Soil Lab
IMDEA-Water has a laboratory dedicated to analysis of soils, sediments and similar solid matrices, such as humus or reactive materials.
Soil Unit
IMDEA-Water has a laboratory dedicated to analysis of soils, sediments and similar solid matrices, such as humus or reactive materials.
Applications
- Texture.
- Moisture, pH and electrical conductivity.
- Total organic carbon content.
- Total nitrogen, assimilable phosphorus, nitrates.
- Cation exchange capacity and exchangeable bases (Na+, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+)
- Exchangeable aluminium.
- Metals.
- Assimilable boron.
- Calcium carbonate equivalent content.
- Amorphous content (Si, Al, Fe).
| Equipment | Description |
|---|---|
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Area for pre-treatment of samples. |
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Richards plates to calculate moisture retention |
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Microwave/Oven for digestion and extraction |
Intelligent greenhouse with climate control system
Description
IMDEA Water’s top-of-the-range smart greenhouse is specially designed to withstand the demanding conditions of the research environment. It is a Reylux R9 model with a wide wing and gable roof, with a surface area of 100 m², a total height to the zenith of 5 m, and a roof and walls made of colourless cellular polycarbonate with protection against UV radiation. It is characterised by its airtightness, insulation and resistance to humidity, which translates into high energy savings.
Applications
The greenhouse equipment allows various types of tests to be carried out, both in hydroponics and in soil and/or amendment:
- Crop productivity: assessment of the impact of irrigation with water of different qualities, which has been subjected to different treatments, on crop yields in terms of quantity of crop per area of soil.
- Plant selection: evaluation of ecophysiological parameters for the selection of plant species, including large plant species (e.g. Populus spp., Salix spp., Typha spp., etc.), for use in Nature-Based Solutions, such as vegetation filters or wetlands.
- Nature-based solutions: small-scale trials of attenuation of chemical (e.g. nutrients, pharmaceuticals, metals, etc.) and biological (e.g. viruses, parasites, antibiotic-resistant bacteria) contaminants, using selected plant species, for water purification and soil phytoremediation.
- Public health risk: tests to assess the risk to food safety arising from the transfer of contaminants into the food chain via edible tissues of horticultural plants (e.g. Lactuca sativa L., etc.).
- Environmental impact: tests to assess the ecotoxicological impact of pollutants on the soil-plant system, such as soil microbiological activity (e.g. enzymatic activity, microbial biomass, etc.) and different morphological and physiological parameters of plants (e.g. leaf area, etc.).
- Runoff and infiltration: tests using devices that simulate water movement by runoff and/or infiltration processes, with or without vegetation, to assess the mobility of pollutants present in soil or water, such as micronanoplastics.
- Growth trials under different nutrient concentrations in hydroponic systems.
- Validation of the reuse of metland® output water in horizontal hydroponic and vertical aeroponic systems.
Equipment
The greenhouse is designed to carry out independent experiments simultaneously with crops of plant species with different lighting needs depending on the growth stage under study. For this purpose, it includes computerised environmental control, cultivation tables with independent LED lighting and drip irrigation systems of different classes depending on the requests of researchers and clients. It is also equipped with devices for monitoring pollutants in the water-soil-plant system.
The greenhouse is equipped with:
| Photos | Equipment | Characteristics |
|---|---|---|
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Computerised environmental control | It allows fully automatic regulation of the greenhouse climate by means of software with multi-user access from any web browser. |
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Zenithal ventilation | Double longitudinal continuous zenithal ventilation with opening on each side of the ridge. |
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Thermal shading screen | 100m² horizontally trailed screen to help control temperature, humidity, brightness and heating energy costs. |
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Weather station | Station with sensors for outdoor temperature, outdoor humidity, wind speed, wind direction, rain detection and solar radiation. |
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Artificial lighting | Artificial lighting with LED photoperiod control (315 W and 1000 µmoles/s) of the latest generation specially designed for growth and flowering. |
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Heating | Electric fan heater with 12 kW power, 10368 kcal/h, voltage 400 V and flow rate 900 m³/h. |
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Cooling | Evaporative cooler with 4 panels, 1.5 HP motor and a flow rate of 16,000 m³/h, which humidifies the air and introduces it into the greenhouse by overpressure. |
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Air humidifier | Special humidifier for greenhouses with mechanical water misting by high-speed centrifugal system with VMD 20 µm micronisation and adjustable flow rates of 10/44 L/h. |
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Monitoring systems | Moisture probes and sampling devices for interstitial water and soil infiltration, such as rhizon samplers, metal and ceramic suction capsules. |
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Runoff/infiltration systems | Structures designed to simulate on a small scale the movement of water in the ground in the form of surface and subsurface runoff and infiltration. |
