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Preferential Solute Flow in Intact Soil Columns Measured by SPECT Scanning
Author(s) -
Perret Johan,
Prasher S. O.,
Kantzas A.,
Hamilton K.,
Langford C.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj2000.642469x
Subject(s) - tracer , single photon emission computed tomography , soil water , emission computed tomography , scanner , nuclear medicine , tomography , porous medium , materials science , spect imaging , environmental science , geology , porosity , biomedical engineering , soil science , positron emission tomography , physics , optics , medicine , geotechnical engineering , nuclear physics
Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) is an imaging technique that is widely used in medical diagnosis. This technique has never been applied to soils. The objective of this study was to investigate the capabilities of SPECT scanning for visualizing preferential flow in soil. This paper describes the principle of SPECT scanning and its application to tracer breakthroughs in four large undisturbed soil columns (800‐mm length × 77‐mm diam.). This new approach allows real‐time analysis of flow patterns of radioactive tracers in 2‐D using planar imaging, and in 3‐D using the tomographic capabilities of the SPECT scanner. Not only does SPECT scanning provide qualitative data, but it also allows for the quantification of a tracer's spatial distribution. Our results characterized preferential flow very clearly in soil columns. SPECT scanning opens up new avenues for 2‐D and 3‐D tracer studies in porous media such as soils.