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X-ray absorption measurements have been explored as a fast experimental approach to determine soil hydraulic properties and to study rapid dynamic processes. As examples, the pressure-saturation relation &#952;(&#936;) for a uniform sand column has been considered as has capillary rise in an initially dry sintered glass column. The &#952;(&#936;)-relation is in reasonable agreement with that obtained by inverting a traditional multi-step outflow experiment. Monitoring the initial phase of capillary rise reveals behaviour that deviates qualitatively from the single-phase, local-equilibrium regime described by Richards’ equation.</p> <b> <p style='line-height: 20px;'><b>Keywords: </b>X-ray absorption, soil hydraulic properties, soil water dynamics, Richards’ equation