Central research topics

Development of dedicated NMR-equipment (single-sided and enclosed geometries) for field and mobile measurements.

In situ study of water distribution and transport (quantification of concentration and transport) in soils and plants. Mobile NMR-equipment must be adapted to the geometries of interest and calibrated against existing (invasive) protocols. These data will feed biophysical models of growth and transport in the ecosystem.
Establish standard protocols with mobile NMR-equipment to measure vital parameters in plants to assess agricultural strategies (fertilization, watering, tree transpiration as an input for water management and global change models, etc).

Suitable MRI-equipment for aerospace medicine, to detect volume changes and local fluid regulation in muscle, skin, and adipose tissue in simulation models to evoke distinct physiological µ-gravity effects on earth, artificial gravity (whole-body centrifuge) and in µ-gravity.