Incremental Soil Sampling, Root Water Uptake, or Be Great through Others.

Ray Allmaras pursued several research topics in relation to residue and tillage research. He looked for new tools to help explain soil responses to tillage, including disk permeameters and image analysis. The incremental sampler developed by Pikul and Allmaras allowed small-depth increment, volumetric soil sampling, which was used to show depth distributions of soil density, residue, weed seed, even plant pathogens in response to different tillage management systems. Several aspects of his work influenced my research. Dr. Allmaras conducted some early studies that showed  a large fraction of transpired soil water came from water moving up from the water table into the root zone, which I have recently quantified more precisely with the new soil water monitoring tools available today. The volumetric incremental sampler has been a valuable tool in my research to determine incremental soil density and water content. Ray Allmaras wanted to answer important soil management questions using modern techniques, even if his mentees received most of the credit.