Soil and Plant Hydraulic Lab

Soil Water Retention Curve 

The following equipment is available for determining soil water retention curves:

• Two sandboxes for analysing approximately 90 soil samples from pF 0 to pF 1.8
• Six pressure plate extractors covering the pF range from 2 to 4.2
• Two water potential analysers (WP4C) for high pF measurements using psychrometry
• A 30-cell HyProp system (evaporation method) for 100 and 250 cm³ soil samples

Soil Hydraulic Conductivity

For hydraulic conductivity measurements, the laboratory provides:

• A permeameter for saturated hydraulic conductivity (closed system with 10 holders)
• Eight KSAT units
• The HyProp system

Soil structural stability

QuantiSlake tests can be performed:

• Up to 2 soil samples (100 cm³) can be analysed simultaneously (Raspberry Pi + scales setup)

Plant Hydraulic Conductance 

• HCFM-XP Gen 3 Hydraulic Conductance Flow Meter.

Additional Equipment

The laboratory also offers instruments for in situ measurements, including:

• Pressure and suction infiltrometers
• TDR probes
• Tensiometers

Soil sampling equipment is available (rings of 100, 250, and 1000 cm³).

Access, Location and Contacts

The laboratory is located in room B.230 (De Serres building).

For any information or access request, please contact:

• Jérôme De Paron (Technical manager)
• Basile Delvoie (Scientific manager)
• Mathieu Javaux (Academic head)
• Sébastien François (ELIe technician)

For more information on access, procedures, and related topics, please consult the Laboratory intranet page.