We consider a system of spins diffusing in a static inhomogeneous (nonuniform-gradient) magnetic field B in a restricted geometry and in the presence of surface relaxation. We show that the short-time diffusional decay of nuclear magnetization is controlled by the field scattering kernel F(t)equivalent to<[B(t)-B(0)](2)>, which is a measure of the average field inhomogeneity sampled by the spins in time t and does not depend on the particular sequence of radio-frequency pulses used. Magnetization in arbitrary sequences can be straightforwardly computed by evaluating elementary integrals of F(t). Diffusion takes place while the field is on, so that the spins precess as they diffuse, in contrast to the simpler problem of purely classical diffusion considered in [P. P. Mitra, P. N. Sen, and L. M. Schwartz, Phys. Rev. B 47, 8565 (1993)] which is applicable only to the ideal pulsed-field gradient experiment. We compute the short-time asymptotic form of F(t) and find that it depends on the surface-to-volume ratio (S/V) of the pore space as well as on the average of the gradients over the bounding surface. In a system with nonuniform gradients that vary faster near the surface than in the bulk, as for internal susceptibility fields, this gradient surface average may be much larger than the gradients in the bulk, significantly enhancing the apparent S/V. We discuss the application of our results to the widely used Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) pulse sequence as well as proposing a modification of it, which we term "padded" CPMG, that may be preferable in systems with significant surface relaxation. We indicate how each sequence can be used to probe the internal fields.(C) 2004 American Institute of Physics.