Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling

We demonstrate the application of a high-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) method to quantify water distribution in soil pores under successive reductive drying. We focus on the wet end of the water release characteristic (WRC) (0 to −75 kPa) to investigate changes in soil water distribution...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tracy, Saoirse R., Daly, Keith R., Sturrock, Craig J., Crout, Neil M.J., Mooney, Sacha J., Roose, Tiina
Format: Article
Published: American Geophysical Union 2015
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41200/
_version_ 1848796220335587328
author Tracy, Saoirse R.
Daly, Keith R.
Sturrock, Craig J.
Crout, Neil M.J.
Mooney, Sacha J.
Roose, Tiina
author_facet Tracy, Saoirse R.
Daly, Keith R.
Sturrock, Craig J.
Crout, Neil M.J.
Mooney, Sacha J.
Roose, Tiina
author_sort Tracy, Saoirse R.
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description We demonstrate the application of a high-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) method to quantify water distribution in soil pores under successive reductive drying. We focus on the wet end of the water release characteristic (WRC) (0 to −75 kPa) to investigate changes in soil water distribution in contrasting soil textures (sand and clay) and structures (sieved and field structured) and to determine the impact of soil structure on hydraulic behavior. The 3-D structure of each soil was obtained from the CT images (at a 10 μm resolution). Stokes equations for flow were solved computationally for each measured structure to estimate hydraulic conductivity. The simulated values obtained compared extremely well with the measured saturated hydraulic conductivity values. By considering different sample sizes we were able to identify the smallest possible representative sample size which is required to determine a globally valid hydraulic conductivity.
first_indexed 2025-11-14T19:44:31Z
format Article
id nottingham-41200
institution University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T19:44:31Z
publishDate 2015
publisher American Geophysical Union
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling nottingham-412002020-05-04T20:10:11Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41200/ Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling Tracy, Saoirse R. Daly, Keith R. Sturrock, Craig J. Crout, Neil M.J. Mooney, Sacha J. Roose, Tiina We demonstrate the application of a high-resolution X-ray Computed Tomography (CT) method to quantify water distribution in soil pores under successive reductive drying. We focus on the wet end of the water release characteristic (WRC) (0 to −75 kPa) to investigate changes in soil water distribution in contrasting soil textures (sand and clay) and structures (sieved and field structured) and to determine the impact of soil structure on hydraulic behavior. The 3-D structure of each soil was obtained from the CT images (at a 10 μm resolution). Stokes equations for flow were solved computationally for each measured structure to estimate hydraulic conductivity. The simulated values obtained compared extremely well with the measured saturated hydraulic conductivity values. By considering different sample sizes we were able to identify the smallest possible representative sample size which is required to determine a globally valid hydraulic conductivity. American Geophysical Union 2015-02 Article PeerReviewed Tracy, Saoirse R., Daly, Keith R., Sturrock, Craig J., Crout, Neil M.J., Mooney, Sacha J. and Roose, Tiina (2015) Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling. Water Resources Research, 51 (2). pp. 1006-1022. ISSN 1944-7973 http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2014WR016020/abstract doi:10.1002/2014WR016020 doi:10.1002/2014WR016020
spellingShingle Tracy, Saoirse R.
Daly, Keith R.
Sturrock, Craig J.
Crout, Neil M.J.
Mooney, Sacha J.
Roose, Tiina
Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling
title Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling
title_full Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling
title_fullStr Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling
title_full_unstemmed Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling
title_short Three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using X-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling
title_sort three-dimensional quantification of soil hydraulic properties using x-ray computed tomography and image-based modeling
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41200/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41200/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/41200/