Analyzing and Projecting Soil Moisture and Cone Penetrability Variations in Forest Soils

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DOI: 10.4236/ojf.2019.92005    823 Downloads   1,816 Views  Citations

ABSTRACT

This article details how forest soil moisture content (MC) and subsequent resistances to cone penetration (referred below as Cone Index, CI) vary by daily weather, season, topography, site and soil properties across eleven harvest blocks in northwestern New Brunswick. The MC- and CI-affecting soil variables refer to density, texture, organic matter content, coarse fragment content, and topographic position (i.e., elevation, and the seasonally affected cartographic depth-to-water (DTW) pattern). The harvest blocks were transect-sampled inside and outside their wood-forwarding tracks at varying times throughout the year. In detail, 61% of the pore-filled moisture content (MCPS) determinations inside and outside the tracks could be related to topographic position, coarse fragments, bulk density, and forest cover type specifications. In addition, 40% of the CI variations could be related to soil depth, MCPS, and block-specific cover type. Actual versus model-projected uncertainties amounted to ΔMCPS ≤ ± 15% and ΔCI ≤ ± 0.5 MPa, 8 times out of 10. Block-centered MC and CI projections were obtained through: 1) daily hydrological modelling using daily precipitation and air temperature weather-station records nearest each block, and 2) digitally mapped variations in soil properties, elevation, DTW and forest cover type, done at 10 m resolution.

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Jones, M. and Arp, P. (2019) Analyzing and Projecting Soil Moisture and Cone Penetrability Variations in Forest Soils. Open Journal of Forestry, 9, 109-142. doi: 10.4236/ojf.2019.92005.

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