ISMC 2026

5th International Soil Modeling Consortium Conference
Advances and Challenges in Tropical Soil Modeling, 15-19 settembre 2026 

Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro (PUC-Rio), Rio de Janeiro, Brasile

Prof. Eng. Nunzio Romano, senior member and former Director of C.I.R.AM., participated in ISMC 2026 as a keynote speaker with the lecture “Bridging the gap between observation and modeling scales: Could combining Critical Zone monitoring and Open-Air Laboratory data be the solution?”.

The conference brought together the international scientific community engaged in the integrated study of soil processes and the so-called Critical Zone. In particular, the keynote addressed one of the central issues in environmental modeling: the gap between the scales at which environmental processes are observed and measured and those at which simulation models must be applied to support natural resource management and the assessment of the impacts of climate change and land-use change.

The lecture discussed the potential of integrating Critical Zone monitoring networks with data collected in Open-Air Laboratories, as research infrastructures capable of combining multiscale observations, real-world experimentation, and modeling. This approach may help improve the representation of hydrological and biogeochemical processes and reduce uncertainties in their extrapolation from the study site to the spatial scales relevant to stakeholders. 

Participation in ISMC 2026 is fully aligned with CIRAM’s scientific activities devoted to the integrated study of subsurface-soil-water-environment systems, Critical Zone monitoring, and the development of modeling tools for interpreting environmental processes across different spatial and temporal scales. The initiative also strengthens the Centre’s role in promoting interdisciplinary approaches and integrating observation, experimentation, and modeling, while fostering new international collaborations and the development of advanced methodologies for the sustainable management of natural resources and land.