Multi-scale quantitative characterization of macropores in Loess Plateau soils from CT images based on U-net and its variants

Fei Chen; Dantong Lin; Baoqing Zhang

doi:10.1016/j.still.2026.107182

journal article Sep 01, 2026

Multi-scale quantitative characterization of macropores in Loess Plateau soils from CT images based on U-net and its variants

Fei Chen

Dantong Lin Baoqing Zhang

Soil and Tillage Research Vol. 261 pp. 107182 · Elsevier BV

View at Publisher Save 10.1016/j.still.2026.107182

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

74

[1]

Allaire "Quantifying preferential flow in soils: A review of different techniques" J. Hydrol. (2009) 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2009.08.013

[2]

Bai "A novel UNet segmentation method based on deep learning for preferential flow in soil" Soil Tillage Res. (2023) 10.1016/j.still.2023.105792

[3]

Bai "Soil-SAM: Segment anything model for soil pore identification" Soil Tillage Res. (2025) 10.1016/j.still.2025.106675

[4]

Barrett "Artifacts in CT: Recognition and avoidance" RadioGraphics (2004) 10.1148/rg.246045065

[5]

Baveye "Observer-dependent variability of the thresholding step in the quantitative analysis of soil images and X-ray microtomography data" Geoderma (2010) 10.1016/j.geoderma.2010.03.015

[6]

Beven "Macropores and water flow in soils" Water Resour. Res. (1982) 10.1029/wr018i005p01311

[7]

Bonetti "A framework for quantifying hydrologic effects of soil structure across scales" Commun. Earth & Environ. (2021) 10.1038/s43247-021-00180-0

[8]

Adaptive Thresholding using the Integral Image

Derek Bradley, Gerhard Roth

Journal of Graphics Tools 2007 10.1080/2151237x.2007.10129236

[9]

Deep Learning: A Primer for Radiologists

Gabriel Chartrand, Phillip M. Cheng, Eugene Vorontsov et al.

RadioGraphics 2017 10.1148/rg.2017170077

[10]

Chen, J., Lu, Y., Yu, Q., Luo, X., Zhou, Y., 2021. TransUNet: Transformers make strong encoders for medical image segmentation. ArXiv 13, 2102.04306. http://dx.doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2102.04306.

[11]

TransUNet: Rethinking the U-Net architecture design for medical image segmentation through the lens of transformers

Jieneng Chen, Jieru Mei, Xianhang Li et al.

Medical Image Analysis 2024 10.1016/j.media.2024.103280

[12]

Fatichi "Soil structure is an important omission in Earth System Models" Nat. Commun. (2020) 10.1038/s41467-020-14411-z

[13]

Feng "Three-dimensional quantification of macropore networks of different compacted soils from opencast coal mine area using X-ray computed tomography" Soil Tillage Res. (2020) 10.1016/j.still.2019.104567

[14]

Futrega "Optimized U-Net for brain tumor segmentation" ArXiv (2022)

[15]

Ghosh "Application of X-ray computed tomography in soil and plant -a review" Front. Environ. Sci. (2023) 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1216630

[16]

Gimbel "Does drought alter hydrological functions in forest soils?" Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. (2016) 10.5194/hess-20-1301-2016

[17]

Vegetation restoration is affecting the characteristics and patterns of infiltration in the Loess Plateau

Ning Guan, Huaxing Bi, Yilin Song et al.

CATENA 2024 10.1016/j.catena.2024.108190

[18]

Deep Residual Learning for Image Recognition

Kaiming He, Xiangyu Zhang, Shaoqing Ren et al.

2016 IEEE Conference on Computer Vision and Patter... 2016 10.1109/cvpr.2016.90

[19]

Helliwell "Applications of X-ray computed tomography for examining biophysical interactions and structural development in soil systems: a review" Eur. J. Soil Sci. (2013) 10.1111/ejss.12028

[20]

Hirmas "Climate-induced changes in continental-scale soil macroporosity may intensify water cycle" Nature (2018) 10.1038/s41586-018-0463-x

[21]

Huang "Automated detection and segmentation of pleural effusion on ultrasound images using an Attention U-net" J. Appl. Clin. Med. Phys. (2023)

[22]

Hyväluoma "Simulation of near-saturated flow in soil macropores with the lattice Boltzmann method" Vadose Zone J. (2024) 10.1002/vzj2.20318

[23]

Iassonov "Segmentation of X-ray computed tomography images of porous materials: A crucial step for characterization and quantitative analysis of pore structures" Water Resour. Res. (2009) 10.1029/2009wr008087

[24]

Jarvis "A review of non-equilibrium water flow and solute transport in soil macropores: principles, controlling factors and consequences for water quality" Eur. J. Soil Sci. (2007) 10.1111/j.1365-2389.2007.00915.x

[25]

Jin "RA-UNet: a hybrid deep attention-aware network to extract liver and tumor in CT scans" Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. (2020) 10.3389/fbioe.2020.605132

[26]

Kan "Investigating soil pore network connectivity in varied vegetation types using X-ray tomography" Water (2023) 10.3390/w15213823

[27]

Ketcham "Acquisition, optimization and interpretation of X-ray computed tomographic imagery: applications to the geosciences" Comput. & Geosci. (2001) 10.1016/s0098-3004(00)00116-3

[28]

Kwon "Brain image segmentation using a combination of expectation-maximization algorithm and watershed transform" Int. J. Imaging Syst. Technol. (2016) 10.1002/ima.22181

[29]

Letey "The study of soil structure: Science or art" Soil Res. (1991) 10.1071/sr9910699

[30]

Li "Eres-UNet++: Liver CT image segmentation based on high-efficiency channel attention and Res-UNet++" Comput. Biol. Med. (2023) 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2022.106501

[31]

Li "Application of X-ray tomography to quantify macropore characteristics of loess soil under two perennial plants" Eur. J. Soil Sci. (2016) 10.1111/ejss.12330

[32]

UNet Combined With Attention Mechanism Method for Extracting Flood Submerged Range

Wenmei Li, Jiaqi Wu, Huaihuai Chen et al.

IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth O... 2022 10.1109/jstars.2022.3194375

[33]

Li "Change of soil physical properties under long-term natural vegetation restoration in the Loess Plateau of China" J. Arid Environ. (2006) 10.1016/j.jaridenv.2005.04.005

[34]

Lin "Prediction of colloid sticking efficiency at pore-scale and macroscale using a pore network model" J. Hydrol. (2022) 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2022.128253

[35]

A survey on deep learning in medical image analysis

Geert Litjens, Thijs Kooi, Babak Ehteshami Bejnordi et al.

Medical Image Analysis 2017 10.1016/j.media.2017.07.005

[36]

Liu "Evaluation of the impact of freeze-thaw cycles on pore structure characteristics of black soil using X-ray computed tomography" Soil Tillage Res. (2021) 10.1016/j.still.2020.104810

[37]

Liu "A novel method combining U-Net with LSTM for three-dimensional soil pore segmentation based on computed tomography images" Appl. Sci. (2024) 10.3390/app14083352

[38]

Liu "Ore image segmentation method using U-Net and Res_Unet convolutional networks" RSC Adv. (2020) 10.1039/c9ra05877j

[39]

Luo "Quantification of 3-D soil macropore networks in different soil types and land uses using computed tomography" J. Hydrol. (2010) 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2010.03.031

[40]

Luxmoore "Micro-, meso-, and macroporosity of soil" Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. (1981) 10.2136/sssaj1981.03615995004500030051x

[41]

Ma "Characterization and quantitative evaluation of preferential infiltration in loess, based on a soil column field test" Catena (2022) 10.1016/j.catena.2022.106164

[42]

Ma "Effects of earthworm (Metaphire guillelmi) density on soil macropore and soil water content in typical Anthrosol soil" Agric. Ecosyst. & Environ. (2021) 10.1016/j.agee.2021.107338

[43]

Naveed "Prediction of biopore- and matrix-dominated flow from X-ray CT-derived macropore network characteristics" Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci. (2016) 10.5194/hess-20-4017-2016

[44]

Oktay "Attention U-Net: Learning where to look for the pancreas" Comput. Vis. Pattern Recognit. (2018)

[45]

Otsu "A threshold selection method from gray-level histograms" IEEE J. Sel. Top. Appl. Earth Obs. Remote Sens. (2007)

[46]

Pires "X-ray microtomography analysis of soil pore structure dynamics under wetting and drying cycles" Geoderma (2020) 10.1016/j.geoderma.2019.114103

[47]

Qajar "Chemically Induced Evolution of Morphological and Connectivity Characteristics of Pore Space of Complex Carbonate Rock via Digital Core Analysis" Water Resour. Res. (2022) 10.1029/2021wr031298

[48]

Qu "Toward enhancing concrete crack segmentation accuracy under complex scenarios: a novel modified U-Net network" Multimed. Tools Appl. (2024) 10.1007/s11042-024-18568-3

[49]

Ringrose-Voase "Measurement of soil macropore geometry by image analysis of sections through impregnated soil" Plant Soil (1996) 10.1007/bf02185563

[50]

Ronneberger "U-Net: convolutional networks for biomedical image segmentation" Med. Image Comput. Comput. Assist. Interv. MICCAI (2015)

Showing 50 of 74 references

Metrics

0

Citations

74

References

Details

Published: Sep 01, 2026
Vol/Issue: 261
Pages: 107182
License: View

Authors

F

Fei Chen

Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME), 720 SW 2nd Avenue, Suite 201, Gainesville, FL 32601;; The Westheimer Institute for Science and Technology (TWIST), 720 SW 2nd Avenue, Suite 208, Gainesville, FL 32601;

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China Award: 42571019

Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities Award: lzujbky-2023-ey09

Natural Science Foundation of Gansu Province Award: 24JRRA434

Lanzhou University

Key Research and Development Program of Ningxia Award: 2026FRG05002

Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province Award: 26ZDFA006

Cite This Article

Fei Chen, Dantong Lin, Baoqing Zhang (2026). Multi-scale quantitative characterization of macropores in Loess Plateau soils from CT images based on U-net and its variants. Soil and Tillage Research, 261, 107182. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2026.107182

Multi-scale quantitative characterization of macropores in Loess Plateau soils from CT images based on U-net and its variants

You May Also Like