Improved 3D characterization of in-situ soil desiccation cracking by multi-source data integration

• A method for characterizing 3D geometrics of soil desiccation cracks is proposed. • Multi-source data from ERT and image analysis reduce the ambiguity of each method. • The method is applied to field sites and shows particular robustness. Desiccation cracking is a common and natural phenomenon under a drought climate. The geometric and morphologic characteristics of the crack pattern are critical to understanding the response of soil mechanical and hydraulic properties to drought climate. It is always a big challenge to obtain the refined geometric structure of the in-situ soil desiccation crack network. This study proposes an integrated method named ERT + for determining the three-dimensional geometry of in-situ soil desiccation crack networks by integrating multi-source data from electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), surface image analysis, and depth investigation. The proposed method was applied to three in-situ expansive soil sites with different crack geometries and soil properties. The results showed that the joint application of ERT with other investigations reduced the ambiguity of interpreting each technique independently. The crack network model characterized the three-dimensional geometric structure of the desiccation crack accurately and quantitatively, verifying the effectiveness and feasibility of the ERT + method. Field and laboratory experiments showed that heterogeneity in soil properties resulted in different cracking morphologies (width, depth, and width-depth ratio). The crack geometric data suggested that the width-depth ratio of the crack network was related to the cracking modes and the soil properties, indicating the non-homology of different crack networks. In addition, the correction gradients calculated from the ERT + method also varied with the cracking modes and soil properties, further suggesting the reliability and prospect of the proposed method.