Published online 13 May 2005
Published in Vadose Zone J 4:281 (2005)
DOI: 10.2136/vzj2005.0037
© 2005 Soil Science Society of America
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SPECIAL SECTION: ZNS'03 VADOSE ZONE RESEARCH
Preface
ZNS'03 Vadose Zone Research
Javier Álvarez-Benedí*
ZNS'03 Conference Chair, Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León, Ctra. Burgos Km. 118, 47071 Valladolid, Spain
* Corresponding author (jabenedi{at}iq.uva.es)
Received 10 March 2005.
THIS SPECIAL SECTION of Vadose Zone Journal is the result of a vadose zone research meeting held in November 2003 in Valladolid, Spain. The meeting was part of a series of conferences that started in 1993 when a group of researchers involved in vadose zone studies decided to hold a meeting in Castellón, Spain to discuss experimental and theoretical problems, improvements in model applications, and practical issues related to specific case studies. As a result of that meeting, a book was published at the time, and a commitment made for a follow-up meeting to take place two years later. Because of the positive impact of the book, attendance at the 1995 meeting held in Vitoria, Spain increased dramatically. A third meeting in Huelva brought an even larger group of researchers together interested in vadose zone research. Since then, these biannual meetings on vadose zone studies have become known as ZNS (from the Spanish "Zona No Saturada"). In 1999 (Tenerife, ZNS'99) and 2001 (Pamplona, ZNS'01), a standardized format of the proceedings was established, as well as a formalized peer-review process before publication of the manuscripts.
The challenge of the sixth "ZNS'03" meeting, held in November 2003 in Valladolid, was to open the door to a wider audience outside of Spain (primarily Latin America and other Spanish-speaking nations), as well as to ensure free and easy access to the contents of the edited proceedings, while also seeking a wider distribution and more visibility of the research. Attendance at the last meeting in Valladolid (ZNS'03) was restricted to 120 people, with more than 80 papers being presented. A permanent web page includes links to previous and upcoming meetings, as well as the full contents of all papers presented since 1993 (www.zonanosaturada.com). A total of 61 papers were included in the sixth volume (ZNS'03), eight of which were selected, translated, and developed for this special section of Vadose Zone Journal. Of these, three articles focus on relatively theoretical aspects of vadose zone research, three articles discuss modeling applications, and the remaining two contributions comprise experimental studies. Thus, the main topics selected for the first meeting some 10 yr ago still remain the focus of what is now a much broader group of researchers with a more international scope.
We would like to offer our sincerest thanks to both the reviewers and technical and editorial staff of Vadose Zone Journal for their invaluable work in helping to improve the quality of the contributions to this ZNS'03 special section, and hope that the papers will further stimulate and increase the visibility of vadose zone research from the Spanish-speaking parts of the world.
