ORGANIC CARBON CONTENT AND SOIL TEXTURE/COMPOSITIONS HAVE THE GREATEST EFFECT ON SOIL STRUCTURE (AGGREGATES AND CRACKS) AS WELL AS THE GREATEST IMPACT ON SOIL PROPERTIES AND FUNCTION. UNDERSTANDING CARBON LOADING FROM SOIL-VEGETATION SYSTEMS TO THE ATMOSPHERE IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE TO ASSESS CLIMATE CHANGE DRIVERS. LONG-TERM EXPERIMENTS SHOW THAT THE CONTENT OF SOIL ORGANIC CARBON (SOC) IS THE RESULT OF A BALANCE BETWEEN THE INPUTS AND OUTPUTS OF ORGANIC C. THE MAIN C INPUTS ARE PLANT ROOTS AND ROOT EXUDATES, ABOVE-GROUND PLANT RESIDUES AND MANURES OR OTHER ORGANIC BY-PRODUCTS . THE OUTPUTS ARE THE DECOMPOSITION OF ORGANIC MATTER BY SOIL MICROORGANISMS AND FAUNA LEADING TO EVOLUTION OF CO2 TO THE ATMOSPHERE (OR CH4 UNDER ANAEROBIC CONDITIONS), LEACHING OF SOLUBLE ORGANIC C COMPOUNDS AND PARTICULATE LOSSES THROUGH EROSION . DECOMPOSITION IS NORMALLY THE DOMINANT OUTPUT PROCESS AND IS CONTROLLED BY CLAY CONTENT, TEMPERATURE, MOISTURE CONTENT AND OXYGEN AVAILABILITY WITHIN THE SOIL. SOILS WITH A HIGHER CONTENT OF CLAY-SIZED PARTICLES, OR HIGHER CATION EXCHANGE CAPACITY, NORMALLY MOVE TOWARDS A HIGHER EQUILIBRIUM CONTENT OF ORGANIC C THAN SANDY SOIL DUE TO THEIR GREATER CAPACITY FOR STABILIZING MICROBIAL METABOLITES . THE CLAY AND ORGANIC MATTER CONTENT ALSO DETERMINE THE SHRINKAGE CHARACTERISTICS AND HENCE HOW SOIL STRUCTURE CHANGES DURING THE ANNUAL CYCLES OF WETTING AND DRYING.AN OBSTACLE TO PROGRESS OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SOIL IS A LACK OF SPATIO TEMPORAL DATA MEASURED AT HIGH RESOLUTIONAT FIELD SCALES.THIS PROJECTIS TO ADDRESS THIS GAP BY INTERGRATING SPATIALLY-DISTRIBUTED FIBER OPTIC SENSING TECHNOLOGY AND IN-GROUND WSN TECHNOLOGYTO MEASURE SPATIO TEMPORAL CHANGES IN FLUXES OF GASEOUS N2O, CO2, CH4 AND O2, AS WELL AS SOIL STRAINWHICH WILL BE USED TO INFER SOIL STRUCTURAL CHANGE.SPATIALLY DISTRIBUTED MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY, BASED ON THE USE OF BURIED FIBER OPTICS AND WIRELESS SENSORNETWORK SENSORS, HAVE BEEN COMMONLY USED IN CIVIL ENGINEERING. THEY CAN BE USED TO MEASURE STRAIN ANDDEPENDING ON THE COATING OVER THE FIBER, WATER CONTENT AND THE CONCENTRATIONS OF VARIOUS GASES INCLUDINGO2, CO2, N2O AND CH4. SUCH TECHNOLOGY HAS CONSIDERABLE POTENTIAL FOR USE IN AGRICULTURE,ENVIRONMENTAL AND OTHER VEGETATION MONITORING, WHERE TYPICALLY SENSORS ARE POINT BASED (E.G. SOIL WATERCONTENT) AND SAMPLED MANUALLY. WHILE GAS EMISSIONS FROM SOIL CAN BE MEASURED AT THE FIELD SCALE USINGMICROMETEOROLOGICAL TECHNIQUES, THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF EMISSIONS FROM THE FIELD IS NOT KNOWN. THEPURPOSE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO APPLY THE SPATIALLY-DISTRIBUTED SENSING TECHNOLOGY USED BY CIVIL ENGINEERS TOAGRICULTURAL AND THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.