Soil pore architecture and irrigation practices in vineyards: evaluation by X-ray micro-tomography

Surface soil samples from three experimental plots subject to three different irrigation practices have been scanned by x-ray micro-tomography and 3D images have been reconstructed and analysed. Pore size distribution and connectivity analysis of the samples showed that drip irrigation with no tillage practice produced the most heterogeneous size range with the highest vertical connectivity of the pore network.