Evolving Patterns of Connectedness During Unsaturated Flow: A Possible Role for Geophysics in Soil Science?.

This paper explores the relationships between textural heterogeneity, water content distributions, and permeable pathways during steady state flow at different rates in porous media.  There are two objectives: first, to demonstrate how our concepts of spatial heterogeneity can be misleading when considering unsaturated conditions; second, to suggest that geophysics may offer unique abilities to test these evolving patterns and the underlying spatial organizations of soil hydraulic properties that they reflect.  Finally, I present an opportunity for support of hydrogeophysical research through the CUAHSI HydroGeoPhysics facility and encourage soil physicists to participate in this program.