The topic of soil water repellency has experienced a continued growth in research activity with new groups emerging around the world and the research frontier moving at a fast pace. This growth has occurred in many subdisciplines, encompassing its underlying principles, occurrence, measurement, modelling, environmental implications and amelioration. New measurement techniques have become available and existing ones matured, ranging from, for example, high-resolution investigations at micro- to nano-scales to satellite remote sensing approaches aimed at identifying water repellency distribution at the landscape-scale. Amongst the drivers for the increasing research into water repellency are perhaps the (i) mounting pressures for efficient water use, (ii) wider recognition of potential benefits of water repellent soil behaviour such as reduced evaporation and increased stabilisation of the soil organic matter pool, and (iii) the potential gains in exploring the links of water repellency as observed in soils with that exploited in man-made materials.
This session aims to provide the opportunity for broad international scientific exchange and cross-fertilisation between researchers concerned with water repellency in soils and in comparable man-made materials. Contributions are therefore invited from all fundamental and applied aspects of water repellency research concerning soil and other granular materials, ranging from preliminary results based on small studies to the final outcomes of large research efforts from major research teams.