%A ASSI,AMJAD %A Braudeau,Erik %A Accola,Joshua %A HOVHANNISSIAN,Gaghik %A Mohtar,Rabi %D 2014 %J Frontiers in Environmental Science %C %F %G English %K Soils in hyper-arid regions,Rodah soil,Sabkha soil,soil shrinkage curve (SSC),water retention curve (WRC),hydrostructural parameters,pedostructure and SREV concept %Q %R 10.3389/fenvs.2014.00005 %W %L %M %P %7 %8 2014-March-31 %9 Original Research %+ Dr Erik Braudeau,Qatar Foundation,Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute,,P.O. Box 5825, Doha, Qatar,Doha,Qatar,erik.braudeau@ird.fr %+ Dr Erik Braudeau,The Institute for Development Research (IRD),Bondy Cedex,France,erik.braudeau@ird.fr %# %! Hydrostructural Characterization of Two Aridisols %* %< %T Physics of the soil medium organization part 2: pedostructure characterization through measurement and modeling of the soil moisture characteristic curves %U https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2014.00005 %V 2 %0 JOURNAL ARTICLE %@ 2296-665X %X Accurate measurement of the two soil moisture characteristic curves, namely, water retention curve (WRC) and soil shrinkage curve (SSC) is fundamental for the physical modeling of hydrostructural processes in vadose zone. This paper is the application part following the theory presented in part I about physics of soil medium organization. Two native Aridisols in the state of Qatar named locally Rodah “räôd'ǝ” soil and Sabkha “săb'kǝ” soil were studied. The paper concluded two main results: the first one is about the importance of having continuous and simultaneous measurement of soil water content, water potential and volume change. Such measurement is imperative for accurate and consistent characterization of each of the two moisture characteristic curves, and consequently the hydrostructural properties of the soil medium. The second is about the simplicity, reliability, strength and uniqueness of identifying the characteristic parameters of the two curves. The results also confirmed the validity of the thermodynamic-based equations of the two characteristic curves presented in part I.