Irrigation & Drainage Systems Engineering

Giuseppe A Provenzano

Giuseppe A Provenzano
Associate Professor
University of Palermo, Italy

Biography

The main topics of his research activity are focused on the management of irrigation water at a farm scale, by mean of water balance simulation models as well as on field measurements of soil and crop related parameters. In particular he is currently working in order to improve the knowledge on the soil-plant relationship, when surface and subsurface drip irrigation are used for irrigation.   
Some of the researches have been carried out with the aim to improve the methodologies for designing drip irrigation plants, with special regard to the evaluation of friction and local losses in the laterals.
Furthermore a long experience in laboratory and field determination of soil hydraulic characteristics has been developed; the main methodologies to measure soil hydraulic characteristics, i.e. saturated and unsaturated hydraulic conductivity and soil water retentivity curve, with special reference to clay soils, susceptible to shrinkage and swelling phenomena, was acquired. Currently he is working on soil hydraulic characterization at a catchments scale, in order to verify the applicability of existing pedotransfer functions (PTF) or to determine new PTF, useful at such a scale, for soil hydraulic characterization  by means of easily measurable soil parameters.
For clay soils the determination of the soil shrinkage characteristic curve and the transport processes of water in soil with macropore/cracks were investigated, with the aim to develop strategies for a sustainable management of soils and water, and for prevention of land degradation.
He was actively involved in the EU project: "An integrated approach for sustainable management of irrigated lands susceptible to degradation/desertification" dealing with assessment of the influence of preferential transport on the processes of salt-accumulation and salt-leaching in clays soils.
In the frame of the research’s activities, some international cooperation were developed with the “Institute National Agronomique Paris-Grignon”, Polytechnic University of Valencia (Spain) as well as with United State Department of Agriculture of Beltsville (USA).

Research Interest

Irrigation plants
Irrigation and Drainage
Water sources and plants for agriculture
Topography and cartography
Irrigation techniques
Soil hydrology
Topography and cartographic techniques