Soil Sampling and Preparation for X-ray Imaging

Soil sampling is the first activity of most research performed in soil science. It is self-evident that badly designed soil sampling (e.g., location, size, soil structure disturbance) or subsampling can lead to erroneous results spoiling any subsequent analytical techniques. This is even more crucial considering the fragility of the soil pores network, which is a key property on which soil microtomography focuses. Thus, both soil sampling and soil preparation have to be considered key fundamental activities preliminary for any study in soil science.