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Environmental Soil and Water Science Lab
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A lab that uses experiments and simulations to uncover how water and substances move through soil.
AboutAbout the lab
The science of mass transfer in the pedosphere
The Environmental Soil and Water Science Lab studies the movement of water and chemical substances in soil.
The lab combines laboratory experiments using small soil-packed tubes (columns), field measurements, and computer simulations.
Its subjects include every kind of soil, from desert sand to peat soil in wetlands.
The lab works to clarify the mechanisms behind soil-related problems such as desertification, salinization, soil contamination, soil erosion, and greenhouse gas emissions from soil.
Key terms
- Mineral weathering
- The process in which rocks and minerals gradually dissolve or break down through contact with rainwater and air
- Water erosion
- The process in which surface soil in farm fields and other land is worn away and carried off by rain or flowing water
- Biochar
- Charcoal made by heating wood, crop residues, and similar materials under low-oxygen conditions. It is mixed into soil for use
NewsLab news
Prof. Nishimura receives the Academic Award of the Japanese Society of Irrigation, Drainage and Rural Engineering
A paper by Prof. Nishimura and colleagues is published in CATENA
A paper by Prof. Nishimura and colleagues is published in Paddy and Water Environment
A paper by Prof. Nishimura and colleagues is published in Suido no Chi
A graduate school guidance session is held, and the lab's materials are made public
ResearchResearch themes
The lab studies the movement of water, chemical substances, and heat in soil through laboratory experiments, field measurements, and simulations. It also tackles soil-related environmental problems such as greenhouse gas emissions and soil erosion.
*Illustrative imageSequestering CO2 in soil through rock weathering
The lab studies how atmospheric CO2 is fixed in soil when minerals weather. It examines how basalt powder mixed into soil dissolves and is transported, and works on estimating the amount of carbon fixed.
*Illustrative imageProtecting soil under climate change
The lab studies the conservation of the soil environment under climate change. It investigates how to predict water erosion when the characteristics of short-duration rainfall change, and what measures can prevent soil in farm fields from being washed away.
*Illustrative imageSoil amended with biochar and organic matter
The lab studies how soil changes when biochar or organic matter is added to it. It examines the physical properties of soil mixed with biochar and the effect on methane emissions from paddy fields.
*Illustrative imageMethane bubbles from paddy fields
The lab studies the phenomenon in which methane escapes from paddy fields into the atmosphere as bubbles. It examines the amount released through each pathway and how this changes with the seasons.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Environmental Soil and Water Science Lab include faculty, academic support staff, a secretary, and doctoral, master's, and undergraduate students.As of 2025
- ProfessorTaku NishimuraPublications ↗
- Associate ProfessorYuji Yamashita
- Assistant ProfessorTakuhei YamasakiPublications ↗
VoicesStudent voices
Compiled from answers by students who were in the lab. Ratings and reviews reflect individual students' experiences, not the lab's official views.
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Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “Soil Profile Containing an Argillic Horizon” Cjrufe / CC0 (cropped)
- Sequestering CO2 in soil through rock weathering: “Klöch Basaltkies” Geolina163 / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Protecting soil under climate change: “Soil erosion, Warmwell, Dorset - geograph.org.uk - 52279” Rodney Burton / CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped)
- Soil amended with biochar and organic matter: “Charged and inoculated biochar ready for soil application” Tim Brunauer on behalf of Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Methane bubbles from paddy fields: “Green rice sheaves planted in a paddy field with long shadows at golden hour in Don Det Laos” Basile Morin / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Farmland and Environmental Engineering Lab): “Transplanting rice seedlings by hand into the flooded paddy after mechanical transplanting leaves gaps” Gpwitteveen / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Irrigation and Water Environment Engineering Lab): “Irrigation channel beside a rice field 8298941” 夢の
散歩 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped) - Related lab (Hosoi Lab): “Agricultural art” Antarsih / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Bioprocess Engineering Lab): “Flours” Mudd1 / CC BY-SA 3.0 (cropped)
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