We describe here a preliminary work to study the N2O emissions of soils in relation to the fluctuations of their water content and structure. The first step is to collect soil samples without modifying their structure, control the hydric status and measure the water content by magnetic resonance techniques using principles similar to imaging (1d vertical profile, relaxometry and diffusion measurements). We develop first a sampling tool in which the soil is pushed directly into a glass tube that can be inserted later into the NMR device with the addition of end pieces (inner diameter of 45 mm, maximum sample length 60 mm). The lower end-piece is equipped with a porous ceramic plate in order to vary the matric potential of the sample. Low field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxometry methods are well known tools in geosciences to characterize saturated porous media and their fluid content. Although not very common, they are also well suited for the study of soils. T2 relaxometry allows a quick partitioning of the water between micro and macro-pores, T1-T2 maps allows the recognition of organic matter, diffusion measurements allow an estimation of tortuosity and 1D vertical profile allow the examination of the homogeneity of the water distribution and capillary equilibrium during retention curve measurements. We present a trial of the workflow on 3 types of soil: a sandy soil, a forest soil and a cultivated soil from the Villamblain experimental site. On the sandy soil example (see figure), T2 relaxation time distributions measured when applying different matric potential indicate clearly the desaturation of the largest pores while the smallest ones (fine grains, clay fraction) stay fully saturated (the background signal due to the water in the ceramic plate is subtracted from the calculation of the retention curve). The 1D profiles also measured during the experiment indicate a smaller porosity at the bottom presumably due to a slight sample compaction when sampling; however, at high matric potential, the water content is unaffected.