Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes

Ryan D. Stewart; Markus Flury; Hoori Ajami; Ray G. Anderson; Timothy R. Green; Yan Jin; Andres Patrignani; Rose Shillito; Wei Zhang; Majdi R.Abou Najm; Ebrahim Babaeian; Markus Berli; E. N.Jack Brookshire; Aaron L.M. Daigh; Shane Franklin; Jeremy Giovando; Robert Heinse; Josh Heitman; Jingyi Huang; Thijs Kelleners; Mahyar Naseri; Tyson E. Ochsner; Jesse Radolinski; Morteza Sadeghi; Salini Sasidharan; Manoj K. Shukla; Markus Tuller; Ole Wendroth; Joan Wu; Briana M. Wyatt; Yang Yang; Yingxue Yu; Zhuanfang Fred Zhang

doi:10.1002/vzj2.70030

Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes

Ryan D. Stewart, Markus Flury, Hoori Ajami, Ray G. Anderson, Timothy R. Green, Yan Jin, Andres Patrignani, Rose Shillito, Wei Zhang, Majdi R.Abou Najm, Ebrahim Babaeian, Markus Berli, E. N.Jack Brookshire, Aaron L.M. Daigh, Shane Franklin, Jeremy Giovando, Robert Heinse, Josh Heitman, Jingyi Huang, Thijs KellenersMahyar Naseri, Tyson E. Ochsner, Jesse Radolinski, Morteza Sadeghi, Salini Sasidharan, Manoj K. Shukla, Markus Tuller, Ole Wendroth, Joan Wu, Briana M. Wyatt, Yang Yang, Yingxue Yu, Zhuanfang Fred Zhang

Molecular and Cellular Imaging

Research output: Contribution to journal › Review article › peer-review

Abstract

The vadose zone—the variably saturated, near-surface environment that is critical for ecosystem services such as food and water provisioning, climate regulation, and infrastructure support—faces increasing pressures from both anthropogenic and natural factors, including changing climatic conditions. A more comprehensive understanding of vadose zone processes and interactions is imperative to effectively address these challenges and safeguard water and soil resources. This review outlines selected key issues, knowledge gaps, and research opportunities across six thematic sections. Each section presents a problem statement, a summary of recent innovations, and a compilation of emerging challenges and study opportunities. The selected topics include scaling and modeling of vadose zone properties and processes, soil moisture monitoring initiatives, surface energy balance, interplay between preferential water flow paths and biogeochemical processes, interactions between fires and vadose zone dynamics, and emerging contaminants and their fate in the vadose zone. This overview is intended to serve as a compendium of vadose zone science that encompasses both insights gained from prior research and anticipated needs for the coming years.

Original language	English
Article number	e70030
Journal	Vadose Zone Journal
Volume	24
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.70030
State	Published - Jul 1 2025

Funding

Our co-author, Dr. Markus Tuller, was a core member of the vadose zone scientific community. Sadly, he passed away in 2024 while this article was under review. His brilliance and further contributions will be greatly missed. The authors appreciate the support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to the Multistate Research Project W5188: Soil, Water, and Environmental Physics to Sustain Agriculture and Natural Resources. A main motivation for this review was the W5188 group receiving the 2021 Excellence in Research Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Multistate Review Committee. Our co‐author, Dr. Markus Tuller, was a core member of the vadose zone scientific community. Sadly, he passed away in 2024 while this article was under review. His brilliance and further contributions will be greatly missed. The authors appreciate the support from the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture to the Multistate Research Project W5188: Soil, Water, and Environmental Physics to Sustain Agriculture and Natural Resources. A main motivation for this review was the W5188 group receiving the 2021 Excellence in Research Award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Multistate Review Committee.

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Stewart, R. D., Flury, M., Ajami, H., Anderson, R. G., Green, T. R., Jin, Y., Patrignani, A., Shillito, R., Zhang, W., Najm, M. R. A., Babaeian, E., Berli, M., Brookshire, E. N. J., Daigh, A. L. M., Franklin, S., Giovando, J., Heinse, R., Heitman, J., Huang, J., ... Zhang, Z. F. (2025). Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes. Vadose Zone Journal, 24(4), Article e70030. https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.70030

@article{05fce98fa9924f8796db72ecfb63c534,

title = "Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes",

abstract = "The vadose zone—the variably saturated, near-surface environment that is critical for ecosystem services such as food and water provisioning, climate regulation, and infrastructure support—faces increasing pressures from both anthropogenic and natural factors, including changing climatic conditions. A more comprehensive understanding of vadose zone processes and interactions is imperative to effectively address these challenges and safeguard water and soil resources. This review outlines selected key issues, knowledge gaps, and research opportunities across six thematic sections. Each section presents a problem statement, a summary of recent innovations, and a compilation of emerging challenges and study opportunities. The selected topics include scaling and modeling of vadose zone properties and processes, soil moisture monitoring initiatives, surface energy balance, interplay between preferential water flow paths and biogeochemical processes, interactions between fires and vadose zone dynamics, and emerging contaminants and their fate in the vadose zone. This overview is intended to serve as a compendium of vadose zone science that encompasses both insights gained from prior research and anticipated needs for the coming years.",

author = "Stewart, \{Ryan D.\} and Markus Flury and Hoori Ajami and Anderson, \{Ray G.\} and Green, \{Timothy R.\} and Yan Jin and Andres Patrignani and Rose Shillito and Wei Zhang and Najm, \{Majdi R.Abou\} and Ebrahim Babaeian and Markus Berli and Brookshire, \{E. N.Jack\} and Daigh, \{Aaron L.M.\} and Shane Franklin and Jeremy Giovando and Robert Heinse and Josh Heitman and Jingyi Huang and Thijs Kelleners and Mahyar Naseri and Ochsner, \{Tyson E.\} and Jesse Radolinski and Morteza Sadeghi and Salini Sasidharan and Shukla, \{Manoj K.\} and Markus Tuller and Ole Wendroth and Joan Wu and Wyatt, \{Briana M.\} and Yang Yang and Yingxue Yu and Zhang, \{Zhuanfang Fred\}",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2025 The Author(s). Vadose Zone Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Soil Science Society of America. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "1",

doi = "10.1002/vzj2.70030",

language = "English",

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Stewart, RD, Flury, M, Ajami, H, Anderson, RG, Green, TR, Jin, Y, Patrignani, A, Shillito, R, Zhang, W, Najm, MRA, Babaeian, E, Berli, M, Brookshire, ENJ, Daigh, ALM, Franklin, S, Giovando, J, Heinse, R, Heitman, J, Huang, J, Kelleners, T, Naseri, M, Ochsner, TE, Radolinski, J, Sadeghi, M, Sasidharan, S, Shukla, MK, Tuller, M, Wendroth, O, Wu, J, Wyatt, BM, Yang, Y, Yu, Y & Zhang, ZF 2025, 'Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes', Vadose Zone Journal, vol. 24, no. 4, e70030. https://doi.org/10.1002/vzj2.70030

TY - JOUR

T1 - Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes

AU - Stewart, Ryan D.

AU - Flury, Markus

AU - Ajami, Hoori

AU - Anderson, Ray G.

AU - Green, Timothy R.

AU - Jin, Yan

AU - Patrignani, Andres

AU - Shillito, Rose

AU - Zhang, Wei

AU - Najm, Majdi R.Abou

AU - Babaeian, Ebrahim

AU - Berli, Markus

AU - Brookshire, E. N.Jack

AU - Daigh, Aaron L.M.

AU - Franklin, Shane

AU - Giovando, Jeremy

AU - Heinse, Robert

AU - Heitman, Josh

AU - Huang, Jingyi

AU - Kelleners, Thijs

AU - Naseri, Mahyar

AU - Ochsner, Tyson E.

AU - Radolinski, Jesse

AU - Sadeghi, Morteza

AU - Sasidharan, Salini

AU - Shukla, Manoj K.

AU - Tuller, Markus

AU - Wendroth, Ole

AU - Wu, Joan

AU - Wyatt, Briana M.

AU - Yang, Yang

AU - Yu, Yingxue

AU - Zhang, Zhuanfang Fred

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2025 The Author(s). Vadose Zone Journal published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Soil Science Society of America. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

PY - 2025/7/1

Y1 - 2025/7/1

N2 - The vadose zone—the variably saturated, near-surface environment that is critical for ecosystem services such as food and water provisioning, climate regulation, and infrastructure support—faces increasing pressures from both anthropogenic and natural factors, including changing climatic conditions. A more comprehensive understanding of vadose zone processes and interactions is imperative to effectively address these challenges and safeguard water and soil resources. This review outlines selected key issues, knowledge gaps, and research opportunities across six thematic sections. Each section presents a problem statement, a summary of recent innovations, and a compilation of emerging challenges and study opportunities. The selected topics include scaling and modeling of vadose zone properties and processes, soil moisture monitoring initiatives, surface energy balance, interplay between preferential water flow paths and biogeochemical processes, interactions between fires and vadose zone dynamics, and emerging contaminants and their fate in the vadose zone. This overview is intended to serve as a compendium of vadose zone science that encompasses both insights gained from prior research and anticipated needs for the coming years.

AB - The vadose zone—the variably saturated, near-surface environment that is critical for ecosystem services such as food and water provisioning, climate regulation, and infrastructure support—faces increasing pressures from both anthropogenic and natural factors, including changing climatic conditions. A more comprehensive understanding of vadose zone processes and interactions is imperative to effectively address these challenges and safeguard water and soil resources. This review outlines selected key issues, knowledge gaps, and research opportunities across six thematic sections. Each section presents a problem statement, a summary of recent innovations, and a compilation of emerging challenges and study opportunities. The selected topics include scaling and modeling of vadose zone properties and processes, soil moisture monitoring initiatives, surface energy balance, interplay between preferential water flow paths and biogeochemical processes, interactions between fires and vadose zone dynamics, and emerging contaminants and their fate in the vadose zone. This overview is intended to serve as a compendium of vadose zone science that encompasses both insights gained from prior research and anticipated needs for the coming years.

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/105012381816

U2 - 10.1002/vzj2.70030

DO - 10.1002/vzj2.70030

M3 - Review article

AN - SCOPUS:105012381816

SN - 1539-1663

VL - 24

JO - Vadose Zone Journal

JF - Vadose Zone Journal

IS - 4

M1 - e70030

ER -

Emerging issues and research opportunities in vadose zone processes

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