility of soil water to the plant root system.