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Visible-near infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy is an acknowledged technique to observesimultaneously several soil parameters, such as soil organic matter and nutrient content,moisture, texture and mineralogy. Imaging spectroscopy provides a possibility to collectspectral information from intact soil samples with a high spatial resolution of 50×50μm2/pixel. In our study we identified physico-chemical soil properties using a hyperspectralvis-NIR camera (spectral resolution 196 bands between 400-1000 nm and spatial resolutionof 50×50 μm2/pixel) and combined them with information on intact soil structure obtainedusing X-ray CT (spatial resolution of 19×19×19 μm3/voxel). We used undisturbed soilcylinders (diameter and height 3 cm) from agriculturally reclaimed soils in the open-castmining area of Garzweiler near Cologne, Germany. Soil samples were scannedwith an X-ray CT, subsequently slices from the cylinder were embedded in resin(polyester) and scanned with the hyperspectral camera. For the first time imageregistration of 2D vis-NIR and 3D X-ray CT images were performed in elastix.This allowed us to correlate organic and mineral soil materials with structural dataclassified by image processing. We identified reclamation management and plant rootinfluence on soil organic matter accumulation and soil structural development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]