**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** HEALTHY SOILS SUPPORT THE PRODUCTION OF FOOD, STORE RAINFALL, TRANSMIT AND FILTER GROUNDWATER, AND PROVIDE HABITAT FOR PLANTS, ANIMALS, AND MICROBES. MUCH OF THE VOLUME OF THESE SOILS IS COMPRISED OF AGGREGATES THAT REPRESENT THE BINDING OF PARTICLES (E.G., CLAY) AND ORGANIC MATTER (GENERATED BY PLANTS AND MICROBES) INTO LARGER UNITS. HOW THESE LARGER AGGREGATE UNITS ARE ARRANGED CONTROLS THE SHAPES OF PORES BETWEEN AGGREGATES, AND THUS THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PORE NETWORK. AS A RESULT, AGGREGATE ARRANGEMENT GOVERNS HOW WATER FLOWS THROUGH SOIL. YET AGGREGATES ARE DYNAMIC: THEY FORM, PERSIST FOR A LARGELY UNKNOWN TIME PERIOD, AND THEN DEGRADE. THIS DYNAMIC IS CALLED THE AGGREGATE LIFE-CYCLE. SEVERAL RECENT STUDIES SUGGEST THAT THE RATE AT WHICH AGGREGATES MOVE THROUGH THIS LIFE-CYCLE IS CONTROLLED BY CHANGES IN RAINFALL, TEMPERATURE, AND LAND-USE PATTERNS. THIS RESEARCH IS PART OF A LARGER COLLABORATIVE EFFORT WHICH AIMS TO MAKE EXPLICIT LINKAGES BETWEEN ENVIRONMENTAL DRIVERS ANDAGGREGATE LIFE-CYCLES ACROSS VARIOUS SCALES: FROM VERY SMALL INDIVIDUAL AGGREGATES, TO THEIR ARRANGEMENTS AND EFFECTS ON WATER FLOW THROUGH A SOIL PROFILE, AND, FINALLY, HOW THEY INFLUENCE WATER FLOW AT HILLSLOPE, REGIONAL, AND CONTINENTAL SCALES. ULTIMATELY, THIS STUDY WILL UNCOVER THE ROLE THAT THESE AGGREGATE LIFE-CYCLES AND ARRANGEMENTS HAVE ON INFLUENCING SOIL MOISTURE, VEGETATION, AND CLIMATE. FINDINGS FROM THIS WORK WILL REVEAL HOW SOILS RESPOND TO CHANGING CLIMATE AND HOW THOSE RESPONSES CAN IN TURN INFLUENCE CLIMATE, FACILITATE MODEL DEVELOPERS IN FORECASTING THE IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE ON WATER RESOURCES, FOOD PRODUCTION AND ECOSYSTEMS, AND PROMOTE THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIES TO ADAPT TO FUTURE ENVIRONMENTAL REALITIES. HOWEVER, THE STUDY OF HOW CLIMATE AND LAND USE INFLUENCE THE ABILITY OF SOIL TO STORE AND TRANSMIT WATER, ESPECIALLY DEEP WITHIN THE GROUND, HAS BEEN LIMITED FOR TWO REASONS. FIRST, THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGGREGATE LIFE-CYCLES, AGGREGATE ARRANGEMENTS, AND THE LARGEST PORES IN THE SOIL, WHICH CONTROL WATER FLOW, IS NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD. SECOND, CLIMATE AND LAND USE HAVE A GREATER INFLUENCE ON AGGREGATES AT THE GROUND SURFACE THAN DEEPER IN THE SOIL PROFILE, BUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOIL PROPERTIES AT THE GROUND SURFACE AND SOIL PROPERTIES DEEPER IN THE SOIL IS GENERALLY NOT WELL CHARACTERIZED.THIS WORK AIMS TO DEVELOP EMPIRICAL MODELS THAT WILL ALLOW SOIL PROPERTIES (SPECIFICALLY THOSE THAT CONTROL WATER STORAGE AND FLOW) TO BE ESTIMATED FOR ANY SOIL DEPTH FROM AIR-BORNE IMAGERY DATA. THIS WILL BE DONE USING DATA FROM EXISTING ENVIRONMENTAL OBSERVATORIES (E.G., UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION-FUNDED LONG-TERM RESEARCH SITES) AND NATIONAL ECOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY NETWORK SITES, AS WELL AS ANCILLARY DATA (E.G., NATURAL RESOURCES CONSERVATION SERVICE SOIL CLIMATE ANALYSIS NETWORK AND REMOTELY SENSED PRODUCTS) THAT REPRESENT GRADIENTS OF CLIMATE, LAND USE, AND SOIL TEXTURE AND FOR WHICH AIR-BORNE IMAGERY IS AVAILABLE. IN ADDITION, THIS RESEARCH EMPLOYS TWO NOVEL IMAGING TECHNIQUES TO CREATE SOIL PORE AND COMPOSITION MAPS OF LARGE INTACT SOIL SAMPLES THAT WILL BE USED TO WORK OUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AGGREGATE LIFE-CYCLES, ARRANGEMENTS, AND SOIL POROSITY. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, LARGE DATASETS WILL BE MANIPULATED, ANALYZED TO EXTEND THIS WORK, AND APPLIED AS INPUTS TO EXISTING EARTH SYSTEM MODELS. THIS NEED TO WORK WITH LARGE DATASETS IS EXPANDING THROUGHOUT ENVIRONMENTAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES AND THIS PROJECT WILL TAKE EXAMPLES FROM THIS RESEARCH AND USE THEM TO TEACH EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY. IN ADDITION, IN ORDER TO CONTINUE THE TRANSFER OF THIS KNOWLEDGE BASE AND SKILLSET, UNDERGRADUATE EDUCATORS FROM ACROSS THE COUNTRY WILL BE INTRODUCED TO INNOVATIVE TEACHING PRACTICES THAT CENTER AROUND THE USE OF DATA TO HELP STUDENTS GROW AN ENVIRONMENTAL AND AGRICULTURAL WORKFORCE COMPETENT IN THE USE, ANALYSIS, AND INTERPRETATION OF LARGE DATASETS. ADVANCES FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF SOIL CAPACITY TO PERFORM ECOSYSTEM SERVICES NOW AND IN THE FUTURE, ELUCIDATING PHYSICAL, CHEMICAL, AND BIOGEOCHEMICAL PROCESSES AFFECTING FLUXES, TRANSFORMATION, AND STORAGE OF WATER AND CARBON IN ECOSYSTEMS.