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Abstract
In the future, according to regional climate-model simulations, the Carpathian Basin (in Central Europe) is predicted to be exposed to intensifying weather extremes that will exert a growing pressure on water resources. In recent past decades, water already has become a significant limiting factor for the natural environment and many agro-economic sectors in the southern Carpathian Basin. Therefore, there are increasing attempts to develop monitoring systems to detect water stress. In this study, changes in soil moisture conditions were monitored within two Arenosol profiles of extreme water balance during years characterised by different hydrologic conditions and under the impact of irrigation in the Great Hungarian Plain. Hourly data series of hydrometeorological parameters and soil moisture from six different soil depths during 2014–2018 were provided by on-site monitoring stations; humus, carbonate content, porosity, field capacity and wilting point were measured in the laboratory. On the basis of the newly definied so-called ‘available water percent’ (AW%) and a developed classification method, the rate, time and duration of water-shortage periods were evaluated for the years 2014–2018. The results show that drought monitoring cannot be effective without investigation of soil moisture content. Detailed analysis of available water percentage (AW%) can be used for real-time drought monitoring and as a precise indicator of the evolution of drought. This can help us prevent and manage damage from drought, and it is extremely important for agriculture.
Highlights
Soil moisture deficit is one of the major limiting factors for plant growth and agricultural productivity worldwide (Chaves et al 2011)
The available water (AW)% varied within − 50–200% in the soil profiles of the two investigated stations (Fig. 2)
When we compared consecutive years, only 2014 could be characterised by somewhat-favourable soil moisture during the vegetation period, given that soil moisture increases several times while the uppersoil sensors are reaching the critical values owing to the more frequent rains and while the subsoil sensor values are generally fluctuating around the field capacity (FC)
Summary
Soil moisture deficit is one of the major limiting factors for plant growth and agricultural productivity worldwide (Chaves et al 2011). Climate simulations project further increases in these parameters and indicate an increased likelihood of droughts (IPCC 2018, Spinoni et al 2018) These changes directly influence water resources availability, thereby causing increased water stress of land-surface ecosystems and managed systems and increasing the complexity of water scarcity management (Iglesias et al 2007). The aim of this study has been to analyse the effects of changes in soil moisture conditions on Arenosols, formed from blown sand in the Great Hungarian Plain and characterised by an unfavourable soil moisture regime These soils are highly exposed to fluctuating weather conditions, and, owing to their high permeability, they tend to dry out rapidly in drought periods; the impact of water shortage is relatively temporary. This study concerns only sandy soils, but the assessment can be extended to other soil textures, and how different soils behave under drought conditions could be compared objectively
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