scholarly journals Wheel Load and Wheel Pass Frequency as Indicators for Soil Compaction Risk: A Four-Year Analysis of Traffic Intensity at Field Scale

Geosciences ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Augustin ◽  
Michael Kuhwald ◽  
Joachim Brunotte ◽  
Rainer Duttmann
Keyword(s):  
Sugar Beet ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Traffic Intensity ◽  
Agricultural Machinery ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Work Process ◽  
Wheel Load ◽  
Subsoil Compaction

Avoiding soil compaction is one of the objectives to ensure sustainable agriculture. Subsoil compaction in particular can be irreversible. Frequent passages by (increasingly heavy) agricultural machinery are one trigger for compaction. The aim of this work is to map and analyze the extent of traffic intensity over four years. The analysis is made for complete seasons and individual operations. The traffic intensity is distinguished into areas with more than five wheel passes, more than 5 Mg and 3 Mg wheel load. From 2014 to 2018, 63 work processes on a field were recorded and the wheel load and wheel passes were modeled spatially with FiTraM. Between 82% (winter wheat) and 100% (sugar beet) of the total infield area is trafficked during a season. The sugar beet season has the highest intensities. High intensities of more than five wheel passes and more than 5 Mg wheel load occur mainly during harvests in the headland. At wheel load ≥3 Mg, soil tillage also stresses the headland. In summary, no work process stays below one of the upper thresholds set. Based on the results, the importance of a soil-conserving management becomes obvious in order to secure the soil for agriculture in a sustainable way.

Evaluation of agricultural field traffic by modelling traffic intensity and related soil compaction risk

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Kuhwald ◽  
Katja Augustin ◽  
Rainer Duttmann
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Weather Data ◽  
Traffic Intensity ◽  
Agricultural Field ◽  
Wheel Load ◽  
Spatio Temporal

<p>Soil compaction by field traffic is one of the main threats to all agricultural soils. Besides lower biomass productivity, compacted soils have a reduced regulation function which affects the air, water and nutrient cycles. To evaluate and mitigate soil degradation by field traffic, it is important to know where, when and to what extent soil compaction may occur during certain traffic events.</p><p>This study presents an approach to assess soil compaction risk at the field scale, considering the spatio-temporal changes of soil strengths and the machinery-induced changes in load and stress. Two newly developed models, the field traffic model “FiTraM” and the spatially explicit soil compaction risk assessment model “SaSCiA”, were used to evaluate the individual soil compaction risk for each field traffic activity during the maize cropping season. RTK-GPS data recorded by all farm vehicles served for the spatial calculation of traffic intensity and changing wheel loads at high spatial resolution (< 30 cm). These data were subsequently used for soil compaction risk assessment based on readily available soil and weather data.</p><p>Our model results indicated that nearly 95% of a field was trafficked throughout the maize-season; harvest traffic at high wheel load contributed to more than the half of the total trafficked area. Furthermore, the analyses showed that soil compaction risk varies greatly within individual fields. Soil moisture and soil texture variation inside the field results in varying soil strength and, therefore, in varying effects of field traffic on soil functions. Thus, one part of a field can be negatively affected by field traffic through an increase in dry bulk density and a decrease in hydraulic conductivity, while the other part is not affected.</p><p>In addition to the spatio-temporal assessment of field traffic intensity and soil compaction risk, the presented approach enables the calculation of maximum allowable wheel load until no harmful soil degradation occurs. Thus, the approach may support farmers in their decision-making for a more sustainable soil management.  </p>

scholarly journals Soil compaction under the wheel of a sprayer

2019 ◽  
Vol 112 ◽  
pp. 03027
Author(s):  
Nicoleta Ungureanu ◽  
Valentin Vlăduţ ◽  
Dan Cujbescu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Soil Degradation ◽  
High Accuracy ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Inflation Pressure ◽  
High Moisture ◽  
Wheel Load ◽  
Mechanized Agriculture ◽  
Subsoil Compaction

Soil degradation by artificial compaction is recognized by the European Union as a major environmental and agricultural problem. Artificial compaction has worsened with the intensification of mechanized agriculture where heavier machinery is used, often moving on soils with high moisture. Experimental research was designed to determine the influence of five wheel loads and tire inflation pressures, on the contact area, the shape of footprint and the contact pressure, under the wheel of a machine for high accuracy application of phytosanitary treatments in orchards. It was found that the only situation when compaction does not occur is when the tank is empty (2.45 kN wheel load), at lowest tire inflation pressure of 100 kPa. Subsoil compaction (at 0.3-0.4 m) occurs when the sprayer machine’s tank is filled with different amounts of liquid. With empty tank, the sprayer only causes topsoil compaction.

Possibilities and challenges of modelling the agricultural tracks at field scale

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katja Augustin ◽  
Michael Kuhwald ◽  
Rainer Duttmann
Keyword(s):  
Large Data ◽  
Spatial Location ◽  
Spatial Modelling ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Traffic Intensity ◽  
Soil Pressure ◽  
Positional Accuracy ◽  
Wheel Load ◽  
Soil Measurements

<p>The application “FiTraM” (Field Traffic Model) models the spatially explicit wheel tracks and the field traffic intensity of agricultural vehicles from recorded GPS points. The spatial location of traffic intensities are required to analyse the effect of field traffic on the soil structure, e.g. with regard to mitigate soil compaction. The modelling is based on geometrical and geodetical calculations. The application is written in python and uses PostgreSQL and PostGIS for data storing and calculation of statistics.<br>The results of FiTraM are the spatially mapped wheel tracks, wheel pass frequency, wheel load and the soil pressure induced by machines (optionally). With continuous route recording various operations (sowing, harvesting, soil tillage) can be analysed in terms of the intensity of travel and the complete process chain during single crops can be mapped. These results (e.g. amount of wheel passages, summed wheel load) can be related to further soil measurements to link field traffic intensities with loss of soil functionality or reduced yield.<br>This contribution intends to illustrate the process of modelling the field traffic intensity by means of different agricultural working processes - from data acquisition to the statistical evaluation of the spatial modelling results. Examples of different traffic operations are used to explain how driving behaviour needs to be taken into account for modelling, such as reversing and lifting equipment (e.g. during soil tillage). The difficulties, such as the evaluation of the positional accuracy in the field and the processing of the large data sets, will be addressed.</p>

scholarly journals Soil compaction and eucalyptus growth in response to forwarder traffic intensity and load

2008 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 921-932 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sérgio Ricardo da Silva ◽  
Nairam Félix de Barros ◽  
Liovando Marciano da Costa ◽  
Fernando Palha Leite
Keyword(s):  
Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Organic Carbon ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Geometric Mean ◽  
Tree Height ◽  
Total Porosity ◽  
Infiltration Rate ◽  
Traffic Intensity ◽  
Number Of Passes

During timber exploitation in forest stands harvesting machines pass repeatedly along the same track and can cause soil compaction, which leads to soil erosion and restricted tree root growth. The level of soil compaction depends on the number of passes and weight of the wood load. This paper aimed to evaluate soil compaction and eucalyptus growth as affected by the number of passes and wood load of a forwarder. The study was carried out in Santa Maria de Itabira county, Minas Gerais State - Brazil, on a seven-year-old eucalyptus stand planted on an Oxisol. The trees were felled by chainsaw and manually removed. Plots of 144 m² (four rows 12 m long in a 3 x 2 m spacing) were then marked off for the conduction of two trials. The first tested the traffic intensity of a forwarder which weighed 11,900 kg and carried 12 m³ wood (density of 480 kg m-3) and passed 2, 4, and 8 times along the same track. In the second trial, the forwarder carried loads of 4, 8, and 12 m³ of wood, and the machine was driven four times along the same track. In each plot, the passes affected four rows. Eucalyptus was planted in 30 x 30 x 30 cm holes on the compacted tracks. The soil in the area is clayey (470 clay and 440 g kg-1 sand content) and at depths of 0-5 cm and 5-10 cm, respectively, soil organic carbon was 406 and 272 g kg-1 and the moisture content during the trial 248 and 249 g kg-1. These layers were assessed for soil bulk density and water-stable aggregates. The infiltration rate was measured by a cylinder infiltrometer. After 441 days the measurements were repeated, with additional analyses of: soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, N-NH4+, N-NO3-, porosity, and penetration resistance. Tree height, stem diameter, and stem dry matter were measured. Forwarder traffic increased soil compaction, resistance to penetration and microporosity while it reduced the geometric mean diameter, total porosity, macroporosity and infiltration rate. Stem dry matter yield and tree height were not affected by soil compaction. Two passes of the forwarder were enough to cause the disturbances at the highest levels. The compaction effects were still persistent 441 days after forwarder traffic.

Soil compaction due to agricultural machinery impact

2022 ◽  
Vol 100 ◽  
pp. 51-60
Author(s):  
Zoran I. Mileusnić ◽  
Elmira Saljnikov ◽  
Rade L. Radojević ◽  
Dragan V. Petrović
Keyword(s):  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Agricultural Machinery

scholarly journals Automatic guidance systems in agricultural machinery as a tool for drivers’ mental strain and workload relief 

2017 ◽  
Vol 63 (Special Issue) ◽  
pp. S66-S72
Author(s):  
Kvíz Zděnek ◽  
Kroulík Milan
Keyword(s):  
Heart Rate ◽  
Soil Tillage ◽  
Steering Wheel ◽  
Special Device ◽  
Agricultural Machinery ◽  
Mental Strain ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Automatic Guidance ◽  
Guidance Systems ◽  
Rate Sensor

This article evaluates agricultural operator´s stress, mental strain and generally fighting with driving difficulties during operating agricultural machinery sets by means of a heart rate indicator. Different drivers driving different tractors with implements were chosen and evaluated during different field jobs, namely soil tillage and sowing. Machinery position on the field was precisely monitored by a GPS receiver and the heart beat rate was observed by means of a chest belt special device with a heart rate sensor. The output data from the sensors were monitored during conventional manual steering of the tractor-implement set and also when using the complete automatic guidance steering without any driver´s intervention to steering wheel – all by using the DGPS guidance signal. The data were further processed with a special software for the heart rate sensor and detailed statistical evaluation was performed. All described trials were measured at different farms in the Czech Republic. The final outcomes from the experiment showed a statistically significant difference between two experimental variants and confirm our hypothesis that the guidance systems bring a great benefit for drivers concerning mental strain and relief of their workload.

scholarly journals Soil compaction during harvest operations in five tropical soils with different textures under eucalyptus forests

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Cristina Caruana Martins ◽  
Moacir de Souza Dias Junior ◽  
Ayodele Ebenezer Ajayi ◽  
Ernesto Norio Takahashi ◽  
Diego Tassinari
Keyword(s):  
Bearing Capacity ◽  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Sandy Loam ◽  
Traffic Intensity ◽  
Compression Tests ◽  
Load Bearing Capacity ◽  
Undisturbed Soil ◽  
Load Bearing ◽  
Structure Degradation ◽  
Precompression Stress

ABSTRACT Traffic of farm machinery during harvest and logging operations has been identified as the main source of soil structure degradation in forestry activity. Soil susceptibility to compaction and the amount of compaction caused by each forest harvest operation differs according to a number of factors (such as soil strength, soil texture, kind of equipment, traffic intensity, among many others), what requires the adequate assessment of soil compaction under different traffic conditions. The objectives of this study were to determine the susceptibility to compaction of five soil classes with different textures under eucalyptus forests based on their load bearing capacity models; and to determine, from these models and the precompression stresses obtained after harvest operations, the effect of traffic intensity with different equipment in the occurrence of soil compaction. Undisturbed soil samples were collected before and after harvest operations, being then subjected to uniaxial compression tests to determine their precompression stress. The coarse-textured soils were less resistant and endured greater soil compaction. In the clayey LVd2, traffic intensity below four Forwarder passes limited compaction to a third of the samples, whereas in the sandy loam PVd all samples from the 0-3 cm layer were compacted regardless of traffic intensity. The Feller Buncher and the Clambunk presented a high potential to cause soil compaction even with only one or two passes. The use of soil load bearing capacity models and precompression stress determined after harvest and logging operations allowed insight into the soil compaction process in forestry soils.

scholarly journals Ground based operation effects on soil disturbance by steel tracked skidder in a steep slope of forest

2010 ◽  
Vol 56 (No. 6) ◽  
pp. 278-284 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Agherkakli ◽  
A. Najafi ◽  
S.H. Sadeghi
Keyword(s):  
Soil Compaction ◽  
Forest Floor ◽  
Soil Disturbance ◽  
Steep Slope ◽  
Traffic Density ◽  
Traffic Intensity ◽  
Litter Mass ◽  
Mass Removal ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
North Of Iran

In this study, the effects of slope and traffic intensity on soil compaction, rutting and forest floor removal was evaluated on a skid trail in the natural forest of north of Iran. Combination of two levels of slope &lt; 20% (SC1) and &gt; 20% (SC2) and three levels of traffic (one, five and nine traffics) were studied. Treatment plots, with three replications, were established on the skid trail prior to skidding. The results of this study showed that all bulk densities were considerably higher in SC2 than in SC1 and average soil bulk densities were measured from 1.07 (g∙cm<sup>&ndash;3</sup>) to 1.23 (g∙cm<sup>&ndash;3</sup>) on skid trail and 0.91 (g∙cm<sup>&ndash;3</sup>) in undisturbed areas. With the increment of traffic, soil compaction increased but there was no significant difference among the three levels of traffic frequency in SC1 whereas it was significant between one and five cycles in SC2. Greatest rut depth was measured as 12 cm at nine traffics in SC2, although increase of traffic density caused deeper rut depth at all slope treatments, but it was higher at the SC2 in comparison to SC1. Litter mass decreased considerably on the skid trail with the increasing in slope and traffic. No important difference has been detected between SC1 and SC2 in terms of Litter mass removal. These results provide clear evidence that soil disturbance on steep trail is intensified.

Enactment of the Vet Curricula in the Work Process

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-41
Author(s):  
Laimutė Anužienė ◽  
Vidmantas Tūtlys
Keyword(s):  
Personal Development ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Competence Development ◽  
Sociology Of Education ◽  
Work Processes ◽  
Work Process ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Development Of Students

Abstract The main goal of this article is to explore the contents of the concept of enactment of the VET curriculum in the work process and to disclose the current methodological and methodical approaches of it’s implementation in practice. The article starts with the discussing the theoretical aspects of the enactment of the VET curricula referring to the insights of psychology, sociology of education and work, as well as vocational didactics research. It is followed by the case study of the enactment of VET curriculum in the education and work processes in one initial VET centre of Lithuania aimed to disclose applied methodological approaches and their implications for the professional and personal development of students. Research provides evidence that effective and sustainable enactment of the initial VET curricula requires to apply the integrated and holistic approach to competence development and implementation of VET curriculum.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document