The use of high-resolution imaging tools for estimation of hydraulic soil properties and quantification of particulate organic matter
Soil water holding capacity and particulate organic matter (POM) are important soil properties that are described using laborious and destructive methods. This project included a study using micro-computed tomography (µ-CT) to quantify plant available water and object-oriented image analysis of intact soil cores to reveal microscale features of 3D void space. Soil cores from the Morrow Plots were used to assess the capability of µ-CT image-derived soil-water descriptors through comparison with estimates derived from soil moisture release curves. A second project quantified POM using µ-CT using estimates that were corrected using fluorescence imaging of the organic fraction with a function built with size-based POM fractions isolated from soils of various origins. Both efforts identified strategies to formalize reproducible and effective imaging protocols for soil structural analysis.
