The Hills are Alive: Building an

Interdisciplinary Earth Science Research

Facility at Biosphere 2

RESEARCH &
INQUIRY DISCOVERY
2B Institute 2B art
E hscience
To Tackle Scientific To Address Global
Grand Challenges Environmental Change

EDUCATION &
OUTREACH
iosp
B here 2
To Serve Arizona and
the Public At Large

Peter Troch – University of Arizona

 Where science
lives.

 Biosphere 2 is a large-scale Earth science facility

 Precise climate and mass balance control at large scales
 UA is building a science program to bridge the gap
between:
 patial
S scales (laboratory versus field experiments)
 emporal
T scales (event-based versus long-term observations)
iosp
B here 2
ore
C Mission

oT serve as a center for research, outreach,

teaching, and life-long learning about art
E h,
its living systems, and its place in the
universe.
iosp
B here 2
ore
C Mission

oT serve as a center for research, outreach,

teaching, and life-long learning about art
E h,
its living systems, and its place in the
universe.
Catalyze interdisciplinary thinking and understanding
about the Earth and its future
iosp
B here 2
ore
C Mission

oT serve as a center for research, outreach,

teaching, and life-long learning about art
E h,
its living systems, and its place in the
universe.
Catalyze interdisciplinary thinking and understanding
about the Earth and its future
Be an adaptive tool for Earth education and outreach
to industry, government, and the public , and the
public;
iosp
B here 2
ore
C Mission

oT serve as a center for research, outreach,

teaching, and life-long learning about art
E h,
its living systems, and its place in the
universe.
Catalyze interdisciplinary thinking and understanding
about the Earth and its future
Be an adaptive tool for Earth education and outreach
to industry, government, and the public , and the
public;
Distill issues related to Earth systems planning and
management for use by policymakers, students, and
the public.
Global hC ange and ater
W ycle
C
Dynamics

Changing Climate Changing Land Surface

Reduced Rainfall

Rising emperature
T

Breshears et al., PNAS, 20

 Global hC ange and ater
W ycle
C
Dynamics
• How does water affect the behavior of
life?
• How does life affects water cycle
dynamics?
1200 a Overall

1000
Removal of
resource limitations

ANPP (g m )
-2
800

600 Site-level

400

200 Precipitation
change

0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000
-1
PPT (mm y )

Weltzin et al., (2001) BioScience Huxman et al., (2004) Nature

art
E hScience xperimental
E Facility

Design of the Institutional Experiment

A Biosphere2-CUAHSI co-production
 art
E hScience xperimental
E Facility

 Three bays available for institutional experiment

 Precise climate and mass balance control

 ydrologic,
H biogeochemical, geomorphologic, ecologic
interactions
 Intermediate spatial scale (3mx
0 m)
51
 ot
B h event-based and long-term (10 years) observations
 art
E hScience xperimental
E Facility

 Three bays available for institutional experiment

 Precise climate and mass balance control

 ydrologic,
H biogeochemical, geomorphologic, ecologic
interactions
 Intermediate spatial scale (3mx
0 m)
51
 ot
B h event-based and long-term (10 years) observations
 Hillslope hydrology

ur
O onceptua
C
l Model

Biosphere 2

Surface/subsurface water Microbial and plant

flow paths & connectivity colonization

Biogeo-weathering &
ecosystem dynamics Huxman et al., EOS, 2009
Design Considerations

• C1: Relevance of the results to the semi-arid setting of the

Biosphere2 facility
• C2: Spatially variable moisture regimes, including convergence
• C3: Lateral connectivity of processes through transient subsurface
flow
• C4: Ensuring sufficient water available in the root zone
• C5: Temporal dynamics and response to climatic variation
• C6: Avoiding significant overland flow
• C7: Minimize the imposed structure and maximize the emergent
structure
• C8: Simplicity and elegance
• C9: Technical feasibility

Hopp et al., HESS, in prep

Zero-order catchment

Hopp et al., HESS, in prep

Parsimonious hydrologic modeling

Hopp et al., HESS, in prep

Detailed hydrologic modeling

Hopp et al., HESS, in prep

Engineering Design
Linking hydrology and geochemistry

Dontsova et al., in prep

Hydro-geochemical modeling

Transport (HYDRUS)
(advection, dispersion, diffusion) Geochemical Reactions
(saturated / unsaturated)
(CrunchFlow)
velocity -aqueous speciation
water sat. -kinetic mineral dissolution/precipitation
-ion exchange
-surface complexation

reaction-induced porosity
& permeability feedback

Sharon Desilets
 Subsurface weathering and
precipitation
Flow velocity Surface area
10 59 10 59

Volume % of secondary minerals

Volume % of primary minerals

Volume % of secondary minerals

Volume % of primary minerals

8 57 8 57

0.05 mm/h 0.1 m2/g

6 55 6 55
5 mm/h 1.7 m2/g
4 0.26 mm/h 53 4 3.2 m2/g 53
0.41 mm/h
2 51 2 51

0 49 0 49
0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000

Time, days Time, days

10 59 10 59

Volume % of secondary minerals

Volume % of primary minerals

Volume % of secondary minerals

Volume % of primary minerals

8 57 8 57

0.05 mm/h 0.1 m2/g

6 55 6 55
5 mm/h 1.7 m2/g
4 0.26 mm/h 53 4 3.2 m2/g 53
0.41 mm/h
2 51 2 51

0 49 0 49
0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 200 400 600 800 1000

Time, days Time, days

Subsurface weathering and
precipitation
Primary Mineral Fraction Secondary Mineral Fraction

V=0.0026 m/h V=0.0026 m/h

A: 168 days (3 years equivalent)

B: 560 days (10 years equivalent)
C: 1000 days (18 years equivalent)
Dontsova et al., in prep
tRIBS-VEGGIE Model

Satm
H λE

Qin

G
θ

Qout

Valeriy Ivanov
 Fully vegetated (1996-2007)
Mean ANPP

STD of
root moisture

Mean
root moisture

Ivanov et al., in prep.

 CV vs mean SM: Bare soil – Vegetated

Ivanov et al., in prep.

 SM spatial variability vs mean SM
Initial state #2

evapotranspiration

Evapotranspiration

Subsurface flow
Capillarity and

dominates

dominates
Transition of the dominant factors that
contribute to soil water heterogeneity

Ivanov et al., in prep.

 Temporal design: replicates vs treatment

Phase 1: bare soil

Replication
Phase 2: model organisms

Phase 3: biological perturbation

Climate change
Phase 4: different climate regimes

Huxman et al., EOS, 2009

Development of coupled systems model
Goal: To develop a predictive, modular system for hypothesis
generation and prediction, coupling subsurface & surface
hydrology, sediment transport, ecosystem dynamics, and bio-
geochemical processes.
Motivation: Numerical modeling must be part of B2 “learning
cycle” and is necessary for developing quantitative tools for
better prediction of real-world landscape processes.

Jon Pelletier
Similar initiatives in other biomes

Scott Saleska: NSF PIRE PI and coordinator

Acknowledgements

• Thanks to many, many people!!

– B2Science and SAHRA team
– Hydrologic Synthesis team (UIUC)
– Workshop participants
– CUAHSI
• Read more about Biosphere 2 EarthScience:
– www.b2science.org
– EOS brief report to appear in April
• Input and feedback welcome: patroch@hwr.arizona.edu
Thanks for your attention!

QUESTIONS?