Articles | Volume 28, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3391-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3391-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Review article
| Highlight paper
| 
29 Jul 2024
Review article | Highlight paper |
| 29 Jul 2024
| 29 Jul 2024
Hydro-pedotransfer functions: a roadmap for future development
Tobias Karl David Weber
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Soil Science Section, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
Lutz Weihermüller
Institute Agrosphere IBG-3, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
Attila Nemes
Faculty of Environmental Sciences and Natural Resource Management, Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ås, Norway
Division of Environment and Natural Resources, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research, Ås, Norway
Michel Bechtold
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
Aurore Degré
TERRA, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, ULiège, Liège, Belgium
Efstathios Diamantopoulos
Chair of Soil Physics, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
Simone Fatichi
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore
Vilim Filipović
Division for Agroecology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Future Regions Research Centre, Geotechnical and Hydrogeological Engineering Research Group, Federation University, Gippsland, VIC 3841, Australia
Surya Gupta
Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland
Tobias L. Hohenbrink
Institute of Geoecology, Technische Universität Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany
Daniel R. Hirmas
Department of Plant and Soil Science, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
Conrad Jackisch
Interdisciplinary Environmental Research Centre, Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Freiberg, Germany
Quirijn de Jong van Lier
CENA/University of São Paulo, Piracicaba-SP, Brazil
John Koestel
Department of Soil and Environment, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden
Soil Quality and Soil Use, Agroscope, Reckenholzstrasse 191, 8046 Zurich, Switzerland
Peter Lehmann
Physics of Soils and Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Environmental Systems Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Toby R. Marthews
UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Maclean Building, Wallingford, OX10 8BB, UK
Budiman Minasny
School of Life and Environmental Sciences, the University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Holger Pagel
Soil Systems Modeling, Agrosphere (IBG-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
Institute of Crop Science and Resource Conservation, University of Bonn, 53115 Bonn, Germany
Martine van der Ploeg
Hydrology and Quantitative Water Management Group, Dept. Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Shahab Aldin Shojaeezadeh
Soil Science Section, Faculty of Organic Agricultural Sciences, University of Kassel, 37213 Witzenhausen, Germany
Simon Fiil Svane
Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg C, Denmark
Brigitta Szabó
Institute for Soil Sciences, HUN-REN Centre for Agricultural Research, Herman Ottó út 15, 1022 Budapest, Hungary
Harry Vereecken
Institute Agrosphere IBG-3, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52428 Jülich, Germany
Anne Verhoef
Department of Geography and Environmental Science, The University of Reading, Reading, UK
Michael Young
Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA
Yijian Zeng
Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation, University of Twente, 7522 NB Enschede, the Netherlands
Yonggen Zhang
Institute of Surface-Earth System Science, School of Earth System Science, Tianjin University, Tianjin, China
Sara Bonetti
Laboratory of Catchment Hydrology and Geomorphology, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Sion, Switzerland
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Saved (final revised paper)
Latest update: 01 Aug 2026
Editorial statement
I think this paper may be worth highlighting because it provides a thorough description of a cross-disciplinary problem that has yet to be addressed in practice. The use of PTFs measured at small scales within global models represents a huge discrepancy. This paper challenges us to reconsider how we do things in this field.
I think this paper may be worth highlighting because it provides a thorough description of a...
Short summary
Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are used to predict parameters of models describing the hydraulic properties of soils. The appropriateness of these predictions critically relies on the nature of the datasets for training the PTFs and the physical comprehensiveness of the models. This roadmap paper is addressed to PTF developers and users and critically reflects the utility and future of PTFs. To this end, we present a manifesto aiming at a paradigm shift in PTF research.
Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) are used to predict parameters of models describing the hydraulic...
