Modeling: Coupled Water, Heat and Chemical Transfer within Soil-Plant-Atmosphere

1. Numerical simulations of coupled soil heat, water, and chemical transfer under a variety of hydrological conditions, weather, and agricultural managements.
2. Numerical simulations of surface water movement, including surface runoff, water infiltration/exfiltration, and coupled heat-water fluxes at soil surfaces under plant residue mulch.
3. Models of plant residue mulch decomposition and organic C and N exchanges between residue mulch and shallow soil profiles.
4. Numerical simulations of crop root growth with a variety of soil water, temperature, structure and aeration conditions, and models for root water and N uptake.

Sensor and Measuring Techniques: Soil Physical and Chemical Properties

1. Applications of signal processing methods to develop data interpretation models for sensor-based soil water, temperature, and electrical conductivity measurements, e.g., TDR and heat-pulse probes.
2. Applications of traditional or learning-based digital image processing methods to monitor field scale soil physical and chemical properties and crop growth.