NMR in Plants and Soils

Processes in soils, with special focus on plant–soil interaction, are hot economic and social topics driven by climate change and its impact on human nutrition. Following the pioneering work in the 1980s and early 1990s, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and mobile technologies have become important research methods in this area.

This book highlights NMR in the space and time domains as a non-invasive and versatile method for elucidating processes in plants, soils and their interactions. The field is currently undergoing rapid development, driven on the one hand by the increasing pressure to contribute to food security and on the other hand by the increasing availability of new technologies. The book makes the methods accessible to non-NMR specialists and, conversely, promotes the further development of NMR and MRI from the user's perspective.

It opens with a section reviewing the essential NMR and MRI basics for plants and soils and revisits the first investigations from the 1980s. Section two then covers NMR and MRI of soils and soil materials while the third section deals with the study of plants and plant products. The focus in both areas is the new development of mobile NMR devices from centimetre to field scale, which enables the investigation of plants and soils in situ. In addition, the coupling of MRI with numerical soil and plant physical models is highlighted.

With editors and authors contributing the state of the art of plant and soil NMR and MRI, this book defines the potential applications for researchers looking at how these new topics can enhance their research and understanding in the coming decades.