EDITORIAL - Physical Land Resources

EDITORIAL 

Since 1963, up to this day, around 1000 alumni from almost 100 

countries worldwide graduated from the Master programmes in Soil 

Science, Eremology and Physical Land Resources at Ghent University 

and, since 1997, also at the Free University of Brussels. Although the 

number of countries eligible for VLIR scholarships for the academic 

year 2008-2009 was cut by more than half, we still had many more 

deserving candidates than available scholarships; more than 200 full 

applications for the 16 scholarships received yearly from VLIR since 

2002. 

The International Year of Planet Earth (2007-2009) aims at making 

knowledge more available for the improvement of everyday life, 

especially in the less developed countries, as expressed in the Year’s 

subtitle : Earth Sciences for Society. The resulted media attention in 

many countries across the globe and the enhanced interest in 

addressing emerging (climate change) and persistent (food insecurity, 

water scarcity) global issues created already a kind of soil science 

renaissance and will surely revitalize the soil science profession. On 

June 23 rd 2008, the U.S. Senate approved unanimously a Resolution on 

Soil. This historic Resolution states that soil is an essential natural 

resource and soil science professionals are playing a critical role in 

managing and sustaining it. The European Parliament is considering 

adoption of the Soil Protection Resolution. These actions show that 

soils are on the agenda and that there is future for our international 

programme in ‘Physical Land Resources’ with its majors in ‘Soil 

Science’ and in ‘Land Resources Engineering’. 

An international course programme would not be successful without 

the day-to-day dedication of its professional and administrative 

staff. A person who contributed a lot to the functioning of our 

programme over the last 18 years is Ms. Dominique Langouche; 

unfortunately she decided to leave the programme secretariat. On 

behalf of all colleagues and all alumni I would like to express my 

sincere thanks to Niki for her excellent work and valuable 

contributions in these 18 years with us and wish her all the best in 

her future endeavours. The programme staff extends the warmest 

welcome to Ms. Hilde Luyckx who has taken over Niki’s tasks since 

October 1 st , 2008. 

CONTENTS 

Editorial ................................................ 1 

News from the institute ......................... 2 

News from the field............................... 7 

Students, research fellows & 

Trainees ................................................ 8 

Publications ........................................ 25 

Project profiles .................................... 30 

Communications received .................. 31 

Meetings .............................................. 32 

The programme is of course also greatly indebted to his alumni. The 

alumni act as scientific ambassadors by disseminating their knowledge 

into their home institution and country and as key persons in forming 

a bridge between their institution and the Flemish universities 

organising the course. The secretariat looks forward to receiving 

more news from the alumni; your input is vital to the success of this 

newsletter in bringing relevant information to you all. 

Eric Van Ranst 

- 1 -

NEWS FROM THE INSTITUTE 

OLD CARTOONS FEATURING FORMER ITC STAFF MEMBERS 

(drawn by Yo Meyskens) 

Fig. 1 - The three Kings (R. Tavernier, R. Maréchal and J.B. Amerijckx). Early 1960s 

Fig. 2 - A group of acolytes at Christmas 

Eve (A. Navez, R. Maréchal, R. Tavernier, J.- 

B. Amerijckx and G. Schaeck). Early 1960s 

- 2 -


Fig. 3 - Excursion to the 

inclined plane of Ronquières 

organized by R. Vermeire (at 

the top), A. Louis (in the 

middle) and P. De Paepe (at the 

foot of the plane). June 1971 

Fig. 4 - The Belgian Scientific Mission to the 

Galapagos Islands 1962 : J. Laruelle (head of 

the expedition, at the top), and his assistants G. 

Stoops (with walking stick) and P. De Paepe (with 

bow tie). Late 1962 

Fig. 5 - The Belgian Scientific Mission to 

the Galapagos Islands 1962: G. Stoops (on 

the back of a marine iguana) and P. De 

Paepe (sitting on a tortoise). Late 1962 

P. De Paepe 

- 3 -


ALUMNI MEET IN LUBUMBASHI 

Within the framework of one new and three running VLIR- 

UOS projects, which are further consolidating the contacts 

and cooperation between the Laboratory of Soil Science, 

Ghent University and our alumni at the Faculty of 

Agronomical Sciences, University of Lubumbashi 

(UNILU), we travelled towards the city of Lubumbashi for 

one week at the end of April 2008. The programme was 

loaded, but very interesting, comprising productive 

discussions at UNILU, a tour on the campus with a 

presentation of different on-going activities, well-guided 

field visits organised by our PhD students, as well as an 

immersion in the aspects making part of the everyday life 

in Lubum: a visit to the mining company (Co, Zn, and Cu), 

to the Bakanja-Ville reception centre, and to the Jacaranda 

agronomical school for homeless kids led by the Salesians. 

Photograph 2 : In-vitro multiplicated potatoes 

A tour on the UNILU campus 

In the GIS laboratory, ir. Ngoy Wa Nyemba was finalising 

the digitalisation of the last soil maps of the country 

(Photograph 1) within the framework of the project 

“Valorisation of the available data on the natural 

resources of the DR Congo for sustainable land 

management”. The coding of the 88 maps is being 

standardised whereas also a uniform soil legend is being 

developed. The maps, as well as the analytical soil profile 

database, are used for compilation of the “Manual of the 

soils of the DR Congo” within another VLIR-UOS project. 

Photograph 3 : Greenhouse 

Finally, we took a look at the heavy metal contaminated 

experimental site where different methallophyts are 

growing within the context of a project coordinated by the 

Free University of Brussels (Photograph 4). 

Photograph 1: Soil map coding in the GIS laboratory 

We also visited the in-vitro laboratory where drs. ir. 

Mwamba Muloy Ilunga gave us an introduction in the invitro 

multiplication of potatoes (Photograph 2) and 

bananas and showed us the plastic greenhouse (Photograph 

3) that will be used within the context of the VLIR-UOS 

project “Seed production for improving the food 

production in the Katanga”. 

Photograph 4 : Experimental site contaminated soils 

- 4 -


Small soil engineers: termites 

One of the typical characteristics of the miombo woodland 

around Lubumbashi is the presence of three to five large 

termite mounds per hectare. The VLIR-UOS research 

project “Improvement of the soil fertility of acid, strongly 

weathered soils of the plateaus in the mining hinterland of 

Katanga through termite material”, conducted by drs. ir. 

Mujinya Bazirake Basile, focuses on the termite’s 

bioturbation effects with in situ detailed and deep soil 

sampling. Hence, four soil profiles of ± 9 m high/deep and 

± 1.5 m wide, extending from the top of the termite mound 

through the different mound layers into the underlying 

subsoil have been dug and described in detail (Photograph 

5). 

Private maize farm of Mangombo 

The Mangombo maize farm is located about 90 km from 

Lubumbashi in the plain of the Lufira. Its director, ir. 

Scoubeau Jean-Pierre gave permission for research at his 

farm by different researchers of UNILU, with topics 

related to land evaluation and land use planning as well as 

seed production and maize cultivar selection. 

During the visit, attention was given to the soil variability 

with well-drained loamy soils in the higher landscape 

positions and poorly drained clayey soils in the lowest 

positions. Several experimental plots showed that the latter 

land units could be profitably used for sugarcane 

production in future (Photograph 6). 

Photograph 6 : Sugarcane at Mangombo 

Jacaranda, agricultural school for homeless children 

Photograph 5 : Detailed analysis of the termite mounds 

The aims are two-fold. Firstly, to highlight the impacts of 

termite activity on mineralogical and electrochemical 

properties of Ferralsols as a function of the nature of the 

underlying parent rocks. Secondly, to link field scale and 

micromorphological observations and combine both 

weathering and pedogenetic features, in order to have a 

more complete understanding of their driving processes 

and to interpret them in terms of contribution of termite 

activity to clay transformations. 

The number of street kids living in Lubumbashi is 

estimated at about 800. The Salesians take care of these 

children in three different phases: 1) providing shelter, 2) 

providing primary education in a boarding school, and 3) 

providing a full technical training in one of their 

specialised centres, such as the Jacaranda agricultural 

school. During our visit, Brother Michel guided us along 

the major farming activities: maize, legume, rice and 

sunflower production, the cattle farm (Photograph 7) as 

well as piscicultural and horticultural activities, with 

among others in-vitro produced bananas (Photograph 8). 

Many thanks to Prof. Ngongo Michel and his assistants 

who are involved in the different projects (Photograph 9) 

for the warm reception, and perfectly organised and guided 

visits. Special thanks also to ir. Scoubeau Jean-Pierre and 

the Salesians who were willing to guide us along their 

activities. 

A. Verdoodt 

- 5 -


INTERESTING LINKS 

Also check the links at our website : http://www.plr.ugent.be/ 

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change – 

http://www.ipcc.ch/ 

Photograph 7 : Cattle raising 

Natural Resources Management and Environment 

Department of the Food and Agriculture Organization 

(FAO) of the United Nations – http://www.fao.org/ 

waicent/faoinfo/sustdev/ 

(with divisions on environment, climate change and 

bioenergy, land and water and research and extension) 

The World Resources Institute – http://www.wri.org/ 

Environment, resources and sustainable development, 

including biodiversity, forests, oceans and coasts, water 

and health. 

The UNEP-World Conservation Monitoring Centre – 

http://www.unep-wcmc.org 

Data and maps on conservation and sustainable use of the 

world’s living resources, including the status of species, 

freshwaters, forests and marine environments. 

The Global Footprint Network – http://www.footprint 

network.org 

Data on global and national footprints. 

Photograph 8 : In-vitro multiplicated bananas 

The World Bank’s “PovertyNet” – http://www.world 

bank.org/poverty/ 

Poverty and its alleviation. 

World Bank Group World Development Indicators – 

http://devdata.worldbank.org/wdi2006/contents/cover.htm 

United Nations Department of Economic and Social 

Affairs Division for Sustainable Development – 

http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/ 

Including information on the United Nations Commission 

on Sustainable Development, on individual countries, and 

the particular problems of “Small Island Developing 

States”. 

Photograph 9 : VLIR-UOS-Project members. From left to right: 

Kasongo Lenge Mukonzo Emery, Mujinya Bazirake Basile (M.Sc. PLR 

2006), Van Ranst Eric (M.Sc. ITC 1979), Baert Geert (M.Sc. ITC 1981), 

Mukalay Joseph (M.Sc. PLR 2004), Ngongo Michel (M.Sc. ITC 1986), 

Verdoodt Ann. 

The United Nations Development Programme – 

http://www.undp.org/ 

UNDP Human Development Reports, and the “End 

Poverty 2015“Millennium Campaign. 

- 6 -

NEWS FROM THE FIELD 

FIVE QUESTIONS TO EDDY DE PAUW 

Eddy De Pauw, alumnus ITC 1972 

Position : Head, GIS Unit 

International Center for Agricultural 

Research 

in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) 

Address : P.O. Box 5466 Aleppo, 

SYRIA 

Tel : +963-21-2213433 

Fax : +963-21-2213490 

Website: http://www.icarda.cgiar.org 

E-mail: e.de-pauw@cgiar.org 

1. When did you decide to study soil science? 

At the end of my M.Sc studies in geology at Ghent 

University I was clueless about what to do next. At the 

time the prospects for a fresh geologist were to move to 

Australia, Canada or South Africa, to hang on at a 

University, or to become a teacher. 

I was more interested to work in developing countries and 

as there were job prospects for soil scientists in UN 

organizations, I did a M.Sc. in Soil Survey at the ITC for 

postgraduate Soil Scientists in Ghent in 1972. 

2. Who has been your most influential teacher ? 

I think that honor should be partitioned between two 

eminent soil scientists, Prof. René Tavernier and Prof. 

Karel Sys. As an undergraduate student, Tavernier’s 

enticing earth science lectures convinced me to make a 

mid-course change from chemistry to geology, and 

afterwards to get the Soil Survey M.Sc. 

Later on, at the crossroad between different career options, 

he persuaded me to take a job in FAO as associate expert 

soil survey in what was probably the best possible place to 

start, Southern Sudan. The work of Prof. Sys on land 

evaluation methods made me realize that soils are 

important in their own right, but that the information can 

only be used optimally if combined with other data 

sources. The basic land evaluation techniques he 

developed are still used today, and I help my counterparts 

in national research institutes to upgrade and adapt them to 

their local conditions and make use of the superb power of 

GIS. 

3. What do you find most exciting about soil science ? 

My field experience gave lots of opportunities for reality 

checking the synthetic view from the classroom and the 

deductive approaches of land evaluation. Interaction with 

local farmers - participatory methods avant-la-lettre - made 

it obvious that the reality was much more complex than 

could be glimpsed from the course syllabi. It only started 

to make sense by taking a more holistic perspective, 

looking also at climate, terrain, land use and farming 

systems information and putting it all together using GIS. 

The evolution from making soil maps to mapping soil 

properties is a very welcome development. This may 

revive a somewhat moribund discipline - in many 

developing countries the discipline is quite literally dying 

off together with the retired soil surveyors - by integrating 

local and expert knowledge about soil-climate-landscapeland 

use relationships with field work, secondary data 

sources and advanced statistical methods. 

4. How would you stimulate teenagers and young 

graduates to study soil science ? 

Putting a soils module into a high school geography 

curriculum can certainly help teenagers to see it as a key 

natural resource. As for young graduates, one successful 

mechanism to hook them onto soil science is through 

internships in international organizations or research 

institutes. The latter can provide the students with a 

research topic that addresses a concrete soil management 

problem, includes field work, requires interaction with 

farmers, and offers a supportive work environment and 

good supervision. 

Of course, whatever romance with soil science may bloom 

will only last if there are jobs for soil scientists in the 

society at large, not just in universities, and that is 

currently a bit of a problem. 

5. How do you see the future of soil science ? 

I am struck by the fact that in so many countries they still 

use soil maps from the 60s-70s. With such long 

depreciation period this indicates that the much belittled 

systematic soil surveys of the past were not such a bad 

investment after all. At the same time they point to a need 

to update this valuable information in its more transient 

properties, e.g. salinity or soil carbon mapping. So many 

natural resource management studies are currently flawed 

by either a lack of soil data or by errors propagating from 

inappropriately used soil maps. Looking at the possible 

role of soils in modifying the global carbon source-sink 

balance, the need to save water and the consequences of 

land degradation in the context of climate change, 

especially in the vulnerable drylands, the need for soil 

information can only grow in the future. The new mapping 

tools for updating our soil inventories are now in the 

research stage and could be operational in developing 

countries 5-10 years from now. But it is going to require a 

lot of convincing decision-makers that an investment in the 

rejuvenation of soil mapping will be a good one. 

IUSS Bulletin 113 

- 7 -

STUDENTS, RESEARCH FELLOWS & TRAINEES 

MASTER STUDIES 

IN PHYSICAL LAND RESOURCES 2008-2009 

1st Master 

in Physical Land Resources 

Option : 

Soil Science 

Mr. Bhanu Pratep Singh 

(India) 

B.Sc. Science 

E-mail : 

BhanuPratap.Singh@UGent. 

be 

Mr. Gebremikael Mesfin 

Tsegaye 

B.Sc. Plant Science (Crop 

Production) 

Ethiopian Institute of 

Agricultural Research, P.O. 

Box 2003, Addis Ababa, 

Ethiopia 

E-mail : 

MesfinTsegaye.Gebremikael@ 

UGent.be 

Mr. Hossain Md. Robioul (Bangladesh) 

B.Sc. Physics 

E-mail : Robioul.RobioulHossain@ UGent.be 

Mr. Islam A.K.M. Mominul 

B.Sc. Agriculture 

Bangladesh Agricultural 

University, Department of 

Agronomy, 2202 Mymensingh, 

Bangladesh 

E-mail : 

AKMMominul.Islam@UGent. 

be 

Mr. Kanyangalazi Joseph 

Jones 


Ministry of Agriculture and 

Food Security, Land 

Resources Conservation 

Department,P.O. Box 30291, 

Lilongwe, Malawi 

E-mail : 

JosephJones.Kanayangalazi@ 

UGent.be 

Mr. Lasquites James Jade 

Sebial 


Visayas State University, 

Farmers Village, 6521 

Baybay, Philippines 

E-mail : 

JamesJade.Lasquites@UGent. 

be 

Mr. Lukwiya Peter Philips (Uganda) 

B.Sc. Ed. Biology & Chemistry 

E-mail : PeterPhilips.Lukwiya@UGent.be 

Ms. Meka Sindje Solange 

Ir. Agronomy (Productions 

Végétales) 

Institute of Agricultural 

Research for Development, 

P.O. Box 2067, Yaoundé, 

Messa, Cameroon 

E-mail : 

Solange.MekaSindje@UGent. 

be 

Ms. Mugide Mary 


Bududa District Local 

Government, P.O. Box 292, 

Mbale, Uganda 

E-mal : 

Mary.Mugide@UGent.be 

Mr. Mulalabungu Brian 


University of Zambia, Great 

East Road, P.O. Box 32729, 

10101 Lusaka, Zambia 

E-mail : 

Brian.Mulalabungu@UGent. 

be 

Ms. Mwambo Gasper Suzana 

B.Sc. Agronomy 

Tumbi Agricultural Institute, 

P.O. Box 306, 5801 Dar Es 

Salaam, Tanzania 

E-mail : 

SuzanaGasper.Mbwambo@ 

UGent.be 

Mr. Nyambura Geofrey 

Waweru 

B.Sc. Horticulture 

Jomo Kenyatta University of 

Agriculture and Technology 

Thika Road, P.O. Box 62000, 

Nairobi, Kenya 

E-mail : 

GeofreyWaweru.Nyambura@ 

UGent.be 

Ms. Sanga Hilda Gerald 

B.Sc. Agronomy 

Sokoine University of 

Agriculture, P.O. Box 3008, 

Morogoro, Tanzania 

E-mail : 

HildaGerald.Sanga@UGent.be 

Mr. Siddique Md. Noor-E- 

Alam 


Soil Resource Development 

Institute, Chauliapatti, 5200 

Dinajpur Sadar, Bangladesh 

E-mail : 

MdNoorEAlam.Siddique@ 

UGent.be 

Mr. Siswanto Shantosa 

Yudha 


Padjadjaran University, J/. 

Raya Bandung, Sumedang, 

Km. 21 Jatinangor, 40600 

Bandung, Indonesia 

E-mail : 

ShantosaYudha.Siswanto@ 

UGent.be 

Mr. Tchouansi Aimé 

Magloire 

Ingénieur d'Agriculture 

Ministry of Agriculture, 

Cameroon 

E-mail : 

AimeMagloire.Tchouansi@ 

UGent.be 

- 8 -


Mr. Upadhayay Hari Ram 


Society for Environment 

Protection and Sustainable 

Agriculture Development, 

Siddartha Municipality-1, 

Rupendehi, Nepal 

E-mail : 

HariRam.Upadhayay@UGent. 

be 

Option : 

Land Resources Engineering 

Mr. Asfaw Yoseph 

Endalamaw 

B.Sc. Earth Sciences 

Ethiopian Electric Power 

Corporation, Addis Ababa, 

Ethiopia 

E-mail : 

YosephEndalamaw.Asfaw@ 

UGent.be 

Ms. Fantilanan Jane 

B.Sc. Agricultural Engineering 

Bureau of Soils & Water 

Mgmt.,SRDC Bldg., Elliptical 

Rd. Cor. Visayas Ave., 

Diliman,Quezon City,1101 

Philippines 

E-mail : 

Jane.Fantilanan@UGent.be 

Physical 

Land 

Resources 

F. Vandendriessche 

Ms. Kokoeva Nurzat 

Eng. Forestry 

Mira Avenue 10-45, 720044 

Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 

E-mail : 

Nurzat.Kokoeva@UGent.be 

Mr. Nkezea Ateawung Julius 

B.Sc. Geology & 

Environmental Sciences 

Resource Centre for 

Environment and Sustainable 

Development, P.O. Box 144, 

Buea, Cameroon 

E-mail : 

Julius.NkezeahAteawung@ 

UGent.be 

Mr. Phiri Lameck 

Bachelor of Engineering 

Natural Resources 

Development College, P.O. 

Box 310099, 10101 Lusaka, 

Zambia 

E-mail : 

Lameck.Phiri@UGent.be 

Mr. Yimam Yohannes 

Tadesse 


Haramaya University, P.O. 

Box 87, Dire Dawa, Oromiya, 

Ethiopia 

E-mail : 

YohannesTadesse.Yimam@ 

UGent.be 

2nd Master 

in Physical Land Resources 

Mr. Arthur Emmanuel 


University of Cape Coast, 

Cape Coast, Ghana 

E-mail : 

Emmanuel.Arthur@UGent.be 

Mr. Ghani Mohammad 


NWFP, Pakistan 

E-mail : 

Mohammad.Ghani@UGent.be 

Option : 

Soil Science 

Mr. Abdalla Mohammed 

Abdelkarim 

B.Sc. Agricultural Sciences 

University of Juba, Khartoum, 

Sudan 

E-mail : 

MohammadAbdelkarim.Abdal 

la@UGent.be 

Mr. Dominguez Palacio 

Dunieski (Cuba) 

Agricultural Engineer 

E-mail : 

Duniesky.DominguezPalacio 

@UGent.be 

Mr. Garcia Glenn Arthur 


Lapanday Agric. & Devel. 

Corp., Davao City, 

Philippines 

E-mail : 

GlennArthur.Garcia@UGent. 

be 

Mr. Jegajeevagan 

Kanagaratnam 


University of Jaffna, Sri Lanka 

E-mail : 

Kanagaratnam.Jegajeevagan@ 

UGent.be 

Ms. Kamwendo Medrina L. 


Bunda College of Agriculture, 

Lilongwe, Malawi 

E-mail : 

Medrina.Kamwendo@UGent. 

be 

- 9 -


Mr. Mohamed Omar 

B.Sc. Agricultural Sciences 

Cairo University, Fac. 

Agriculture, Giza, Egypt 

E-mail : 

Omar.Mohamed@UGent.be 

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan 

B.Sc. Geography 

Institute of Geography, Hanoi, 

Vietnam 

E-mail : 

ThanhTuan.Nguyen@UGent. 

be 

Mr. Tolossa Alemayehu 

Regassa 

B.Sc. Forestry 

Jimma University College of 

Agriculture, Jimma, Ethiopia 

E-mail : 

AlemayehuRegassa.Tolossa@ 

UGent.be 

Mr. Upadhyay Dhungel 

Asheesh (Nepal) 

B.Sc. Environmental Science 

E-mail : 

Asheesh.Upadhyay@UGent.be 

Option : 

Engineering Geology 

Mr. Aboye Shimelies Ahmed 

B.Sc. Civil Engineering 

Arba Minch University, 

Ethiopia 

E-mail : saboye@vub.ac.be 

Mr. Riaz Ullah 

B.Sc. Soil Agric. & Envir. Sci. 

Dept. of Soil & Environmental 

Sciences, NWFP, Agricultural 

University, Peshawar, 

Pakistan 

E-mail : 

riazulla.RiazUllah@UGent.be 

Mr. Sichinga Stalin 


Zambia Agricultural Research 

Institute, Chilanga, Lusaka, 

Zambia 

E-mail : 

Stalin.Sichinga@UGent.be 

Ms. Soe Yinn Mar 


Agric. Chemistry Dept., 

Mandalay, Yezin, Myanmar 

E-mail : 

YinnMar.Soe@UGent.be 

Mr. Wandou Paulinus 

B.Sc. Geology 

Environmental Resource 

Trust, Cameroon 

E-mail : 

Paulinus.Wandou@UGent.be 

Mr. Xiao Changying 

B.Sc. Chemical Eng. & Techn. 

Technology Dept., Chengdu, 

Univ. of Tech., P.R. China 

E-mail : 

Changying.Xiao@UGent.be 

Ms. Mangwa Jacqueline 

Siewe (Cameroon) 

B.Sc. Geology 

E-mail : jmangwa@vub.ac.be 

Mr. Olaniyan Olatunji Ahmed 

Bachelor Tech. Civil 

Engineering 

Ladoke Akintola University of 

Technology, Nigeria 

E-mail : oolaniya@vub.ac.be 

Mr. Tahirou Moustapha 

B. Eng. Civil Eng. 

INERA, Niamey, Niger 

E-mail : 

Moustapha.Tahirou@vub.ac. 

be 

M.Sc. promoted 2008 

Physical Land Resources 

Option : 

Soil Science 

Mr. Adortse Peter 

STUDY OF THE PLASTIC CLAYS IN THE 

SPARNACIAN DEPOSITS OF THE PARIS BASIN 

Promoter : E. Van Ranst 

Contact address : Ghana Pourts and Harbour Auth., 

c/o Mr. Emmanuel Doe, P.O. Box 488, Tema, Ghana 

Abstract : 

Samples of several drillings in the ‘Argiles Plastiques’ of Sparnacian 

age (early Eocene) deposited in the Paris Basin have been analysed for 

their physical, chemical and mineralogical characteristics. The colour 

of the soil samples varied between yellow, red, brown and grey 

suggesting a variety of oxido-reduction conditions during deposition. 

Some of the clay samples contained a phase in which layers of 

smectite and kaolinite are randomly interstratified. In order to study 

the conditions responsible for the kaolinization process, which 

proceeds through mixed-layer kaolinite/smectite intermediates, the 

clay fraction (< 2 µm) of selected samples has been analysed in detail 

by X-ray diffractions (XRD) after different saturation and heat 

treatments. The relative proportions of the two types of layers varied 

widely and were analysed following the modified Mering’s procedure. 

Throughout the drillings, the proportion of kaolinite in the 

interstratified phases increased upwards at the expense of smectite. 

The smectite-to-kaolinite reaction is a solid-state transformation 

proceeding through formation of kaolinite-like patches within the 

smectite layers. The process consists of several non-simultaneous 

stages: (1) removal of parts of the tetrahedral sheet, resulting in 

formation of kaolinite-like patches; (2) layer collapse to ~7 Å where 

the kaolinite-like patches are sufficiently large; (3) Al for Mg 

substitution in the octahedral sheet, simultaneous or slightly delayed 

with respect to layer collapse, causing a layer-charge decrease and loss 

of interlayer cations; (4) Si for Al replacement in the tetrahedral sheet 

- 10 -


Students 1 st Master Physical Land Resources and Prof. Wim Cornelis taking samples for the practical exercises of Soil Physics in the surroundings of Gent 

(October 10, 2007) 

and further loss of interlayer cations. Iron remains in the kaolinite or is 

lost at the latest stages of the process. 

Mr. Agung Wahyudi 

EVALUATING GIS DECISION MAKING 

PROCEDURES; CASE STUDY LAND USE 

PROBLEMS IN THE BANDUNG AREA, JAVA 

Promoters : M. Van Meirvenne, L. Cockx 

Contact address : Jl. Belimbing III 137, 11630 

Jakarta Barat, Indonesia 

Abstract : 

This thesis presents an evaluation of GIS and Decision-Making 

procedures by two cases of study. The first case study was carried out 

to locate the best location for a sanitary landfill while the second case 

study concerned a land use allocation. The GIS-DM procedures 

followed the steps of identifying the problem, defining objective and 

criteria, standardization of criteria, deriving weights, combining the 

criteria, and analyzing the results through a sensitivity analysis. The 

first case study suggests that the results were sensitive to the criterion 

weights, threshold, and size of contiguous areas. The second case 

study suggests that population growth rate affects the land use 

allocation, conversely the objective weights did not affect the pattern 

on land use allocation. GIS-DM procedures proved to be able to assist 

the decision maker by structuring the spatial decision problems and 

evaluating the alternatives based on multiple criteria. 

Mr. Amoakwah Emmanuel 

AMENDMENTS FOR USE IN ENHANCED 

PHYTOEXTRACTION : EFFECTS ON METAL 

MOBILITY 

Promoter : F. Tack 

Contact address : c/o Madam Christiana Boateng, 

Medilab, P.O. Box 3222, Adum Kumasi, Ghana 

Abstract : 

The use of amendments to enhance phytoextraction has been proposed 

as an effective approach to curtail the long duration plants take to 

remove heavy metals from contaminated soil through the use of high 

biomass plants. Using pot experiments, the effects of the application 

of various amendments on the mobility of Cd and Zn were studied. 

Generally, the application of the various aminopolycarboxylic acids 

(EDTA, EDDS, NTA dry and NTA liquid) induced the mobility of the 

investigated heavy metals. EDTA significantly enhanced the mobility 

of both Cd and Zn. However, it was observed that the inducing effect 

of EDTA on the mobility of Cd and Zn still persisted throughout the 

experimental period due to its poor biodegradability. This in 

combination with its high affinity for heavy metal complexation can 

result in an increased risk of leaching of heavy metals. Initially, EDDS 

enhanced the solubility and the mobility of metals. However, the effect 

of EDDS on the solubility of both Cd and Zn dissipated with time, 

apparently due to its high biodegradability. The application of both 

- 11 -


NTA dry and NTA liquid did not mobilized appreciable amounts of 

heavy metals as compared to both EDTA and EDDS, probably due to 

its high biodegradability in the soil medium. However, both NTA dry 

and NTA liquid had a significant effect on the mobility of Zn as a 

result of the formation of Zn-NTA soluble complexes. 

There was a significant decrease on the mobility of both Cd and Zn 

following the application of the organic matter based amendments (5% 

compost, 10% compost and silo maize) as compared to the control. 

The application of these organic materials inhibited the solubilisation 

and the mobilization of Cd and Zn, due to the formation of insoluble 

organo-metalic complexes. The application of the chloride containing 

amendments (CaCl 2 dry and CaCl 2 liquid) generally had a positive 

impact on the solubility and the mobility of Cd and Zn as compared to 

the control. The significant mobilization effect of the chloride 

containing amendments on the heavy metals may probably be ascribed 

to the combined effect of complexation of Cd and Zn by the chloride 

anion, and by the fact that Ca 2+ might have been preferentially 

adsorbed in cation exchange positions. Hortrilon ® and Fetrilon ® 

mobilized significant concentrations of both Cd and Zn. However, 

Hortrilon had the greatest inducing effect on the mobility of Cd and 

Zn as compared to the rest of the amendments. This may probably be 

due to the presence of the various EDTA complexes (Cu-EDTA 

complex, Fe-EDTA complex, Mn-EDTA complex and Zn-EDTA 

complex) incalcated in the amendment (Hortrilon). EDTA is known to 

have a significant effect on the solubility and the mobility of heavy 

metals. Therefore the presence of these EDTA complexes might have 

enhanced the solubility of both Cd and Zn significantly. 

Mr. Badr El Din Nasem M.N. 

ASSESSING WIND ERODIBILITY OF VARIOUS 

SOIL TEXTURAL CLASSES 

Promoters : W. Cornelis, D. Gabriels 

Contact address : Suez Canal University, Faculty of 

Environmental Agricultural Sciences, Soil and Water 

Department, El Arish North Sinai, Egypt 

Abstract : 

Soil wind erodibility is one of the important parameters for measuring 

the vulnerability of Belgian soils to wind erosion. Various methods 

were used in order to measure and predict soil wind erodibility of 

different soil textures. A new wind tunnel tray was designed with the 

purpose of reducing the soil sample’s amount needed for the 

experiments. Also the Balance (BA)-method was created to develop a 

standard method for prediction soil erodibility. The sandy texture 

samples showed a high susceptibility to wind motion and started to 

transport at 11 m/s wind speed. The soils with high clay content had a 

high resistance to wind erosion. The wind erodible fraction (EF), 

“percentage of aggregates < 0.84 mm in diameter” were determined by 

using the flat dry sieving method and showed high efficiency of 

predicting the wind erodibility of different soil textures. The wet 

sieving method was used for determining the aggregate stability index 

and the results were found less correlated to the wind erodibility. 

Fryrear et al. and Lopez et al. proposed each a pedotransfer function 

(PTF) for predicting soil’s EF. The functions were evaluated and 

Fryrears PTF showed a more significant correlation (r= 0,70) than the 

one of Lopez. A new PTF has been developed in order to predict the 

EF % of the Belgian soils EFi=77.64 (EFi 

=77.64-0,55 x xSi 

+ 4.86 x SCRi– 

29.65xSRi) (r=0,74; P


Mr. Garba Maman 

EFFECT OF TERMITE MOUND MATERIAL ON 

PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF SANDY SOIL AND 

ON GROWTH CHARACTERISTICS OF TOMATO 

(LYCOPERSICUM ESCULENTUM L.) IN SEMI 

ARID NIGER 

Promoters : W. Cornelis, K. Steppe 

Contact address : DCI/INRAN, Corniche Yantala, 

BP 429, Niamey, Niger 

Abstract : 

Poor physical condition of sandy soils represents a major constraint to 

achieve potential crop yield in the semi-arid region of West Africa. 

These soils are characterized by low water and nutrient holding 

capacity. Investigations were carried out under field and greenhouse 

conditions in order to assess the effects of application of termite 

mound material on physical properties of sandy soil, on tomato 

(Lycopersicum esculentum L.) growth characteristics and water use 

efficiency. Seven treatments were compared: four rates of termite 

mounds material (TMM): 40, 80, 120 and 160 Mg.ha -1 , TMM at 120 

Mg.ha -1 combined with mulching with rice straw, organic manure 

(TOM at 10 Mg.ha -1 ) and unamended control (T0). Soil treated with 

termite mound material showed a relatively higher amount of clay 

sized particles and organic carbon content compared to the unamended 

control. Higher amount of water retained at both field capacity and 

permanent wilting point were also observed. However, the amount of 

plant available water was not affected by the application of termite 

mound material. Generally, higher number of leaves, plant height, fruit 

and biomass were observed in TMM amended soils than in organic 

manure and unamended control treatments. No specific rate of TMM 

was found to be remarkably better compared to the control treatments 

in all parameters being assessed. The amount of water used by tomato 

plant significantly correlated (P


highly considered when selecting areas for growing macadamia. Soil 

O.C. was the most limiting soil characteristic and its improvement 

assigns coffee growing regions the highest suitability for macadamia 

cultivation. 

Mr. Ngwa Stanley 

EFFECTS OF MULTI-YEAR ORGANIC MATTER 

ADDITIONS ON SELECTED SOIL PHYSICAL 

PROPERTIES 

Promoter : S. De Neve 

Contact address : Presbyterian Church Mutengene, 

P.O. Box 293, 00237 Mutengene (Titco), Cameroon 

Abstract : 

Organic matter is generally reported in literature to improve soil 

physical properties. Five types of exogenous organic amendments 

(FYM, VFG, CMC1, CMC2 and CSL) were used to compare the 

different effects on selected soil physical properties as per their 

variability in composition (quality). Aggregate stability, hydraulic 

conductivity and soil water retention were not improved significantly. 

However, aggregate stability (SI) was high in FYM, VFG, CMC2 and 

CSL. Surprisingly NF+ and NF- plots recorded higher SI values than 

CMC1. Hydraulic conductivity (Ks) was high in CMC2 plot but 

extremely low in FYM and CMC1 plots. The Ks for NF+ and NFwere 

low as expected. Surprisingly, NF+ plots showed the highest 

moisture content at saturation but at permanent wilting point (pF 4.2) 

it was lowest. Sampling frequency and weather conditions seem to 

influence the effects of organic matter on soil physical properties. 

Ms. Thè Mar 

THE INFLUENCE OF ROOT EXUDATES ON 

MINERALIZATION OF SOIL ORGANIC 

NITROGEN 

Promoters : S. De Neve, S. Sleutel 

Contact address : Thixi Street Aung Zayar (12), 

Meihtila, Myanmar 

Abstract : 

Plant roots exude an enormous range of low molecular weight 

compounds into the rhizosphere, possibly also influencing N turnover. 

This could be accomplished through exudation of C into the 

surrounding soil stimulating organic matter break down and N 

mineralization. The aim of this thesis was to investigate N 

mineralization in the lab with the application of artificial root exudate 

solutions and detection of these with an ion chromatograph. A novel 

technique for localized addition of these solutions and extraction of 

the soil was explored. It was found that localized application of low 

molecular weight organic acids solutions had a positive effect on N 

mineralization, but application of sugars did not. Therefore this effect 

does not seem to be a priming effect but rather exudation might 

enhance N mineralization through mobilization of otherwise biounavailable 

ON compounds. 

Ms. Tytgat Nele 

SUSCEPTIBILITY ANALYSIS OF THE RISK OF 

SMALL LANDSLIDES ON THE SOUTHERN 

SLOPE OF MOUNT CAMEROON VOLCANO 

Promoters : E. Van Ranst, M. Kervyn 

Contact address : Hulstboomstraat 3a, 8760 

Meulebeke, Belgium 

Abstract : 

Limbé, an expanding city located on the lower Southern flank of the 

Mount Cameroon volcano (Cameroon), has been struck by landslide 

events, causing 18 fatalities (in 2001) and severe damage to properties 

(in 2001 and 2005). The aim of this study is to develop a preliminary 

landslide susceptibility map for the Limbé area using field 

observations, laboratory analyses and freely available remote sensing 

data. The landslide susceptibility analysis takes into account the 

following landslide causative factors: the geology (soil and regolith 

properties), the topography (slope gradient), the climate-related factor 

(slope aspect) and the environment (population density). The applied 

model shows how to evaluate and rate the influence of the factors on 

the landslide susceptibility in the Limbé area. The lack of (accurate) 

data however limits the landslide susceptibility evaluation. 

Mr. Zidan Yousef 

MAPPING PHREATIC WATER TABLES TO 

UPDATE THE DRAINAGE CLASS MAP 1:20,000 

IN THE SCHELDT VALLEY NEAR GENT 

Promoters : P. Finke, J. Van de Wauw 

Contact address : Kreeftstraat 8, 9000 Gent, Belgium 

Abstract : 

The old drainage class map has been mapped at scale 1:20,000 for the 

upper part of Scheldt valley in northern part of Sleidinge near Ghent. 

This map was created in 1964, using the soil morphological 

characteristics (mottling and reduction colours). These characteristics 

are used to estimate the statistical characteristics of the groundwater 

dynamics (GD), which are mean highest (MHW) groundwater tables 

and mean lowest (MLW) groundwater tables. Due to the impact of 

human activities and climatic conditions on this area, the seasonal 

dynamic of groundwater table (GWT) fluctuations have changed. 

These changes affect the currency of the drainage class map, thus, this 

current map may need to be updated. Different updating methods have 

been applied and compared in this case study. These methods are 

remapping methods. These methods use 30 years time series analysis 

of the precipitation surplus, and well-timed phreatic head 

measurements at selected locations, to obtain statistical characteristics 

of GD at these locations. For the remapping method, the statistical 

characteristics of GD are correlated to exhaustive auxiliary data 

(maps) to predict the values of these characteristics at every pixel in 

the map using a combination of multiple linear regression analysis. 

The residuals of the regression model are interpolated using the 

ordinary kriging interpolation method. Therefore, the prediction values 

are added to the residuals values to yield exact maps of MHW and 

MLW. These maps are converted to the new drainage class map using 

the drainage class definitions. The new drainage class map was 

compared with the old map. This comparison indicates that most of 

the area in the old map has became one class dryer from moderately 

wet to moderately dry drainage class. The accuracy of these methods 

was evaluated using independent observation locations. Validation 

results show that the remapping method has good quality and is more 

accurate than the relabeling methods. The accuracy of the relabeling 

based on stratified random sampling methods is more accurate than 

the one based on polygonwise methods. The old drainage class map 

was also evaluated, and the results of this evaluation show that this 

map is outdated. 

Option : 

Engineering Geology 

Mr. Bayasgalan Gantulga 

ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL WETLAND 

DECLINE IN WESTERN CAPE (SOUTH AFRICA) 

BY CLASSIFICATION OF LANDSAT TM AND 

ETM MULTISPECTRAL IMAGES 

Promoter : O. Batelaan 

Contact address : P.O. Box 46-323, 210646 

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 

Abstract : 

Wetlands in South Africa significantly determine the quality of life of 

people as well as animals and plants. They perform various important 

- 14 -


economical, social and environmental roles; however, they are 

threatened by human activities, socio-economic development and 

climate change. This study assesses the status and potential decline of 

wetlands in Western Cape by means of optical remote sensing. 7 

multispectral Landsat TM and ETM+ images and GIS supported 

software (Idrisi 32 Release Two) were used to successfully classify, 

delineate and determine wetlands in the region (6916.323 km² of 

land). Three supervised classification methods (Maximum likelihood, 

Minimized distance-to-means and Fisher) were used and tested for 

their accuracy. The method with the highest accuracy was used as a 

basis for all further analyses. The classified images were analyzed for 

the following features: number and size of wetlands, occurrence of 

wetlands, amount of permanent and temporary wetlands, and the 

distances between wetlands. The results showed that the Maxlike 

method classified wetlands most accurately (overall accuracies 

between 99.8% and 99.9%). The number of wetlands varied within 

years and seasons and showed to increase: during winter 4136 

wetlands (June 2002) and 1819 wetlands (October 1990), and in 

summer; 504 wetlands (January 1987) and 878 wetlands (February 

2001). The size of wetlands in this region ranged from 0.081 ha to 

more than 20 ha. Most small wetlands were detected once in all 

images, few wetlands appeared in all images (a period of 19 years). 

Furthermore, 1421 temporary wetlands and 778 permanent wetlands 

were observed in the area. The mean distance between wetlands varied 

from summer to winter: longer distances were observed in summer and 

shorter in winter. Moreover, an outline of the procedures and methods 

to classify open water bodies (wetlands) using multispectral image 

data was developed. It was concluded that remote sensing techniques 

are a useful tool in characterizing wetlands and that they should be 

integrated in the study of wetlands. The Maximum likelihood 

classification method is furthermore very suitable for classification of 

wetlands using multispectral optical imagery. The potential decline of 

wetlands in Western Cape should be further investigated using lower 

resolution images and more consistent (in term of acquisition time) 

image series. The obtained results can be incorporated in further 

studies and in implementation of conservation measures. 

probabilistic, certainty factor and slope stability models are applied. 

These are used with 198 observed landslides and 33 causative factors 

that are transferred and prepared in GIS formats to produce maps of 

landslide susceptibility zonation in regional scales. Based on 

consideration of these three maps, the map obtained from the CF 

approach was chosen as the final one. As a result, recommendations 

about landslide risk in the study area are formulated for policy makers 

and local inhabitants. 

Ms. Viscarra Agreda Fabiana Candy 

SHALLOW LANDSLIDING ASSESSMENT AT 

SUB-CATCHMENT SCALE IN NORTH- 

WESTERN VIETNAM 

CASE STUDY: LAI CHÂU, VIETNAM 

Promoter : F. De Smedt 

Abstract : 

Two small sub-catchments of Lai Châu province in the north-western 

part of Vietnam are under study due to unceasing landsliding activity. 

In the first attempt, landsliding factors are combined, assessed and 

ranked with statistical methods; weathering processes, 

geomorphological complexes, fault density, distance to road, rainfall 

patterns and slope gradients are determined as most causative factors 

among others as topographical elevation, geology, distance to rivers, 

and vegetation. In the second stage, a physically based model is 

implemented; this model focuses on a deep analysis of extreme rainfall 

features (i.e. intensity and storm duration) for the determination of the 

slope stability. Based on 50 monitored shallow landslides in 2006, the 

obtained susceptibility map with the statistical weighting method is 

selected as the most accurate, since it correctly predicted 86% of the 

landslides. Furthermore, results from the physically based model are 

also considerable (48% accuracy) and more advantageous for 

estimating stability safety factors in a long-term variation of 

hydrologic conditions. 

Ms. Shrestha Rakshya 

SOIL MIXING: A STUDY ON 'BRUSSELIAN 

SAND' MIXED WITH SLAG CEMENT BINDER 

Promoter : J. Wastiels 

Abstract : 

This thesis gives an overview of ‘The Soil Mix Technology’, as one of 

the most striking renewals today in the field of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental 

ground improvement. 

Majority of the thesis incorporates the laboratory work which focuses 

on two important aspects ‘Effect of Binder dosage in the strength of 

soil mixed columns’, and the ‘Effect of Curing time in the strength of 

soil mixed columns’. It takes into account the effect of total water in 

the strength gain parameter and also studies the workability parameter. 

The work thus aims to be a part of the lesson or as a part of the 

technical information note capable of being guiding the contractors in 

Belgium during the construction work and aims to be useful for all 

those interested in this field. 

Mr. Viet Ha Nhu 

REGIONAL LANDSLIDE SUSCEPTIBILITY 

MAPPING USING GIS FOR THUA THIEN HUE 

AREA, VIETNAM 


Contact address : Hanoi University of Mining and 

Geology, Dongngac-Tuliem, 84 Hanoi, Vietnam 

Mr. Wake Jemaneh Shibru 

GROUNDWATER - SURFACE WATER 

INTERACTION MODELLING USING VISUAL 

MODFLOW AND GIS 


Abstract : 

Groundwater and surface water are hydraulically interconnected, but 

the interactions are difficult to observe and measure. In many 

situations, surfacewater bodies gain water and solutes from groundwater 

systems and in others the surfacewater body is a source of 

groundwater recharge and causes changes in groundwater quality. As a 

result, withdrawal of water from streams can deplete ground water or 

conversely, pumpage of ground water can deplete water in streams, 

lakes, or wetlands. Pollution of surface water can cause degradation of 

groundwater quality and conversely pollution of ground water can 

degrade surface water. Thus, effective land and water management 

requires a clear understanding of the linkages between groundwater 

and surface water as it applies to any given hydrologic setting. In this 

work, surface water and groundwater interaction model was developed 

for a study area located in the Nete Catchment, Belgium 

Abstract : 

Thua Thien Hue is a middle province of Vietnam, where landslides 

occur frequently that affects human life and social-economic 

developing plans. To gain a better understanding of landslide 

susceptibility spatial distribution in the study area, three approaches of 

- 15 -


Mr. Tesfahunegn Abera Gebreslassie 

LANDSLIDE RISK ASSESSMENT WITH THE HELP OF GIS AND 

REMOTE SENSING IN AND AROUND HAGERE SELAM 


Contact address : Mekelle University, P.O. Box 231, Mekelle, 

Ethiopia 

Abstract : 

In this research, landslide risk assessment has been analysed with help 

of Arcview 3.2, ArcGIS 9.2 MapInfo 7.8 and surfer 8. Landslide is a 

common natural hazard that usually occurs in mountainous areas. 

Landslide risk assessment is important to take quick and safe 

mitigation measures and make strategic planning for the future. The 

objective of this thesis is a landslide risk assessment map at scale 

(1:50,000). The model is applied for the Hagere Selam province 

Region of Tigray, Northern part of Ethiopia, covering approximately 

490 km2. During this research the maps for landslide risk assessment 

for three areas have been produced. I.e. three steady state conditions: 

assuming completely dry condition, half saturated condition and fully 

saturated condition. In addition to this, inventory of the landslide map 

was prepared by interpreting aerial photographs. The methodology 

delineates areas most prone to shallow land sliding in function of 

topography and soil types. It has been found that 0.54% of the area 

was unstable, 2.31% of the area quasi stable, 4.33% of the area 

moderately stable and 92.82% of the area stable for completely dry 

condition. For the half saturated condition: 4.59% of the area was 

unstable, 4.94% of the area quasi stable, 5.56% of the area moderately 

stable and 84.90% of the area stable. And for the fully saturated 

condition: 25.49% of the area was unstable, 5.95% of the area quasi 

stable, and 5.11% of the area moderately stable and 63.45% of the 

area stable. 

Ph.D. PROGRAMME PHYSICAL LAND RESOURCES 

Ph.D. promoted 2007-2008 

Dr. Jin Ke 

Present function and address : Researcher, 

Institute of Agricultural Resources and 

Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of 

Agricultural Sciences No. 12, 

Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing, 

100081 China 

Title of Ph.D. thesis : The effect of different tillage 

practices on soil erosion, nutrient losses and nitrogen 

dynamics in the Chinese loess plateau 

Date of promotion : December 12, 2007 

Promoters : Prof. Dr. ir. S. De Neve, Prof. Dr. ir. D. 

Gabriels 

Curriculum vitae : 

Dr. Ke Jin was born on December 11, 1971 in 

Shandong, China. 

He got a BSc. in Soil Agro-Chemistry at Beijing 

Agricultural University in Beijing, China in 1994. He 

was awarded a MSc. in Physical Land Resources, Ghent 

University, Belgium in 2002 with great distinction and 

won the prize of De Boodt-Maselis. He obtained the 

degree of Doctor in Applied Biological Sciences: Land 

and Forest Management. 

He has been employed by the Soil and Fertilizer Institute 

(now called Institute of Agricultural Resources and 

Regional Planning), Chinese Academy of Agricultural 

Sciences (CAAS) since 1994. He has been promoted as 

associate professor since 2003. At CAAS, he has been 

involved in many national level projects. He also played 

an important role in international dryland farming 

projects coordinated by CAAS and Ghent University. 

Contacts with Ghent University were initiated around 

1995, and plans for pursuing a PhD study at Gent 

University were made in 2002. In 2003, he got a 

scholarship from VLIR-UOS for a Doctoral study. 

Abstract : 

The effect of different soil tillage methods on the amount 

of runoff and soil losses from loess soils, the water 

balance and nutrient erosion in sloped fields has been 

evaluated in this study since 1999. The evaluation was 

done by means of a set of erosion plots which were on 

one hand under natural rainfall, typically characterized 

by high intensity rains, and on the other hand under 

artificial rainfall simulations on the standard plots and in 

the laboratory. Conclusions were drawn with respect to 

the most beneficial soil conservation tillage methods to 

reduce soil losses and runoff. With the runoff water and 

the sediments, also vast amounts of nutrients are carried 

away and are lost from the fields as 'nutrient erosion'. 

The research was expanded slightly towards biological 

parameters, because reducing tillage intensity was shown 

to have a very strong impact on some key enzyme 

activities. The study comprised literature reviews, longterm 

field experiments and rainfall simulation test. 

Literature was analyzed, focusing on N dynamics and the 

conservation tillage in the Loess Plateau. The field 

experiments involved various soil tillage practices and 

residue management practices. The rainfall simulation 

was adapted in both laboratory and field conditions to 

study the effects of management on soil nutrient loss and 

redistribution along the slope. 

- 16 -


Summary of major findings: 

1) Water balance and yield under different soil tillage 

practices 

Although soil tillage had smaller influence on the 

magnitude of the water balance components than did 

precipitation variations, small influences of the applied 

soil management practices on water conservation during 

the fallow period can greatly affect winter wheat yield. 

Subsoiling with mulch (SSM) increased consistently the 

precipitation storage efficiency (PSE) and water use 

efficiency (WUE) compared to conventional tillage (CT) 

except during the wettest year. No till with mulch (NTM) 

also had a noticeable effect on post-harvest water storage 

during the fallow period; however, the influence on yield 

of NTM depended on the amount of precipitation. Two 

crops per year (TC) lowered the winter wheat yield 

mainly due to the unfavorable soil moisture conditions 

after growing peanut in summer; however, the harvested 

peanut is an extra profit for the local farmer. No matter 

which kind of soil management practices was adapted, 

PSE never exceeded 41.6%, which was primarily 

attributed to high evapotranspiration. 

2) N dynamics under different soil tillage practices 

Subsoiling with mulch resulted in the highest yield and 

total nitrogen (TN) content in the surface layer, thus 

improved N uptake by grain and straw and N export. 

SSM and NTM increased the N content of the surface 

layer (0~20 cm) compared with CT, but there was no 

significant effect in deeper soil layers. Considerable 

amounts of nitrate-N were left in the profile 0-160 cm 

just after harvest under all treatments. The cumulative 

nitrate-N content to a depth of 160 cm on average was 

282 kg ha -1 , of which 56 kg ha -1 was in the layer 120-160 

cm. The low efficiency of applied N is due to the 

presence of limiting factors for plant growth (such as soil 

moisture content), the constant N rate that was applied 

(150 kg N ha -1 without considering the annual rainfall 

and its distribution), and the sub-optimal application 

methods (e.g. one time application before sowing). 

Nitrogen use efficiency of crops under dryland condition 

depends largely on plant available soil water that 

depends on rainfall. Winter wheat residues showed a 

stronger immobilization than peanut residues during the 

incubation period without any net N release. Winter 

wheat incorporated into the soil showed the strongest N 

immobilization with 35.2 mg kg -1 (27% of added N) 

immobilized at the 8th week. The net N release from 

these crop residues will likely be synchronous with the 

growth and N uptake of the subsequent crop, which may 

constitute potential saving on the required N fertilization. 

3) Enzyme activities under different soil tillage practices 

Urease, catalase and invertase activities showed a strong 

seasonal fluctuation. The majority of the enzyme 

activities were higher in the stages with vigorous 

vegetative growth than in stages with productive growth. 

Enzyme activities significantly declined with soil depths, 

which was in agreement with soil organic carbon (SOC) 

distribution. Although the magnitude of differences in 

enzyme activities between different treatments were not 

consistent at different sampling dates and depths, the 

ranking of the different treatments did not change and 

SSM had higher enzyme activities which were probably 

due to better soil moisture and nutrient conditions 

compared to the other tillage practices. 

4) Nutrient losses under laboratory rainfall simulation 

test 

Sediment loss was significantly increased with increasing 

RI at a same percentage of cover. The effect of 

percentage of cover on sediment reduction was more 

pronounced under high rainfall intensity (RI). Higher RI 

and lower cover produced higher sediment and 

consequently higher nutrient loss, but resulted in a lower 

nutrient concentration in the sediment. The amount of 

runoff sediment rather than the nutrient concentration in 

the sediment was the determinant factor for the amount 

of nutrient lost. Lower RI had a more pronounced 

selectivity effect on erosion of fine particles. Although 

the sediment contained substantially more fine fractions 

(fine silt and clay, 20 µm) (p


CT, although that was no reduction in runoff. SSM 

consistently increased the yield of winter wheat 

compared with CT (+10%), followed by NTM (+5%). 

Conclusion 

From data of eight consecutive agricultural years 

between 1999 and 2006, SSM can be considered as the 

best alternative tillage method in terms of soil and water 

conservation and crop yield. The reason is likely to (i) 

improve water efficiency by reducing runoff and 

increasing water retention in the soil, (ii) improve soil 

fertility (TN and SOC) rather than losing it in runoff and 

leachate, (iii) improve nutrient cycling slowing 

mineralization and immobilizing nutrients in organic 

fractions, (iv) improve enzyme activities, and (v) 

enhance long-term productivity and thus increase 

nutrient use efficiency, (vi) resist degrading forces of 

water erosion by improving soil structure and mechanical 

compaction. TC also showed promising results 

considering the economic value of the second crop. 

NTM performed slightly less than SSM. CT gave 

intermediate results, whereas RT was the worst 

alternative. 

Dr. Karoline D’Haene 

Present function and address : Scientific 

researcher, Institute for Agricultural and 

Fisheries Research (ILVO), Social 

Sciences Unit, Burg. Van Gansberghelaan 

115 Box 2, 9820 Merelbeke 

Title of Ph.D. thesis : The potential of reduced tillage 

agriculture in Flanders 

Date of promotion : January 24, 2008 

Promoters : Prof. Dr. ir. S. De Neve, Prof. Dr. ir. D. 

Gabriels, Em. Prof. Dr. ir. G. Hofman 


Karoline D’Haene (°Tielt, 17 September 1974) obtained 

in 1997 the degree of bioscience engineer and in 1998 

the master in environmental protection from KULeuven. 

She worked from April 1999 till November 2006 as a 

scientific researcher at the Department of Soil 

Management and Soil Care of Ghent University. She did 

research on soil fertility and nutrient management and 

on farm gate nutrient efficiency. 

Since January 2007 she does research on the ecological 

aspects of sustainable agriculture at the Social Sciences 

Unit of the Institute for Agricultural and Fisheries 

Research. 

Abstract : 

Until recently, modern agriculture was focused on 

maximum food production without considering the long 

term impact on soil fertility or environment. As a 

consequence modern agriculture is nowadays confronted 

with a number of pressing problems. The main problems 

agriculture experiences in industrialised societies are the 

degradation of physical soil structure resulting in erosion 

and soil compaction, decline in soil organic matter 

(SOM) and nitrogen (N) losses. 

Conservation tillage (CsT) agriculture was first 

introduced on a large scale on fields with mainly cereals, 

soybean and sunflower in the USA, Latin America and 

Australia as a very effective measure to reduce erosion 

and store water into the soil. To date research on the 

positive and negative effect of CsT compared to 

conventional tillage (CT) agriculture mainly focussed on 

the soil conditions and crop rotations under the warm 

and dry climatic of the USA, Latin America and 

Australia. The climatic and soil conditions and crop 

rotations in Western Europe are, however, very different. 

Western Europe has a maritime temperate climate and 

the crop rotations contain crops that seem less suitable 

under CsT agriculture because they often include beets 

and potatoes, resulting in a high disturbance of the soil at 

the formation of the ridges and at harvest. The major 

erosion problems in Belgium are found with these root 

and tuber crops and maize in the loess belt. 

Nowadays farmers in Western Europe shift more and 

more to reduced tillage (RT) agriculture, a type of CsT 

agriculture which refers to tilling the whole soil surface 

but eliminating one or more of the operations that would 

otherwise be done in a CT system. This shift can partly 

be explained by the progress in machines, especially 

sowing machines, and because of its proven effects on 

reduction of soil erosion. However, very little 

information is available on the evolution of important 

soil properties e.g. related to carbon (C) dynamics in RT 

agriculture under the specific Western European climatic 

and soil conditions and crop rotations. 

In this thesis, eighteen fields with a silt loam texture 

were selected, including the different types of RT 

agriculture running for a different number of years. In 

the study area, very little experimental sites exist where 

CT practices are compared to RT practices. Therefore, 

we had no choice but to include farmers' fields, where 

inevitably there is no perfect match between CT and RT 

fields. 

Despite the high disturbance of the soil every 2 or 3 

years of crop rotations including sugar beets or potatoes, 

RT agriculture had a positive effect on the measured 

physical soil properties. The aggregate stability of the 

upper 10 cm depth layer measured with the method of 

De Leenheer & De Boodt (1959) and the three methods 

of Le Bissonnais (1996) were higher a short time after 

the shift to RT compared to CT agriculture. At each 

location, bulk density (BD) of the 5-10 cm depth layer 

was mostly lower and saturated soil water content (θs) 

was mostly higher under RT than CT agriculture. The 

- 18 -


penetration resistance (PR) of the upper depth layer 

under RT by direct drilling (RT DD ) is higher than under 

CT agriculture, while the PR in the 20-30 cm depth layer 

is only higher under RT agriculture by cultivator or soil 

loosener (RT C ) if the working depth is lower. The trend 

was a higher field-saturated hydraulic conductivity (K fs ) 

under RT compared to CT agriculture. 

RT agriculture resulted in a higher stratification of soil 

organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (TN) in the soil 

profile. However, the total SOC and TN stock was not 

changed, even after a period of 20 years of RT 

agriculture. The amount of organic carbon and TN in 

three different particulate organic matter (POM) 

fractions of the 0-10 cm depth layer were found to be 

(significantly) higher both on an absolute and relative 

basis in the RT compared to the CT fields. In general the 

difference was the highest for the coarse free POM 

fraction, which is the most labile fraction. The higher 

SOC, TN and microbial biomass (MB) content in the 

upper depth layer of RT fields resulted in a higher C and 

N mineralization rate in undisturbed soil under 

controlled conditions in the laboratory. Simulating 

ploughing by disturbing the soil resulted both in lower 

and higher mineralization rates of the silt loam soils, but 

due to the large variability of the estimated 

mineralization parameters, the differences were not 

significant. It seems that under the specific management 

and climatic conditions of Western Europe, RT 

agriculture increase the SOC and TN content and 

microbial activity in the top layers, but do not result in 

enhanced sequestration when the entire soil profile is 

considered. 

Nitrous oxide nitrogen (N 2 O-N) emissions from RT 

fields tended to be slightly higher than CT fields. The 

higher N 2 O-N emissions of RT compared to CT fields 

were correlated with a higher % TN and MB-N. 

This study indicates that RT C agriculture is beneficial for 

the farmers, society and environment. However, the 

potential for RT DD agriculture in Flanders is probably 

limited because of the typical crop rotations that are less 

compatible with this type of agriculture. 

Dr. Liming Ye 

Present function and address : scientific 

collaborator, Laboratory of Soil Science, 

Krijgslaan 281/S8, B-9000 Gent 

Title of Ph.D. thesis : Simulating long-term food 

producing capacities in China using a Web-based 

land evaluation system 

Date of promotion : April 25, 2008 

Promoter : Prof. Dr. E. Van Ranst 


Dr. Liming Ye is an agricultural engineer (Central 

China Agr. Univ., 1988), soil scientist (UGent, 1999) 

and IT specialist (VUB, 2001). During the 1990s, he has 

been involved in several intergovernmental cooperation 

projects between China and UGent, while he was a 

research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Agricultural 

Sciences. He received training in soil database 

management and GIS from the Laboratory of Soil 

Science, UGent under the framework of these projects. 

He obtained UGent BOF Fellowship in 2002 and started 

working on his Ph.D. since then. Mr. Ye is (co)author of 

14 scientific papers and 9 books. 

Abstract : 

China is since long time the most populous country on 

earth. The enthusiasm to monitor its food security has 

never faded. Many efforts have been made in China in 

maintaining a relatively stable supply of food to its evergrowing 

population during the past few decades. 

However, the delicate equilibrium between per capita 

demand and supply of food has become more and more 

fragile. Primarily driven by rapid urbanization, China's 

cropland has been lost at an average rate of 0.5 million 

hectares per year during the 1979-2005 period, and will 

continue to be lost in the future. This, together with the 

observed (a) decrease in soil quality resulting from 

erosion, mismanagement and environmental pollution, 

(b) sensitivity of per capita production of food to 

climatic perturbations, and (c) inter-annual fluctuations 

of per capita food surplus during the post-1978 period, 

has casted tremendous doubts over China's ability in 

fulfilling food self-sufficiency in the long run. From a 

global point of view, maintaining food security has been 

recognized as one of the prioritized Millennium 

Development Goals (MDGs) by the international 

community. Realizing it in China in the 21st century 

means the settlement of the livelihood and welfare of 

more than one-fifth of the entire population of the world. 

This dissertation presents a modeling approach to assess 

the long-term food producing capacities, and 

consequently food security, in China, using a Web-based 

land evaluation system (WLES) as the evaluation engine, 

a grid-based GIS as the scale regulator and a relational 

database as the data manipulator. WLES implements a 

three-step, hierarchical, deterministic land evaluation 

model, based for specific crops on the radiation regime, 

and the water-limited and land production potentials. 

Functional components such as the biomass calculator 

(BMC), the water balance simulator (WBS) and the land 

limitations evaluator (LLE) compute these potentials, 

respectively. Homogeneous 5 km by 5 km grid data sets 

were created to store the spatial distribution of the 

climatic, crop and soil parameters. Using the cell number 

as the key, all data were stored in the relational database 

for fast and easy access. Food production reality in 2005 

was simulated by considering, among others, the land use 

- 19 -


type and distribution, province-specific cropping system 

patterns, and the intensity of factor inputs, represented by 

(a) application of fertilizers and chemicals, (b) agromachinery 

usage and electrical consumption, and (c) 

irrigation infrastructure investment. The simulation 

process was looped to iterate all the 778,104 grid cells, 

and output was stored in the database on a per cell basis. 

The simulation results were cross-analyzed against the 

historic and current yield records of the crop varietyinput 

level combinations for each province in order to 

validate the model applied. 

Food productions in 2030 and 2050 were simulated 

using production scenarios which involved population 

growth, urbanization rate, cropland area, cropping 

intensity, management level, and soil degradation. Three 

soil degradation scenarios – namely, ‘no-degradation’ 

(0×SD), ‘business-as-usual’ (BAU) and ‘doubledegradation’ 

(2×SD) – were designed and included in the 

food production simulation. A food security index (FSI) 

– or the relative food surplus in per capita terms – was 

proposed to reveal the historical fluctuations and future 

trends of food security in China, and to help formulate 

policy options from the simulated effects of soil 

degradation and management level on FSI. 

The model predicted that food crops may experience a 

9.7% productivity loss by 2030 if the soil is degraded at 

the current rate (BAU scenario); productivity loss will 

increase to an unbearable level of 36.7% by 2050, should 

the soil be twice more degraded than it is now (2×SD 

scenario). China's food producing capacity tends to 

decline in the long run if the general trend of soil 

degradation will not be reverted. China will be able to 

achieve a production of 428.6 million tons (i.e., a 11.5% 

decrease from the 2005 level or -11.5%, same below) 

from food crops in 2030 and 409.1 million tons (-15.5%) 

in 2050 under the BAU scenario. Under the 2×SD 

scenario, the production is projected to be 390.9 million 

tons (-19.2%) in 2030 and 326 million tons (-32.6%) in 

2050, which are levels that China had surpassed in the 

late 1980s and the late 1970s, respectively. However, the 

population in 2050, for instance, will be 37% more than 

that in the late 1970s, suggesting a 37% decrease in per 

capita food availability during the time interval between 

the two. Under the 0×SD scenario, the food producing 

capacities in 2030 and 2050 will be 3.4% lower and 

1.1% higher than the 2005 level, respectively, showing 

that the negative effect of the decreasing cropland area is 

nearly neutralized by the positive effect of the increasing 

cropping intensity on food production in the long run. 

This in turn suggests that the above-mentioned declining 

trend in food production can actually be recognized as 

the net effect of soil degradation on food production. 

In per capita terms, the FSI value is predicted to drop 

from 12.7 in 2005 to -9.8 and -7.5 in 2030 and 2050, 

respectively, under the 0×SD scenario – meaning that the 

demand-supply equilibrium is changed from a surplus of 

12.7% in 2005 to a deficit of 9.8% and 7.5% in 2030 and 

2050, respectively, even under the ‘no-degradation’ 

scenario. This, together with the observation that the 

positive effect of a higher cropping intensity cancels the 

negative effect of a shrinking cropland area, suggests that 

the present-day producing capacity (2005 level) will not 

be able to sustain the long-term needs, which are 

associated with a higher per capita demand, despite no 

further soil degradation is assumed. Under the BAU 

scenario, the FSI value will be further decreased to -17.3 

and -22.6 – suggesting that 17.3% and 22.6% of per 

capita food demand will not be met – in 2030 and 2050, 

respectively. Under the 2×SD scenario, the FSI value is 

predicted to be as low as -24.5 and -38.3 – suggesting 

that food shortage will be as high as 24.5% and 38.3% – 

in 2030 and 2050, respectively. 

If the management level in 2030 is raised from highintermediate-low 

in 2005 to high-high-intermediate for 

the east-middle-west economic development belts, and in 

2050 to high-high-high, the FSI will increase from -17.3 

to -10.9 in 2030 and from -22.6 to -2.1 in 2050 under the 

BAU scenario, and from -24.5 to -18.7 in 2030 and from 

-38.3 to -10.7 in 2050 under the 2×SD scenario, 

respectively. 

The modeling results suggest that (a) soil degradation is 

the most significant single factor that adversely affects 

China's food producing capacity in the long run; (b) the 

present-day producing capacity (2005 level) will not be 

able to sustain the long-term needs under the current 

management level even if soil degradation is not 

becoming more limiting; and (c) China is facing great 

challenges in safeguarding its food security by 

2030/2050. The detrimental effect of soil degradation on 

food security is so evident that technical measures and 

policy levers must be activated today in order to avoid, 

or at least mitigate, the risks of food insecurity 

tomorrow. 

Dr. ir. Jeroen Vandenbruwane 

Present function and address : Universoil, Molenstraat 

19, 8750 Wingene 

Title of Ph.D. thesis : Dynamics of Dissolved Organic 

Matter in Forest Ecosystems in Flanders 

Date of promotion : January 21, 2008 

Promoters : Prof. Dr. ir. S. De Neve, Em. Prof. Dr. ir. G. 

Hofman 


Dr. Jeroen Vandenbruwane was born in Deinze, 

Belgium in 1980. He obtained his M.Sc. degree in Bio- 

- 20 -


engineering in Land and Forest Management (option 

Soil and Water) at Ghent University in 2003. Between 

2004 and 2008 he conducted his PhD research at the 

Laboratory of Soil Fertility and Nutrient Management of 

Ghent University. 

Abstract : 

Dissolved organic matter (DOM) is the organic matter 

dissolved in the aqueous phase. Although this organic 

matter pool constitutes only a small fraction of the total 

OM pool, it is certainly the most mobile and probably 

the most reactive of all pools. The high inherent mobility 

of DOM contains potential for the translocation of 

organic material and associated nutrients within and 

between ecosystems. The downward transport of DOM 

with percolating water in mineral soils also plays a 

crucial role in soil formation, nutrient loss and 

eutrophication of ground and surface waters. The main 

objective of this study was to determine the dynamics of 

DOM in forest ecosystems under long-term nitrogen 

deposition on sandy soils in Flanders. 

The first part of this work focussed on the analytical 

methodology of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON) 

determinations. Aqueous field samples originating from 

forest ecosystems in Flanders are characterized by high 

inorganic nitrogen contents (nitrate and ammonium). 

Since DON can only be determined by subtraction of the 

dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN) concentration from 

the total dissolved nitrogen (TDN) concentration, 

analytical variance accumulates in the DON 

determination, exceeding the DON concentration in a 

substantial amount of samples. The alkaline persulfate 

oxidation (PO) showed higher TDN recoveries compared 

to the commonly used high temperature catalytic 

oxidation (HTCO) method and was further used in this 

study. The potential of a refined dialysis pre-treatment to 

increase the precision of DON determinations was 

assessed and approved, though the method is labourintensive 

and thus difficult to use routinely. 

The second part of this work aimed to quantify dissolved 

organic carbon (DOC) and DON concentrations and 

fluxes in the different ecosystem strata of three forest 

stands in Flanders. The fluxes were determined based on 

the results of one year intensive monitoring and could be 

used to localise the major sources and sinks of DOM in 

these ecosystems. Atmospheric deposition was the major 

input of DON in these ecosystems, whereas most DOC 

was brought in solution during passage through the forest 

canopy and the forest floor. Although substantial 

amounts of DOC and DON were retained in the vadose 

zone below the rooting zone, most DOM retention took 

place in the upper 90 cm of the mineral soil. As a result 

of the efficient DOM retention in the vadose zone, the 

absolute annual amounts of DOM reaching the 

groundwater were fairly low. 

Since the forest floor was identified as the major source 

of DOM in these forest ecosystems in Flanders and since 

substantial differences in the DOM release from forest 

floor were found between the three forest stands, the 

factors affecting the DOM release were investigated into 

further detail. The combination of field and laboratory 

observations together with literature data allowed the 

design of a conceptual model for the mechanisms 

involved in the release of DOM from forest floors. The 

differences in DOM release from the forest floors of the 

three stands were explained using the conceptual model. 

Furthermore, microbial activity showed to be (partially) 

responsible for the different release rates and patterns 

between DOC and DON. 

Although the mineral soil was identified as the major 

sink for DOM, the results of the field measurements did 

not allow determination of the processes involved in this 

retention. Therefore, laboratory experiments were 

performed to quantify the importance of individual 

removal mechanisms. 

The first mechanism tested under controlled laboratory 

conditions was the microbial degradation of DOM. 

Therefore, DOM solutions of various origins were 

inoculated with a mixture of indigenous micro organisms 

and incubated for one year. The results showed that 

limited fractions of DOM in forest floor leachates were 

mineralized (27-34 %) during the experiment with minor 

influences of its origin. Furthermore, the DOM 

biodegradability tended to increase with increasing soil 

depth. These findings indicated that microbial 

degradation is probably not the main mechanism 

responsible for the high retention of DOM in the mineral 

soil. 

Beside microbial degradation, physical sorption to the 

mineral soil was investigated as a potential mechanism 

responsible for the retention of DOM. In a first 

experiment, the isotherm model yielding the best fit and 

the most reliable and field-representative parameter 

estimates was determined. The results indicated that 

DOM concentration estimated based on sorption 

isotherm data were in good accordance with the 

concentrations sampled under field conditions. A second 

experiment was performed in an attempt to better predict 

DOM concentrations in layered soil profiles by 

approaching the field conditions. Therefore, a sequential 

batch method was designed in which the DOM solution 

was equilibrated with the succession of the different 

horizons. This new method was found to even better 

predict DOM, especially DOC, concentrations with soil 

depth compared to the conventional method. 

Furthermore, this new method was found to account for 

the sorption-induced fractionation of dissolved organic 

matter in these podzol profiles underlining its 

applicability for DOM transport models. 

In conclusion, this work revealed the importance of 

dissolved organic matter in a variety of environmental 

- 21 -


issues. Firstly, DOM forms an important carrier in the 

transport of carbon from aboveground sources to the 

mineral soil. Adsorption to the mineral soil constituents 

together with its inherent refractoriness or external 

stabilization mechanisms, emphasizes the potential role 

of DOM in belowground C sequestration in forest 

ecosystems. The inclusion of DON in the nitrogen cycle 

of the eutrophic forest ecosystems puts ecosystem N 

input, output and retention in another light. 

Dr. Nguyen Thanh Long 

Present function and address : Deputy 

Chief, Department of Geomatics and 

Remote Sensing, Research Institute of 

Geology and Mineral Resources, Hanoi, 

Vietnam 

Title of Ph.D. thesis : Landslide susceptibility mapping 

of the mountainous area in A Luoi district, Thua 

Thien Hue province, Vietnam 

Date of promotion : May 7, 2008 

Promoter : Prof. Dr. ir. F. De Smedt 


Nguyen Thanh Long was born in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 

1974. He received a BSc degree in Geology from Hanoi 

National University, Hanoi, Vietnam, in 1996. In 1997, 

he obtained a Vietnamese-Belgium scholarship for the 

master course of Environmental Science that was 

organized by Hanoi National University and Vrije 

Universiteit Brussel in Hanoi. He obtained a MSc 

certificate of Environmental Science in 1999. From 2000 

to 2002, he attended the interuniversity program Master 

of Science in Physical Land Resources, at Gent 

University and Vrije Universiteit Brussel in Belgium. He 

graduated as MSc in Physical Land Resources in 2002. 

In 2003, he obtained a PhD scholarship from the 

Belgian Technical Cooperation. The PhD research was 

conducted from 2003 to 2007 part-time at the Research 

Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, Hanoi, 

Vietnam, and at the Department of Hydrology and 

Hydraulic Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel. The 

present thesis: “Landslide susceptibility mapping of the 

mountainous area in A Luoi district, Thua Thien Hue 

province, Vietnam” is the final output of this PhD study. 

Nguyen Thanh Long works for the Department of 

Geomatics and Remote Sensing, Research Institute of 

Geology and Mineral Resources, Hanoi, Vietnam, since 

1997. He is deputy chief of this department since 2006 

Abstract : 

A Luoi is a Vietnamese-Laotian border district situated 

in the Western part of Thua Thien Hue province, 

Vietnam. Landslides occur frequently in the area and 

seriously affect local living conditions. Therefore, spatial 

analysis of landslide susceptibility in the mountainous 

regions of the A Luoi is very important. Hence, this 

study focuses on a particular mountainous region of 

about 262.7 km 2 in the A Luoi district. 

In the study area, recently 181 landslides have been 

observed. In order to explain these landslides, various 

factors, i.e. slope, landuse, weathering, geomorphology, 

geology, soil, elevation, distance from streams or rivers, 

long-term annual total precipitation, and fault density, 

were selected and prepared in GIS for landslide 

susceptibility mapping. 

Four types of approaches for landslide susceptibility 

mapping are applied: landslide inventory analysis, 

heuristic methods, statistical analysis, and process-based 

or deterministic modeling. In each approach, several 

methods are applied, i.e. index-based and analytical 

hierarchical process in the heuristic approach, statistical 

index, certainty factor, conditional analysis, weight of 

evidence modeling, landslide susceptibility analysis, 

probability, multiple linear regression and logistic 

regression method in the statistical analysis approach, 

and slope safety factor modeling based on static or 

dynamic hydrological condition in the deterministic 

approach. The goal is to learn about the difficulties to 

apply a certain technique and to select the best technique 

for application in central Vietnam. In total ten different 

methods are tested to determine the landslide 

susceptibility in the study area. The results are discussed 

and compared in order to evaluate the agreement or 

disagreement between these methods. The analysis and 

comparison of these results show that: 

- there are large differences of results between the three 

approaches: heuristic, statistical, and deterministic 

analyses; 

- the certainty factor is the best method for landslide 

susceptibility mapping in the study area because it can 

indicate the zones that are susceptible to landsliding 

most accurately. Hence, the map based on the certainty 

factor method is selected as the final result of this 

study. 

The final landslide susceptibility map of the study area 

indicates that the low, moderate, high and very high 

landslide susceptibility classes are respectively covering 

107.5 km 2 (40.9%), 48.5 km 2 (18.5%), 44.5 km 2 

(16.9%), and 62.1 km 2 (23.6%) of the study area. The 

detected landslide areas in the low, moderate, high and 

very high landslide susceptibility classes are respectively 

0.47 km 2 (6.7%), 0.93 km 2 (13.3%), 1.88 km 2 (26.7%), 

and 3.75 km 2 (53.3%). The high and very high landslide 

susceptibility zones are predominant characterized by: 

- slope angles higher than 150, and predominantly 

higher than 250; 

- the landuse features are mostly afforested land; 

- the geological features are mainly Dai Loc complex or 

the Lower A Vuong formation; 

- the geomorphological units Quaternary-Neogene slow 

- 22 -


gravity slopes, and Quaternary-Neogene erosionaldenudational 

slopes, are the most prominent; 

- the weathering features are mostly Sialfelite or Sialite; 

- the fault density is larger than 1500 m/km 2 . 

On the basis of these results, recommendations about 

landslide risk in the study area are formulated for 

administrators and local inhabitants. 

Dr. Hamid Reza Asgari 

Present function and address : Department 

Desert Management, Faculty of Range and 

Watershed Management, Gorgan 

University of Agricultural Sciences and 

Natural Resources, Gorgan, Golestan 

Province, IRAN 

Title of Ph.D. thesis : Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) 

response to main soil degradation factors in semi-arid 

area of Golestan province, northern Iran 

Date of promotion : September 8, 2008 

Promoter : Prof. Dr. ir. P. Van Damme 


Hamid Reza Asgari was born on January 25, 1974 in 

Gorgan, Iran. In 1995, he obtained the degree of 

Bachelor of Science (BSc.) in Agricultural Engineering, 

Agronomy and Plant Breeding from Gorgan University, 

Iran. In 2001, he completed a Master of Science (MSc.) 

degree in Desert Zones Management, University of 

Gorgan. He was granted a four years scholarship from 

the Ministry of Science, Research, and Technology of 

Iran to pursue his doctoral research at Ghent 

University, Belgium. 

Abstract : 

Soil degradation is one manifestation of land 

degradation, whereby we concentrate on both soil quality 

and productivity. Four main types of soil degradation can 

be distinguished: water erosion and wind erosion; 

chemical deterioration, i.e. soil fertility decline, 

salinization and pollution; and physical deterioration, i.e. 

soil compaction and waterlogging. In this study, we 

focus more on salinity, waterlogging and compaction, as 

main factors of soil degradation in the study area 

(northern Golestan province). In first study the aim was 

to quantify the effects of different salinity levels, i.e. 3 

dSm -1 (as control), 8, 12 and 16 dS m -1 on grain yield, 

yield components and leaf ion concentrations, i.e. Na + , 

K + and Cl - , and Na + :K + ratio of four Iranian wheat 

genotypes, i.e. Kouhdasht, Atrak, Tajan and Rasoul. The 

results revealed that Kouhdasht and Atrak were 

identified as the most salt-tolerant genotypes and could 

be utilized through selection and breeding programs for 

further improving the salt tolerance of Iranian wheat 

genotypes. The objective of second study was to obtain 

information on the response of two selected wheat 

genotypes, which are respectively tolerant and sensitive 

to salinity, and resulted from previous salinity 

experiment, to waterlogging stress at different growth 

stages. Results revealed that highest reduction in grain 

yield; thousand grain weight (TGW) and harvest index 

(HI) were observed through waterlogging that happened 

two-times during wheat growth stages. Non significant 

changes in grain yield, TGW and HI were observed via 

waterlogging at booting as compared to control. 

Kouhdasht showed better performance than Tajan under 

saline and saline × waterlogged conditions. Therefore, 

Kouhdasht seems to be a genotype relatively suitable for 

the study area which also suffers from high salt 

accumulation in soils, and shallow and brackish 

groundwater. The aim of the third study was to quantify 

soil compaction effects on grain yield, some yield 

components and leaf ion concentrations of two Iranian 

wheat genotypes i.e., Kouhdasht and Tajan under 

individual and combined effects of salinity and 

waterlogging treatments. Results show soil compaction 

alone significantly reduced grain yield and yield 

component values of both wheat genotypes as compared 

to control. Compaction also significantly intensified the 

effect of all other treatments, except waterlogging, on 

grain yield, yield components and leaf ion uptake of both 

wheat genotypes as compared to non-compacted soil 

conditions. 

New Ph.D. students 2008-2009 

Mr. Kasongo Lenge Mukonzo Emery (RD Congo) 

Master in Agricultural Sciences 

Subject: Système d’évaluation des terres à multiples 

échelles pour la détermination de l’impact de la 

gestion agricole sur la sécurité alimentaire au 

Katanga, RD Congo 

Promotors : Prof. Dr. E. Van Ranst, Prof. Dr. Michel 

Ngongo Luhembe (UNILU, RD Congo), Dr. Ir. Ann 

Verdoodt. 

Period: 2003-2008 

Scholarship: VLIR 

Mr Nguyen Dai Trung (Vietnam) 

M.Sc. Physical Land Resources, Ghent University 

Subject: Incorporating ethnopedological knowledge 

in soil quality assessment for sustainable land 

management – experience from North Vietnam 

Promotors : Prof. Dr. E. Van Ranst, Dr Michiel 

Dusar (KBIN), Dr Tran Tan Van (VIGMR) 

Period: 2004-2008 

Scholarship: BTC 

- 23 -


SPECIAL TRAINING PROGRAMMES PHYSICAL LAND RESOURCES 

2008-2009 

Dr. Mohamed Fekry Khalil Hassan 

Assiut University, Faculty of Science, Geology Department 

From : August 2008 

Fellowship : Tempus Programme CD_JRP-32005-2004 MEGWRM – 

Master of Science in Applied Environmental Geosciences and Water 

Resources Management 

Subject : GIS 

Promotor(s) : Prof. Peter Wycisk (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle- 

Wittenberg) & Prof. Dr. Esmat Keheila (Assiut University, Egypt) 

Dr. Nageh Abdel Rahman A. 

Assiut University, Faculty of Science, Geology Department 





Subject : GIS 



Dr. Ahmed Khaled Abdella Ahmed 

Assiut University, Faculty of Science, Engineering Department 





Subject : GIS 



Mr. Nzongola Kazolo Willy Xavier 

Commissariat Général à l’Energie Atomique, Centre Régional 

d’Etudes Nucléaires de Kinshasa 

From : September 2, 2008 till November 30, 2008 

Fellowship : ZAI 5/017 of IAEA 

Subject : Use of Isotope Techniques in Relation with the Nitrogen 

Dynamic and the Quality of Organic Plant Material in Agriculture Soil 

Management 

Promotor(s) : Prof. Pascal Boeckx 

Mr. Muambi-Nkate Jean-Louis 

Commissariat Général à l’Energie Atomique, Centre Régional 

d’Etudes Nucléaires de Kinshasa 

From : September 1, 2008 till November 30, 2008 

Fellowship : ZAI 5/017 of IAEA 

Subject : Use of Isotope Techniques in Relation with the Nitrogen 

Dynamic and the Quality of Organic Plant Material in Agriculture Soil 

Management 

Promotor(s) : Prof. Pascal Boeckx 

Ms. Rina Devnita (Alumnus ITC 1993) 

Padjadjaran University, Faculty of Agriculture, Soil Science 

Department 

From : September 22, 2008 till December 24, 2008 

Fellowship : Directorate of Higher Education, Ministry of National 

Education, Indonesia 

Subject : Laboratory Analyses of Volcanic Soils 

Promotor(s) : Prof. E. Van Ranst 


- 24 -

PUBLICATIONS 

ITC - ICE 

Papers 

Note that certain copies of papers can be obtained by 

request per e-mail to the staff member concerned : 

firstname.lastname@UGent.be. Names of staff can be 

found at our web page : http://www.plr.ugent.be 

Adem, G., Zijl, W., Batelaan, O. & De Smedt, F., 2008. 

Comparison of two mathematical models for 3d 

groundwater flow : block-centered heads and edge-based 

stream functions. Abstract in proceedings of 2008 ground 

water summit ngwa, March 30-April 3, Memphis, 

Tennessee, USA. p. 66. 

Algoe, C., Van Ranst, E. & Stoops, G. 2008. 

Micromorphological study of spheroidal weathering of 

dolerite in Suriname. Soil Micromorphology, microinvestigation 

on the earth’s critical zone. Proceedings of 

the 13 th Intern. Conf. on Soil Micromorphology. Xiubin He 

(Ed.), Chengdu, China : 125-126. 

Ampoorter, E., Goris, R., Cornelis, W.M. & Verheyen, K. 

2007. Impact of mechanized logging on compaction of 

sandy forest soils. Forest Ecology and Management, 241, 

192-174. 

Bahremand, A., De Smedt, F., 2008. Distributed 

hydrological modeling and sensitivity analysis in Torysa 

watershed, Slovakia. Water Resources Management 

Journal 22(3): 393-408, doi:10.1007/s11269-007-9168-x 

Balasooriya, W.K., Denef. K., Peters, J., Verhoest, N.E.C. 

& Boeckx, P. Vegetation composition and soil microbial 

community structural changes along a wetland hydrology 

gradient. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. 12: 277- 

291. 

Batelaan, O., 2007. Remote sensing studies of karst terrain 

in Viet Nam, in: Meijerink, A.M.J., Bannert, D., 

Batelaan, O., Lubczynski, M.W. and Pointet, T., 2007, 

Remote sensing applications to groundwater, IHP-VI series 

on groundwater 16, 311 p., SC.2007/WS/43; 

IHP/2007/GW/16. 

Batelaan, O., Chormanski, J., Van de Voorde, T. & 

Canters, F., 2007. Improved distributed runoff modelling 

of urbanised catchments by integration of multi-resolution 

remote sensing, Geoscience and Remote Sensing 

Symposium, 2007. IGARSS 2007. IEEE International, pp. 

5021-5024, 23-28 July 2007. 

Batelaan, O. & Witte, JPM., 2007. Ecohydrology, 

phreatophytes and groundwater dependent ecosystems. 

Abstract in proceedings of xxxv iah congress groundwater 

and ecosystems, Lisbon, Portugal, Ribeiro, l., Chambel, a. 

And Condesso de Melo, m.t. (eds.), p. 12. 

Batelaan, O. & Witte, JPM, 2008. Ecohydrology and 

groundwater dependent terrestrial ecosystems, Proceedings 

of the 28th Annual Conference of the International 

Association of Hydrogeologists (Irish Group), Tullamore, 

Ireland, 22-23 April, p. 01-08. 

Beheydt, D., Boeckx, P. & Van Cleemput, O. 2008. N 2 O 

emission from conventional and minimum tilled soils. 

Biology and Fertility of Soils. 44: 863-874. 

Bonne, K., Kervyn, M., Cascone, L., Njome, S., Van 

Ranst, E., Suh, E., Ayonghe, S., Jacobs, P. & Ernst, G. 

2008. A new approach to assess long-term lava flow 

hazard and risk using GIS and low-cost remote sensing : 

the case of Mount Cameroon. West Africa. Intern. Journal 

of Remote Sensing 29(22):6537-6562. 

Canters, F., Van de Voorde, T., Batelaan, O., Dams, J., 

Cornet, Y., Binard, M., Goossens, R., Devriendt, D., Tack, 

F., Engelen, G., Lavalle, C. & Barredo, J., 2007. 

Measuring and modeling urban dynamics : Impact on 

quality of life and hydrology, Geoscience and Remote 

Sensing Symposium, 2007. IGARSS 2007. IEEE 

International, pp. 1994-1997, 23-28 July 2007. 

Chaves, B., De Neve, S., Boeckx, P., Dupont, R., Van 

Cleemput, O. & Hofman, G. 2008. Manipulating the N 

release from 15 N-labelled celery residues by using straw 

and vinasses in Flanders (Belgium). Agriculture 

Ecosystems & Environment 123: 151-160. 

Chen, MS., S. Wartel, S., Lavkulich, L., Baeyens, W., 

Goeyens, L. & Brion, N. 2007. Organic matter and 

dissolved inorganic nitrogen distributions in estuarine 

muddy deposits. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and 

Management. 10: 69-85. 

Chen, MS., Wartel, S. & Temmerman, S. 2005. Seasonal 

variation of floc characteristics on tidal flats, the Scheldt 

estuary. Hydrobiologia. 540: 181-195. 

Chormanski, J., Batelaan, O., De Smedt, F., Van de 

Voorde, T. & Canters, F., 2007. Application of a 

distributed GIS model for studying surface runoff 

processes in an urban wetland. In: Kotowski, W., Maltby, 

E., Mirosław–Świątek, D., Okruszko, T. and Szatyłowicz, 

J. (eds), Wetlands: modelling, monitoring, management. 

Taylor & Francis, A.A. Balkema Publisher, The 

Netherlands: 189-196. 

Chormanski, J., Van de Voorde, T., De Roeck, T., 

Batelaan, O. & Canters, F., 2008. Improving distributed 

runoff prediction in urbanized catchments with remote 

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PUBLICATIONS 

sensing based estimates of impervious surface cover, 

Sensors, 8, p. 910-932. 

D’haene, K., Vermang, J., Cornelis, W.M., Schiettecatte, 

W., Leroy, B., De Neve, S., Gabriels, D. & Hofman, G. 

2008. The effect of reduced tillage on physical properties 

of silt loam soils. Soil and Tillage Research. 99, 279–290. 

Dassargues, A., Dejonghe, W., Diels, L., Brouyère, S., 

Caterina, D., Batelaan, O., Dujardin, J., Canters, F., 

Thomé, JP, Debacker, V., Crevecoeur, S. & Hérivaux, C. 

2008. Investigating the worth of flux-based approaches in 

development of brownfields: the frac-weco project. 

Abstract in proceedings of i-sup 2008, innovation for 

sustainable production 2008 conference, bruges, 22- 

25/04/08. 

De Roeck, ER, Verhoest, NEC, Miya, MH, Lievens, H., 

Batelaan, O., Thomas, A. & Brendonck, L., 2008. Remote 

Sensing and Wetland Ecology : a case study in South 

Africa. Sensors, 8, p. 3542-3556. 3542-3556. 

Degand, ER. Adams, M. Hoffmann, F. De Smedt, H. Van 

Nieuwenhuyze & Herrier, JL, 2008. Optimisation of nature 

development scenarios for the integrated nature reserve of 

the Hemmepolder (Belgium). Groundwater–Surface Water 

Interaction: Process Understanding, Conceptualization and 

Modelling, Proceedings of Symposium HS1002 at 

IUGG2007, Perugia, July 2007. IAHS Publ. 320: 11pp. 

Erpul, G., Cornelis, W.M., Gabriels, D., Samray, H.N. & 

Guzelordu, T. 2008. Sand detachment under the rains with 

varying angle of incidence. Catena, 72, 413-422. 

Fiantis, D., Nelson, Van Ranst, E., Shamshuddin, J. & 

Qafoku, N.P. 2008. Evaluating weathering indices of new 

pyroclastic deposits from Mt. Talang (Sumatra) and Mt. 

Merapi (Java), Indonesia. Soil Micromorphology, microinvestigation 

on the earth’s critical zone. Proceedings of 

the 13 th Intern. Conf. on Soil Micromorphology. Xiubin He 

(Ed.), Chengdu, China : 170. 

Heidari, A., Mahmoodi, S. & Stoops, G. 2008. 

Palygorskite Dominated Vertisols of Southern Iran. In: 

Kapur, S., Mermut, A. & Stoops, G (Eds). New Trends in 

Micromorphology. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 137-151. 

Houngnandan P., Yemadje R.G.H., Oikeh, S.O., 

Djidohokpin, C.F., Boeckx, P. & Van Cleemput, O. 2008. 

Improved estimation of biological nitrogen fixation of 

Soybean cultivars (Glycine max I. merril) using 15 N natural 

abundance technique. Biology and Fertility of soils. DOI 

10.1007/s00374-008-0311-5. 

Huygens, D., Boeckx, P., Templer, P., Paulino, L., Van 

Cleemput, O., Oyarzún, C., Godoy, R. 2008. Mechanisms 

for retention of bioavailable nitrogen in volcanic rainforest 

soils. NATURE Geoscience 1: 543-548. Doi: 

10.1038/ngeo252. 

Huygens, D., Denef, K., Vandeweyer, R., Godoy, R., Van 

Cleemput, O. & Boeckx, P. 2008. Do nitrogen isotope 

patterns reflect microbial colonization of soil organic 

matter fractions ? Biology and Fertility of Soil 44: 955- 

964. 

Jin, K., Cornelis, W.M., Schiettecatte, W., Lu, J., Yao, Y., 

Wu, H., Gabriels, D., De Neve, S., Cai, D. & Hartmann, R. 

2007. Effects of different management practices on the 

soil-water balance and crop yield for improved dryland 

farming in the Chinese Loess Plateau. Soil and Tillage 

Research, 96, 131–144. 

Jin, K., Cornelis, W.M., Schiettecatte, W., Lu, J.J., Buysse, 

T., Baert, G., Wu, H.J., Yao, Y., Cai, D.X., Jin, J.Y., De 

Neve, S., Hartmann, R. & Gabriels, D. 2008. 

Redistribution and loss of soil organic carbon by overland 

flow under various soil management practices on the 

Chinese Loess Plateau. Soil Use and Management. 22, 

181-191 

Khlosi, M., Cornelis, W.M., van Genuchten, M.Th., 

Douek, A. & Gabriels, D. 2008. Performance evaluation of 

models that describe the soil water retention curve between 

saturation and oven dryness. Vadose Zone Jounal, 7, 87– 

96. 

Kooistra, L., Wamelink, W., Schaepman-Strub, G., 

Schaepman, M., Van Dobben, H., Aduaka, U. & Batelaan, 

O., 2008. Assessing and predicting biodiversity in a 

floodplain ecosystem: assimilation of net primary 

production derived from imaging spectrometer data into a 

dynamic vegetation model. Remote sensing of environment 

112 (5), p. 2118-2130. 

Moussadek, R., Mrabet, R., Verdoodt, A., Ye, L. & Van 

Ranst, E. 2008. Effect of no tillage on Vertisol 

hydrodynamic properties. Eurosoil 2008. Book of 

Abstracts. W.E.H. Blum, M.H. Gerzabek & M. Vodrazka 

(Eds.), Vienna, Austria : 49. 

Mpulila, T.S., Cornelis, W. & Van Ranst, E. 2008. 

Pedotransfer functions to predict water retention curves of 

eastern and northern Tanzanian soils. Geophysical 

Research Abstracts, Vol. 10, EGU 2008- A -10037, 

Vienna. 

Mureithi, S.M., Verdoodt, A. & Van Ranst, E. 2008. The 

Effects of Enclosures for Rehabilitating degraded semi- 

Arid Rangeland in Lake Baringo Basin Kenya In : Zdruli, 

P. & Costantini, E. (eds.), Moving ahead from assessments 

to actions : Could we win the struggle with land 

degradation ? Book of Abstracts, 5 th International 

Conference on Land Degradation, Valenzano, Bari, Italy : 

135-141. 

Nel, JM, Xu, Y. & Batelaan, O., 2007. Implementation of 

an aquifer protection zoning policy in South Africa. 

Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on 

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PUBLICATIONS 

Diffuse Pollution, Sao Paulo, 26-31 August, 16 p. 

Nel, JM, Xu, Y., Pienaar, H., Batelaan, O. & Brendonck, 

L., 2007. Feasibility and implementation of groundwater 

protection zoning in Africa. Proceedings of the 

Groundwater Conference, Bloemfontein, South Africa, 18- 

20 October, 12 p. 

Nguyen Dai Trung, Verdoodt, A., Dusar, M., Tran Tan 

Van & Van Ranst, E. 2008. Evaluating ethnopedological 

knowledge systems for classifying soil quality. A case 

study in Bo Hamlet with Muong People of Northern 

Vietnam. Geographical Research 46(1):27-38. 

Nurmohamed, R., Naipal, S. & De Smedt, F., 2007. 

Modeling hydrological response of the Upper Suriname 

river basin to climate change. Journal of Spatial Hydrology 

7(1): 1-22. http://www.spatialhydrology.com/journal/ 

Vol7No1Spring2007.htm 

Nyenje, PM & Batelaan, O., 2007. Estimating the effect of 

climate change on the hydrology of Ssezibwa catchment, 

Uganda. Paper in Mwakali, J.A., Nawangwe, B. and 

Tickodri-Togboa, S.S. (Eds), Proceedings of The 

Conference on Collaborative Research for Technological 

Development, 17-18 December, Kampala, Uganda. 

Peters J., Verhoest, N.E.C., Samson, R., Boeckx, P. & De 

Baets, B. 2008. Wetland vegetation distribution modeling 

for the identification of constraining environmental 

variables. Landscape Ecology. DOI 10.1007/s10980-008- 

9261-4. 

Ray, RL, & De Smedt, F., 2008. Slope stability analysis on 

a regional scale using GIS: A case study from Dhading, 

Nepal. Accepted for publication in Environmental 

Geology. (IF 2006: 0.610) doi:10.1007/s00254-008-1435- 

5 

Roets, W., Xu, Y., Raitt, L., El-Kahloun, M., Meire, P., 

Calitz, F., Batelaan, O., Anibas, C., Paridaens, K., 

Vandenbroucke, T., Verhoest, NEC & Brendonck, L. 

2008. Determining discharges from the table mountain 

group (tmg) aquifer to wetlands in the southern cape, south 

africa. Hydrobiologia 607, p. 175-186, doi 

10.1007/s10750-008-9389-x. 

Rwetabula, J., De Smedt, F. & Rebhun, M., 2008. 

Prediction of runoff and discharge in the Simiyu river 

(tributary of Lake Victoria, Tanzania) using the WetSpa 

model. Accepted for publication in Journal of Hydrology 

and Earth System Sciences. 

Safari, A., & De Smedt, F., 2008. Streamflow simulation 

using radar-based precipitation applied to the Illinois River 

basin in Oklahoma, USA. BALWOIS Conference on 

Water Observation and Information System for Decision 

Support, 27-31 May 2008, Ohrid, Republic of Macedonia: 

17 pp. 

Schiettecatte, W., D´hondt, L., Cornelis, W.M., Acosta, 

M.L., Leal, Z., Lauwers, N., Almoza, Y., Alonso, G.R., 

Díaz, J., Ruíz, M. & Gabriels, D. 2008. Influence of 

landuse on soil erosion risk in the Cuyaguateje watershed 

(Cuba). Catena, 74, 1-12. 

Schiettecatte, W., Gabriels, D., Cornelis, W.M. & Hofman 

G. 2008. Impact of deposition on the enrichment of organic 

carbon in eroded sediment. Catena, 72, 340-347. 

Schiettecatte, W., Gabriels, D., Cornelis, W.M. & Hofman, 

G. 2008. Enrichment of organic carbon in sediment 

transport by interrill and rill erosion processes. Soil 

Science Society of America Journal, 72, 50-55. 

Stoops, G., Gérard, M. & Arnalds, O. 2008. A 

Micromorphological Study of Andosol Genesis in Iceland. 

In: Kapur, S., Mermut, A. & Stoops, G (Eds). New Trends 

in Micromorphology. Springer, Heidelberg, pp 67-90. 

Van Campenhout, K.M.L., Ampe, C., Wouters, K., 

Defrijn, S., Bomans, E., Van Ranst, E., Langohr, R. & 

Deckers, J. 2008. Heritage soils in Flanders : towards a 

conservation strategy. Eurosoil 2008. Book of Abstracts. 

W.E.H. Blum, M.H. Gerzabek & M. Vodrazka (Eds.), 

Vienna, Austria : 123-124. 

Van Cromphaut, C., Van Ranst, E., De Resende, V.G., 

Vandenberghe, R.E., De Grave, E. & Lambiv Dzemua, G. 

2008. Characterization by Mössbauer spectroscopy of Fe 

phases in highly weathered serpentinitic soil from southern 

Cameroon. Clay Minerals 43:9-20. 

Van Ranst, E., Utami, S.R., Verdoodt, A. & Qafoku, N.P. 

2008. Mineralogy of a perudic Andosol in central Java, 

Indonesia. Geoderma 144:379-386. 

Verbist, K., Schiettecatte, W., Cornelis, W.M., 

Oltenfreiter, G., Van Meirvenne, M. & Gabriels, D. 2007. 

The influence of a compacted plow sole on saturation 

excess and runoff. Soil Tillage and Research, 96, 292–302. 

Verdoodt, A., Van Ranst, E., Finke, P. & Baert, G. 2008. 

Topsoil organic carbon content in relation to edaphic and 

anthropogenic site variables in Rwanda. Eurosoil 2008. 

Book of Abstracts. W.E.H. Blum, M.H. Gerzabek & M. 

Vodrazka (Eds.), Vienna, Austria : 141. 

Wang, L., Qiu, J., Tang, H., Li, H., Li, C. & Van Ranst, E. 

2008. Modelling soil organic carbon dynamics in the major 

agricultural regions of China. Geoderma 147:47-55. 

Wartel, S., Chen, MS, Van Eck, GTM & Van Maldegem, 

DC. 2007. Evolution of the accumulation of bottom mud in 

the turbidity maximum of the Schelde estuary – an example 

of human impact. Aquatic Ecosystem Health and 

Management. 10: 107-115. 

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PUBLICATIONS 

Ye, L., Tang, H., Zhu, J., Verdoodt, A. & Van Ranst, E. 

2008. Spatial patterns and effects of soil organic carbon on 

grain productivity in China. Soil Use and Management 

24:80-91. 

Ye, L. & Van Ranst, E. 2008. Modelling soil degradation 

effect on long-term food security in China. Eurosoil 2008. 

Book of Abstracts. W.E.H. Blum, M.H. Gerzabek & M. 

Vodrazka (Eds.), Vienna, Austria : 148. 

Ye, L., Verdoodt, A. Moussadek, R., Tang, H. & Van 

Ranst, E. 2008. Assessment of China's food producing 

capacities using a Web-based land evaluation engine and a 

grid-based GIS. Advances in GeoEcology 39:703-722. 

Youssef, F., Erpul, G., Bogman, P., Cornelis, W.M. & 

Gabriels, D. 2008. Determination of Efficiency of Vaseline 

Slide and Wilson and Cooke Sediment Traps by Wind 

Tunnel Experiments. Environmental Geology, 55, 741- 

750. 

Zeinivand, H., De Smedt, F. & Bahremand, A., 2007. 

Simulation of basin runoff due to rainfall and snowmelt. In 

Oxley, L. and D. Kulasiri (eds), MODSIM 2007 

International Congress on Modelling and Simulation. 

Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New 

Zealand, December 2007: 1796-1802. 

http://mssanz.org.au/MODSIM07/papers/28_s21/Simulatio 

n_s21_Zeinivand_.pdf 

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 

MODELLING SOIL GENESIS IN CALCAREOUS 

LOESS 

Finke, P.A. & Hutson, J. (2008). Geoderma 145:462-479 

The SoilGen1 model was developed to simulate soil 

development in calcareous loess at Holocene (15000 BP – 

present) temporal extent. We used the LEACHC model as 

a core and added process formulations to describe the 

effect of vegetation and soil macro fauna on various soil 

properties. A limited calibration was done on the calcite 

solubility constant by comparing decarbonisation rates in 

various leaching climates with values predicted by the 

metamodel of Egli and Fitze (2001). Soil profiles of C and 

pH after 15000 years compared well with measurements in 

a Belgian loess profile that was never under agriculture, 

taking the composition of the C-horizon as uniform parent 

material. Scenario's with and without agriculture, with 

varying degrees of bioturbation and for documented 

Holocene climatic and vegetation evolutions in Belgium 

and Hungary were simulated and compared. Results show 

a clear effect of bioturbation on soil development, 

especially in the continental climate evolution of Hungary. 

Indicators for the possible occurrence of clay migration 

and disturbance of late glacial morphology were calculated 

and these also show the importance of bioturbation. 

MAPPING THE POSSIBLE OCCURRENCE OF 

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES BY BAYESIAN 

INFERENCE 

Finke, P.A., E. Meylemans & Van de Wauw, J. (in press). 

Journal of Archaeological Science 

Regional archaeological prospections are often done by 

field-walking, where the location of the sampled fields is 

often determined by factors like feared disturbance or 

recent plowing. The resulting data configuration can be 

suboptimal for spatial prediction of the archaeological 

potential by geostatistical methods like kriging. As an 

alternative, we propose a Bayesian method to map the 

possible occurrence of archaeological finds and compare 

this to indicator regression kriging. Three types of 

predictive models were implemented in the Bayesian 

context following deductive, inductive and mixed 

approaches to use auxiliary geographical information in the 

mapping. After prediction to a validation set, it was 

concluded that the mixed approach gave the best results in 

terms of map quality, and that the kriging method 

performed poorly. Usage of data on the presence and the 

absence of archaeological finds is to be preferred above 

usage of presence data only. Furthermore, a method is 

presented that filters those parts of a predictive map that 

are not strongly supported by evidence. 

NO-TILL FARMING SYSTEMS 

Goddard, T., Zoebisch, M.A., Gan, Y.T., Ellis, W., 

Watson, A. and Sombatpanit, S. (eds) 2008. Special 

Publication No. 3, World Association of Soil and Water 

Conservation, Bangkok, ISBN: 978-974-8391-60-1, 544 

pp. 

No-till farming systems have been developed and applied 

around the world over several decades. The technology is 

dynamic: it develops and changes as we overcome 

obstacles in soil opening, seed placement, fertilizer 

banding and more. Researchers and farmers continue to 

modify the systems and apply no-till to a wider range of 

agricultural production systems. Benefits of no-till have 

been found in production, economic and environmental 

aspects of farming. As farmers apply no-till, their 

agronomic system moves to a new equilibrium. New 

investments in research of soils and plants are helping notill 

to develop further. This book is the result of the 

contributions of 78 authors from 20 countries or regions, 

describing at least 25 study areas of all habitable continents 

– several of them in more than one instance. Those texts 

are often written by scientists engaged in lab or plot 

research or from the experience of a particular country. In 

this text we have not constrained the reporting to a 

scientific plot based experience, nor have we constrained it 

geographically. We have encouraged those with experience 

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PUBLICATIONS 

and expertise in no-till to tell us their stories, which span a 

broad range of perspectives, including farmer experience 

and beliefs as well as plot research. 

Can be downloaded for free at http://www.waswc.org 

NEW TRENDS IN SOIL MICROMORPHOLOGY 

S. Kapur, A. Mermut and G. Stoops (Eds.). Springer- 

Verlag Berlin Heidelberg, Hard cover, 276 pp. ISBN: 978- 

3-540-79134-8. 

This book comprises 14 

papers presented during the 

12th International Working 

Meeting on Soil 

Micromorphology in Adana 

(Turkey) in 2004. The papers 

deal with different aspects of 

micromorphological research, 

ranging from genesis and 

palaeopedology to soil 

hydraulics. Four papers are 

authored or co-authored by 

staff members or alumni of 

ITC Gent (J. Arocena, S. 

Mahmoodi, R. Poch, G. Stoops). As all Springer 

publications this book is of a high quality and well 

illustrated. 

Each chapter starts with three boxes explaining the 

objectives, the scheme and recommended literature. 

Following topics are treated: 1° Soil (definition), 2° Soil 

forming factors, 3° Weathering and soil formation, 4° Field 

study, 5° Physical properties, 6° Mineral components, 7° 

Organic components, 8° Chemical and physico-chemical 

properties, 9° Ecology and cycle of elements, 10° Water in 

the soil, 11° Soil classification (USDA and WRB), 12° 

Soil maps and information systems, 13° Soil quality, 14° 

Chemical, mineralogical and micromorphological analyses. 

The book is written using a clear language and well 

illustrated with a large number of colour photographs. 

Because of its content, and especially also because its setup, 

it is not only interesting and most useful for native 

speakers, but also for all other lecturers understanding 

Spanish, as it is a unique example of new ways of 

transmitting knowledge. 

We were informed that the book would be published in the 

near future also in Catalan language. 

G. Stoops 

SOIL ATLAS OF EUROPE – FOR FREE 

G. Stoops 

INTRODUCCIÓN A LA EDAFOLOGÍA. USO Y 

PROTECCIÓN DEL SUELO 

J. Porta, M. Lopez-Acevedo, R.M. Poch. Ediciones 

Mundi-Prensa, Madrid, Barcelona, México. Soft cover, 

451 pp. ISBN 978-84-8476-342-0 

In the last issue of Pedon we 

reported already on the 

excellent field guide 

authored by Prof. J. Porta. 

The present book is an 

updating and extension of his 

famous “Edafología”, widely 

used in Spanish speaking 

countries. 

This new book is quite 

different from the existing 

handbooks on soil science 

because it combines information and exercises in a unique 

way. Whereas traditional handbooks only provide texts, 

and the more modern ones have some questions following 

the text, this book is structured in such a way that questions 

and exercises are integrated in the text. The book contains 

clear instructions for the lecturers. 

The Soil Atlas of Europe can be downloaded for free. The 

user has to download each page separately (128 pages in 

total). The PDF versions provide a better quality version 

compared with the JPEG files. There are 20 plates of maps 

which are included as 2-page PDF files, pages 40-79. User 

may navigate and select the files to download either by 

browsing the whole Atlas or by selecting one of the 

sections in the Contents. Each Page has a Title and belongs 

to one of the 7 sections of the Atlas (Introduction, The Soil 

of Europe, Soil Maps of Europe, European Soil: A Global 

perspective, A Soil Database of Europe, Key threats to soil 

in Europe, Additional Information). More info 

http://eusoils.jrc.it/projects/soil_atlas/Download.cfm 

E. Van Ranst 

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PUBLICATIONS 

THE SEVEN P’s FOR A SUCCESSFUL STUDENT AND PROGRAMME IN SOIL SCIENCE 

From the article “The Seven P’s for a Successful Student in Soil Science” by Rattan Lal, CSA News, April 2007 V52 N04 

PROJECT PROFILES 

DELINEATION OF AREAS SUSCEPTIBLE 

FOR WIND EROSION IN FLANDERS, 

BELGIUM 

Funded by : Vlaamse Overheid, Departement Leefmilieu, Natuur en 

Energie 

Promoters : W. Cornelis, D. Gabriels 

In the European framework directive Soil protection, wind 

erosion is considered as one of the main threats on soil 

quality in Europe. To delineate the areas susceptible to 

wind erosion in Flanders, Belgium, wind erosion is 

computed at the field level using a modeling approach. 

Erodibility measurements in the wind tunnel support the 

computer simulations. 

MONITORING OF DUST NUISSANCE IN 

THE PORT OF GHENT 

Funded by : Stad Gent, Departement Milieu, Groen en Gezondheid 

Promoter : W. Cornelis 

Nuissance due to course dust is a major problem in 

industrial environments. Dust immission is monitored 

using different techniques along various transects in the 

Port of Ghent. Together with analysis of climatic and 

traffic data, they provide insight into the dust problems. 

- 30 -

COMMUNICATIONS RECEIVED 

PROMOTIONS-AWARDS 

OBITUARY 

The Maharashtra Council of Agricultural Research and 

Education has selected and nominated Dr. (Smt.) M.R. 

Ghanbahadur (M.Sc. ITC-Ghent, 1997) to the post of 

Professor of Agronomy on May 9, 2008. 

Starting on June 4, 2008, Dr. Dian Fiantis (M.Sc. ITC- 

Ghent, 1995) was appointed as the Secretary of 

Community Services Institute of University of Andalas 

Padang. 

Prof. Pascal Boeckx and Em. Prof. Oswald van Cleemput 

received an award certificate from the Intergovernmental 

Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for contributing actively 

to the Noble Peace price of the IPCC (www.ipcc.ch). On 

December 10, 2007 the IPCC and A. Gore received the 

Nobel Peace price for their contributions to climate change 

research and awareness building. 

Dr. Raphaël Vermeire died at his 

home in Sint Denijs Westrem 

(Ghent) on October 1, 2008, at the 

age of 74. With his passing the 

International Training Centre for 

Post Graduate Soil Scientists (ITC) 

of Ghent University lost a most 

valuable assistant of the first two 

decades of its existence. 

Son of an agronomist, Raphaël Vermeire was born in 

Bruges on March 22, 1934. After taking his primary and 

secondary education in his home town, he enrolled at the 

Geological Institute of Ghent University, where he earned 

his licentiate degree (1960) and obtained the Doctor of 

Sciences degree (1967). A substantial part of the licence 

thesis and the Ph.D. dissertation, he worked out under the 

guidance of the late Prof. R. Maréchal, dealt with soil 

mapping in the Famenne depression, a region in Southern 

Belgium, and in the Gutland, in the Grand Duchy of 

Luxembourg, respectively. Early in his professional career 

at the Laboratory of Geology of Ghent University, 

Vermeire’s experience in soil mapping and cartography 

was essential and of great benefit to all ITC students, who 

highly appreciated his help and know-how during field 

work and preparation of scientific reports in view of their 

examinations. His soil mapping activities in the Grand 

Duchy of Luxembourg continued in the early 1970s, and 

were also most profitable for the training of several ITC 

students of the first generation. Dr. R. Vermeire retired 

from Ghent University in the middle of the 1990s. Being a 

social person, he thoroughly enjoyed good conversation, 

nice food and a tasty glass of wine. He liked to travel, and 

his journeys took him to most parts of the world. 

P.De Paepe 


- 31 -

MEETINGS 

ATTENDED MEETINGS 

EUROSOIL 2008 : SOIL-SOCIETY-ENVIRONMENT 

August 25-29, 2008, Vienna, Austria 

Eurosoil is the quadrennial meeting of the European 

Confederation of Soil Science Societies (ECSSS), and this 

year it was hosted in the beautiful city of Vienna in 

Austria. 

According to the organization, about 1500 participants 

from 77 countries were attending the congress. Among 

these attendants, there was a large and active delegation of 

the ITC-Physical Land Resources (Prof. Peter Finke, Prof. 

Roger Langohr, Prof. Donald Gabriels, Prof. Eric Van 

Ranst, Drs. ir. Rachid Moussadek, Drs. ir. Annemie Van 

den Bossche, Drs. ir. Johan Van de Wauw, Dr. ir. Ann 

Verdoodt and Dr. Liming Ye), as well as different alumni. 

When David Hillel was addressing the audience during the 

opening lecture “Soil and the Evolution of Cultures”, he 

proclaimed that with our evolving knowledge of soils, two 

types of soil scientists are emerging: the specialists, who 

know more and more about less and less; and the 

generalists, who know less and less about more and more. 

The best option, he concluded, was to learn more and more 

about everything. 

Learning more and more about everything was certainly an 

option during the conference: with about 650 oral and 750 

poster presentations in 30 symposia and 13 workshops, and 

3 excursions. Making a choice out of these numerous 

interesting symposia, however, proved to be much more 

difficult. 

The topics covered a very broad range: from classical 

pedological sessions (soil genesis, classification,…) to 

relations with GMOs, mineral-organic matter interaction, 

climate change, land use and the role of soils in society. 

New problems which were previously untouched by the 

soil science community appeared, like the session on urban 

soils or soil education. Another trend was that statistics in 

soil science not only had a separate session (Pedometrics), 

but the techniques are increasingly appearing in almost all 

other disciplines as well. 

Of course, most soil research questions cross different 

disciplines, and organizing parallel sessions increases the 

risk of “knowing more about less and less”. But certainly 

one of the key advantages of large conferences is the 

possibility to establish cross-disciplinary links especially 

during the poster sessions. Personally I found this the 

major weak point of this Eurosoil conference: the oral 

program was so overwhelming that too little time could be 

spent in the poster sessions, which were also hosted in a 

too small location. 

Yet, making cross-disciplinary links is perhaps even easier 

during the social activities, and I believe that all 

participants will remember the welcome reception in the 

magnificent city hall in Vienna, and the pleasant congress 

dinner in the “Heuriger” restaurant. 

During those 5 days, Eurosoil 2008 proved that the soil 

science community is vibrant, with still lots of interesting 

problems to tackle. The baseline of the conference “soil – 

society – environment”, the sessions on soil education and 

the motion in support of the EU soil protection directive 

prove that soil scientists should not only focus on research, 

but should also clearly inform society why soil science is 

so important and interesting. 

The next venue for EUROSOIL 2012 will be Bari in Italy. 

Presentations by members of the ITC staff : 

• “Facing constraints in environmental reconstruction 

from soils data” by R. Langohr 

• “Modelling the genesis of Luvisols from calcareous 

loess” by P. A. Finke 

• “Modeling soil degradation effect on long-term food 

security in China” by L. Ye, E. Van Ranst 

• “Topsoil organic carbon content in relation to edaphic 

and anthropogenic site variables in Rwanda” by A. 

Verdoodt, E. Van Ranst, P. Finke, G. Baert 

• “Mapping phreatic groundwater dynamics in the Dijle 

Valley” by J. Van de Wauw, P. A. Finke 

• “Nitrogen mineralization of winter wheat residues in a 

temperate climate as affected by tillage intensity” by A. 

Van den Bossche, S. De Bolle, S. De Neve, G. Hofman 

• “Effect of no tillage on Vertisol hydrodynamic 

properties” by R. Moussadek, R. Mrabet, A. Verdoodt, 

L. Ye, E. Van Ranst 

• “Heritage soils in Flanders: towards a conservation 

strategy” by K. Vancampenhout, C. Ampe, K. Wouters, 

S. Defrijn, E. Bomans, E. Van Ranst, R. Langohr, J. 

Deckers. 

Two workshops were led by members from our ITC: 

• “New frontiers in soil protection research: perspectives 

and challenges” by José L. Rubio (CIDE, Valencia, 

Spain), Donald Gabriels, and Mike Fullen (Univ. 

Wolverhampton, UK) 

• “EU Forest monitoring – BIOSOIL”, convened by 

Ernst Leitgeb (BFW, Austria) and Eric van Ranst 

J. Van de Wauw 

- 32 -

MEETINGS 

6 TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON 

APPLICATIONS OF STABLE ISOTOPE 

TECHNIQUES TO ECOLOGICAL STUDIES 

August 25-29, 2008, Honolulu, Hawai 

The aim of this conference was to assemble an 

international group of isotope scientists engaged in 

ecological research, share ideas and state-of-the-art 

science, identify gaps in our knowledge in the field of 

ecology, and determine where future stable isotope 

research and interdisciplinary efforts could be best 

applied. These goals were accomplished through oral and 

poster presentations and, informally, through discussions 

and debate during organized social events. Prof. Boeckx 

attended this conference. 

13 th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SOIL 

MICROMORPHOLOGY 

September 11-16, Chengdu, China 

Since 1958 micromorphologists organise every four years 

an international working meeting, starting from 1978 in the 

frame of the ISSS, now IUSS. The 11 th meeting took place 

in Gent in 2001, the 12 th in 2004 in Adana (Turkey), and 

the 13 th in September 2008 in Chengdu, China. This 

meeting is the major activity of the IUSS Commission 1.1, 

“Soil Micromorphology and Morphology”. This year there 

were participants from 26 countries, with 181 published 

abstracts. Support for this meeting was obtained by the 

National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Chinese 

Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Mountain Hazards 

and Environment, and the Shaanxi Normal University. The 

meeting was organised mainly in parallel sessions on 

following topics: S1: Interpret soil quality and agroenvironment 

sustainability, S2: Interactions between 

organisms, fabrics and minerals, S3: Micromorphology of 

soils in extreme environments, archaeology and other 

sciences, S4: Micromorphology for paleopedology and 

loess, S5: Soil Genesis and classification. Remembrances 

were given for two extraordinary scientists who have died 

recently, Geoff Humphreys (given by Rosa Poch) and Peter 

Bullock (given by Georges Stoops). 

Rosa Poch (ITC MSc 1989, PhD 1992) was elected this 

year as new Chairperson of the IUSS Commission 1.1 (Soil 

Micromorphology and Morphology) (starting in 2010), and 

will also organise the 14 th meeting on soil 

micromorphology in Lleida (Spain) in 2012. 

Congratulations ! 

G. Stoops 

Sitting from right to left: 1 st : G. Stoops, 3 rd Rosa Poch (ITC MSc 1989, PhD 1992, Vice Chair of Commission 1.1), 4 th : Brenda Buck (Chairperson of 

Commission 1.1), 6 th : Ahmed Mermut, (Chairman of Division 1); Standing first row: 1 st : Xiubin He (organiser of the congress, short time trainee in Gent in 

2001), 3 rd : Farhad Khormali (Iran, trainee in Gent in 2002), 6 th : Dian Fiantis (ITC MSc 1995, PhD 2000) 

- 33 -

MEETINGS 

FUTURE MEETINGS 

Culminating Year of the International Year of Planet 

Earth (2007-2009). Information (see various documents): 

website : http://www.yearofplanetearth.org/ 

January 11-15, 2009 : 89 th American Meteorological 

Society Annual Meeting, Phoenix, AZ, USA. 

Information: website : http://www.ametsoc.org/meet/ 

annual 

January 19-22, 2009 : Cartography and Geoinformatics 

for Early Warning and Emergency Management : 

Towards Better Solutions, Prague, Czech Republic 

January 20-21, 2009 : Earth Explorer User Consultation 

Meeting (including A-SCOPE and BIOMASS), Lisbon, 

Portugal. Information : website : 

http://www.congrex.nl/09c01/. 

January 25-28, 2009 : Séminaire sur Matières 

organiques et environnement, Côte d'Azur, France. 

Information : website : http://resmo2009.conference.univpoitiers.fr/ 

January 27-29, 2009 : Full Radiative Forcing of Forests, 

Santa Barbara, California. 

February 1-3, 2009 : ASA Southern Branch Meeting, 

Atlanta, GA, USA. Information : website : 

http://www.agronomy.org/braches/southern. 

February 4-7, 2009 : 4th World Congress on 

Conservation Agriculture, New Delhi, India. 

February 10-13, 2009 : Map World Forum 2009, 

Hyderabad, India. Information : website : 

http://www.earsel6th.tau.ac.il/; e-mail : 

info@mapworldforum.org 

February 12-16, 2009 : AAAS Annual Meeting, 

Chicago, IL, USA. Information : website : 

http://www.aaas.org/meetings. 

February 16-18, 2009 : Climate variability in the Greater 

Mekong River Basin : paleo-proxies, instrumental data, 

historical records and model projections, Dalat City, 

Vietnam. Information : website : http://www.pagesigbp.org/calendar/ 

February 17-18, 2009 : Towards Low Carbon Cities : 

Understanding and analyzing urban energy and carbon, 

Nagoya, Japan 

February 17-19, 2009 : International Conference : Soil 

Degradation, Riga, Latvia. 

February 17-20, 2009 : North American Carbon Program 

All investigators Meeting, San Diego, CA, USA. 

Information : website : 

http://www.nacarbon.org/meeting_2009/ 

March 2-6, 2009 : Climate Change and Ocean 

Acidification (at the 11 th Pacific Science Inter-Congress), 

Tahiti. Information : website : http://www.psi2009.pf 

March 5-9, 2009 : 3 rd LIMPACS Conference on 

Holocene Lakes : Climatic Instability and Salinization, 

Chandigarh, India. Information : website : 

http://www.himclimate.in/html/limpacs. 

March 6-9, 2009 : 8 th Scientific Steering Committee 

Meeting of the Global Carbon Project, Lund, Sweden. 

March 10-12, 2009 : International Scientific Congress on 

Climate Change (IARU), Copenhagen, Denmark. 

Information : website : http://climatecongress.ku.dk/ 

March 10-12, 2009 : Integrated Assessment of 

Agriculture and Sustainable Development, Egmond aan 

Zee, The Netherlands. Information : website : 

http://www.seamlessip.org/PDF_files/International_event.pdf 

March 15-19, 2009 : The 24 th International Conference 

on Solid Waste Technology and Management, 

Philadelphia, USA. 

March 16-19, 2009 : WG VIII/12 6 th EARSeL SIG IS 

Workshop on Imaging Spectroscopy : Innovative tool for 

scientific & commercial environmental applications, Tel- 

Aviv, Israel. Information : website 

:http://www.earsel6th.tau.ac.il/ e-mail : 

bendor@post.tau.ac.il 

March 17-19, 2009 : 22nd Biennial Workshop on Aerial 

Photography, Videography, and High Resolution Digital 

Imagery for Resource Assessment, Lubbock, TX, USA. 


http://webpages.acs.ttu.edu/smaas/ASPRS_mysite.htm 

March 24-26, 2009 : Sixth International Integrated Pest 

Management Symposium : Transcending Boundaries, 

Portland, OR, USA. Information : website : 

http://www.ipmcenters.org/ipmsymposium09. 

March 24-26, 2009 : InterSol 2009, Paris, France. 

March 25-27, 2009 : Towards Environment (Challenges 

of SEIS and SISE : Integrating Environmental 

Knowledge in Europe), Prague, Czech Republic. 

March 28-29, 2009 : GAO (Graduate Archaeology at 

Oxford) : Living in the Past : Living Conditions through 

Time and Space", Oxford, UK. Information : website : 

http://ele.net/GAO_confrence_call_for_papers.pdf and 

- 34 -

MEETINGS 

http://www.graduatearchaeologyoxford.co.uk/ 

conferences.html 

March 29-April 3, 2009 : Soil Judging Contest hosted by 

Missouri State University, Springfield, MO, USA. 

March 29-April 3, 2009 : Preferential and Unstable Flow 

in Porous Media, Ascona, Switzerland. Information : 

website : http://www.pufinpom09.ch 

April 3-4, 2009 : SASES Annual Regional Meetings 

hosted by Kansas State University’s Wheat State 

Agronomy Club, Manhattan, KS, USA. Information : 

website : http://www.agronomy.org/students/meeting. 

April 6-10, 2009 : Archaeométrie 2009, Montpellier, 

France. Information : website : 

http://www.umr5059.univ-montp2.fr/spip.php?article59 

April 15-17, 2009 : Geoarchaeology, Landscape to 

Laboratory and Back Again, Sheffield, UK. Information : 

website : 

http://www.shef.ac.uk/sctdr/geoarchaeology2009. 

April 19-23, 2009 : ProGEO, the European Association 

for the conservation of the Geological Heritage : 

Geodiversity, Geoheritage and Nature and Landscape 

management, Drenthe, Netherlands. Information : 

website : http://www.progeo2009.drenthe.nl 

April 19-24, 2009 : European Geosciences Union 

General Assembly, Vienna, Austria. Information : 

website : 

http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2009/index.html. 

May 3-5, 2009 : International Workshop on Black Soils 

and Black Sediments – Archives of Landscape Evolution, 

Distribution, Formation, degradation and Properties, 

Dresden, Germany. Information : website : 

http://tudresden.de/die_tu_dresden/fakultaeten/fakultaet_fo 

rst_geo_und_hydrowissenschaften/fachrichtung_geowissen 

schaften/ig/ 

May 4-8, 2009 : 33rd International Symposium on 

Remote Sensing of Environment, Stresa, Lago Maggiore, 

Italy. 

May 10-13, 2009 : Nutrient Recovery from Wastewater 

Streams. British Columbia, Canada. Information : 

e-mail : mmori@venuewest.com 

May 11-13, 2009 : ERES 2009 : 7 th International 

Conference on Earthquake Resistant Engineering 

Structures, Limasoll, Cyprus. 

May 11-15, 2009 : 10 e journées de l'Etude des Sols, 

Strassbourg, France. Information : website : 

http://equinoxe.u-strasbg.fr/jes/index.htm 

May 13-15, 2009 : Sustainable Development and 

Planning 2009, St. Raphael Resort, Limasoll, Cyprus. 

May 25-29, 2009 : Conference on Developing 

International Geoarchaeology and Workshop on 

Instrumental Neuton Activation Analysis, Ontario, 

Canada. Information : website : 

http://www.developinginternationalgeoarchaeology.org; 

e-mail : dig@mcmaster.ca 

May 27-29, 2009 : Workshop on Micromorphology for 

Archaeology, Poviglio (near Parma), Italy. Information : 

e-mail : cristianonicosia@yahoo.it 

May 31-June 3, 2009 : North American Agroforestry 

Conference, Columbia, MO, USA. Information : website: 

http://www.centerforagroforestry.org/events/afta/index. 

asp. 

June 6-11, 2009 : ESF-FWF Conference in Partnership 

with LFUI on Mechanisms of Quaternary climate change: 

stability of warm phases in the past and in the future, 

Obergurgl, Austria. Information : website : 

http://www.esf.org/activities/esf-conferences/conf-listcurrent-year.html?year=2009 

June 8-12, 2009 : 18 th International Symposium on 

Ecology & Safety. For a cleaner and safer world, Sunny 

Beach resort, Bulgaria. Information : website : 

http://www.sciencebg.net/symposiums/eng/ecoeng.html 

June 9-12, 2009 : 6 th European Congress on Regional 

Geoscientific Cartography and Information Systems 

Munich 2009, Munich, Germany. 

June 12-20, 2009 : 14 th International Clay Conference, 

Castellaneta M., Italy. Information : website : 

http://www.14icc.org/; e-mail : secretariat@14icc.org 

June 14-20, 2009 : XVI International Nitrogen Fixation 

Congress, Big Sky, MT, USA. Information : e-mail : 

john.peters@chemistry.montana.edu. 

June 15-19, 2009 : Spatial Data Infrastructure 

Convergence : Building SDI Bridges to Address Global 

Challenges, Rotterdam, The Netherlands. 

June 22-24, 2009 : Western Society of Soil Science 

Meeting, Fort Collins, CO, USA. Information : website : 

http://www.soils.org/branches/western 

June 22-26, 2009 : Meeting on Soils with Mediterranean 

Type of Climate, Beirut, Lebanon. 

http://www.iuss.org/10IMSMTC%20final%20announcem 

ent%20(pdf).pdf 

June 29-July 3, 2009 : BIOGEOMON 2009. 6 th 

International Symposium on Ecosystem Behaviour. 

- 35 -

MEETINGS 

Helsinki, Finland. Information : website : 

http://www.environment.fi/syke/biogeomon2009 

July 6-7, 2009 : 1 st Young Scientists Meeting PAGES on 

Retrospective views on our Planet's Future. Corvallis, 

USA. Information : website : http://www.pages-osm.org 

July 7-11, 2009 : IGARSS'09 International Geoscience & 

Remote Sensing Symposium – Cape Town, South 

Africa. Information : website : http://www.grss-ieee.org/; 

e-mail : hannegarn@gmail.com 

July 12-15, 2009 : ASA-CSSA-SSSA Northeastern 

Branch Meeting, Portland, ME, USA. Information : 

website : 

http://www.agronomy.org/branches/northeastern. 

July 13-16, 2009 : 10 th International Conference on the 

Biogeochemistry of Trace Elements, Chihuahua, Mexico. 


http://icobte2009.cimav.edu.mx/index.php/contents/en. 

July 21-25, 2009 : 11 th International Symposium on Soil 

and Plant Analysis, Santa Rosa, USA. Information : 

website : http://www.spcouncil.com/symposium.htm; e- 

mail : secretary@spcouncil.com 

August 4-8, 2009 : World Conference of Environmental 

History (WCEH) 2009 "Local Livelihoods and Global 

Challenges : Understanding Human Interaction with the 

Environment", Copenhagen, Denmark. Information : 

website : http://www.wceh2009.org/; e-mail : 

wceh2009@ruc.dk 

August 10-14, 2009 : Contemporary Crop Improvement : 

A Tropical View, Cairns, QLD, Australia. Information : 

website : http://www.plantbreeding09.com.au 

August 10-15, 2009 : World Soybean Research 

Conference VIII, Beijing, China. Information : website : 

http://www.wsrc2009.cn. 

August 13-19, 2009 : 8 th International Carbon Dioxide 

Conference, Jena, Germany. Information : website : 

http://www.conventus.de/icdc8 

August 23-27, 2009 : Farming Systems Design 2009, 

Monterey, CA, USA. Information : website : 

http://www.iemss.org/farmsys09. 

August 23-28, 2009 : 2 nd World congress of Agroforestry, 

Nairobi, Kenya. Information : website : 

http://worldagroforestry.org/wca2009. 

August 26-30, 2009 : 16th International Plant Nutrition 

Colloquium, Sacramento Convention Center, 

Sacramento, California, USA. Information : website : 

http://groups.ucanr.org/plantsciences/IPNC16/; e-mail : 

IPNC@plantsciences.ucdavis.edu 

September 5-6, 2009 : Field Soil Excursion of the 

German Soil Science Society in Belgium. 

September 7-11, 2009 : 7 th Forum of the Italian 

Federation of Earth Sciences, Rimini, Italy. 

September 9-12, 2009 : International Symposium on 

Digital Earth, Beijing, China. 

September 13-19, 2009 : 8 th International Carbon 

Dioxide Conference, Jena, Germany. Information : 

website : http://www.conventus.de/icdc8/ 

September 20-23, 2009 : Salinization Conference, 

Budapest, Hungary. Information : website : 

http://www.taki.iif.hu/sasconf/home.html; e-mail : 

tibor@rissac.hu or andras.buttner@rissac.hu 

September 21-23, 2009 : Environmental Health Risk 

2009, New Forest, UK. 

September 25-30, 2009 : 2 nd International Symposium on 

Peatlands in the Global Carbon Cycle, Prague, Czech 

Republic. Information : website : 

http://www.peatnet.siu.edu/CC09MainPage.html 

October 20-21, 2009 : La Recherche sur les sites et sols 

pollués, Paris, France. 

November 1-5, 2009 : ASA-CSSA-SSSA International 

annual meeting, USA. Information : website : 

http://www.soils.org/ calendar 

November 14-19, 2009 : 21 st Association for the 

Advancement of Industrial Crops International 

Conference, Chillan, Chile. Information : website : 

http://www.aaic.org. 

November 16-20, 2009 : Workshop on Archeological 

Soil Micromorphology at the occasion of the 

International Conference on Soil Geography : New 

Horizons, Mexico City, Mexico. Information : website : 

http://www.soilgeography09.fciencias.unam.mx; e-mail : 

sergey@geol-sun.igeolcu.unam.mx 

November 17-20, 2009 : 23 rd New Phytologist 

Symposium on Carbon Cycling in Tropical Ecosystems, 

Guangzhou, China. Information : website 

:http://www.newphytologist.org and 

http://www.globalcarbonproject.org/meetings 

November 22-28, 2009 : The Africa Soil Science Society, 

ASSS, 5 th International Conferences, Yaoundé, 

Cameroon. Information : website : 

http://www.asssonline.org/events. htm 

- 36 -

MEETINGS 

2010 

IGARSS'10 International Geoscience & Remote Sensing 

Symposium – Honolulu, Hawaii, USA. Information : 

website : http://www.grss-ieee.org/; e-mail : 

Karen.StGermain@noaa.gov 

January 27-28, 2010 : ASTM International Symposium 

on Salinization of Soil : Causes, Impacts and 

Remediation, San Antonio, TX, USA. Information : 

e-mail : keith.hoddinott@us.army.mil 

April 20-25, 2010 : 5 th International Symposium on Gully 

Erosion. Lublin, Poland. Information : website : 

http://gis.umcs.lublin.pl/gullyerosion2010/ 

August 1-6, 2010 : 19 th World Congress of Soil Science, 

Brisbane, Australia. Information : website : 

http://www.ccm.com.au/soil/ or http://www.19wcss.org. 

au; e-mail : soil@ccm.com.au 

August 22-28, 2010 : 23rd IUFRO World Congress on 

Forests for the Future : Sustaining Society and the 

Environment, South Korea. Information : website 

http://www.iufro.org/; e-mail : jparrotta@fs.fed.us 

October 31-November 4, 2010 : ASA-CSSA-Soil Science 

Soc. Am. Int. Meeting, Long Beach, California, USA. 

Information : website : http://www.soils.org/calendar. 

December 5-8, 2010 : National Irrigation Symposium, 

Phoenix, AZ, USA. 

2011 

May 9-14, 2011 : 6 th International Congress of the 

European Society for Soil Conservation, Athens, Greece. 

October 14-20, 2011 : ASA-CSSA-Soil Science Soc. 

Am. Int. Meeting, San Antonio, Texas, USA. 

Information: website : http://www.soils.org/calendar. 

2012 

October 21-25, 2012 : ASA-CSSA-Soil Science Soc. 

Am. Int. Meeting, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Information : 

website : http://www.soils.org/calendar. 

2014 

20 th World Congress of Soil Science, Seoul, South 

Korea. 


QUESTIONNAIRE 

Use and misuse of Science Citation Index in 

evaluating research and scientists in the South. 

The Belgian Royal Academy of Overseas Sciences 

organises in 2009 a meeting on the problems of 

evaluating scientific research in developing countries. 

One of the problems is the use or misuse made of the 

Science Citation Index (SCI) to evaluate scientists 

working in the south, or working in the north on topics 

of the south. The idea is to find out both positive and 

negative effects of the use of the SCI on research in the 

south, and to formulate proposals for decision makers. 

In the frame of this research, em. Prof. Dr. G. Stoops 

will make a study of the impact of the SCI especially in 

soil science and related fields. This is however only 

possible when sufficient first hand information is 

available. In order to obtain that, an enquiry is organised 

amongst our alumni, and we hope to get as much 

responses as possible. This can be done by completing 

the questionnaire below, that can also be downloaded as 

a Word document from our website 

http://www.plr.ugent.be/questionnaires.html. Please 

send the completed questionnaire before March 1 st by e- 

mail to Georges.Stoops@UGent.be, or by post to em. 

Prof. Dr. G. Stoops, Vakgroep Geologie en 

Bodemkunde, WE13, Krijgslaan 281, S8, B-9000 Gent, 

Belgium. 

Also European alumni are invited to send their opinion. 

For instance, do they think that data on tropical areas 

useful for development remain unpublished, because 

they do not fit in international journals, or because no 

time is left to publish them, because all efforts go to 

international publications ? 

G. Stoops 

→ (see questionnaire on the following page) → 

- 37 -

✂ 

QUESTIONNAIRE ON USE OF SCI 

1. Personal data necessary for interpretation : 

Country : 

University, institute, others (specify) : 

Position : 

2. In how far is the SCI used in your institution to evaluate staff members ? 

on a regular basis ? 

for promotion ? 

for entering staff ? 

others (stipulate) ? 

In which way is this done, which criteria are used ? 

Explain 

3. In how far is the SCI used in your institution to evaluate departments ? 

on a regular basis ? 

for budget allocation ? 

others (stipulate) ? 

In which way is this done, which criteria are used ? 

Explain 

4. Do you consider the use of the SCI for personal evaluation as useful or as harmful ? 

Explain 

5. If you have a leading position, do you use SCI in managing your team, department, university ? 

Explain why and how 

6. Is the use of SCI for evaluation increasing the scientific output of scientists ? 

Explain why or why not 

7. Are there research results, important for development, that do not get published because not 

suitable for international journals or because all time and energy goes to publication of other 

results in SCI controlled journals ? 

Explain 

8. Do you reach with SCI controlled journals the audience that could make use of your data for the 

development of your country? Yes No Would you reach it when data were published in 

local journals ? Yes No 

Explain 

9. What are the main problems for publishing your scientific results in SCI controlled journals ? 

10. Other Comments

INTERNATIONAL CENTRE FOR PHYSICAL LAND RESOURCES 

Ghent University 

Krijgslaan 281/S8 

B-9000 Gent 

Tel. : +32-9/2644618 

Fax : +32-9/2644991 

E-mail : PLRprog.adm@UGent.be 

Website : http://www.plr.ugent.be

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