An open <i>Soil Structure Library</i> based on X-ray CT data

Weller, Ulrich; Albrecht, Lukas; Schlüter, Steffen; Vogel, Hans‐Jörg

doi:10.5194/soil-8-507-2022

Cited by 17 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In this way, the observed phenomena at the large scale is reproduced by translating the small‐scale understanding (i.e., the microbial activity affected by boundary conditions) to an effective description based on available, measurable, macroscopic system variables (i.e., the mentioned boundary conditions driven by soil structure). Soil structure images for such a transformation are available via the soil structure library (Weller et al, 2022).…”

Section: The Bodium Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

BODIUM—A systemic approach to model the dynamics of soil functions

König,

Weller,

Betancur‐Corredor

et al. 2023

European J Soil Science

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The increasing demand for biomass for food, animal feed, fibre and bioenergy requires optimization of soil productivity, while at the same time, protecting other soil functions such as nutrient cycling and buffering, carbon storage, habitat for biological activity and water filter and storage. Therefore, one of the main challenges for sustainable agriculture is to produce high yields while maintaining all the other soil functions. Mechanistic simulation models are an essential tool to fully understand and predict the complex interactions between physical, biological and chemical processes of soils that generate those functions. We developed a soil model to simulate the impact of various agricultural management options and climate change on soil functions by integrating the relevant processes mechanistically and in a systemic way. As a special feature, we include the dynamics of soil structure induced by tillage and biological activity, which is especially relevant in arable soils. The model operates on a 1D soil profile consisting of a number of discrete layers with dynamic thickness. We demonstrate the model performance by simulating crop growth, root growth, nutrient and water uptake, nitrogen cycling, soil organic matter turnover, microbial activity, water distribution and soil structure dynamics in a long‐term field experiment including different crops and different types and levels of fertilization. The model is able to capture essential features that are measured regularly including crop yield, soil organic carbon, and soil nitrogen. In this way, the plausibility of the implemented processes and their interactions is confirmed. Furthermore, we present the results of explorative simulations comparing scenarios with and without tillage events to analyse the effect of soil structure on soil functions. Since the model is process‐based, we are confident that the model can also be used to predict quantities that have not been measured or to estimate the effect of management measures and climate states not yet been observed. The model thus has the potential to predict the site‐specific impact of management decisions on soil functions, which is of great importance for the development of a sustainable agriculture that is currently also on the agenda of the ‘Green Deal’ at the European level.

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Section: The Bodium Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

BODIUM—A systemic approach to model the dynamics of soil functions

König,

Weller,

Betancur‐Corredor

et al. 2023

European J Soil Science

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“…We envision that this data base contains measurements based on undisturbed soil samples including all necessary attributes (physical, chemical, structural, mineralogical, and auxiliary information (see section 4.3)). For this it is important to i) establish measurement protocols and routines to obtain standardised WRC, HCC, and 𝐾 𝑠𝑎𝑡 values (Gupta et al, 2021b), infiltration (Rahmati et al, 2018), and soil structure information (Weller et al, 2022); ii) ensure a worldwide coverage across all soil types; and iii) close the gap between the scale of derivation and the scale of application.…”

Section: 4mentioning

confidence: 99%

Hydro-pedotransfer functions: A roadmap for future development

Weber

2023

Preprint

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<p>Hydro-pedotransfer functions (hyPTF) are important methods to relate available knowledge about soil properties to soil hydraulic properties and model parameters to be applied in process models. At least more than four decades have been invested to derive such relationships. However, while models, methods, data storage capacity, and computational efficiency have advanced, there are fundamental issues related to the scope and adequacy of current hyPTFs, particularly when applied to parameterise models at the field scale and beyond. Much of the hyPTF development process has focussed on refining and advancing the methods, while fundamental questions remain largely unanswered, namely i) how should hyPTFs be built for maximum prediction confidence, ii) which processes/properties need to be predicted to move beyond the van Genuchten-Mualem based parameterisation of the Richards equation, iii) which new datasets and data coverage are needed, iv) how does the measurement process of soil hydraulic properties determine the construction of hyPTFs and at which scale, iv) how can we incorporate diverging scales (scale of derivation vs scale of application), and v) what scaling/modulation/constraining strategies are affective to make hyPTF predictions at field-to-regional scale appropriate and physically meaningful? These questions have been addressed in a joint effort by the members of the International Soil Modelling Consortium (ISMC) Pedotransfer Functions Working Group with the aim to systematise hyPTF research and provide a roadmap guiding scientists, reviewers, and make users aware of the shortcomings.</p>

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3–4D soil model as challenge for future soil research: Quantitative soil modeling based on the solid phase

Gerke

Vogel

Weber

et al. 2022

J. Plant Nutr. Soil Sci.

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A 3-4D soil model represents a logical step forward from one-dimensional soil columns (1D), two-dimensional soil maps (2D), and three-dimensional soil volumes (3D) toward dynamic soil models (4D), with time as the fourth dimension. The challenge is to develop modeling tools that account for the states of soil properties, including the spatial structure of solids and pores, as well as their dynamics, including soil mass and solute transfers in landscapes. Our envisioned 3-4D soil model approach aims at improving the capability to predict fundamental soil functions (e.g., plant growth, storage, matter fluxes) that provide ecosystem services in the socioeconomic context.This study provides a structured overview on current soil models, challenges, open questions, and urgent research needs for developing a 3-4D soil model. A 3-4D soil model should provide an inventory of spatially distributed and temporally variable soil properties. As basis for this, we propose a mass balance model for the solid phase, which needs to be supplemented by a model describing its structure. This should eventually provide adequate 3D parameter sets for the numerical modeling of soil functions (e.g., flow and transport). The target resolution is decameters in the horizontal plane and centimeters to decimeters in the vertical direction to represent characteristic soil properties and soil horizons. The actual state of soils and their properties can be estimated from spatial data that represent the soil forming factors, with the use of machine learning tools. Improved modeling of the dynamics of soil bulk density, biological processes, and the pore structure are required to relate the solid mass balance to matter fluxes.A 3-4D soil model can be built from several types of modeling approaches. We distinguish between (1) process models that simulate mass balances, fluxes and soil structure dynamics, (2) statistical pedometric models using machine learning and geostatistics to estimate the soil inventory within landscapes, and (3) pedotransfer functions to link observable attributes to specific model parameters required to simulate soil functions including water and matter fluxes. This should provide the prerequisites to predict the spatial distribution of soil functions and their changes in response to external forcing. This endeavor can draw upon many already established models and techniques, yet combining them into a newly created 3-4D soil model is a truly an ambitious, but promisingThis is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

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An open Soil Structure Library based on X-ray CT data

Cited by 17 publications

References 36 publications

BODIUM—A systemic approach to model the dynamics of soil functions

BODIUM—A systemic approach to model the dynamics of soil functions

Hydro-pedotransfer functions: A roadmap for future development

3–4D soil model as challenge for future soil research: Quantitative soil modeling based on the solid phase

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