The physical determination of the hydraulics of the vadose zone in sediments and porous building-materials is the basis of the calculation and modelling of fluid, pollutant and heat transport. Here the pore size distribution and the heterogeneous structure of the pore space play a decisive role as an input parameter. Parameters of the hydraulics and unsaturated flow of sediment bodies were obtained by desorption and tank experiments and represented in two-dimensional visualizations. The experimental setup contained a two-dimensional measurement of the hydraulic potential and the distribution of the electrical conductivity during different stationary and dynamic flow processes. These experiments, along with the application of visual methods by means of tomography and image analysis, allowed for new approaches for the detection of the pore space properties and its heterogeneities: The hydraulic laboratory experiments identified a variation of the flow parameters in homogeneous sediment bodies. Optical methods demonstrated through the non-destructive process of the tomography a future practical strategy for undisturbed probes since great development potentials of the optical resolution are still physically possible opposite the used x-ray scanner. By contrast, the image analysis of scanned polished sections is connected to a sample treatment, but stands out due to a high degree of automation and low costs. The application of the different methods could represent the correlation of pore space structure and hydraulic properties. Due to the visual methods the complex structural properties are received quickly andversatilely. So the pore size distribution and the sum of the grain surfaces could be detected among other things. From this, a numeric model approach could be developed for the hydraulic properties and the moisture transport of porous media.