Rooting profiles with depth - the case of the Wurzelatlas mitteleuropäischer Ackerunkräuter und Kulturpflanzen

The drawings in the Wurzelatlas mitteleuropaischer Ackerunkrauter und Kulturpflanzen (Atlas of Central European weeds and arable crops, but also in the Atlases by Kutschera et al.) offer a unique opportunity to analyze rooting patterns of very different crops and herbs determined using a consistent methodology. Using 203 drawings, the images of the rooting patterns with depth are analyzed. As a result, we obtain a relation between pixels and depth which can be subject to different conversions, and to different analyses, e.g. the mathematical description of the changes in rooting pattern with depth, or the distribution of interroot distances with depth. Subsequent analyses allow correlating the parameters of this description to soil and location parameters. Some results will be presented and discussed in relation to water uptake of the different species.