U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 Agricultural Systems Research: Sidney, MT
 close



    Research

                    Research Projects
                                    Publications
                                    Collaborations
                                    News
                People

                    Staff Listing
                                    Careers


        


                    NPARL
                        NPARL
                                    Pest Management Research
                                    Grasshoppers: Their Biology, Identification and Management:Search small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home Plains Area Sidney, Montana Northern Plains Agricultural Research Laboratory Agricultural Systems Research ASRU Docs







Spatial and Temporal Variability of Soil Physical and Hydraulic Properties  Research Findings, Reports, and Publications for thisProject Contour maps give researchers a picture of where individual soil attributes are located in each field.Site-specific farming assumes that fields used for agricultural production are not uniform but rather exhibit large spatial variability in their properties. Knowledge of the spatial variability of soil physical and hydraulic properties is important for precision farming and also for the evaluation of agricultural management practices.  It is well known that soil physical and hydraulic properties vary over space and time from field to field as well as within fields. These variations are affected and controlled by many factors such as vegetation, agricultural management practices, previous farming practices and weather conditions.  Point samples are important contributors to our understanding of the dynamics of a field.  However, collecting soil and other samples is time consuming to acquire and expensive to analyze. In addition, the accuracy of maps developed from point data depends on mathematical models to emulate the spatial variation of the variables of interest. Spatial modeling requires intensive sampling efforts that increase in complexity as within field variation increases. These types of data must be integrated with remote sensing technologies to optimize benefits and reduce costs.  Soil data was collected on grid and transect sampling schemes under various soil conditions, tillage systems, crop rotations and irrigation systems. Spatial and temporal dependency and distribution of soil characteristics will be investigated and assessed using several geostatistical tools, GIS mapping, time series analysis and traditional statistics.  **Contributing Scientists:JayJabro**(Soil Scientist),**BartStevens**(Agronomist) and**RobertEvans**(Agricultural Engineer)     Latest Research Findings/ReportsPoster titled Spatial Variability of Physical Properties in Lihen Sandy Loam Soil.Spatial Variability of Physical Properties in Lihen Sandy Loam SoilBy: Jay D. Jabro, Bart Stevens, & Robert EvansDownload this Poster (PDF: 990 KB)Soil properties vary horizontally and vertically across agricultural fields, causing variability in crop yields. Knowledge of the spatial variability and relationships among soil properties is critical to the success of precision agriculture or site-specific management.


Return to top


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov