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Title: Small-scale characterization of vine plant root water uptake via 3-D electrical resistivity tomography and mise-à-la-masse method

Abstract

The investigation of plant roots is inherently difficult and often neglected.Being out of sight, roots are often out of mind. Nevertheless, roots play a key rolein the exchange of mass and energy between soil and the atmosphere, in addition tothe many practical applications in agriculture. In this paper, we propose amethod for roots imaging based on the joint use of two electricalnoninvasive methods: electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) andmise-à-la-masse (MALM). The approach is based on the key assumption that theplant root system acts as an electrically conductive body, so that injectingelectrical current into the plant stem will ultimately result in the injectionof current into the subsoil through the root system, and particularly throughthe root terminations via hair roots. Evidence from field data, showing thatvoltage distribution is very different whether current is injected into thetree stem or in the ground, strongly supports this hypothesis. The proposedprocedure involves a stepwise inversion of both ERT and MALM data thatultimately leads to the identification of electrical resistivity (ER)distribution and of the current injection root distribution in thethree-dimensional soil space. This, in turn, is a proxy to the active (hair)root density in the ground. We tested the proposed procedure on syntheticdata and, more importantly, on fieldmore » data collected in a vineyard, where theestimated depth of the root zone proved to be in agreement with literature onsimilar crops. The proposed noninvasive approach is a step forward towards abetter quantification of root structure and functioning.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [4];  [1]
  1. Univ. degli Studi di Padova, Padova (Italy)
  2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Univ. Bordeaux Montaigne, Pessac (France)
  3. Univ. Bordeaux Montaigne, Pessac (France)
  4. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC)
OSTI Identifier:
1542331
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (Online)
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Name: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (Online); Journal Volume: 22; Journal Issue: 10; Journal ID: ISSN 1607-7938
Publisher:
European Geosciences Union (EGU)
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
58 GEOSCIENCES; 54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES; 60 APPLIED LIFE SCIENCES

Citation Formats

Mary, Benjamin, Peruzzo, Luca, Boaga, Jacopo, Schmutz, Myriam, Wu, Yuxin, Hubbard, Susan S., and Cassiani, Giorgio. Small-scale characterization of vine plant root water uptake via 3-D electrical resistivity tomography and mise-à-la-masse method. United States: N. p., 2018. Web. doi:10.5194/hess-22-5427-2018.
Mary, Benjamin, Peruzzo, Luca, Boaga, Jacopo, Schmutz, Myriam, Wu, Yuxin, Hubbard, Susan S., & Cassiani, Giorgio. Small-scale characterization of vine plant root water uptake via 3-D electrical resistivity tomography and mise-à-la-masse method. United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5427-2018
Mary, Benjamin, Peruzzo, Luca, Boaga, Jacopo, Schmutz, Myriam, Wu, Yuxin, Hubbard, Susan S., and Cassiani, Giorgio. Tue . "Small-scale characterization of vine plant root water uptake via 3-D electrical resistivity tomography and mise-à-la-masse method". United States. https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-5427-2018. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1542331.
@article{osti_1542331,
title = {Small-scale characterization of vine plant root water uptake via 3-D electrical resistivity tomography and mise-à-la-masse method},
author = {Mary, Benjamin and Peruzzo, Luca and Boaga, Jacopo and Schmutz, Myriam and Wu, Yuxin and Hubbard, Susan S. and Cassiani, Giorgio},
abstractNote = {The investigation of plant roots is inherently difficult and often neglected.Being out of sight, roots are often out of mind. Nevertheless, roots play a key rolein the exchange of mass and energy between soil and the atmosphere, in addition tothe many practical applications in agriculture. In this paper, we propose amethod for roots imaging based on the joint use of two electricalnoninvasive methods: electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) andmise-à-la-masse (MALM). The approach is based on the key assumption that theplant root system acts as an electrically conductive body, so that injectingelectrical current into the plant stem will ultimately result in the injectionof current into the subsoil through the root system, and particularly throughthe root terminations via hair roots. Evidence from field data, showing thatvoltage distribution is very different whether current is injected into thetree stem or in the ground, strongly supports this hypothesis. The proposedprocedure involves a stepwise inversion of both ERT and MALM data thatultimately leads to the identification of electrical resistivity (ER)distribution and of the current injection root distribution in thethree-dimensional soil space. This, in turn, is a proxy to the active (hair)root density in the ground. We tested the proposed procedure on syntheticdata and, more importantly, on field data collected in a vineyard, where theestimated depth of the root zone proved to be in agreement with literature onsimilar crops. The proposed noninvasive approach is a step forward towards abetter quantification of root structure and functioning.},
doi = {10.5194/hess-22-5427-2018},
journal = {Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (Online)},
number = 10,
volume = 22,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Oct 23 00:00:00 EDT 2018},
month = {Tue Oct 23 00:00:00 EDT 2018}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Electrical impedance tomography as a tool for phenotyping plant roots
journal, May 2019


Imaging and functional characterization of crop root systems using spectroscopic electrical impedance measurements
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Assessing the extent of citrus trees root apparatus under deficit irrigation via multi-method geo-electrical imaging
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Electrical impedance tomography as a tool for phenotyping plant roots
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