Simonetta Rubol
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Research
Hydrological control on soil pore oxygen concentrations and trace gas emissions from soils and sediments
Different hydrological conditions such as rainfall events, deposition and water table fluctuations affect oxygen dynamics, the transport of nutrients, and the formation of hot-spots in soils. I study the link between soil moisture and soil pore oxygen concentrations under different hydrological conditions. My target is to understand under which conditions soil moisture is a good proxy of the aerobic/anaerobic status of the soil. Depending on the spatial and temporal scale of interest, soil pore oxygen concentrations may be decoupled from water content; as a consequence, oxygen concentrations cannot be inferred by indirect measurements. These information are crucial to properly model and predict trace gases production and emissions.
Related publications:
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Rubol S., Silver W.L and Bellin A.(2012). Hydrologic control on redox and nitrogen dynamics in a peatland soil. Science of the total environment, 432, 37-46.
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Rubol S., Manzoni S., Bellin A. and Porporato A. (2013). Modeling soil moisture and oxygen effects on soil biogeochemical cycles including dissimilatory nitrate reduction to ammonium (DNRA). Advances in Water Resources, 62, 106-124.
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Sanchez-Vila, X., Rubol, S., Carles-Brangari, A., & Fernàndez-Garcia, D. (2013). An analytical solution to study substrate-microbial dynamics in soils. Advances in Water Resources, 54, 181-190
Microbial colonization and
biofilm formation
Microbes are capable to create consortia, as biofilm, to protect themselves against environmental stressors, like rapid changes in water temperature and water content. I study how the formation and function of biofilms in soils and sediments are affected by hydrological forcing. My interest lies in understanding how the time-dependent heterogeneity created by biofilm is related to the formation of preferential flow paths. Advances in this area are relevant for biofouling, water quality and ecosystem services.
Related publications:
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Rubol S., Freixa A., Carles-Brangarí A., Fernàndez-Garcia D., Romaní A. M., and Sanchez-Vila, X. (2014). Connecting bacterial colonization to physical and biochemical changes in a sand box infiltration experiment. Journal of Hydrology, Vol. 517, pp. 317-327.
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Freixa A.,Rubol S., Carles-Brangarí A., Fernàndez-Garcia D. , Sanchez-Vila X. and Romani(2015). The effects of sediment depth and oxygen concentration on the use of organic matter: An experimental study using an infiltration tank. Science of the Total Environment , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.04.007
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Dutta T., Brangari-Carles A., Fernandez-Garcia D., Rubol S. , Tirado Conde J and Sanchez Vila X. (2015) Vadose zone oxygen (O2) dynamics during drying and wetting cycles: An artificial recharge laboratory experiment. Journal of Hydrology, doi:10.1016/j.jhydrol.2015.04.048
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Brangarí A.C., Sanchez‐Vila X., Freixa A., Romaní A., Rubol S., Fernàndez‐Garcia D., A mechanistic model (BCC‐PSSICO) to predict changes in the hydraulic properties for bioamended variably saturated soils.
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Biogechemical kinetics and
microscale heterogeneity
Small-scale processes affect large-scale phenomena by controlling mixing and reaction rates. Technological constraints have hampered the collection of micron-scale kinetic data in soils. As a result, limited information is available on the magnitude of micro-scale rates and their temporal and spatial pattern in response to environmental perturbations. I measure oxidative metabolic activity at the microscopic level (microm - cm), including the local development of hot-spots, as well as the link between oxygen consumption rates and heterogeneity of oxidative metabolism across different soil types. These information are relevant to improve existing process-based models and to upscale reaction rates.
Related publications:
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Dutta T. and Rubol S. (2014). Effect of Spatial Heterogeneity on Rate of Sedimentary O2 Consumption Reaction. In Mathematics of Planet Earth, 485-489. Springer Berlin Heidelberg
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Rubol, S., Dutta, T., & Rocchini, D. (2016). 2D visualization captures the local heterogeneity of oxidative metabolism across soils from diverse land-use.Science of The Total Environment.
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Rubol S., Freixa A., Sanchez-Villa X. and Romani A. Linking biofilm structure to oxyden decay imagin (2017) Biofouling
Fluid dynamics of environmental interfaces:
vegetated flows
Interfaces between water and sediments in river-bed (vegetated and not vegetated) act as privilege hotspots for chemical and biological mixing, ultimely affecting river functioning and river water quality. I research the responce of microbial activity in complex sediments flow pathways. The latter include modeling flow and transport in vegetated flows, as well as in the hyporheic zone.
Related publications:
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Battiato I and Rubol S. (2014) Single-parameter model of vegetated aquatic flows. , 50, DOI: 10.1002/2013WR01 5065.
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Rubol S., Battiato I. and F.P.J. de Barros (2016) Vertical dispersion in vegetated shear flows. Accepted in Water Resources Research
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Rubol S., Ling B. and Battiato I. (2018) Universal scaling-law for flow resistance over canopies with complex morphology. Accepted in Scientific Reports(Nature)
3D visualization of bio-amended trasparent porous media
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Effect of charge on biofilm formation
I visualize bacteria attachment and biofilm formation on neutral and charged surface. I am particularly interested in studying the effect of bio-storage induced by microbe-produced substances on the flow and transport of solutes in variable saturated media.
Related publications:
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Rubol S., Tonina D., Vincent L., Sohm J., Basham W., Budwig R., Savalia P., Kanso E., CaponeD.G. and Nealson K.H., Seeing through porous media: an experimental study for unveiling interstitial flow. accepted in Hdrological Processes.
