Integrating processes in soils using fractal models

Publisher Summary Soil structure affects and relates physical, chemical, and biological processes in soil. Progress in quantifying the relationship is hampered by the complexity of soil structure and the intrinsic opacity of soil that makes it difficult to introduce directly measurable parameters of soil structure. To avoid this difficulty, simplifying assumptions are made that often involve the introduction of characteristic scales. The objectives of assembling the chapter are three-fold: (1) to introduce and discuss the methods for identifying fractal structure and for measuring fractal dimension, (2) to demonstrate the wide-ranging applicability of the fractal techniques in soil physics, biology, and chemistry; and (3) to indicate the potential for a common framework within which the interaction of many complex soil processes can be addressed. This chapter provides an account of the state of the art in applying fractals to modeling processes in soil science after ten years from the start of intensive application.