Soil Science Lab Analysis
Explore hands-on laboratory demonstrations of soil science analyses, including soil physical, chemical, and biological measurements. This page features step-by-step videos showcasing standard laboratory techniques used in soil research, environmental monitoring, and sustainable land management, designed to support students, researchers, and practitioners.
Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity
This video demonstrates the measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) using the constant head method, conducted at the Lal Carbon Center for Carbon Management and Sequestration, The Ohio State University. The constant head method is widely used in soil physics to quantify water flow through saturated soils and is essential for understanding soil permeability, drainage behavior, and soil physical quality. The video explains the experimental setup, principles behind Darcy’s law, step-by-step measurement procedures, and calculation of hydraulic conductivity.
Plant Available Water Capacity
In this video, I demonstrate laboratory procedures for developing the soil water retention (pF) curve using tension table measurements at low matric suction combined with field capacity (FC) and permanent wilting point (PWP) determinations. The tension table is used to quantify soil water content under controlled low suctions, which form the lower part of the pF curve. FC and PWP define key hydraulic thresholds, allowing integration of all data points to construct the complete soil water retention curve and subsequently calculate Plant Available Water Capacity (PAWC).
Soil Aggregate Stability
I have demonstrated the laboratory analysis of soil aggregate stability using the Yoder wet sieving method. Aggregate stability is a key indicator of soil structure, resistance to erosion, and overall soil physical quality. In this method, air-dried soil aggregates are placed on a stack of sieves and subjected to vertical oscillation in water. The gentle wetting and sieving action simulate rainfall impact and slaking forces in the field. Stable aggregates remain intact on larger sieves, while weaker aggregates break down and pass through to finer fractions. After sieving, each fraction is oven-dried and weighed to calculate water-stable aggregates.