A database for ancillary information of three-dimensional soil surface microtopography measurements.

Understanding the complex processes occurring at the soil surface is challenging due to the intricate spatial variability and dynamic nature of these processes. An effective tool for elucidating these phenomena is three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction, which employs advanced imaging technologies to create a comprehensive representation of the soil surface at high spatial resolution, often at the mm-scale. Three-dimensional reconstruction techniques are increasingly available to scientists in the fields of soil science, geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology and many studies have employed these novel tools to advance understanding of surface processes. Much of the data being collected in these studies are however not interoperable, i.e., 3D data from one study may not be directly combined with 3D data from other studies thus limiting the ability of researchers to advance process understanding at a broader scope. The limited interoperability of existing data is due in part to the fact that 3D surface reconstruction data are influenced by many factors including experimental conditions, intrinsic soil properties and accuracy and precision limits of the 3D reconstruction technique used. These ancillary data are crucial to any broad-scope efforts that leverage the increasing number of 3D datasets collected by scientists across disciplines, geographic regions, and experimental conditions. We have developed a relational database that archives and serves ancillary data associated with published high-resolution 3D data representing soil surface processes. This presentation introduces the structure of the database with its required and optional variables. We also provide analytics on the currently available records in the database and discuss potential applications of the database and future developments.