Root

Documentation of the root components.

Introduction

The Root cluster provides a series of components that draw parametric diagrams of multi-phased root systems, in both sectional and planar approaches, based on the given soil conditions.

The growing roots will also respond to different environmental conditions that are either benign or malignant. These conditions will accordingly either encourage or discourage the growth.

Similar to the reality, a root needs some soil to grow upon. To grow roots, the components require a soil map that utilize the information extracted from the Soil cluster.

Component Usage

Please refer to the following sections for each component from this cluster.

root img

Soil Map for Root

This component computes a soil map for root drawing. It does not generate a diagram, but generates a generic class that can be connected to the components.

soil map

Param.	Abbr.	Optional	Description
`Plane`	`P`	Yes	The base plane where the soil and roots exist, using Top as the default value.
`Soil Geometry`	`soilGeo`	No	Geometric representation of the soil. For sectional soil, only triangles are considered; for planar soil, any tessellation or points are allowed.
`SoilMap`	`sMap`		The output generic soil map, used as one of the inputs of the root drawing components.

Sectional Root

This component generates a sectional root diagram based on the given soil map, anchor point and root radius. Users can also specify the specific root topology. Due to the various stages of root growth this allows the user to control the number of levels roots will branch off of the primary or initial roots. For example the figure, from An Architectural Approach to the Comparative Ecology of Plant Root Systems¹, below demonstrates both single level branching and multi level branching.

sectional reference

In addition to topological adjustments, users can adjust various variables to simulate the root's growing process with enabled environmental affectors, including both attracting factors (water, resource, etc.) and repelling factors (dryness, poison, etc.). If the environmental affectors are turned off, the root will branch out uniformly based on the given soil conditions.

Topological Brancing Multi Level

sectional multi

Topological Brancing Single Level

sectional single

Topological Brancing None

sectional none

Param.	Abbr.	Optional	Description
`SoilMap`	`sMap`	No	The generic soil map that contains the geometric information a root can grow on.
`Anchor`	`A`	No	The location near which a root start growing. The component will find the nearest on-map point to this anchor point.
`Steps`	`S`	No	The growing steps of the root. This is used to control the depth of root growth incrementally.
`BranchN`	`n`	Yes	Root branching number. Initial number of roots that branch from the anchor (n >= 2).
`seed`	`s`	Yes	Int seed to randomize the generated root pattern.
`Env Attractor`	`envA`	Yes	A curve or list of curves that represent environmental attracting area. (water, resources, etc.)
`Env Reppeller`	`envR`	Yes	A curve or list of curves that represent environmental repelling area. (dryness, poison, etc.)
`Env DetectionRange`	`envD`	Yes	The range (to unit length of the grid) that a root can detect surrounding environment.
`RootSec-Primary`	`root-main`		The sectional root drawing for primary branches of the roots.
`RootSec-Secondary`	`root-rest`		The sectional root drawing for secondary elements, or elements that brach off the main roots.

Context Menu

This component provides an additional option in the context menu choose between Topological Root: Level 2, Topological Root: Level 1, or Topological Root: None. The selection will trigger different algorithm inside the component for drawing the corrosponding diagram.

Param.	Abbr.	I/O	Options	Description
`Topological Branching`	`Topological Branching`		None/Level 1/Level 2	The number of branching levels for roots off of the primary roots.

Example R1

Download the GH file

This example demonstrates the usage of Sectional Root component to create sectional root drawings.

Natural Root Growth

The tree growth is guided by the points defined by the Soil Map component. By adjusting the grid points or adding additional points to the soil grid, the sectional root growth can be modified to deviate from the original grid. This adjustment allows the simulated roots to appear more natural and dynamic, as shown below.

natural root diagram

Example R2

Download the GH file

This example demonstrates the adjustment of grid points and the generation of more natural sectional root.

Planar Root

This component generates a phased planar root diagram based on a given soil base. Users can adjust various variables to simulate the root's growing process with enabled environmental affectors, including both attracting factors (water, resource, etc.) and repelling factors (dryness, poison, etc.).

If the environmental affectors are turned off, the root will branch out uniformly to all directions.

root planar

Root Growth Phases Diagram root phases

Param.	Abbr.	Optional	Description
`SoilMap`	`sMap`	No	The generic soil map that contains the geometric information a root can grow on.
`Anchor`	`A`	No	The location near which a root start growing.
`Scale`	`S`	No	Root scaling to match the root size with the soil size.
`Phase`	`P`	No	The growth phase ( 1, 5 ) of the root, allowing adjustment of the maturity of the root.
`Division Num`	`divN`	No	The number of branches grown from the root centre.
`Env Attractor`	`envA`	Yes	Environmental attracting area (water, resource, etc.).
`Env Repeller`	`envR`	Yes	Environmental repelling area (dryness, poison, etc.).
`Env DetectionRange`	`envD`	Yes	The range (to unit length of the grid) that a root can detect surrounding environment.
`"EnvAffector Toggle"`	`envToggle`	Yes	Toggle the affects caused by environmental factors. Default value `false`.
`RootPlanar`	`rootALl`		The planar root drawing, collection of all level branches.
`RootPlanarLevel-1`	`rootLv1`		Level 1 root components.
`RootPlanarLevel-2`	`rootLv2`		Level 2 root components.
`RootPlanarLevel-3`	`rootLv3`		Level 3 root components.
`RootPlanarLevel-4`	`rootLv4`		Level 4 root components.
`RootPlanarLevel-5`	`rootLv5`		Level 5 root components.
`RootPlanarAbsorb`	`rootAbsorb`		Absorbent roots.

Example R3

Download the GH file

This example demonstrates the usage of Planar Root component to create planar root drawings.

Tree Root

This component is used to generate sectional diagrams of tree root systems based on their height and phase. The component requires inputs from a soil map and tree component to compute the diagrams.

tree root

Tree Root Growth Phases Diagram

tree root diagram

Param.	Abbr.	Optional	Description
`TreeInfo`	`tInfo`	No	The tree info output from the tree component, used to generate the roots diagram
`SoilMap`	`sMap`	No	The output generic soil map, used as one of the inputs of the root drawing components.
`All Roots`	`rootAll`		The sectional root drawing, collection of all level branches.
`RootMain`	`rootM`		Primary root components of roots grown in previous the phase.
`RootNew`	`rootN`		Secondary root components and new roots grown in current phase.
`Dead Roots`	`rootD`		Dead roots in later phases of a tree's life.

For the .gh example of the tree root generation, please refer to the Forest 2D section.

Fitter, A. H. "An architectural approach to the comparative ecology of plant root systems." New phytologist 106 (1987): 61-77. ↩

Soil

Documentation of the soil components.

Tree

Documentation of the tree components.

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