Dynamics of Water Content in Light Bare Soil in Summer Half-Year in the Period of 2003–2012 and its Agro-Meteorological Determinants

Abstract

Abstract The objective of the study was the estimation of decade variation of water content in layers with thickness of 0–10, 0–20, 0–40 and 0–60 cm of a bare light brown soil in the summer half-year (May–October) in the 10-year period of 2003–2012 against the background of agro-meteorological conditions. The study was based on results of measurement of the moisture of a bare soil with the use of the TDR method, sums of atmospheric precipitations and ground water levels, conducted in the area of the Agro- and Hydrometeorology Observatory of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, situated in Wrocław-Swojec. The analyses revealed slight variation of mean decade values of water content in the bare soil in the summer half-year during the ten-year period under analysis. Irrespective of the thickness of the soil layer, precipitation in the 10-year period of 2003–2012 had a highly significant effect on the water content in the 2nd decade of July. In the case of soil layers with thickness down to 0–20 cm a statistically significant relation between soil water content and ground water levels was noted for the 3rd decade of May, July, and in the 3rd decade of September. In the layer with thickness of 0–60 cm the relations were statistically significant almost throughout the summer half-year, with the exception of the 1st and 2nd decades of May. Analysis of trends of mean water content of the bare soil over the 10-year period of 2003–2012 indicated their statistically significant increase in the case of most of the decades of the summer half-year only in soil layers with thickness of 0–10 and 0–20 cm.