Soil- Water- Root Processes

Rapid advances in tomography and imaging techniques and their successful application in soil and plant science are changing our sciences today. Many more articles using imaging and tomography are being published currently compared to 20 years ago. Soil–Water–Root Processes: Advances in Tomography and Imaging is a unique assemblage of contributions exploring applications of imaging and tomography systems in soil science—it provides an updated collection of X-ray computed tomography, synchrotron microtomography, neutron imaging, magnetic resonance imaging, geophysical imaging tools, and other tomography techniques for evaluating soils and roots. Exciting new procedures and applications have been developed, with the promise to propel forward our understanding of soil and plant properties and processes. Foreword | vii

Preface | ix

Contributors | xi

Chapter 1 | 1
Using Synchrotron-Based X-Ray Microtomography and Functional Contrast Agents in Environmental Applications
Dorthe Wildenschild, Mark L. Rivers, Mark L. Porter, Gabriel C. Iltis, Ryan T. Armstrong, and Yohan Davit

Chapter 2 | 23
Tomographic Investigations Relevant to the Rhizosphere
Keith W. Jones, Jun Wang, Yu-chen Chen, Qingxi Yuan, W. Brent Lindquist, Lauren Beckingham, Catherine A. Peters, Wooyong Um, Lee Newman, Tara Sabo-Attwood, and Ryan Tappero

Chapter 3 | 39
Synchrotron X-Ray Microtomography—New Means to Quantify Root Induced Changes of Rhizosphere Physical Properties
Jazmín E. Aravena, Markus Berli, Manoj Menon, Teamrat A. Ghezzehei, Ajay K. Mandava, Emma E. Regentova, Natarajan S. Pillai, John Steude, Michael H. Young, Peter S. Nico, and Scott W. Tyler

Chapter 4 | 69
Effects of Root-Induced Biopores on Pore Space Architecture Investigated with Industrial X-Ray Computed Tomography
Sebastian K. Pagenkemper, Stephan Peth, Daniel Uteau Puschmann, and Rainer Horn

Chapter 5 | 97
Computed Tomographic Evaluation of Earth Materials with Varying Resolutions
Ranjith P. Udawatta, Stephen H. Anderson, Clark J. Gantzer, and Shmuel Assouline

Chapter 6 | 113
Applications of Neutron Imaging in Soil–Water–Root Systems
Ahmad B. Moradi, Sascha E. Oswald, Manoj Menon, Andrea Carminati, Eberhard Lehmann, and Jan W. Hopmans

Chapter 7 | 137
Magnetic Resonance Imaging Techniques for Visualization of Root Growth and Root Water Uptake Processes
A. Pohlmeier, S. Haber-Pohlmeier, M. Javaux, and H. Vereecken

Chapter 8 | 157
Segmentation of X-Ray CT Data of Porous Materials: A Review of Global and Locally Adaptive Algorithms
Markus Tuller, Ramaprasad Kulkarni, and Wolfgang Fink

Chapter 9 | 183
Heterogeneous Porous Media Structure Analysis with Computed Tomography Images and a Multiphase Bin Semivariogram
Glenn O. Brown and Jason R. Vogel

Chapter 10 | 205
Characterization of Porous Media Computer Tomography Images Using Semivariogram Families
Jason R. Vogel and Glenn O. Brown

Chapter 11 | 223
Electrical Resistivity Tomography of the Root Zone
Alex Furman, Ali Arnon-Zur, and Shmuel Assouline

Chapter 12 | 247
Geophysical Methods for Field-Scale Imaging of Root Zone Properties and Processes
J. Vanderborght, J.A. Huisman, J. van der Kruk, and H. Vereecken

Index | 283

Stephen H. Anderson is the William A. Albrecht Distinguished Professor of Soil and Environmental Sciences in the Department of Soil, Environmental, and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO. Current areas of research in his program include evaluation of soil management effects on soil hydraulic properties, development of X-ray computed tomography and microtomography techniques for assessment of pore-scale soil properties and processes, and utilizing hydrologic models to evaluate effectiveness of conservation practices at the watershed scale. He teaches courses in pollutant fate and transport, environmental soil physics, watershed modeling using GIS, and vadose zone transport.

Jan W. Hopmans is Professor of Vadose Zone Hydrology in the Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources and Associate Dean in the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences at the University of California in Davis, CA. Current areas of research in his program include development of experimental and mathematical methods to better understand the fundamental processes controlling soil water flow and chemical transport and include interests in plant root–soil water interactions, parameter optimization, regional irrigation water management, soil moisture sensor development, soil salinity, and climate change impacts on California's hydrology. He teaches courses in soil physics and vadose zone modeling.