Topsoil status of cohesive soils as related to trafficability

Abstract

Adapting soil engaging operations to the soil moisture status may limit damage of the soil structure or degradation processes. This requires the quantification of soil trafficability in dependence on soil hydrological conditions. The aim was to test the relevance of topsoil parameters in relation to trafficability and to study their temporal variability during a springtime period. On different sites located in the holocene regions east of Berlin, soil moisture, density and strength parameters were analysed and related to the actual score of trafficability. The results show that those parameters being most suitable to characterise the trafficability in the field such as consistence and density, are easy and reliable to estimate on the basis on framework guidelines. Vehicle mobility and the risk of topsoil and subsoil structural damage are mainly influenced by the topsoil status of the upper 10 cm, in particular of the soil surface of cohesive soils. Trafficability state may be derived at least from two or more relevant consistency and density parameters. Trafficability states are autocorrelated in the time domain. One‐step‐ahead forecasting of trafficability is possible using autocorrelations and weather data.