Spatial variability assessment of Nile alluvial soils using electrical resistivity technique

Abstract

Spatial information about soils generally results from local observations which are destructive and time consuming. Geophysical techniques could help soil mapping since they are non-destructive and fast. Electrical resistivity is interesting for soil studies due to a wide range of values and as it depends on soil characteristics. This work aims to study soil spatial variability using electrical resistivity. GPS defined grid points of 40X40 m were installed in the experimental western farm (EWF) in the Faculty of Agriculture of Cairo University in Giza. Electrical resistivity was measured at 40 points using 4-electrodes Wenner array in a line perpendicular to the path direction. Soil resistivity data from 2-depths profiling mode was considered to produce two apparent resistivity maps and geostatistically tested. Soil resistivity taxa were sampled and analyzed for soil moisture, EC and bulk density. Krigged soil resistivity maps were produced for depths (i.e. 30 and 60 cm).  Kriging and Semivariogram interpretation was conducted, and the spatial dependency of top and subsoil resistivity were moderate (48.4% and 68.6% respectively). Highly significant negative correlations were recorded in the topsoil between apparent or true resistivity and soil moisture, EC or bulk density. The obtained models were used to produce conjugated moisture and EC maps and geostatistically investigated. The spatial dependency of the top and subsoil moisture or salinity were moderate. Soil moisture and EC are the most significant factors for controlling soil electrical resistivity. The method used opens the way to the development of semi-automatic soil mapping from electrical resistivity data.

Keywords

• Soil resistivity,Wenner profiling,soil moisture,soil salinity,mapping,spatial dependency

References

1. Abidin, M.H.Z., Ahmad, F., Wijeyesekera, D.C., Saad, R., Baharuddin, M.F.T., 2013. Soil resistivity measurements to predict moisture content and density in loose and dense soil. Applied Mechanics and Materials 353-356: 911–917.
2. Al-Omran, A.M., Al-Wabel, M.I., El-Maghraby, S.E., Nadeem, M.E., Al-Sharani, S., 2013. Spatial variability for some properties of the wastewater irrigated soils. Journal of the Saudi Society of Agricultural Sciences 12(2) : 167-175.
3. Besson, A., Cousin, I., Bourennane, H., Nicoullaud, B., Pasquier, C., Richard, G., Dorigny, A., King, D., 2010. The spatial and temporal organization of soil water at the field scale as described by electrical resistivity measurements. European Journal of Soil Science 61(1): 120-132.
4. Blake, G.R., Hartge, K.H., 1986. Bulk density. In: Methods of Soil Analysis Part 1 Physical and Mineralogical Methods. 2nd Edition, Klute, A., (Ed). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 363-375.
5. Burger, H.R., 1992. Exploration Geophysics of the Shallow Subsurface. Prentice Hall. New Jersey, USA. 489p.
6. Bourennane, H., Hinschberger, F., Chartin, C., Salvador-Blanes, S., 2017. Spatial filtering of electrical resistivity and slope intensity: Enhancement of spatial estimates of a soil property. Journal of Applied Geophysics 138: 210-219.
7. Brillante, L., Bois, B., Lévêque, J., Mathieu, O., 2016. Variations in soil-water use by grapevine according to plant water status and soil physical-chemical characteristics—A 3D spatio-temporal analysis, European Journal of Agronomy 77: 122-135.
8. Cambardella, C.A. Moorman, T.B., Novak, J.M., Parkin, T.B., Karlen, D.L., Turco, R.F., Konopka, A.E., 1994. Field-scale variability of soil properties in central Iowa soils. Soil Science Society America Journal 58(5): 1501–1511.

9. Corwin, D.L., Lesch, S.M., Oster, J.D., Kaffka, S.R., 2006. Monitoring management-induced spatio–temporal changes in soil quality through soil sampling directed by apparent electrical conductivity. Geoderma 131: 369–387.
10. Dabas, M., Tabbagh, A., Boisgontier, D., 2001. Multi-depth continuous electrical profiling (MuCep) for characterization of in-field variability. Proceedings of the Third European Conference on Precision Agriculture. Grenier, G., Blackmore, S. (Eds.), pp. 361–366, 18–21 June 2001 Montpellier, France,
11. ESRI, 2011. ArcGIS Desktop Software: Release 10. Redlands, CA: Environmental Systems Research Institute.
12. Gardner, W.H., 1986. Water Content. In: Methods of Soil Analysis Part 1 Physical and Mineralogical Methods. 2nd Edition, Klute, A., (Ed). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 493-544.
13. Gülser, C., Ekberli, I., Candemir, F., Demir, Z., 2016. Spatial variability of soil physical properties in a cultivated field. Eurasian Journal of Soil Science 5 (3): 192 – 200.
14. Heiniger, R.W., McBride, R.G., Clay, D.E., 2003. Using soil electrical conductivity to improve nutrient management. Agronomy Journal 95(3): 508–519.
15. Huntley, D., 1986. Relations between permeability and electrical resistivity in granular aquifers. Ground Water 24(4): 466-474.
16. Jung, W.K., Kitchen, N.R., Sudduth, K.A., Kremer, R.J., Motavalli, P.P., 2005. Relationships of apparent soil electrical conductivity to clay pan soil properties. Soil Science Society of America Journal 69(3): 883–892.
17. Kitchen, N.R., Drummond, S.T., Lund, E.D., Sudduth, K.A., Buchleiter, G.W., 2003. Soil electrical conductivity and topography related to yield for three contrasting soil-crop systems. Agronomy Journal 95: 483–495
18. Kižlo, M., Kanbergs, A., 2009. The causes of the parameters changes of soil resistivity. The 50th International Scientific Conference Power and Electrical Engineering. Proceedings Book. pp.43-46. 14-16 October 2009, Riga, Latvia
19. Kusim, A.S., Abdullah, N.E, Hashim, Kutty, H.S.B., 2013. Effects of salt content on measurement of soil resistivity. IEEE 7th International Power Engineering and Optimization Conference (PEOCO). pp. 124-128. 3-4 June 2013, Langkawi, Malaysia.
20. Landrum, C., Castrignanó, A., Zourarakis, D., Mueller, T., 2016. Assessing the time stability of soil moisture patterns using statistical and geostatistical approaches. Agricultural Water Management 177: 118-127.
21. Lund, E.D., Christy, C.D., Drummond, P.E., 1999. Practical applications of soil electrical conductivity mapping. 2nd European Conference on Precision Agriculture. Proceedings Book. pp.1-9. 11-15 July 1999, Odense, Denmark.
22. McCutcheon, M.C., Farahani, H.J., Stednick, J.D., Buchleiter, G.W., Green, T.R., 2006. Effect of soil water on apparent soil electrical conductivity and texture relationships in a dryland field. Biosystems Engineering 94(1): 19–32.
23. Michot, D., Benderitter, Y., Dorigny, A., Nicoullaud, B., King, D., Tabbagh, A., 2003. Spatial and temporal monitoring of soil water content with an irrigated corn crop cover using surface electrical resistivity tomography. Water Resources Research 39(5): 1138-1157.
24. Omonode, R.A., Vyn, T.J., 2006. Spatial dependence and relationships of electrical conductivity to soil organic matter, phosphorus, and potassium. Soil Science 171(1): 223–238.
25. Ozcep, F., Tezel, O., Asci, M., 2009. Correlation between electrical resistivity and soil-water content: Istanbul and Golcuk. International Journal of Physical Sciences 4(6): 362-365.
26. Ozcep, F., Yildirim, E., Tezel, O., Asci, M., Karabulut, S., 2010. Correlation between electrical resistivity and soil-water content based artificial intelligent techniques International Journal of Physical Sciences 5 (1): 47–56.
27. Pandey, L.M., 2015. Electrical resistivity of sandy soil with water leachates and seawater. Edith Cowan University, Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science, School of Engineering, MSc. Thesis, Australia. 92p.
28. Panissod, C., Dabas, M., Hesse, A., Jolivet, A., Tabbagh, J., Tabbagh, A., 1998. Recent developments in shallow‐depth electrical and electrostatic prospecting using mobile arrays. Geophysics 63(5): 1542–1550.
29. Rhoades, J.D., 1982. Soluble Salts. In: Methods of Soil Analysis Part 2. Chemical and Microbiological Properties. 2nd Edition, Klute, A., (Ed). American Society of Agronomy, Soil Science Society of America. Madison, Wisconsin, USA. pp. 167-179.
30. Rhoades, J.D., 1993. Electrical conductivity methods for measuring and mapping soil salinity. Advances in Agronomy 49: 201–251. Samouëlian, A., Cousina, I., Tabbagh, A., Bruand, A., Richard, G., 2005. Electrical resistivity survey in soil science: a review. Soil and Tillage Research 83(2): 173-193.
31. Sudha, K., Israil, M., Mittal, S., Rai, J., 2009. Soil characterization using electrical resistivity tomography and geotechnical investigations. Journal of Applied Geophysics 67(1): 74–79.
32. Sun, B., Zhou, S., Zhao, Q., 2003. Evaluation of spatial and temporal changes of soil quality based on geostatistical analysis in the hill region of subtropical China. Geoderma 115(1-2): 85-99.
33. Tabbagh, A., Dabas, M., Hesse, A., Panissod, C., 2000. Soil resistivity: a non-invasive tool to map soil structure horizonation. Geoderma 97(3-4): 393–404.
34. US-EPA, 2019. Resistivity Methods. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Available at [Access date : 09.10.2018]: https://archive.epa.gov/esd/archive-geophysics/web/html/resistivity_methods.html