Bing Si

Soil Science

The overall goal of my research program is to understand the mechanisms of soil water dynamics and thermal regimes in non-level landscapes—at the pedon, hillslope (catchment) and landscape scale. At the pedon and hillslope scale, vegetation, groundwater, and soil properties significantly affect soil water dynamics and thermal regimes and the interactions between these factors are not well understood. This is particularly true in semi-arid environments where freezing and thawing occur for six months.

My current research focuses on the soil physical and hydrological characteristics that lead to different ecosystems, particularly in Boreal and re-vegetated ecosystems. Applications include reclamation of mining wastes using coarse-textured cover materials, improving soil water storage capacity using layered soils, understanding hydrophobicity of soil materials, and evaluating soil water balance in hydrocarbon-affected reclamation soils at the water-shed scale.

• Ph.D., University of Guelph
• M.Sc., China
• B.Sc., China

Asim Biswas, Henry Chau, A. Bedard-Haughn, B.C. Si. 2012. Factors controlling soil water storage in the Hummocky landscape of the Prairie Pothole region of North America. Canadian Journal of Soil Science. Accepted (Feb. 25, 2012).

A. Biswas, T. B. Zeleke, and B. C. Si. 2012. Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis in examining scaling properties of the spatial patterns of soil water storage. Nonlinear Processes In Geophysics. 19, 227-238.

W. Zou, A. Biswas, X. Han, and B.C. Si. 2012. Extracting Soil Water Storage Pattern using a Self-Organizing Map. Geoderma:177-178:18-26.

Asim Biswas and Bing C. Si. 2012. Identifying effects of local and nonlocal factors of soil water storage using cyclical correlation analysis. Hydrological Processes. DOI: 10.1002/hyp.8459

Gang Liu and Bing C. Si. 2012. Probe body and thermal contact conductivity affect error of heat pulse method based on infinite line source approximation. Soil Science Society America Journal.76:370-374.

Asim Biswas and B.C. Si. 2011. Scales and locations of time stability of soil water storage in a hummocky landscape. Journal of Hydrology, 408(1-2):100-112

S. Banerjee., B.C. Si and S. Siciliano. 2011. Evidence of High Microbial Abundance and Spatial Dependency in Three Arctic Soil Ecosystems. Soil Science Society America Journal, 75: 2227-2232.

W. Zou, Han X. and B.C. Si. 2011.The effect of long-term fertilization on soil water storage and water deficit in the Black soil zone in Northeast China. Canadian Journal of Soil Science.92:439-448.

Liu, X., B. C. Si, T. Huffman, R. Cruse. 2012. World Molisol: preface. Canadian Journal Soil Sci. 92:381-382.

He H., H. Wang, K. Hu, Y. Huang, B Li, D. Chen, B.C. Si, A. Beaubier. 2012. Accuracy assessment of Sequential Indicator Simulation in 3-D prediction of soil texture. Soil Sci. (Accepted Jan. 2012).

Mingbin Huang, Lee Barbour, Julie Zettl, Amin Elshorbagy, Bing C. Si. 2011. The impact of available soil moisture storage in variably layered coarse textured soils on forest growth indices. Ecohydrology. (Accepted Feb. 2012).

A. Biswas and B.C. Si, 2011. Application of Continuous Wavelet Transform in Examining Soil Spatial Variability: A Review. Mathematical Geosciences, 43: 379-396.

Liu G. and B.C. Si. 2011. Single- and dual-probe heat pulse probe for determining thermal properties of dry soils. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 75:787-794.

Biswas A. and B.C. Si. 2011. Depth persistence of the spatial pattern of soil water storage in a hummocky landscape. Soil Science Society America Journal, 75:1099-1109.

Biswas A. and B.C. Si. 2011. Revealing the controls of soil water storage at different scales in a hummocky landscape. Soil Science Society America Journal, 75:1295-1306.

Biswas A. and B.C. Si. 2011. Identifying scale specific controls of soil water storage in a hummocky landscape using wavelet coherency. Geoderma, 165:50–59.

Huang M. S.L. Barbour, A. Elshorbagy, J.D. Zettl and B.C. Si. 2011. Water availability and forest growth in coarse-textured soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 91:199-210.

Huang M. S.L. Barbour, A. Elshorbagy, J.D. Zettl and B.C. Si. 2011. System dynamics modeling of infiltration in drainage in layered coarse soil. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 91:185-197.

Huang M. S.L. Barbour, A. Elshorbagy, J.D. Zettl and B.C. Si. 2011. Infiltration and drainage processes in multi-layered coarse soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 91:169-183.

Si B.C., G.W. Parkin, and M. Dyck. 2011. Flow and transport in layered soils. Preface, 91:127-132.

Liu G. and B.C. Si. 2011. Soil ice content measurement using a heat pulse probe method. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 91:235-246.

Hunter A., H. W. Chau, B. C. Si. 2011. Impact of tension infiltrometer disc size on measured soil water repellency index. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 91:77-81.

Wang Z.Y., Q.S. Shu, L.Y. Xie, Z.X. Liu, and B.C. Si. 2011. Joint Multifractal analysis of scaling relationships between soil water retention parameters and soil texture. Pedosphere, 21:373-379.

Banerjee S., A. Bedard-Haughn, B.C. Si, and S.D. Siciliano. 2011. Soil spatial dependence in three artic ecosystems. Soil Science Society of America Journal, 75:591-594.

Banerjee S. Y.H. He, X. Guo, B.C. Si. 2011. Spatial Relationships between Leaf Area Index and Topographic Factors in a Semiarid Grassland: Joint Multifractal Analysis. Australian Journal Crop Science, 5(6):756-763.

Guérin J. Parent L.-E, B.C. Si. 2011. Spatial and seasonal variability of phosphorus risk indexes in cultivated organic soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 91:291-302.

Zettl J.D., S.L. Barbour, Huang M, B.C. Si, L.A. Leskiw. 2011. Influence of textural layering on field capacity of coarse soils. Canadian Journal of Soil Science, 91:133-147.

Undergraduate courses: 

• Soil Science 322
• Environmental Science 210 

Graduate courses: 

• Soil Science 821 – Soil Physics
• Environment and Sustainability 805