About the project

SoilH aims to study "Interactions of soil hydrology, land use and climate change and their impacts on soil quality". To achieve this goal, we are establishing a network of benchmark sites throughout Ireland for the measurement of soil hydrological properties and the establishment of a hydrological classification of Irish soils.

A process based soil hydrological model (GEOTOP) will be employed and developed with modules for erosion, surface sealing, compaction, landslides and loss of organic matter. The model will be used to elucidate the interactions between soil hydrology, land use and climate change (with climate projections from the IPCC fourth assessment). These outputs will be combined with Irish geo-spatial data to develop a GIS-based risk assessment tool to predict impacts on soil quality based on hydrology, land use and climate change.

Interactions of soil hydrology, land use and climate change and their impact on soil quality (SoilH)—a joint project of UCC and NUIG—is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency under the STRIVE research programme.