CIDE makes three new scientific-technical services available to the scientific community and companies.
The Desertification Research Centre (CIDE)—a joint centre involving the CSIC, the University of Valencia, and the Generalitat Valenciana—offers three specialized scientific-technical services: the Plant Ecophysiology and Water Management Service, the Grape Composition and Enology Service, and the Soil Analysis Service. All three cater to researchers, technicians, other CSIC centres, universities, public research bodies, private companies, and individuals requiring specialized analytical determinations.
Plant Ecophysiology and Water Management Service
This service provides researchers, technicians, and companies with a range of plant ecophysiological measurements, as well as the determination of crop water requirements to optimize water use. Ecophysiological variables make it possible to understand how plants interact with their environment—responding to factors such as drought, heatwaves, or light—and are useful for optimizing irrigation and other management practices, designing ecosystem restoration strategies, and predicting the effects of climate change on crop yields.
Its capabilities include measuring leaf/stem water potential, leaf gas exchange using a porometer, crop and soil temperature via IRT sensors, continuous monitoring of soil water content and sap flow in woody crops, crop monitoring using vegetation indices derived from remote sensing data, evapotranspiration measurement with the LI-710 sensor, and the calculation of water footprint, water use efficiency, and carbon footprint using the ClimaTree model, among other determinations.
Its implementation was made possible through funding for the #TRAGUA project from the Valencian Innovation Agency (AVI), co-financed by the European Union via the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for the Valencian Community (2021–2027). It is led by Dr. Ramón López-Urrea, a CSIC research scientist.
Grape Composition and Enology Service
The CIDE Enology Service (SE-CIDE) is part of the CSIC Scientific-Technical Services Network and supports analytical determinations on must and wine samples.
Its primary services include determining the composition of grapes and wine using Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy with the OenoFoss 2 instrument, which enables the rapid, simultaneous measurement of key compositional parameters for musts and wines; and determining wine color and polyphenolic composition via UV-Visible spectrophotometry using the Thermo Scientific™ GENESYS™ 50 spectrophotometer, which provides data on color intensity, hue, and other spectrophotometric indices relevant to quality control. The service is led by Dr. Raúl Ferrer Gallego, a Ramón y Cajal researcher.
Servei d'Anàlisi de Sòls
The CIDE Soil Analysis Service (SAS-CIDE) is also part of the CSIC Scientific-Technical Services Network and supports analytical determinations on soil samples—and, in some cases, plant samples as well.
Its primary service is the determination of total carbon, total nitrogen, and total sulfur content in solid soil and plant material samples using the Dumas method (complete combustion between 1,100°C and 1,450°C in the presence of oxygen) with the LECO CNS928 elemental analyzer. In addition to its analytical work, SAS-CIDE maintains active educational engagement by supervising personnel under the CSIC Youth Employment Program, hosting interns from vocational training programs and universities, and welcoming visits from secondary schools. It is directed by Dr. Eugenia Gimeno García, a researcher at the University of Valencia.
How to access services
The three services support various CIDE research groups, as well as other CSIC centers, universities, other research and technology centers, private companies, and external clients.
Request forms for each service are available on the CIDE website, which details instructions for sample preparation and submission.
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