(ref. BAP-2024-507)
Laatst aangepast: 16/07/24
Research topics within the Division of Soil and Water Management cover physical, chemical and biological processes in the environment: measuring and modelling transport processes of water and solutes (nutrients – contaminants) in soils, expert systems for efficient crop water use, long-term trends in tropical soil fertility and soil chemistry, risk-analysis studies and speciation of metals and phosphorous species in soil and water, land surface modelling, remote sensing and data assimilation. The Division has 54 PhD students, 8 postdoctoral researchers and 9 professors.
The Division of Soil and Water Management is one of the 5 divisions in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of KU Leuven. The department’s main mission is to carry out state-of-the-art scientific research concerning the functioning of geo- and ecosystems at different spatial and temporal scales, including the interaction between humans and the environment and the sustainable management of natural resources.
KU Leuven is Belgium’s largest and highest-ranked university as well as one of the oldest and most renowned universities in Europe. Four years in a row, KU Leuven topped the Reuters ranking of Europe’s most innovative universities. KU Leuven is home to a vibrant community of international students and staff members spread out over its various campuses. Twenty-four per cent of the university’s 64,000 students are international.
Project
Due to climate change, Europe, including Flanders, is facing more intensive rainfall and more frequent droughts. It calls for smart farming techniques that supply supplementary irrigation and inputs like fertilizer with greater precision (the right amounts at the right moment and right places within the field). This requires a leap forward in our ability to measure and predict soil water storage in agricultural fields at the relevant spatial scale. This PhD research will focus on two innovative and complementary techniques: (1) proximal sensing with Cosmic Ray Neutron Sensing (CRNS), and (2) remote sensing with Sentinel-1 active Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR).
Cosmic rays are atom fragments, mainly protons, originating from outer space that continuously slam into the Earth’s atmosphere with a very high speed. They collide with atoms in the atmosphere, producing very fast, high-energy neutrons that ultimately reach and penetrate the soil. Due to collisions, mainly with hydrogen atoms (water in soil, vegetation, air), they bounce around and slow down to become low-energy neutrons that can be detected with a CRNS device typically installed about 2m above the ground surface. The observed slow-neutron count varies with the soil moisture content. And because the neutrons can travel large distances in the air while bouncing around, the CRNS technique provides an estimate of the average topsoil moisture content from a circular area with a radius ranging between 130 and 240m, a scale relevant for field management.
While CRNS is sensitive to soil moisture up to a depth of a few tens of cm, Sentinel-1 active SAR provides estimates of the soil moisture content of the top few centimeters only. But Sentinel-1 products are freely available, have a high spatial resolution (10m, 20m, …50m), and a satellite passes every sixth day.
The aim of this PhD is to develop methods (or models) to translate these measurements (CRNS and Sentinel-1) into soil water storage values in the surface soil layer as well as the rooting zone at field or sub-field scale. In other words, the aim is to provide information that a farmer can use for smart irrigation. It will involve a field experiment in which observations from a novel, affordable CRNS device will be compared with automated measurements with a network with electromagnetic soil moisture sensors at different depths and with Sentinel-1 (SAR) products. One of the approaches to be investigated is to use the Hydrus-1D model to simulate the soil moisture content in real-time, with the soil parameters needed in the model calibrated using the information measured with CRNS and complemented with Sentinel-1 data. Bayesian inverse modelling will be used to do the calibration.
The PhD research will contribute to a FWO-funded 4-year research project on the measurement and prediction of soil water storage in agricultural fields. In this project, sensing techniques to quantify soil water storage and crop water stress are evaluated, while assessing how to use these sensing techniques to gain insight into field heterogeneity, and water stress during and after seed germination.
Profile
We seek a candidate with a master degree in Bioscience engineering, Water resources engineering, Agricultural Sciences or an equivalent master degree that is relevant for the above mentioned tasks.
The successful candidate will have the following profile:
- Creative with a strong interest in research, a critical mindset and problem-solving skills
- Good academic performance at the MSc and BSc levels, with good performance on the master thesis in particular
- Strong background in soil science, crop science, biological systems analysis and/or agricultural water management
- Experience with simulation modelling and computer programming (e.g., Python, Fortran, C, Matlab, R, etc.) is an advantage.
- Demonstrated capacity to write (scientific writing) and communicate in English. Being fluent in Dutch is an added advantage but not a must (communication with farmers).
- Good interpersonal skills: able to work in a team and to communicate with other researchers.
Offer
- Full-time doctoral scholarship for 1 year. After positive evaluation, the scholarship can be extended with 3 additional years (4 years in total).
- Multi-disciplinary and international professional environment in the Division Soil and Water Management.
- Leuven is a charming historical university town, with a central location in Western Europe.
- The PhD student will be embedded in a project team consisting of the two supervisors at KU Leuven (Jan Vanderborght and Jan Diels), a supervisor at the Bodemkundige Dienst van België (Dr. Pieter Janssens), a 2nd PhD student and a Postdoc who will also work on the project, and colleague researchers at the Bodemkundige Dienst van België and several Flemish research centres for vegetable production (Herent, Sint-Katelijne-Waver and Kruishoutem).
At KU Leuven, PhD students are expected to obtain their PhD degree within 4 years.
More information on the remuneration with a doctoral scholarship
Interested?
Submit your CV, along with a motivation letter, and two names for references via the online application tool.
Applications review and selection process will start on August 20th, 2024. The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified.
For more information please contact Prof. dr. ir. Jan Diels, tel.: +32 16 32 97 44, mail: jan.diels@kuleuven.be or Prof. dr. ir. Jan Vanderborght, tel.: +32 16 37 21 49, mail: jan.vanderborght@kuleuven.be.
You can apply for this job no later than August 19, 2024 via the online application tool
KU Leuven strives for an inclusive, respectful and socially safe environment. We embrace diversity among individuals and groups as an asset. Open dialogue and differences in perspective are essential for an ambitious research and educational environment. In our commitment to equal opportunity, we recognize the consequences of historical inequalities. We do not accept any form of discrimination based on, but not limited to, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, age, ethnic or national background, skin colour, religious and philosophical diversity, neurodivergence, employment disability, health, or socioeconomic status. For questions about accessibility or support offered, we are happy to assist you at this email address.
Heb je een vraag over de online sollicitatieprocedure? Raadpleeg onze veelgestelde vragen of stuur een e-mail naar solliciteren@kuleuven.be
