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Fractal Description of Macroporosity

Agricultural Engineering Dep., Univ. of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742

W. J. Rawls^*

USDA-ARS Hydrology Lab., Beltsville, MD 20705

S. D. Logsdon

USDA-ARS National Soil Tilth Lab., Ames, IA 50011

W. M. Edwards

USDA-ARS Northern Appalachian Experimental Watershed, Coshocton, OH 43812

*Corresponding author.

ABSTRACT

Much interest has been generated in the application of self-similar power laws and fractal geometry principles to the description of soil properties. Fractal geometry is here proposed as a descriptor of macroporosity. Data on macropore counts-sizes were used to investigate this possibility. The fractal Sierpinski carpet was assumed to compute two-dimensional areal porosity. A tentative conclusion is that macropore count-size distributions can be described by the carpet generator and the areal porosity can be calculated.

Received for publication October 11, 1991.