HR: 08:40h
AN: H41H-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Measurement of Physical and Hydraulic Properties of Organic Soil Using Computed Tomographic Imagery
AU: * Blais, K E
EM: keblais@sfu.ca
AF: Simon Fraser University, Department of Geography 8888 University Drive , Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 Canada
AU: Quinton, W L
EM: bquinton@sfu.ca
AF: Simon Fraser University, Department of Geography 8888 University Drive , Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 Canada
AU: Heck, R J
EM: rheck@uoguelph.ca
AF: University of Guelph, Department of Land Resource Science, Guelph, ON N1G 2W1 Canada
AU: Price, J S
EM: jsprice@fes.uwaterloo.ca
AF: University of Waterloo, Department of Geography, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada
AU: Schmidt, M G
EM: mschmidt@arts.sfu.ca
AF: Simon Fraser University, Department of Geography 8888 University Drive , Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6 Canada
AB: The Lower Liard River valley is located within the continental northern boreal region and the zone of discontinuous permafrost. Lying in the centre of the Mackenzie basin, this valley is an extensive flat headwater region with a high density of open water and peatlands. Several standard methods of measuring the physical properties of organic soils exist, although many of them have several drawbacks that limit their use. Organic soils, in particular, have unique properties that require special attention to ensure that the measured hydrological characteristics are represented as they exist in nature. The goal of this research was to devise an improved method of analyzing and measuring the physical and hydraulic properties of organic soil using MicroCT imagery. Specifically, this research seeks to determine if two and three-dimensional images of peat can be used to accurately characterize air-filled porosity, active porosity, pore size distribution, pore saturated area and capillarity of porous Sphagnum cells. Results indicate that measurements derived from these images are consistent with current literature. They also suggest that this non-destructive method is a valuable tool for measuring peat physical and hydraulic properties and that there is potential for additional research using CT technology.
DE: 0702 Permafrost (0475)
DE: 1865 Soils (0486)
DE: 1890 Wetlands (0497)
DE: 6982 Tomography and imaging (7270, 8180)
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005