Abstract
ABSTRACTThe management systems affect soil structure, causing changes in porosity that can influence soil water infiltration. In order to study the water infiltration rate in a Yellow Latosol under different tillage systems and different mathematical models, an experiment was conducted from October to December 2012, at the Center for Agricultural Sciences at the Federal University of Alagoas, using a randomized block design with five replicates, in a split-plot scheme. In the plots, the management systems were evaluated (conventional tillage, no-tillage and minimum tillage) and, in the sub-plots, the empirical mathematical models of Kostiakov, Kostiakov-Lewis and Horton, and the ring method. The method used to measure soil water infiltration rate was adapted from the classic double-ring infiltrometer method. The minimum tillage system provided better results compared with the others, with water infiltration rate of 167 mm h-1, and the equation that best fitted the data of the ring infiltrometer was Kostiakov’s, in the no-tillage system.
Highlights
Soil water infiltration is a dynamic process of entry of water into the soil through the soil surface as a function of the time elapsed
This study aimed to evaluate water infiltration rate in a soil subjected to different management systems using mathematical models, which were compared with the ring infiltrometer method at field conditions
Soil bulk density varied between soil layers, from 1.30 to 1.33 kg dm-3 in the conventional tillage, from 1.28 to 1.31 kg dm-3 in the no-tillage and from 1.28 to 1.22 kg dm-3 for the minimum tillage in the layers of 0-40 and 40-60 cm (Table 1)
Summary
Soil water infiltration is a dynamic process of entry of water into the soil through the soil surface as a function of the time elapsed. Its value is high, decreasing over time until it becomes constant when the soil saturates, which can be called stable infiltration rate (Tie) (Brandão et al, 2006). Knowing the values of the stable infiltration rate is essential for the development of agricultural projects of irrigation, drainage and conservation of soil and water, the design of irrigation and drainage systems, as well as for the creation of a more real picture of water retention and soil aeration (Pott & Maria, 2003; Cunha et al, 2009). Water infiltration rate is affected by the initial water content, soil surface conditions, saturated hydraulic conductivity, pore volume and size distribution, presence of stratified horizons, distance from water source to the wetting front, texture and type of clay (Paixão et al, 2009). Soil management systems influence water infiltration rates, since they change soil surface conditions
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