Articles | Volume 28, issue 14
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3391-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-28-3391-2024
Review article
 | Highlight paper
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29 Jul 2024
Review article | Highlight paper |  | 29 Jul 2024

Hydro-pedotransfer functions: a roadmap for future development

Tobias Karl David Weber, Lutz Weihermüller, Attila Nemes, Michel Bechtold, Aurore Degré, Efstathios Diamantopoulos, Simone Fatichi, Vilim Filipović, Surya Gupta, Tobias L. Hohenbrink, Daniel R. Hirmas, Conrad Jackisch, Quirijn de Jong van Lier, John Koestel, Peter Lehmann, Toby R. Marthews, Budiman Minasny, Holger Pagel, Martine van der Ploeg, Shahab Aldin Shojaeezadeh, Simon Fiil Svane, Brigitta Szabó, Harry Vereecken, Anne Verhoef, Michael Young, Yijian Zeng, Yonggen Zhang, and Sara Bonetti

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Cited articles

Abrosimov, K. N., Gerke, K. M., Fomin, D. S., Romanenko, K., and Korost, D. V.: Tomography in Soil Science: From the First Experiments to Modern Methods (A Review), Euras. Soil Sci., 54, 1385–1399, https://doi.org/10.1134/S1064229321090027, 2021. 
Acutis, M. and Donatelli, M.: SOILPAR 2.00: software to estimate soil hydrological parameters and functions, Eur. J. Agron., 18, 373–377, 2003. 
Araya, S. N. and Ghezzehei, T. A.: Using machine learning for prediction of saturated hydraulic conductivity and its sensitivity to soil structural perturbations, Water Resour. Res., 55, 5715–5737, 2019. 
Arnold, J. G., Kiniry, J. R., Srinivasan, R., Williams, J. R., Haney, E. B., and Neitsch, S. L.: SWAT 2012: Input/Output Documentation, Texas Water Resources Institute, https://oaktrust.library.tamu.edu/handle/1969.1/149194 (last access: 6 June 2024), 2013. 
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Executive editor
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.
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.
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