Pedosphere 23(4): 503--510, 2013
ISSN 1002-0160/CN 32-1315/P
©2013 Soil Science Society of China
Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press
| Soil pore characterization using free software and a portable optical microscope |
L. F. PIRES1 , F. S. BORGES1, S. PASSONI1 and A. B. PEREIRA2 |
1Department of Physics, State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), 84.030-900, Ponta Grossa (Brazil)
2Department of Soil Science, State University of Ponta Grossa (UEPG), 84.030-900, Ponta Grossa (Brazil) |
| ABSTRACT |
| Total porosity (TP), determined by image analysis, pore type and pore size distribution were evaluated on impregnated soil blocks from an undisturbed Brazilian sandy loam soil using a digital portable optical microscope. The free software Image J (version 1.40g) was used for image analysis. Procedures for soil image collection and analysis were presented. The image analysis allowed the evaluation of pore sizes with diameters ranging from 20 to > 1 000 μm. The following types of pores were also obtained: rounded, elongated and intermediate. The results allowed the characterization of the soil as moderately porous (TP = 21.6%). Rounded, intermediate and elongated pores were responsible for 11.6%, 31.7% and 56.7% of TP. In relation to pore size 51.1% of TP was in the 100--500 μm size class and a third of TP came from the pores larger than 500 ?m. |
| Key Words: image analysis, soil porosity, soil structure, pore size distribution |
| Citation: Pires, L. F., Borges, F. S., Passoni, S. and Pereira, A. B. 2013. Soil pore characterization using free software and a portable optical microscope. Pedosphere. 23(4): 503-510. |
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