Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modeling

Abstract Biogeochemical soil processes are closely linked to the structure of soil. In particular, nutrient transport depends on diffusivity and permeability within the soil’s pore network. A deeper understanding of the relationship between microscopic soil structure and such effective macroscopic p...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Benedikt Prifling, Matthias Weber, Maximilian Rötzer, Nadja Ray, Alexander Prechtel, Maxime Phalempin, Steffen Schlüter, Doris Vetterlein, Volker Schmidt
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-06-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05825-0
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850114467927425024
author Benedikt Prifling
Matthias Weber
Maximilian Rötzer
Nadja Ray
Alexander Prechtel
Maxime Phalempin
Steffen Schlüter
Doris Vetterlein
Volker Schmidt
author_facet Benedikt Prifling
Matthias Weber
Maximilian Rötzer
Nadja Ray
Alexander Prechtel
Maxime Phalempin
Steffen Schlüter
Doris Vetterlein
Volker Schmidt
author_sort Benedikt Prifling
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Biogeochemical soil processes are closely linked to the structure of soil. In particular, nutrient transport depends on diffusivity and permeability within the soil’s pore network. A deeper understanding of the relationship between microscopic soil structure and such effective macroscopic properties can be obtained by tomographic imaging combined with a quantitative analysis of soil morphology and numerical simulations of effective macroscopic properties. In a previous work it has been shown that different parametric regression formulas can be used to predict these relations for finely sieved soils of loam and sand. In the present paper, we validate these formulas and further extend their applicability to structured soils. In particular, 3D CT data of a total of six samples, consisting of three loam and three sand samples, are used as the basis for an extensive structural analysis. As expected, the performance of most regression formulas can be improved by specifically adjusting their parameters for the considered soil structures. However, it turns out that some regression formulas based on, e.g., tortuosity which were fitted for finely sieved soils still reliably predict diffusion for structured soils without adjusting their parameters. For additional validation and improvement of the considered regression formulas, artificially generated soil structures can be utilized. Therefore, a method for the generation of such structures via samples drawn from a parametric stochastic 3D microstructure model is outlined which may serve as a basis for further work.
format Article
id doaj-art-6a279f434fda4e09875b3f46c89acd8e
institution OA Journals
issn 2045-2322
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Nature Portfolio
record_format Article
series Scientific Reports
spelling doaj-art-6a279f434fda4e09875b3f46c89acd8e2025-08-20T02:36:50ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-06-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-05825-0Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modelingBenedikt Prifling0Matthias Weber1Maximilian Rötzer2Nadja Ray3Alexander Prechtel4Maxime Phalempin5Steffen Schlüter6Doris Vetterlein7Volker Schmidt8Institute of Stochastics, Ulm UniversityInstitute of Stochastics, Ulm UniversityDepartment of Mathematics, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-NürnbergMathematical Institute for Machine Learning and Data Science, Catholic University of Eichstätt-IngolstadtDepartment of Mathematics, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-NürnbergDepartment of Soil System Science, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research-UFZDepartment of Soil System Science, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research-UFZDepartment of Soil System Science, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research-UFZInstitute of Stochastics, Ulm UniversityAbstract Biogeochemical soil processes are closely linked to the structure of soil. In particular, nutrient transport depends on diffusivity and permeability within the soil’s pore network. A deeper understanding of the relationship between microscopic soil structure and such effective macroscopic properties can be obtained by tomographic imaging combined with a quantitative analysis of soil morphology and numerical simulations of effective macroscopic properties. In a previous work it has been shown that different parametric regression formulas can be used to predict these relations for finely sieved soils of loam and sand. In the present paper, we validate these formulas and further extend their applicability to structured soils. In particular, 3D CT data of a total of six samples, consisting of three loam and three sand samples, are used as the basis for an extensive structural analysis. As expected, the performance of most regression formulas can be improved by specifically adjusting their parameters for the considered soil structures. However, it turns out that some regression formulas based on, e.g., tortuosity which were fitted for finely sieved soils still reliably predict diffusion for structured soils without adjusting their parameters. For additional validation and improvement of the considered regression formulas, artificially generated soil structures can be utilized. Therefore, a method for the generation of such structures via samples drawn from a parametric stochastic 3D microstructure model is outlined which may serve as a basis for further work.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05825-0Structure–property relationshipSoil gas diffusion3D CT dataStatistical image analysisStochastic 3D modeling
spellingShingle Benedikt Prifling
Matthias Weber
Maximilian Rötzer
Nadja Ray
Alexander Prechtel
Maxime Phalempin
Steffen Schlüter
Doris Vetterlein
Volker Schmidt
Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modeling
Scientific Reports
Structure–property relationship
Soil gas diffusion
3D CT data
Statistical image analysis
Stochastic 3D modeling
title Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modeling
title_full Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modeling
title_fullStr Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modeling
title_full_unstemmed Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modeling
title_short Correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand, including stochastic 3D microstructure modeling
title_sort correlating pore space morphology with numerically computed soil gas diffusion for structured loam and sand including stochastic 3d microstructure modeling
topic Structure–property relationship
Soil gas diffusion
3D CT data
Statistical image analysis
Stochastic 3D modeling
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-05825-0
work_keys_str_mv AT benediktprifling correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT matthiasweber correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT maximilianrotzer correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT nadjaray correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT alexanderprechtel correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT maximephalempin correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT steffenschluter correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT dorisvetterlein correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling
AT volkerschmidt correlatingporespacemorphologywithnumericallycomputedsoilgasdiffusionforstructuredloamandsandincludingstochastic3dmicrostructuremodeling