Soil moisture distribution mapping in topsoil and its effect on maize yield

• Published in: Biológia Vol. 72; no. 8; pp. 847 - 853
• Main Authors: Milics, Gábor, Kovács, Attila J., Pörneczi, Attila, Nyéki, Anikó, Varga, Zoltán, Nagy, Viliam, Lichner, Lubomír, Németh, Tamás, Baranyai, Gábor, Neményi, Miklós
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.08.2017; De Gruyter; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural management; Agricultural practices; apparent electrical conductivity; Cell Biology; Corn; Crop yield; data preparation and interpolation; Electrical conductivity; Electrical resistivity; Information management; Life Sciences; maize yield mapping; Mapping; Mathematical analysis; Microbiology; Moisture content; moisture content mapping; Plant Sciences; precision agriculture; Soil conductivity; Soil management; Soil mapping; Soil moisture; Soil temperature; Soils; Spatial distribution; Standardization; Temperature dependence; Temperature effects; Topsoil; Water content; Zoology; precision agriculture; maize yield mapping; moisture content mapping; apparent electrical conductivity; data preparation and interpolation
• ISSN: 0006-3088; 1336-9563
• DOI: 10.1515/biolog-2017-0100

Soil moisture content directly influences yield. Mapping within field soil moisture content differences provides information for agricultural management practices. In this study we aimed to find a cost-effective method for mapping within field soil moisture content differences. Spatial coverage of the field sampling or TDR method is still not dense enough for site-specific soil management. Soil moisture content can be calculated by measuring the apparent soil electrical conductivity ( EC a ) using the Veris Soil EC-3100 on-the-go soil mapping tool. EC a is temperature dependent; therefore values collected in different circumstances were standardized to 25°C temperature ( EC 25 ). Constants for Archie’s adjusted law were calculated separately, using soil temperature data. According to our results, volumetric moisture content can be mapped by applying EC a measurements in our particular field with high spatial accuracy. Even though within-field differences occure in the raw EC a map standardization to EC 25 is recommended. Soil moisture map was also compared to yield map showing correlation ( R 2 = 0.5947) between the two datasets.