Output details

Assessment of physical and hydrological properties of biological soil crusts using X-ray microtomography and modeling

This is one of the first studies where an output (3D image) from X-ray tomography is directly used to simulate physical and hydraulic properties of real soil using lattice Boltzmann modelling. This links physical reality presented by the void microstructure of the soil and numerical simulations of fluid flow within the soil. The methodology is particularly helpful in studying the hydraulic behaviour of fragile materials such as biological crusts. The study underpinned the importance of biological crusts in controlling dryland water regime and need to protect it from disturbance, as practiced in the countries like USA.