Published Online: Dec 28, 2020
Page range: 82 - 93
Received: Oct 01, 2020
Accepted: Nov 12, 2020
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ausae-2020-0007
Keywords
© 2020 Csaba Varga et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
In this research, we investigated the variability of soil moisture on two slopes of opposite aspect (a northern slope and a southern slope) but with the same soil type. To identify the spatial disposal of the soil type on both slopes, we georeferenced the paper-based soil map of Sfântu Gheorghe, using the QGIS platform. In order to use the correct slope aspect, we used a numerical model of the terrain (relief). The research plot was soil sampled at the depth of 10 cm on two different dates: on 7 November 2019 and on 3 March 2020, using a Buerkle soil sampler.
Gravimetric method was used to determine the soil moisture values that proved to be the most accurate for our purpose.
The soil moisture values, obtained in weight percentage, were assigned to the coordinates of the sampling points, and soil moisture maps were generated in QGIS for both slopes and for both sampling dates. These maps gave us the opportunity to evaluate the variability in time of the soil moisture distribution on the sample plots.
The water holding capacity of the soils is mostly influenced by their organic C content. So, the total organic carbon content of the soil from the sampling plots was measured using the Tyurin method.