Ben-Gurion U receives government grant to establish a National Center for Excellence

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) received a grant from the chief scientist of the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture to study the erosion of fertile lands, a severe problem in Israel and a global issue. The grant will be used to establish a Center for Excellence headed by Prof. Tal Svoray of BGU's Department of Geography and Environmental Development.

In Israel, it is estimated that close to 125,000 acres (500,000 dunam) cannot be cultivated since a third of the original soil thickness has eroded and the soil that is left is degraded. The erosion of the top layer leads to a reduction in water volume and nourishing materials, which reduces yields significantly. In many fields, the soil has eroded all the way down to the bedrock.

The Center will develop a decision-making mechanism to reduce the loss of fertile land by studying the erosion process and how humans influence the process. The mechanism will be combined with a geographical information system and remotely sensed data to develop detailed treatments.

According to Prof. Svoray, "We will quantify erosion processes and sedimentation in agricultural catchments through a physically based model combined with a hydrological component that will include a simulation of water infiltration per land treatments, a 3D soil profile and various types of analysis, as well as surface flow component."

The connection between rainfall patterns and land loss also will be studied using dynamic data from meteorological radars. Svoray's Center staff includes Profs. Alex Furman and Sagi Filin from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Dr. Shmuel Assouline from the Volcani Center and Prof. Efrat Morin from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Provided by American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev