The importance of unsaturated soil zone for the regional water balance

Studies of the soil water balance, especially the function of the unsaturated soil zone, infiltration rate was made on two very different sites: Marchfeld (Vienna basin, 170 m asl, 550 mm precipitation and 9.5°C mean annual temperature), and in the Radstädter Tauern (Country of Salzburg, 1600 m asl. 1500 – 2000 mm precipitation, 2–5°C mean annual temperature). The results demonstrate the big influence of human activity - like intensive agriculture or exaggerated creation of ski slopes - in positive sense: a sustainable land management in the Marchfeld, and negative sense: decrease of the water capacity due the destroying of the topsoil.