Hans-Jörg Vogel

Quantification of soil structure based on Minkowski functions

The structure of soils and other geologic media is a complex three-dimensional object. Most of the physical material properties including mechanical and hydraulic characteristics are immediately linked to the structure given by the pore space and its spatial distribution. It is an old dream and still a formidable challenge to relate structural features of porous media to their functional properties. Using tomographic techniques, soil structure can be directly observed at a range of spatial scales. In this paper we present a scale-invariant concept to quantify complex structures based on a limited set of meaningful morphological functions. They are based on d+1 Minkowski functionals as defined for d-dimensional bodies. These basic quantities are determined as a function of pore size or aggregate size obtained by filter procedures using mathematical morphology. The resulting Minkowski functions provide valuable information on the size of pores and aggregates, the pore surface area and the pore topology having the potential to be linked to physical properties. The theoretical background and the related algorithms are presented and the approach is demonstrated for the pore structure of an arable soil and the pore structure of a sand both obtained by X-ray micro-tomography. We also analyze the fundamental problem of limited resolution which is critical for any attempt to quantify structural features at any scale using samples of different size recorded at different resolutions. The results demonstrate that objects smaller than 5 voxels are critical for quantitative analysis.

Moving through scales of flow and transport in soil

Flow and transport in soil is governed by the binary geometry of solid and void. This may be described at typical length scales of some millimeters, and even less. In contrast, the problems which are supposed to be solved in soil physics are related to a scale of some meters, the typical distance between soil surface and groundwater. A quantitative understanding of flow and transport, based on measurements of hydraulic properties and transport parameter at a given scale, requires the transfer of information in space, time, and across scales. This is the major challenge in heterogeneous soils and this has motivated many concepts for the organization of heterogeneities, including macroscopic homogeneity, discrete hierarchy and fractal geometry. We propose a conceptual approach termed ‘the scaleway’ to predict flow and transport in structured materials, whatever the scale, and whatever the specific type of structural organization. This is based on the explicit consideration of structure that is assumed to be present at the scale of interest, while the microscopic heterogeneities are replaced by averaged, effective descriptions. The three ingredients needed are: a representation of the structure, a process model at the scale of interest, and corresponding effective material properties. We demonstrate the scaleway for one example of solute transport in a soil column and discuss implications for future research.

Hydropedology: Synergistic integration of pedology and hydrology

This paper presents a vision that advocates hydropedology as an advantageous integration of pedology and hydrology for studying the intimate relationships between soil, landscape, and hydrology. Landscape water flux is suggested as a unifying precept for hydropedology, through which pedologic and hydrologic expertise can be better integrated. Landscape water flux here encompasses the source, storage, flux, pathway, residence time, availability, and spatiotemporal distribution of water in the root and deep vadose zones within the landscape. After illustrating multiple knowledge gaps that can be addressed by the synergistic integration of pedology and hydrology, we suggest five scientific hypotheses that are critical to advancing hydropedology and enhancing the prediction of landscape water flux. We then present interlinked strategies for achieving the stated vision. It is our hope that by working together, hydrologists and pedologists, along with scientists in related disciplines, can better guide data acquisition, knowledge integration, and model-based prediction so as to advance the hydrologic sciences in the next decade and beyond.

Segmentation of X-ray microtomography images of soil using gradient masks

For many analyses, grey scale images from X-ray tomography and other sources need to be segmented into objects and background which often is a difficult task and afflicted by an arbitrary and subjective choice of threshold values. This is especially true if the volume fraction of objects is small and the histogram becomes unimodal. Bi-level segmentation based on region growing is a promising approach to cope with the fuzzy transition zone between object and background due to the partial volume effect, but until now there is no method to properly determine the required thresholds in case of unimodality. We propose an automatic and robust technique for threshold selection based on edge detection. The method uses gradient masks which are defined as regions of interest for the determination of threshold values. Its robustness is analysed by a systematic performance test and finally demonstrated for the segmentation of pores in different soils using images from X-ray tomography.

Topological Characterization of Porous Media

It is an attractive approach to predict flow and in based on direct investigations of their structure. The most crucial property is the of the structure because it is difficult to measure. This is true both at the pore scale, which may be represented as a binary structure, and at a larger scale defined by continuous macroscopic state variables as phase density or. At the pore scale a function is introduced which is defined by the as a function of the pore diameter. This function is used to generate of the porous structure that allow to predict bulk hydraulic properties of the material. At the continuum scale the structure is represented on a grey scale representing the porosity of the material with a given resolution. Here, topology is quantified by a connectivity function defined by the Euler characteristic as a function of a porosity threshold. Results are presented for the structure of natural soils measured by. The significance of topology at the continuum scale is demonstrated through numerical simulations. It is found that the effective permeabilities of two heterogeneous having the same auto-covariance but different topology differ considerably.

Catchments as reactors: a comprehensive approach for water fluxes and solute turnover

Sustainable water quality management requires a profound understanding of water fluxes (precipitation, run-off, recharge, etc.) and solute turnover such as retention, reaction, transformation, etc. at the catchment or landscape scale. The Water and Earth System Science competence cluster (WESS, http://www.wess.info/) aims at a holistic analysis of the water cycle coupled to reactive solute transport, including soil–plant–atmosphere and groundwater–surface water interactions. To facilitate exploring the impact of land-use and climate changes on water cycling and water quality, special emphasis is placed on feedbacks between the atmosphere, the land surface, and the subsurface. A major challenge lies in bridging the scales in monitoring and modeling of surface/subsurface versus atmospheric processes. The field work follows the approach of contrasting catchments, i.e. neighboring watersheds with different land use or similar watersheds with different climate. This paper introduces the featured catchments and explains methodologies of WESS by selected examples.

Pore-scale displacement mechanisms as a source of hysteresis for two-phase flow in porous media

The macroscopic description of the hysteretic behavior of two-phase flow in porous media remains a challenge. It is not obvious how to represent the underlying pore-scale processes at the Darcy-scale in a consistent way. Darcy-scale thermodynamic models do not completely eliminate hysteresis and our findings indicate that the shape of displacement fronts is an additional source of hysteresis that has not been considered before. This is a shortcoming because effective process behavior such as trapping efficiency of CO2 or oil production during water flooding are directly linked to pore-scale displacement mechanisms with very different front shape such as capillary fingering, flat frontal displacement, or cluster growth. Here we introduce fluid topology, expressed by the Euler characteristic of the nonwetting phase (χn), as a shape measure of displacement fronts. Using two high-quality data sets obtained by fast X-ray tomography, we show that χn is hysteretic between drainage and imbibition and characteristic for the underlying displacement pattern. In a more physical sense, the Euler characteristic can be interpreted as a parameter describing local fluid connectedness. It may provide the closing link between a topological characterization and macroscopic formulations of two-phase immiscible displacement in porous rock. Since fast X-ray tomography is currently becoming a mature technique, we expect a significant growth in high-quality data sets of real time fluid displacement processes in the future. The novel measures of fluid topology presented here have the potential to become standard metrics needed to fully explore them.

Estimating orientation and width of channels and cracks at soil polished blocks—a stereological approach

Abstract In most cases soil structure is anisotropic, i.e., its properties depend on the direction in which it is observed. This is true for important soil functions such as rooting potential and transport processes. The interpretation of micromorphometric results from two-dimensional sections is often biased by anisotropy of the investigated structural elements. Channels and cracks are elongated components of the soil pore system. They may often cause anisotropy of soil structure. In this paper parameters and stereological procedures are presented for the estimation of 3D orientation and width distributions of channels and cracks when measurements are taken from 2D polished blocks. Moreover, a method of image analysis is presented by which measuring is done directly on the microscopic image. The results are illustrated by an example.

The Bode hydrological observatory: a platform for integrated, interdisciplinary hydro-ecological research within the TERENO Harz/Central German Lowland Observatory

This article provides an overview about the Bode River catchment that was selected as the hydrological observatory and main region for hydro-ecological research within the TERrestrial ENvironmental Observatories Harz/Central German Lowland Observatory. It first provides information about the general characteristics of the catchment including climate, geology, soils, land use, water quality and aquatic ecology, followed by the description of the interdisciplinary research framework and the monitoring concept with the main components of the multi-scale and multi-temporal monitoring infrastructure. It also shows examples of interdisciplinary research projects aiming to advance the understanding of complex hydrological processes under natural and anthropogenic forcings and their interactions in a catchment context. The overview is complemented with research work conducted at a number of intensive research sites, each focusing on a particular functional zone or specific components and processes of the hydro-ecological system.

Linking Soil Physical Parameters Along a Density Gradient in a Loess-Soil Long-Term Experiment

Abstract It is important to understand the impact of texture and organic carbon (OC) on soil structure development. Only few studies investigated this for silt-dominated soils. In this study, soil physical properties were determined on samples from a controlled experiment (Static Fertilization Experiment, Bad Lauchstädt, Germany) on a loess soil that started more than 100 years ago with six different combinations of organic and mineral fertilizers. The parameters measured include soil texture, water retention curve, air-connected porosity, gas diffusion coefficient, air permeability, and saturated hydraulic conductivity. The management resulted in a distinct gradient in OC. A bulk density gradient developed from differences in amount of clay not complexed with OC. This gradient in bulk density mainly affected content of pores larger than 3 &mgr;m. The air-connected porosity measured by a pycnometer was highly similar to the total air-filled porosity calculated from gravimetric water content. For all six treatments, diffusivities and permeabilities were quite similar; both suggested that air-filled pore space was inactive for gas transport for air saturation below 0.1, but became highly connected around 0.2 to 0.25. Furthermore, diffusion data from intact cores compared well with data from repacked samples measured at low air-filled porosities and another high-silt soil (Yolo silt loam, USA) measured at higher air-filled porosities. A two-parameter fitting model was used to analyze gas diffusion coefficient data; the model pore-connectivity factor was fairly constant, whereas the water blockage factor was markedly different. Water and air parameters both implied that change in bulk density was the major driver for diffusive and convective parameters in the experiment.