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Application to Soils

Water flow and chemical transport through soils are significantly influenced by plants. Preferential flow along root architecture, root water and nutrient uptake, root exudations, etc. are interacting processes between soil and roots, which may affect the soil water velocity field and distribution, and hence, solute transport. Although properties and functions of the above-ground parts of plants have already been studied, the hidden half, i.e. the root system, has received much less attention. One reason is the difficult visualization of the below-ground parts and processes without destruction. Magnetic resonance Imaging is a technique which allows non-invasive monitoring of the water dynamics in soils. In particular, it allows both the imaging of water distribution and water or tracer motion, and therefore may at the same time give information on the root architecture (mainly composed of water), soil water distribution and water fluxes. MRI is therefore a very promising tool for understanding root soil interactions processes.


MRI (high field) of root architecture (ICG-4).	Simulation of water uptake by roots (ICG-4)