Scientific Visualization of the Soil Hydrology of a Loess Landscape in Southeastern Minnesota.

44 soil cores were collected and described across a hillslope in Southeastern Minnesota within the Major Land Resource Area 105 (approximately 20ha). In 2007, 2008 and 2009 ten piezometers collected water table depths every two hours continuously throughout the growing season. The hydrologic monitoring of the study site was used to associate water flow to the soil morphology and stratigraphy. This study’s objectives are (1) to describe soil profiles and identify redoximorphic features and link them with actual zones of saturation using piezometers and (2) develop a landscape model of how water moves across the entire hillslope. The final model is a 3D image of how soil stratigraphy and bedrock interacts and influences subsurface hydrologic processes. This project is a prelude to the next generation of communicating soil survey information.