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Quantifying Soil Structure and Porosity Using Three-Dimensional Laser Scanning

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Digital Soil Morphometrics

Part of the book series: Progress in Soil Science ((PROSOIL))

Abstract

Advancements in three-dimensional (3D) digital surface scanning have opened up the possibility of capturing soil morphological information from irregular objects in high resolution. One of these advancements has been the development of a multistripe laser triangulation (MLT) technique that sweeps a series of laser stripes across a surface, while a camera offset from the laser source monitors the deformation and intensity of the reflected laser stripes. MLT scanning can be used to describe soil architecture (i.e., soil structure and porosity) from soil surfaces and soil specimens. The technique allows for the geometry of both small (<1 cm) and large (several meters) objects to be digitally captured in fine detail. In this paper, we provide examples of how MLT scanning has been applied to 3D soil specimens including the determination of bulk density from clods, the quantification of ped geometries, and the development of morphometrics from casted biopores. Examples of soil surface application of MLT scanning include the quantification of soil structure and interpedal pores from the field (excavation walls) and quantification of volume changes and crack formation in the laboratory (soil cores). When combined with other digital morphometric tools such as computed tomography, 3D laser scanning has the potential to quantify the architecture of soils across scales ranging from submicrometers to meters.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Atmospheric Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS, USA

    Daniel R. Hirmas

  2. Department of Environmental Sciences, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Daniel Giménez & Matthew Patterson

  3. Department of Soil Science, University of São Paulo, Piracicaba, SP, Brazil

    Edison A. Mome Filho

  4. Department of Animal Biology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA

    Kim Drager

  5. Department of Geology and Geological Engineering, University of Mississippi, University, MS, USA

    Brian F. Platt

  6. Bennett and Schulte Oil Company, Russell, KS, USA

    Dennis V. Eck

Authors
  1. Daniel R. Hirmas
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  2. Daniel Giménez
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  3. Edison A. Mome Filho
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  4. Matthew Patterson
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  5. Kim Drager
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  6. Brian F. Platt
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  7. Dennis V. Eck
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Daniel R. Hirmas .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Soil Science, FD Hole Soils Lab, University of Wisconsin – Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA

    Alfred E. Hartemink

  2. Faculty of Agriculture & Envi't, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

    Budiman Minasny

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Hirmas, D.R. et al. (2016). Quantifying Soil Structure and Porosity Using Three-Dimensional Laser Scanning. In: Hartemink, A., Minasny, B. (eds) Digital Soil Morphometrics. Progress in Soil Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28295-4_2

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