From Microstructure to Function: How X-ray microtomography can contribute to better understand pore scale soil processes Event

In the presentation an overview will be given on the potential of non-invasive techniques such as X-ray microtomography (XRCT) to analyse and quantify pore scale soil processes. After shortly explaining the principles of XRCT including its shortcomings, in particular in soil research, different examples will be discussed showing a range of applications where we have used XRCT to better understand microscale soil functions. These include the quantification of soil microstructures using morphological image analysis and their effect on transport, the localisation of soil organic matter in soil aggregates with staining techniques and the in-situ analysis of deformation processes resulting from mechanical stresses employing digital image correlation methods. An outlook on the perspectives of XRCT in soil research will end the presentation.

Image credit: Herry Lawford, under Creative Commons licence 2.0