Water infiltration and time to recharge the profile of three soils Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

The Rio Grande do Sul-RS State, even with average annual rainfall of 1.721 mm, has shown a lack of water in the soil for crop production. The study aimed to determine the variation of annual and seasonal precipitation over the time; determine the year seasons that can provide the recharge of water into the soil profile and estimate the time needed to fulfill the soil pore space with water from effective rainfall with different scenarios of water infiltration. The soil uses were: oxisol; Red Yellow Podzolic and Planosolo Hydromorphic Eutrophic respectively in the North, Centre and South of RS State. We determined the total variation of annual rainfall, mean annual potential evapotranspiration and the time required to refill the soil profile for three infiltration scenarios: with fractions 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4 of effective rainfall. In the regions of Passo Fundo, Santa Maria and Santa Vitóriado Palmar, from 1914 to 2004 there was no reduction in the annual volume of rainfall. Considering that 50% of soil volume and water storage are met and that the fraction 1/2, 2/3 and 3/4 of the effective rainfall infiltrates into the soil, the recharging time profile varies from 3.7 to 16.6 years, infiltrating 2/3 range from 1.8 to 6.6 years and infiltrating 3/4 of effective precipitation range from 1.2 to 5.1 years, the time required to refill the entire soil porous space. The recovery of water storage in the soil profile must occur mainly during winter, followed by spring and fall.

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Righes, A. , Buriol, G. and Estefanel, V. (2013) Water infiltration and time to recharge the profile of three soils Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. Agricultural Sciences, 4, 12-18. doi: 10.4236/as.2013.411A002.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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