Testing Logselfsimilarity of Soil Particle Size Distribution: Simulation with Minimum Inputs

Particle size distribution (PSD) greatly influences other soil physical properties. A detailed textural analysis is time-consuming and expensive. Soil texture is commonly reported in terms of mass percentages of a small number of size fractions (typically, clay, silt and sand). A method to simulate the PSD from such a poor description or even from the poorest description, consisting in the mass percentages of only two soil size fractions, would be extremly useful for prediction purposes. The goal of this paper is to simulate soil PSDs from the minimum number of inputs, i.e., two and three textural fraction contents, by using a logselfsimilar model and an iterated function system constructed with these data. High quality data on 171 soils are used. Additionally, the characterization of soil texture by entropy-based parameters provided by the model is tested. Results indicate that the logselfsimilar model may be a useful tool to simulate PSD for the construction of pedotransfer functions related to other soil properties when textural information is limited to moderate textural data

Compactação do solo na cultura do feijoeiro. I: efeitos nas propriedades físico-hídricas do solo Soil compaction in a bean crop. I: effects on soil physical and water properties

O problema de compactação do solo vem aparecendo sistematicamente na região do Cerrado, onde os sistemas convencionais de manejo do solo têm causado desagregação excessiva da camada arável, o encrostamento superficial e a formação de camadas coesas ou compactadas (pé-de-grade ou pé-de-arado). Como alternativa, os agricultores adotaram o Sistema Plantio Direto; entretanto, em várias situações vêm sendo relatadas ocorrências de aumento da densidade do solo e diminuição da macroporosidade, o que tem sido diagnosticado como compactação, fazendo com que o agricultor seja obrigado a movimentar o solo. Este trabalho teve por objetivo verificar como a compactação do solo afeta as suas propriedades físicas e de transmissão de água. Para isto, utilizaram-se colunas de solo compactadas artificialmente, para produzir densidades do solo de 1,0; 1,2; 1,4 e 1,6 kg dm-3. As propriedades de transmissão de água foram determinadas com infiltrômetros de tensão, para as cargas de pressão de -0,5; -2,0 e -6,0 cm de água. O aumento da densidade do solo aumentou sua resistência à penetração e reduziu linearmente a porosidade total e a macroporosidade. Houve ainda, redução no tamanho dos poros para o fluxo de água, reduzindo a condutividade hidráulica do solo. Esta redução foi mais acentuada na maior carga de pressão testada. Com a carga de pressão de -2,0 cm de água, a redução no tamanho dos poros foi parcialmente compensada com aumento do seu número. O método do infiltrômetro de tensão mostrou-se adequado em distinguir diferenças nas propriedades de transmissão de água de um solo submetido a diferentes níveis de compactação.<br>Soil compaction is a problem in the Savanna region, where conventional soil tillage systems have caused excessive disaggregation of the arable layer, superficial crusts, and compacted subsuperficial layers. As an alternative, the farmers have adopted the no-tillage system. However, in various situations, an increase of soil bulk density and a decrease of macroporosity has been observed. This process is diagnosed as soil compaction and requires from the farmers the turnover of the soil. This work has the objective to verify how soil compaction affects physical and water transmission properties of soil. Artificially compacted soil columns were used to provide soil bulk densities of 1.0; 1.2; 1.4; and 1.6 kg dm-3. Water transmission properties were determined with tension infiltrometers at pressure heads of -0.5; -2.0; and -6.0 cm of water column. Increasing soil bulk density increased soil resistance to penetration and reduced linearly soil porosity and macroporosity. The flow-weighted mean pore size was reduced too decreasing soil hydraulic conductivity. This reduction was more pronounced at higher pressure heads. The reduction in pore size was partially compensated with the increase in the number of pores, at a pressure head of -2.0 cm of water. The method of tension infiltrometer was adequate to distinguish differences in water transmission properties of a soil submitted to different levels of compaction