Soil hydraulic properties are the key information required in quantitatively modeling water flow and solute transport in the vadose zone, which can be predicted using pore scale network models. However, some important parameters in network model, e. g., pore-size distribution and pore geometry, are often assigned arbitrarily. Thus, the resulted network model cannot fully reflect the pore structure within a real soil. In the present study, a morphologically based network model is employed to more accurately characterize the pore structure, which provides the physical basis for predicting soil hydraulic propert ies. The pore-size distribution and pore connect ivity are directly measured on digital images of sequential sample sections based on mathematical morphology technique, and then integrated into the construction of network model. In theory, the morphologically based network model resembles the measured characteristics of pore structure, and should produce much better results for soil hydraulic properties. The advantages and disadvantages are then analyzed through a case study with samples collected at Fengqiu Experimental Station, Chinese Academy of Sciences.