Abstract
A range of continental-scale soil datasets exists in Europe with different spatial representation and based on different principles. We developed comprehensive pedotransfer functions (PTFs) for applications principally on spatial datasets with continental coverage. The PTF development included the prediction of soil water retention at various matric potentials and prediction of parameters to characterize soil moisture retention and the hydraulic conductivity curve (MRC and HCC) of European soils. We developed PTFs with a hierarchical approach, determined by the input requirements. The PTFs were derived by using three statistical methods: (i) linear regression where there were quantitative input variables, (ii) a regression tree for qualitative, quantitative and mixed types of information and (iii) mean statistics of developer-defined soil groups (class PTF) when only qualitative input parameters were available. Data of the recently established European Hydropedological Data Inventory (EU-HYDI), which holds the most comprehensive geographical and thematic coverage of hydro-pedological data in Europe, were used to train and test the PTFs. The applied modelling techniques and the EU-HYDI allowed the development of hydraulic PTFs that are more reliable and applicable for a greater variety of input parameters than those previously available for Europe. Therefore the new set of PTFs offers tailored advanced tools for a wide range of applications in the continent.
Highlights
Numerous pedotransfer functions (PTFs) have been developed in Europe in recent decades (Vereecken et al, 1989, 1990; Børgesen & Schaap, 2005; Baker & Ellison, 2008; Weynants et al, 2009)
We focused on predictions based on input parameters that are available in continental-scale spatial layers in Europe, enabling users to implement the functions at this scale
To predict the moisture retention curve (MRC), the mean statistics (MS) developed from European Hydropedological Data Inventory (EU-HYDI) performed significantly better than the similar-type HYPRES class PTFs
Summary
Numerous pedotransfer functions (PTFs) have been developed in Europe in recent decades (Vereecken et al, 1989, 1990; Børgesen & Schaap, 2005; Baker & Ellison, 2008; Weynants et al, 2009). Many of them are very accurate but applicable only to limited areas. These PTFs have limited validity when considered for continental scale applications. Continuous and class PTFs developed from the HYPRES data-base (Wösten et al, 1999) are the only ones intended and available to predict soil hydraulic properties for continental scale applications in Europe. The HYPRES-based PTFs have a number of limitations. Other shortcomings include unpublished accuracy figures and the absence of the assessment of the importance of variables for
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