scholarly journals Characterizing Soil Physical Properties for Soil Moisture Monitoring with the North Carolina Environment and Climate Observing Network

2012 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 933-943 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weinan Pan ◽  
R. P. Boyles ◽  
J. G. White ◽  
J. L. Heitman
Keyword(s):  
North Carolina ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
The North ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soil Moisture Monitoring

Abstract Soil moisture has important implications for meteorology, climatology, hydrology, and agriculture. This has led to growing interest in development of in situ soil moisture monitoring networks. Measurement interpretation is severely limited without soil property data. In North Carolina, soil moisture has been monitored since 1999 as a routine parameter in the statewide Environment and Climate Observing Network (ECONet), but with little soils information available for ECONet sites. The objective of this paper is to provide soils data for ECONet development. The authors studied soil physical properties at 27 ECONet sites and generated a database with 13 soil physical parameters, including sand, silt, and clay contents; bulk density; total porosity; saturated hydraulic conductivity; air-dried water content; and water retention at six pressures. Soil properties were highly variable among individual ECONet sites [coefficients of variation (CVs) ranging from 12% to 80%]. This wide range of properties suggests very different behavior among sites with respect to soil moisture. A principal component analysis indicated parameter groupings associated primarily with soil texture, bulk density, and air-dried water content accounted for 80% of the total variance in the dataset. These results suggested that a few specific soil properties could be measured to provide an understanding of differences in sites with respect to major soil properties. The authors also illustrate how the measured soil properties have been used to develop new soil moisture products and data screening for the North Carolina ECONet. The methods, analysis, and results presented here have applications to North Carolina and for other regions with heterogeneous soils where soil moisture monitoring is valuable.

Effects of spent mushroom substrate on soil physical conditions and plant growth in an intensive horticultural system

Soil Research ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 36 (6) ◽  
pp. 899 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. P. C. Stewart ◽  
K. C. Cameron ◽  
I. S. Cornforth ◽  
J. R. Sedcole
Keyword(s):  
Plant Growth ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Principal Components ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Spent Mushroom Substrate ◽  
Surface Crust

A 2-year field trial determined the influence of applying spent mushroom substrate (SMS) on soil physical properties and the growth of 4 consecutive vegetable crops (sweetcorn, cabbage, potato, cabbage). Treatments comprised 0, 20, 40, and 80 t/ha of moist SMS, both with and without inorganic fertiliser, applied to each crop, giving a range of SMS rates up to 320 t/ha. SMS improved the environment for plant root growth by decreasing soil bulk density (by 0· 05-0·25 g/cm 3 at 100 mm depth), increasing aggregate stability (by 13-16%), reducing clod and surface crust formation (by 16-31 and 18-94%, respectively), increasing the infiltration rate (by 130-207 mm/h), increasing the water content of the soil (by 0-7% w/w), and reducing diurnal temperature changes. Some of these changes were not evident until repeated applications of 80 t/ha SMS had been made. Soil physical properties were related to crop yield, and soil physical properties’ principal components were related to crop principal components using regression analysis (r2 of 0·20-0·60 and 0·16-0·54, respectively). The soil physical properties that had the most influence on plant growth were specific to each crop and included bulk density, water content, surface crust cover, infiltration rate, and aggregate size distribution. Soil physical properties had a large influence on the potato yield irrespective of fertiliser use and on both cabbage crop yields when fertiliser was not used, but not on the sweetcorn yield (the first crop to be grown). The effect of changing soil physical properties on plant growth was most apparent when fertiliser was not used. This was because the improved physical properties increased plant yield (at least in part) because of increased plant nutrient uptake.

scholarly journals The impact of landscape evolution on soil physics: evolution of soil physical and hydraulic properties along two chronosequences of proglacial moraines

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 3189-3204
Author(s):  
Anne Hartmann ◽  
Markus Weiler ◽  
Theresa Blume
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Hydraulic Properties ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Soil Chronosequence

Abstract. Soil physical properties highly influence soil hydraulic properties, which define the soil hydraulic behavior. Thus, changes within these properties affect water flow paths and the soil water and matter balance. Most often these soil physical properties are assumed to be constant in time, and little is known about their natural evolution. Therefore, we studied the evolution of physical and hydraulic soil properties along two soil chronosequences in proglacial forefields in the Central Alps, Switzerland: one soil chronosequence developed on silicate and the other on calcareous parent material. Each soil chronosequence consisted of four moraines with the ages of 30, 160, 3000, and 10 000 years at the silicate forefield and 110, 160, 4900, and 13 500 years at the calcareous forefield. We investigated bulk density, porosity, loss on ignition, and hydraulic properties in the form of retention curves and hydraulic conductivity curves as well as the content of clay, silt, sand, and gravel. Samples were taken at three depths (10, 30, 50 cm) at six sampling sites at each moraine. Soil physical and hydraulic properties changed considerably over the chronosequence. Particle size distribution showed a pronounced reduction in sand content and an increase in silt and clay content over time at both sites. Bulk density decreased, and porosity increased during the first 10 millennia of soil development. The trend was equally present at both parent materials, but the reduction in sand and increase in silt content were more pronounced at the calcareous site. The organic matter content increased, which was especially pronounced in the topsoil at the silicate site. With the change in physical soil properties and organic matter content, the hydraulic soil properties changed from fast-draining coarse-textured soils to slow-draining soils with high water-holding capacity, which was also more pronounced in the topsoil at the silicate site. The data set presented in this paper is available at the online repository of the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ; Hartmann et al., 2020b). The data set can be accessed via the DOI https://doi.org/10.5880/GFZ.4.4.2020.004.

scholarly journals Impact of recreational transformation of soil physical properties on micromolluscs in an urban park

2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-87
Author(s):  
V. S. Budakova ◽  
N. V. Yorkina ◽  
P. M. Telyuk ◽  
A. K. Umerova ◽  
O. M. Kunakh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Conductivity ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Feature Space ◽  
Penetration Resistance ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Urban Park ◽  
Soil Penetration Resistance

The paper assesses the effect of transformation of soil physical properties on the abundance of micromolluscs in the conditions of an urban park. The studies were carried out in Novooleksandrivskiy Park (Melitopol, Ukraine). An experimental polygon was represented by 7 transects with 18 sampling points in each. The interval between the points in the transect, as well as the interval between transects, was 3 meters. The total area of the polygon was 1,134 m2. The tree species growing within the polygon were Quercus robur, Sophora japonica, and Acer campestre. Shrubs were represented by Ulmus laevis, Tilia cordata, Celtis occidentalis, and Morus nigra. The locations of the trees and shrubs were mapped. The crowns of tree and shrub plants formed a dense canopy and a shady light regime. The grass cover was practically absent. The soil mechanical resistance, soil aggregate-size distribution, electrical conductivity of soil, soil moisture and bulk density were measured. We recorded 618 individuals of Vallonia pulchella, 120 individuals of Cochlicopa lubrica, and 58 individuals of Acanthinula aculeata within the surveyed polygon. We extracted three principal components, which could explain 60.9% of the variation in the feature space of the soil properties. The principal component 1 explained 42.0% of the variation of the feature space and depended on the soil penetration resistance throughout the whole profile, aggregate composition, density, electric conductivity and moisture content of soil. This component reflected a tendency for soil penetration resistance and soil density to increase near recreational trails. The principal component 1 was used to indicate the gradient of recreational transformation of the soil. The principal component 2 was able to explain 10.6% of the variation in the feature space. It negatively correlated with the distance from the recreational trail, soil penetration resistance at the depth of 35 cm or more, soil electrical conductivity, and the proportion of aggregates greater than 3 mm in size. This component positively correlated with soil penetration resistance at 0–5 cm depth and the proportion of aggregates less than 0.5 mm in size. This component can be interpreted as a "halo" from the recreational trail, or a gradient of indirect soil transformations adjacent to the zone of intense recreational load. The principal component 3 was able to explain 8.3% of the variation in the feature space. It positively correlated with soil penetration resistance at the depth of 20–40 cm, the proportion of 0.5–7.0 mm aggregates, and soil moisture. It negatively correlated with the proportion of aggregates larger than 7 mm and smaller than 0.25 mm. This component indicated a variation in soil properties that was induced by causes independent of recreational exposure. The extracted gradients of soil properties significantly influenced the abundance of micromollusc populations. The abundance of all species decreased after increase in recreational load. Micromollusc species responded to direct recreational exposure as plateau (C. lubrica) and asymmetric unimodal responses (V. pulchella and A. aculeata).

scholarly journals The distribution pattern of desert riparian forests and its relationship with soil moisture and soil properties in the low reaches of Heihe River Basin, China

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jingyi Ding ◽  
Wenwu Zhao ◽  
Stefani Daryanto ◽  
Lixin Wang ◽  
Hao Fan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
River Channel ◽  
Riparian Forests ◽  
Heihe River ◽  
Community Characteristics ◽  
Soil Nutrition ◽  
Desert Riparian Forests

Abstract. Desert riparian forests are critical habitats that provide a variety of ecosystem services in arid environments. They are also endangered ecosystem types that are sensitive to disturbance and threatened by desertification. Despite of previous studies stressed on the interactions between desert riparian forests and water availability, the lack of comprehensive information on the forests distribution range and their relationship with soil properties constraints further conservation efforts of this community under a changing climate. In this study, vegetation community characteristics, soil moisture and soil properties were investigated within a 3000 m radius around the river channel in the low reaches of Heihe River Basin, northwest China to determine the distribution pattern of desert riparian forests and their relationship with environmental factors. We found that desert riparian forests mainly distributed within the range of 2500 m from the river channel and the first 1000 m was regarded as the optimum range. Five types of vegetation communities were identified based on Two-way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) and they gradually shifted from the riparian tree-shrub-herb communities to riparian-desert shrubs with increasing distance from the river channel. Vegetation community coverage and diversity indices formed bimodal patterns while community height and density declined significantly as the distance from the river increased. Soil moisture, soil physical properties, and soil nutrition explained 53.6 % of the variance in community characteristics and different environment variables influenced different community characteristics. Soil moisture, accounting for 62.7 % of the total explanation, mainly influenced the community coverage and density. Soil physical properties (e.g., bulk density, soil particle composition) exerted influence on shrub layer, while soil nutrition mainly affected community richness. With surface (0–30 cm) and deep (100–200 cm) soil moisture, bulk density and total phosphorus regarded as major determining factors in the community structure and diversity, conservation measures that protect the soil structure and prevent soil moisture deficiency (e.g., artificial soil cover and water conveyance channel) were suggested to better protect the desert riparian forests under climate change and intensive human disturbance.

scholarly journals Pengaruh Frekuensi Pengolahan Tanah dan Pupuk Kompos terhadap Sifat Fisik Tanah dan Hasil Jagung

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 154
Author(s):  
I PUTU DHARMA ◽  
I NYOMAN PUJA
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Moisture Content ◽  
Block Design ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Corn Yield ◽  
No Tillage

The Effect of Soil Tillages Frequency and Compost Fertilizer on Soil Physical Properties and Corn Yields. The aims of this research is to determine of effect soil tillage frequency and compost fertilizer on soil physical properties and corn yields. The method was used a Randomized Block Design (RBD), factorial consisting of two factors, namely: Soil Tillages Frequency (T) consists of 3 levels, namely: T0 = no tillage; T1 = if one time and T2 = if twice. Compost Fertilizer (K) consists of 3 levels, namely: K0 = Without compost, K1 = 5 tons compost/ha and B2 = 10 tons compost/ha. Combination treatment into 9 treatments, namely T0K0 , T0K1, T0K2, T1K0, T1K1, T1K2, T2K0, T2K1, T2K2. and each treatment was repeated 3 times, so there were 27 research plots.The results showed that the soil tillage frequency and compost fertilizer had no significant effect on the soil physical properties and corn yields. Twice soil tillage frequency resulted bulk density, porosity, soil moisture content and dry corn yields respectively 1.01 g/cm3, 60.98%, 37.31% and 0.83 kg/m2, and not significant different compared with no tillage which is 1.03 g/cm3, 60.43%, 36.57% and 0.81 kg/m2. Addition of 10 tons compost/ha resulted bulk density, porosity, soil moisture content and dry corn yield respectively 0.99 g/cm3, 61.75%, 38.21% and 0.86 kg/m2, and not significant different compared with without compost fertilizer which is 1.06 g/cm3, 59.40%, 36.44% and 0.80 kg/m2.

scholarly journals Effect of Moldboard Plow Types on Soil Physical Properties Under Different Soil Moisture Content and Tractor Speed

2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 48-58
Author(s):  
Aqeel J. Nassir
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Soil Moisture Content ◽  
Penetration Resistance ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Porosity ◽  
Soil Penetration Resistance ◽  
Moldboard Plow

An experiment was conducted in fields of Agriculture college, University  of Basrah. The experiment was designed with split-spilt plots in Complete Randomized Blocks Design Treatments included three types of moldboard plows: helical,  semi digger and general –purpose, three soil moisture content levels (10.23,16.47 and 24.68%), and four tractor speed of 0.41, 0.56, 0.86 and 1.21 m sec -1  . The soil  physical properties were determined after plowing soil by using three types of moldboard plow. The results showed that there was significant effect of moldboard plow types, soil moisture content and tractor speed on soil physical properties including bulk density, soil porosity, soil penetration resistance and pulverization ratio. Results also indicated that the effect of interaction among plow types, soil moisture content and tractor speed was significantly on soil penetration resistance and pulverization ratios while it had not significantly effect on bulk density, soil porosity. In general, soil physical properties, had been improved when using high tractor speed and moderate soil moisture content whereas optimal operation was obtained when using general-purpose plow type and  high tractor speed of 1.12 m sec -1 and soil moisture content of 16.47% where this combination gives low bulk density (0.96Mg m-3), high soil porosity (63.90%) high soil pulverization ratio (74%) and low soil penetration resistance (623.47 kN m-2).

scholarly journals Changes In Soil Physical Properties And Crop Productivity As Influenced By Different Tillage Depths And Cropping Patterns

2013 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 289-299 ◽  
Author(s):  
MK Alam ◽  
N Salahin
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Grain Yield ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Crop Productivity ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Cropping Pattern ◽  
Cropping Patterns ◽  
Minimum Tillage ◽  
Tillage Depth

A series of field experiments was conducted at BARI central farm to observe the changes in soil densities, moisture retentive properties, and crop productivity as influenced by different tillage depths and cropping patterns. The tillage depth showed significant effect on wheat yield. Grain yield of wheat significantly increased from 2.86 t/ha (minimum tillage depth) to 5.33 t/ha (tillage depth up to 20-25 cm). Tillage depths and cropping patterns individually and their interaction significantly affected the yield of BRRI dhan32. The highest grain yield of rice (5.82 t/ha) was found in the tillage depth up to 20-25 cm under wheat-dhaincha-T. aman cropping pattern, whereas the lowest yield (2.08 t/ha) was found in the minimum tillage depth under wheat-fallow-T. aman cropping pattern. Soil densities and soil moisture retentive properties were significantly affected by interaction of tillage depths and cropping patterns. The bulk density and particle density of soil were decreased but the porosity and soil moisture at field capacity and permanent wilting point were increased with the increase of tillage depths. Tillage depth up to 20-25 cm by chisel plough under wheatdhaincha- T. aman cropping pattern conserved more moisture in the soil profile and improved other soil physical properties i.e. reduced the bulk density, increased porosity, increased water holding capacity and available water content of soil, thus maintained an optimum soil water infiltration rate and soil strength. The study revealed that the soil physical properties were significantly improved and crop yield significantly increased under tillage depth up to 20-25 cm by chisel plough under wheat-dhaincha-T. aman cropping pattern. Bangladesh J. Agril. Res. 38(2): 289-299, June 2013 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bjar.v38i2.15891

scholarly journals The impact of landscape evolution on soil physics: Evolution of soil physical and hydraulic properties along two chronosequences of proglacial moraines

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Hartmann ◽  
Markus Weiler ◽  
Theresa Blume
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Hydraulic Properties ◽  
Organic Matter Content ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Matter Content ◽  
Soil Chronosequence ◽  
Top Soil

Abstract. Soil physical properties highly influence soil hydraulic properties which define the soil hydraulic behavior. Thus, changes within these properties affect water flow paths and the soil water and matter balance. Most often these soil physical properties are assumed to be constant in time and little is known about their natural evolution. Therefore, we studied the evolution of physical and hydraulic soil properties along two soil chronosequences in proglacial forefields in the Central Alps, Switzerland. One soil chronosequence developed on silicate and the other on calcareous parent material. Each soil chronosequence consisted of 4 moraines with the ages of 30, 160, 3000, and 10 000 years at the silicate forefield and 110, 160, 4900, and 13 500 years at the calcareous forefield. We investigated bulk density, porosity, the content of clay, silt, sand, and gravel as well as loss on ignition and hydraulic properties in form of retention curves and hydraulic conductivity curves. Samples were taken in three depths (10, 30, 50 cm) at six sampling sites at each moraine. Soil physical and hydraulic properties change considerably over the chronosequence. Particle size distribution shows a pronounced reduction in sand content and an increase in silt and clay content over time at both sites. Bulk density decreases and porosity increases during the first 10 millenia of soil development. The trend is equally present at both parent materials, but the reduction in sand and increase in silt content was more pronounced at the calcareous site. The organic matter content increases, which is especially pronounced in the top soil at the silicate site. With the change in physical soil properties and organic matter content the hydraulic soil properties change from fast draining coarse textured soils to slow draining soils with high water holding capacity, which is also more pronounced in the top soil at the silicate site. The dataset presented in this paper is available at the online repository of the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ, Hartmann et al. (2020b)). The dataset can be accessed via the link: http://pmd.gfz-potsdam.de/panmetaworks/review/f46bd4d822a0766a9c0baf356bc7e55644d65d62d7ab71527f5d80c35eed11e5 and will be published with the DOI specified under the link.

scholarly journals Influence of Increasing Fines on Soil Physical Properties of U.S. Golf Association Sand

HortScience ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 54 (11) ◽  
pp. 2063-2066
Author(s):  
Philip J. Brown ◽  
Lambert B. McCarty ◽  
Virgil L. Quisenberry ◽  
L. Ray Hubbard ◽  
M. Brad Addy
Keyword(s):  
Physical Properties ◽  
Water Content ◽  
Bulk Density ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Fine Particles ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Volumetric Water Content ◽  
Potential Range ◽  
Matric Potential ◽  
Native Soil

Drainage is important to golf and athletic facilities trying to avoid lost play time. Native soil containing clay is sometimes incorporated into sand profiles with the intent to increase water and nutrient holding capacities. However, mixes high in silt and/or clay often have drainage problems. Research was conducted on soil physical properties from incremental 10% v/v additions of silt and clay (fines) to a U.S. Golf Association (USGA)-specification sand. Soils were evaluated based on volumetric water retention from 0 to 50 cm matric potential, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), porosity, and bulk density. The soil water characteristic (SWC) for 100:0 (sand:fines) had lower volumetric water content (θv) throughout the profile than any other mixture. Addition of 10% fines increased θv to more than 0.17 cm3·cm–3 throughout the 0- to 50-cm matric potential range, whereas 20% fines increased θv to more than 0.26 cm3·cm–3. The 70:30 mixture had greater θv throughout the profile than mixtures containing more than 70% sand. Mixtures with less than 70% sand produced similar SWCs. Increasing sand content increased bulk density, which altered saturated volumetric water content. Ksat was reduced from more than 265 cm·h–1 in 100:0 mixtures to 43 cm·h–1 for 90:10 mixtures, and to less than 5 cm·h–1 with ≥20% fines. The addition of ≥20% by volume of fines to a USGA sand increased water content in the soil to the point it was rendered unacceptable for trafficked turf sites. This research illustrates the influence fine particles, even in small amounts, can have on a USGA sand, and why they should not be added without prior evaluation.

Retrieving Soil Physical Properties via Assimilating SMAP Brightness Temperature Observations in the Community Land Model

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hong Zhao ◽  
Yijian Zeng ◽  
Xujun Han ◽  
Bob Su
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Physical Properties ◽  
Soil Properties ◽  
Water Retention ◽  
Soil Physical Properties ◽  
Water Retention Curve ◽  
Soil Water Retention Curve ◽  
Soil Water Retention ◽  
Retention Curve ◽  
Community Land Model

<p>Basic soil physical properties (i.e., soil texture and organic matter) and associated soil hydraulic properties (i.e., soil water retention curve and hydraulic conductivity) play an essential role in land surface models (LSMs) for estimating soil moisture. With the physical link between soil properties, LSMs and Radiative Transfer Models (RTMs), the soil physical properties can be retrieved, using a LSM coupled with a microwave L-band emission observation model in a data assimilation framework. To this purpose, this paper couples an enhanced physically-based discrete scattering-emission model with the Community Land Model 4.5 (CLM), to retreive soil physical properties using the Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter (LETKF) algorithm, assimilating Soil Moisture Active and Passive (SMAP) Level-1C (L1C) brightness temperature at H and V polarization ( and ) separately, assisted with in situ measurements at the Maqu site on the eastern Tibetan Plateau. Results show the improved estimate of soil properties at the topmost layer via assimilating SMAP ( H, V), as well as at profile using the retrieved top-layer soil properties and a prior depth ratio. The use of  and  shows varied sensitivities to retrievals of different soil compositions (i.e., sand, clay, silt) and soil moisture estimates. However, analyses show that the retrieved soil properties with fine accuracy are not sensitive factors affecting soil moisture estimates. Instead, uncertainties of CLM model structures shall be considered, such as the fixed PTFs (pedotransfer functions), the hydraulic function describing soil water retention curve and the water stress function determining root water update.</p>

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