Soil penetration resistance exercises major influence on crop development, root growth and crop productivity, which is inversely proportional to that soil attribute. In this way, the analysis of spatial variability of soil penetration resistance and crop yield based on geostatistics can indicate alternative management practices, not only to reduce the effects of soil variability on crop yield, but also to improve the estimated crop response under certain management practices. This study aimed to correlate soil penetration resistance (RP) and spatial […]

The soils, some those considered homogenous, show some spatial and temporal variability of its physical, chemical and biological atributes. To define this variability is very important to efficient soil management. This study had the objective of investigating the spatial variability of some physical attributes of an Red Latosol in Mossoró, state of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil, to determine the best procedure for soil sampling. Soil samples were collected on a 100 x 100 m area, in 10 m grid […]

The northwestern region of Mato Grosso State consists of complex landscapes due to ongoing geomorphologic activity that contributes to the occurrence of different soil classes over small distances, which complicates soil sampling strategies. This study was conducted in Juruena (MT), with the objective of identifying pedologic classes in undisturbed forested headwater catchments by examining the spatial variability of soil texture and color, and taking elevation and topographic position into consideration. The spatial variability of soil texture and color were determined […]

The study of the spatial variability of soil attributes can help in the determination of a specific management strategy that enhances agricultural productivity. The present study aimed at the evaluation of a possible influence of the soil management on spatial variability of a Dystroferric Red Latosol (Oxisol) physical properties. The study was carried out in 2002, in three adjacent areas, in Lavras, Minas Gerais state, Brazil, with the following management systems: A1 – fallowing for three years; A2 – recently […]

Field experiments involving soils require previous verification of the soil spatial variability. The objective of this research was to study the spatial variability of soil physical properties of an experimental plot using geostatistics. The experiment was conducted in 1982 at the Experimental Center of the Instituto Agronômico in Campinas, state of São Paulo, Brazil, on a Red Latosol (Rhodic Ustox) under conventional tillage in a 30 x 30 m area, with sampling points arranged in a 5 m square grid. The analyzed properties were […]

The spatial variability of physical and chemical attributes of Latosols (Oxisols) cultivated with sugarcane was assessed. The study was carried out in a 90 ha area in the surroundings of Jaboticabal, São Paulo State, Brazil (21 º 15 ‘ S and 48 º 18 ‘ W). A 50 m regular grid was projected onto the experimental area. Soil samples were obtained at each 50 m grid point (421 points) from the 0 to 0.20 m and from the 0.60-0.80 m soil layers. Organic matter, pH, P, K+, Ca2+, Mg2+, H + Al, CEC, soil […]

This work explored the applicability of the fractal theory for studies into space variability of soil aggregation. Fractal geometry has become a model for soil size particle distribution. The distribution of soil aggregates in terms of its mass was obtained, and model parameters such as the fractal dimension D, which is a representative measure of the soil fragmentation (the larger its value, the larger the fragmentation), and the largest aggregate size RL were defined as descriptive tools for soil aggregation. […]

Two methods were evaluated for scaling a set of semivariograms into a unified function for kriging estimation of field-measured properties. Scaling is performed using sample variances and sills of individual semivariograms as scale factors. Theoretical developments show that kriging weights are independent of the scaling factor which appears simply as a constant multiplying both sides of the kriging equations. The scaling techniques were applied to four sets of semivariograms representing spatial scales of 30 x 30 m to 600 x […]