Estimating Forest Soil Quality from Terrain Measurements of Apparent Electrical Conductivity

Abstract

A portable, noncontacting electromagnetic induction meter was employed to measure the apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) of nonsaline, medium‐ and coarse‐textured forest soils on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. In simple linear regressions, bulk soil ECa was strongly correlated with ECe (saturated‐extract electrical conductivity), as well as exchangeable Ca, exchangeable Mg, and cation exchange capacity. Within the limited study area, these soil characteristics were thought to be major determinants of forest soil quality for red oak (Quercus rubra L.) production. Multiple stepwise regression showed that variations in exchangeable Ca and total Kjeldahl N concentrations accounted for a large proportion of the variation in ECa meter response (R2 = 0.871). The potential of this geophysical terrain measurement method as an integrator of edaphic properties important to forest site productivity is discussed.

Mapeamento da condutividade elétrica e relação com a argila de Latossolo sob plantio direto

“…O mapeamento da condutividade elétrica (CE) com auxílio de GPS é uma ferramenta relativamente simples, que tem sido utilizada para estimar a textura do solo, além de outras propriedades (McBride et al, 1990;Lund et al, 1999). Alguns equipamentos móveis para medição da CE no campo têm sido utilizados na agricultura, dentre os quais se destacam o sensor de contato VERIS (Lund et al, 2001) e o sensor por indução EM38 (Kitchen et al, 1999).…”

GIS Applications of Deterministic Solute Transport Models for Regional-Scale Assessment of Non-Point Source Pollutants in the Vadose Zone

“…Nevertheless, there is evidence that remote sensing applications for quantitative and temporal analysis of near and subsurface processes will be a future possibility. Geophysical resistivity methods (e.g., electromagnetic induction, electrical resistivity tomography, and others) have been used to study the spatial variability of the electrical properties of soils as a substitute for the variability of various soil physical properties such as soil water content (Kachanoski et al, 1988) saturated hydraulic conductivity (Mazac et al, 1988), soil salinity (DeJong et al, 1979;Rhoades & Corwin, 1981;Williams & Hoey, 1987;Lesch et al, 1992), clay content (Williams & Hoey, 1987), depth to claypan (Sudduth & Kitchen, 1993), herbicide partition coefficient (Jaynes et al, 1995), forest soil quality (McBride et al, 1990), and water flow in a hydrogeologic environment (Dailey et al, 1992). The nondestructive quantification of soil bulk density and water content with x-ray computed tomography has shown some promise particularly for determining bulk density, but is less accurate for water content (Tollner, 1994).…”

Paddy Water Management for Precision Farming of Rice

“…Maps of soil physical properties and yield maps have shown visible correlation. Soil EC a can serve as a proxy for soil physical properties such as organic matter (Jaynes, et al, 1994), clay content (Williams and Hoey, 1987), and cation exchange capacity (McBride, et al, 1990). These properties have a significant effect on water and nutrientholding capacity, which are major drivers of yield (Jaynes, 1995).…”