Modelling soil structure and processes

In this paper, a novel method developed over the last decade is presented to characterize and construct 3D soil microstructures. The method is still stochastically based, generating a 3D heterogeneous structure using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation. It consists of two main steps, the first being to calculate the transition probabilities from three 2D thin sections obtained by cutting the sample at three perpendicular directions, and the second step to generate 3D structures based on these estimated transition probabilities. The main difference of the proposed method from existing models is that the MCMC model is able to deal with the substantial levels of anisotropy and heterogeneity existing in most natural soils.