Education

University of Padova , Agricultural Science, B.S. 1991
University of Padova, Environmental Agronomy (Soil Physics), Ph.D. 1996

Research Interests

Sustainability of agricultural systems and soil and water quality; soil mapping and precision agriculture; best management practices; GHGs monitoring and mitigation.

Appointments

2017-present Professor of Agronomy and Soil Physics, Department of Environmental Agronomy and Crop Production, University of Padova
2017-present Adjunct Professor, Department of Crop and Soil Science, University of Georgia, USA
2005-2017 Associate Professor, University of Padova
1998-2005 Researcher, University of Padova.
1995-1998 Assistant Professor of Environmental Agronomy, University of Padova.

Teaching
•Soil Physics (taught annually)
•Soil and water conservation (taught annually)
•Agricultural Management of Biogeochemical Cycles (taught annually)


Synergistic Activities

•Co-developer of the PROTINUS group, a multi-disciplinary team from the EU and three associated countries, namely France, Italy, Denmark, New Zealand, Mexico and Japan, dedicated to combine advanced, experimental and theoretical research expertise in soil physics and chemistry, microbiology, image analysis, computer sciences, and systems modeling.
•Co-Leader and developer of a dual Master’s degree in Sustainable Agriculture between the University of Padova, Italy and the University of Georgia, USA.
•Co-developer of the TransAtlantic Precision Agriculture Consortium (TAPAC) – a group of 3 American and 3 European universities dedicated to internationalizing the teaching, research and extension programs of the member universities.

Grants (active)

-Environmental Monitoring of the Agro-environmental Schemes in Veneto Region ”, Veneto Government, January 2018-December 2020.
-Experimenting controlled distribution techniques of digestates and nitrification inhibitors”. Measures 16.2.1 & 16.2.2 Rural Development Programme, January 2018 –December 2021.
-Precision Positioning for Precision Agriculture”, Excellence Projects. Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Padova e Rovigo, January 2018-December 2020.
-Applications of remote and proximal sensing techniques to estimate hail and wind damages on maize and wheat, Cattolica Assicurazioni, January 2020-December 2022

Authors of more than 280 scientific and technical papers, 2 patents and 1 book.


Collaborators, Mentors, and Mentees
•Collaborations (last 5-years)
Per Schoenning & Mathieu Lamande, Aarhus University (DK); George Vellidis & Miguel Cabrera, University of Georgia (USA); Daniel Corwin & Elia Scudiero, USDA-ARS United States Salinity Laboratory, Riverside (USA); Patrice Delmas, University of Auckland (NZ); Celine Duwig, Institute of Research for Development, Marseille, (FR); Budiman Minasny, University of Sydney (AU); Karin Mueller, Plant & Food Research (NZ); Brenda Ortiz, Auburn University (USA); Carlo Grignani & Chiara Bertora, University of Turin; Marco Bittelli, University of Bologna; Marco Bindi & Roberto ferrise, University of Florence; Yafit Cohen &Victor Alchanati, Volcani Center (Israel)

•Graduate Students
15 Ph.D. students and 40 M.S. students advised as major Professor

•Undergraduate Students
20 undegraduate students advised as major Professor

Relevant publications of the last 5 years

Piccoli I., Schjønning P., Lamandé M., Zanini F., Morari F., Coupling gas transport measurements and X-ray tomography scans for multiscale analysis in silty soils,2019,Geoderma, 338,576-584
Bruce M.A., Moretto J., Polese R., Morari F., Optimizing durum wheat cultivation in Northern Italy: Assessing proximal and remote sensing derived from different platforms for variable-rate application of nitrogen,2019,Precision Agriculture 2019 - Papers Presented at the 12th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, ECPA 2019,23-28.
Aru F., Gertsis A., Vellidis G., Morari F., Investigation of spraying efficiency of an aerial spraying system in a super-high density olive grove in Greece,2019,Precision Agriculture 2019 - Papers Presented at the 12th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, ECPA 2019,357-363.
Piccoli I., Furlan L., Lazzaro B., Morari F., Examining conservation agriculture soil profiles: Outcomes from northeastern Italian silty soils combining indirect geophysical and direct assessment methods, 2019, European Journal of Soil Science.
Zancanaro E., Gertsis A., Vellidis G., Marinello F., Morari F., Developing crop canopy model for irrigation of high-density olive groves by using UAV imagery,2019,Precision Agriculture 2019 - Papers Presented at the 12th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, ECPA 2019, 421-427
Piccoli I., Dal Ferro N., Delmas P.J., Squartini A., Morari F., Contrast-enhanced repacked soil cores as a proxy for soil organic matter spatial arrangement,2019,Soil Research,57,6,535-545.
Bevington J., Scudiero E., Teatini P., Vellidis G., Morari F., Factorial kriging analysis leverages soil physical properties and exhaustive data to predict distinguished zones of hydraulic properties,2019,Computers and Electronics in Agriculture,156,426-438.
Gobbo S., Lo Presti S., Martello M., Panunzi L., Berti A., Morari F., Integrating SEBAL with in-field crop water status measurement for precision irrigation applications-a case study,2019,Remote Sensing,11,17,2069.
Bondesan L., Ortiz B.V., Morata G.T., Damianidis D., Jimenez A.F., Vellidis G., Morari F.,Evaluating and improving soil sensor-based variable irrigation scheduling on farmers' fields in Alabama,2019,Precision Agriculture 2019 - Papers Presented at the 12th European Conference on Precision Agriculture, ECPA 2019,649-656.
Bittelli M., Andrenelli M.C., Simonetti G., Pellegrini S., Artioli G., Piccoli I., Morari F., Shall we abandon sedimentation methods for particle size analysis in soils?,2019,Soil and Tillage Research,185,36-46.
Müller K., Dal Ferro N., Katuwal S., Tregurtha C., Zanini F., Carmignato S., Wollesen De Jonge L., Moldrup P., Morari F., Effect of long-term irrigation and tillage practices on X-ray CT and gas transport derived pore-network characteristics,2019,Soil Research,57,6,657-669.
Duwig C., Prado B., Tinet A.-J., Delmas P., Dal Ferro N., Vandervaere J.P., Denis H., Charrier P., Gastelum Strozzi A., Morari F., Impacts of land use on hydrodynamic properties and pore architecture of volcanic soils from the Mexican Highlands,2019,Soil Research,57,6,629-641.
Azhar M., Chang X., Debes J., Delmas P., Duwig C., Dal Ferro N., Gee T., Marquez J., Morari F., Müller K., Mukunoki T., Piccoli I., Strozzi A.G., Advantages of multi-region kriging over bi-region techniques for computed tomography-scan segmentation,2019,Soil Research,57,6,521-534.
Scudiero E., Teatini P., Manoli G., Braga F., Skaggs T.H., Morari F., Workfl

Research Interests

Sustainability of agricultural systems and soil and water quality
Soil mapping and precision agriculture
GHGs monitoring and mitigation
Remote sensing

1) Modellazione della emissione di gas serra (GHG)in suoli soggetti a livelli variabili di falda ipodermica.

2) Applicazione di idrogel per il coating di semi di mai e grano

3) Applicazione di tecniche di remote sensing e proximal sensing per la stima dell'effetto di grandine e vento forte sulla produttività di mais e frumento