Alexander Furman
Professor, Head of Environmental Science and Engineering Research Group
I obtained my B.Sc. and M.Sc. (both in Agricultural Engineering) from the Technion, and my Ph.D. in Hydrology and Water Resources from the University of Arizona. Before joining the Technion, I served as a researcher at the Agricultural Research Organization of Israel (ARO – Volcani Center). Between 2017 and 2022 I served as the head of the Grand water research institute (GWRI). My teaching at the Technion includes a gallery of undergraduate and graduate courses in soil physics, hydrology, energy and mass transfer, and more.
My research is all around hydrology, with emphasis on the subsurface. We mostly look at basic science related to water flow and reactive transport in the vadose zone, in both agricultural and non-agricultural environments. In our research, we combine theoretical, computational, and experimental work. Our primary focus now is on soil aquifer treatment (SAT) and hydrogeophysics. Recent studies include the investigation and optimization of SAT through a mechanistic understanding of the related biogeochemical processes, reactive transport in dynamic (and oscillating) systems, and the use of spectral-induced polarization to detect and monitor soil contamination at various scales.
- Hydrology;
- Soil physics;
- Groundwater;
- Vadose zone;
- Hydrogeophysics
Schwartz, N. and A. Furman (2012). Spectral induced polarization signature of soil contaminated by organic pollutant: Experiment and modeling. Journal of Geophysical Research – Solid Earth, 117, B10203, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012JB009543.
Winters, G. I. Ryvkin, T. Rudkov, Z. Moreno and A. Furman (2015). Mapping underground layers in the super arid Gidron Wadi using Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT). Journal of Arid Environments, 121: 79-83 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2015.05.008
Moreno, Z., A. Arnon-Zur, and A. Furman (2015). Hydro-geophysical Monitoring of Orchard Root Zone Dynamics in Semi-Arid Region. Irrigation Science, 33(4): 303-318 https://doi.org/10.1007/s00271-015-0467-3
Volk, E., S.C. Iden, A. Furman, W. Durner and R. Rosenzweig (2016). Biofilm effect on soil hydraulic properties – experimental investigation using soil-grown real biofilm. Water Resources Research 52, 5813–5828, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016WR018866.
Ben Moshe, S., Weisbrod, N., Barquero, F., Sallwey, J., Orgad, O., and Furman, A. (2020). On the role of operational dynamics in biogeochemical efficiency of a soil aquifer treatment system. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences, 24: 417–426. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-24-417-2020
Zhang, Z. and A. Furman (2020). Soil redox dynamics under dynamic hydrologic regimes – A review. Science of the Total Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143026
Grinshpan, M., A. Furman, H. Dahlke, E. Raveh, and N. Weisbrod (2021). From managed aquifer recharge to soil aquifer treatment on agricultural soils: Concepts and challenges. Agricultural Water Management, 255 (106991). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.agwat.2021.106991.
Ben Moshe, S. and A. Furman (2022). Real-time monitoring of organic contaminant adsorption in activated carbon filters using spectral induces polarization. Water Research, 212: 118103. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118103
Arad, I., A. Ziner, S. Ben Moshe, N. Weisbrod, and A. Furman (2023). Improving soil aquifer treatment efficiency using air injection into the subsurface. Hydrology and Earth Surface Sciences, 27, 2509–2522. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-27-2509-2023.