Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Interaction for Sustainable Management and Development: Experimental Insights and Multiscale Modelling Approaches

Call for Papers

Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Interaction for Sustainable Management and Development: Experimental Insights and Multiscale Modelling Approaches

JOURNAL NAME: Environmental Geotechnics

PUBLISHER: ICE Publishing (Institution of Civil Engineers)

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 30 November 2026

About This Special Issue

Understanding the interaction between soil, vegetation, and atmosphere is crucial for improving the prediction, performance, and sustainability of geotechnical systems exposed to environmental loading. This dynamic interaction encompasses rooted soils, plant systems, and atmospheric processes, each of which governs the boundary conditions for water and energy exchanges in natural and engineered landscapes.

Advancing the experimental characterisation and numerical modelling of the coupled thermo-hydraulic, bio-chemo-mechanical, and energy-related processes that define soil-vegetation-atmosphere interaction is now recognised as a key priority. These processes — including water infiltration, evaporation, transpiration, runoff, and root reinforcement — play a critical role in slope stabilisation, erosion control, water management in both rural and urban settings, and the design of sustainable land use strategies. Their understanding is essential for the development of climate change adaptation frameworks and nature-based solutions.

Despite rapid progress in experimental techniques and modelling strategies, a significant gap persists between small-scale laboratory investigations and full-scale field implementation. This is largely due to the inherent complexity, multiscale coupling, and variability of bio-geotechnical systems in real-world settings.

This special issue will serve as a focused, multidisciplinary platform to consolidate cutting-edge research on soil-vegetation-atmosphere interaction, highlighting recent experimental and modelling advances with a strong emphasis on real-world geotechnical applications. Contributions from geotechnical engineering, hydrology, plant science, soil physics, ecology, and environmental modelling are especially welcome.

Please note: Submissions that focus purely on ecological or climatic themes without a clear geotechnical or applied environmental engineering component will not be considered.

Scope & Theme Areas

We invite submissions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Thermo-Hydraulic Properties of Rooted Soils — Experimental investigations including effects of vegetation on evaporation, transpiration, and water retention

• Site-Scale Hydrological Monitoring — Monitoring and interpretation of runoff, leaf interception, and water balance under vegetated conditions

• Sensor Networks and Monitoring Strategies — Development of novel sensor networks for characterising dynamic SVA processes in real-time

• Coupled Modelling of Rooted Soil Systems — Thermo-hydraulic and bio-chemo-mechanical modelling with applications to slope stability, erosion prevention, and energy/water flux prediction

• Multiscale Approaches — Experimental and modelling approaches to describe the mechanical response of vegetated soils under static and seismic loading

• Integration of Data for Design — Combining laboratory, field, and numerical data to derive robust, transferable design criteria for nature-based and bio-engineered solutions

• Root Architecture Effects — Quantification of root effects on soil strength, permeability, and stiffness, including the influence of plant species and root morphology

• Upscaling Methodologies — From micro-scale interactions to field-scale implementation in engineering design and ecosystem-based management

• Case Studies — Demonstrating the effectiveness of SVA-informed interventions in controlling landslides, improving soil resilience, or adapting to climate extremes

• Review and Synthesis Articles — Current methods, challenges, and opportunities in SVA interaction research

Topic Areas at a Glance

• Thermo-hydraulic behaviour of rooted and vegetated soils

• Experimental and field-scale monitoring of SVA processes

• Evaporation, transpiration, and root water uptake

• Coupled thermo-hydro-bio-chemo-mechanical modelling

• Vegetated slope stability under static and dynamic loading

• Role of root systems in soil reinforcement and water regulation

• Development of sensor networks for SVA characterization

• Upscaling methodologies from lab to field application

• Nature-based and bio-engineered geotechnical solutions

• Case studies addressing climate-induced geohazards

• Integrated modelling frameworks for sustainable land management

• Review articles on state-of-the-art SVA modelling and experimentation

Guest Editors

Federica Cotecchia

Manuela Cecconi

Anthony Kwan Leung

Vito Tagarelli

Key Deadlines & Dates

Submission Guidelines

How to submit: Manuscripts must be submitted via the journal's online submission portal, strictly following the author guidelines.

Selection step: Once registered, navigate to the journal, choose article type "Special Issue" and then select the specific special issue name from the drop-down menu.

Eligibility: Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere while under review for this journal.

Note: This special issue stems from the 3rd International Workshop on Soil-Vegetation-Atmosphere Interaction, held in November 2025 in Bari, Italy. Selected best papers from the workshop sessions will be invited for submission and will undergo a rigorous peer-review process in accordance with Emerald's editorial policies.

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