Using the Innovative Lysimeter Technology in the German–Russian Research Project “KULUNDA”

Abstract

The interdisciplinary KULUNDA project unites the efforts of German and Russian scientists to tackle the problems of soil degradation and water scarcity in the Kulunda steppe of the Russian Altai Krai. From 1954 to 1963, approximately 42 million ha of the Southern Soviet steppe, of which 6.2 million ha are located in Western Siberia, were converted into a large-scale intensive agriculture area. The affected areas are highly vulnerable to wind erosion, resulting in decreased top soils and humus contents and therefore in decreased concentrations of sequestered carbon. The assessment and management of the soil water and solute balance are of great importance for crop yield potentials and the sustainable development of the territory. In 2013, the first weighable gravitation lysimeter station in Siberia was successfully installed in Altai Krai (Russia) under Kulunda dry steppe conditions. Weighable lysimeters allow the continuous monitoring of changes in soil monolith mass. This is the precondition for calculating actual evapotranspiration (ETa—major component in the terrestrial water cycle) with high precision. Knowledge regarding the development of ETa is essential to evaluate the impact of climate change on the future water balance.