Review article on pedotransfer functions highlighted in HESS!

From Weber et al. (2024), Hydro-pedotransfer functions: a roadmap for future development, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3391–3433, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3391-2024.

From Weber et al. (2024), Hydro-pedotransfer functions: a roadmap for future development, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3391–3433, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3391-2024.

The review article on “Hydro-pedotransfer functions: a roadmap for future development” has just been published and selected as Editor's highlight in Hydrology and Earth System Sciences!

Hydro-pedotransfer functions (PTFs) relate easy-to-measure and readily available soil information to soil hydraulic properties (SHPs) for applications in a wide range of process-based and empirical models, thereby enabling the assessment of soil hydraulic effects on hydrological, biogeochemical, and ecological processes. At least more than four decades of research have been invested to derive such relationships. However, while models, methods, data storage capacity, and computational efficiency have advanced, there are fundamental concerns related to the scope and adequacy of current PTFs, particularly when applied to parameterise models used at the field scale and beyond.

These issues are addressed here in a joint effort by the members of the International Soil Modelling Consortium (ISMC) Pedotransfer Functions Working Group with the aim of systematising PTF research and providing a roadmap guiding both PTF development and use. We close the manuscript with a 10-point catalogue for funders and researchers to guide review processes and research.

Many thanks to all the amazing co-authors for the very nice collaboration!

References

Weber, T. K. D., Weihermüller, L., Nemes, A., Bechtold, M., Degré, A., Diamantopoulos, E., Fatichi, S., Filipović, V., Gupta, S., Hohenbrink, T. L., Hirmas, D. R., Jackisch, C., de Jong van Lier, Q., Koestel, J., Lehmann, P., Marthews, T. R., Minasny, B., Pagel, H., van der Ploeg, M., Shojaeezadeh, S. A., Svane, S. F., Szabó, B., Vereecken, H., Verhoef, A., Young, M., Zeng, Y., Zhang, Y., and Bonetti, S.: Hydro-pedotransfer functions: a roadmap for future development, Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 28, 3391–3433, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3391-2024, 2024.