Characterization of soil-water-root interactions in saline and sodic soils using correlative imaging techniques

Increased soil salinity and sodicity (amount of sodium held in a soil) pose significant environmental threats to soil health in arid and semi-arid regions, leading to reduced crop productivity and biodiversity. These processes can be attributed to both natural factors, such as climate and topography, and human activities, particularly irrigation practices. Inappropriate irrigation management, excess use of irrigation water and low water quality are major causes of soil salinity and sodicity in many areas of the world. Irrigating soils with poor quality irrigation water is the primary cause of the development of saline soils, affecting cultivation of crops and crop yields due to osmotic stress. The hypothesis is that in the addition that the soil pore system characteristics are affected by irrigation-induced salinity and sodicity, roots systems are also affected, and such effects can be captured by combining the neutron imaging technique available on IMAT (ISIS) with the high-resolution x-ray imaging setup at I12-JEEP (Diamond Light Source).