Assessment of Spatial Variability and Mapping of Soil Texture in Western of Syria using Geographic Information System Techniques (GIS)

Khozama Barakat Al-Saleh Khozama Barakat Al-Saleh

doi:10.26389/ajsrp.k130417

Abstract

The study aimed to study the spatial variability of soil texture for soils around AL-Basel Lake in Safita Region which located in Tartous Governorate west of Syrian Arab Republic. Spatial maps of soil properties are invaluable in agricultural Production for assessing soil quality, planning land use and determining the suitability of cropping patterns. Geostatistics has been extensively used for quantifying the spatial pattern of soil properties and Inverse Distance Weight technique are proving sufficiently robust for estimating values at unsampled locations. The experiment was conducted on the soils of villages around AL-Basel lake The aim of this work is to study the spatial variability of soil texture. For this purpose ,90 Samples were collected. Results of Laboratory analysis of studied indexes were imported into ArcGis9.3 software and presented in form of Digital Maps that show the spatial Distribution of soil texture using Geostatistical Analyst and Inverse Distance Weight method was used in the Spatial Interpolation. Results of texture analysis showed that the soils have a texture between Loam and Silty Loam. Geostatistical analyst was used for unsampled points. Since 70.94 % of study area has Sand percentage (30-40) %, for Silt 57.73 % of study area has Silt percentage (40-50)% ,for Clay 71.97% of study area has Clay percentage (10-20)%,81.76% of study area has loam texture. This study thus provided a methodology that can help improve the accuracy and efficiency of soil texture mapping in areas using.

Highlights

Soil is the main part of any ecosystem and it the result of reactions between main rock, topography, climate across the time and has high spatial variability an inherent from natural variations of soil properties and induced by management practices made it difficult quantify and classify (McCauley et al, 2005).Soil texture is the result of weathering and physical-chemical shatter of rocks and minerals and because differences in structure, the matters will weather in different ranges affected on the soil texture
Soil texture directly affects the porosity of soil, which in turn, determines its water-retention, flow characteristics, rate of water intake, nutrient-holding capacity and long-term soil fertility. (Deshmu and Aher,2014) (Adhikari et al,2015) show the applicability of Ordinary Kriging technique to characterize the spatial variation of soil texture i.e. sand and clay content on the basis of 100 samples collected over a forest mixed agriculture farming area covering about 250sq. km of Zala
The results of our study shows an application of Geostatistics ( IDW) to study and analyze the spatial behavior of soil texture contents

Summary

Introduction

Soil is the main part of any ecosystem and it the result of reactions between main rock, topography, climate across the time and has high spatial variability an inherent from natural variations of soil properties and induced by management practices made it difficult quantify and classify (McCauley et al, 2005).Soil texture is the result of weathering and physical-chemical shatter of rocks and minerals and because differences in structure , the matters will weather in different ranges affected on the soil texture. Soil texture is defined as the relative proportion of Sand, Silt and clay separates (particles) found in the soil. The relative fraction of these soil particles is important because it can determine factors such as the soil water holding capacity, aeration and plant rooting depth. Variability in soil texture may contribute to the variation in nutrient storage and availability, water retention and transport and binding and stability of soil aggregates. It can directly or indirectly influence many other soil functions and soil threats such as soil erosion. Soil texture directly affects the porosity of soil, which in turn, determines its water-retention, flow characteristics, rate of water intake, nutrient-holding capacity and long-term soil fertility. Soil texture directly affects the porosity of soil, which in turn, determines its water-retention, flow characteristics, rate of water intake, nutrient-holding capacity and long-term soil fertility. (Deshmu and Aher,2014) (Adhikari et al,2015) show the applicability of Ordinary Kriging technique to characterize the spatial variation of soil texture i.e. sand and clay content on the basis of 100 samples collected over a forest mixed agriculture farming area covering about 250sq. km of Zala

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Conclusion