From Monday, 24th to Friday 28th we are presenting our new EcoUnit at the EGU in Vienna. Visit us and get knowledge about the possibilities in your research. We have brought a full functional EcoUnit (Ecotron) to the show. The UGT team is looking forward to discuss your special need.

An EcoUnit is a measurement system to investigate ecosystem functions in the
soil-plant-atmosphere system under defined boundary conditions. Ecotrons are used to investigate processes within the soil-plant-atmosphere system as well as the interactions between the compartments. Ecotrons are lysimeter applications beyond the investigation of only soil processes and thus the generic term for lysimeter applications of all kinds.
View of the iDiv Ecotron with 24 EcoUnits
An Ecotron consists of three units. The lower unit contains the soil, which can either be inserted directly into the container or in extra stainless steel cylinders (lysimeters).
The latter allows the investigation of undisturbed soil monoliths. Up to four lysimeters
can be installed in one EcoUnit. Several soil sensors can be installed in the lower unit to collect soil temperature, soil moisture and soil tension data. To investigate root systems and root growth rhizotrons can be installed as well. The lower unit is equipped with a system to collect seepage water and a system to control the temperature conditions at the lower boundary of the soil. On top of the lower unit a second unit is attached, which isolates the environment above the soil surface from the surrounding. The size of the isolated habitat is big enough for growing of medium shrubs. The second unit can be equipped with additional walls to divide the EcoUnit in four self contained sub units.
On top of the second unit the upper unit is located, which contains equipment for irrigation, lighting and ventilation. The upper unit can also be equipped with sensors to
collect data of temperature and humidity as well as with a gas analyzer. The lower and upper units are equipped with a control cabinet containing the required power supply
and signal transformation as well as the measurement and control technology. The EcoUnit comes with a touch panel to visualize collected data and to control the EcoUnit.
The equipment and design of the EcoUnit are always optimized for
the customer-specific research goal.