Estabilidade temporal do conteúdo de água no perfil de um latossolo vermelho distroférrico sob diferentes usos

Abstract

Time Domain Reflectometry (TDR) technique has been highlighted in the evaluation of soil moisture, as a snapshot method, non-destructive, accurate and less dependent on environmental factors, but researchers have emphasized the need for specific and continuous calibration for each study area. Therefore, the purpose of this study is the calibration of a portable TDR sensor type for a Hapludox from the Cerrado, at three depths and three soil management systems. The equipment makes use of two rods of 0.12 m long each, records instant reading of volumetric water content in the soil. We evaluated the depths from 0 to 0.12, from 0.12 to 0.24 and from 0.24 to 0.36 m in three different systems (tillage, crop-livestock integration and conventional tillage). After statistical analysis of the data by regression, there was a good representation of values of moisture due to the sensor response time and the correlation between moisture by TDR and moisture by gravimetric method, indicating that the device studied showed to be effective in the measurement of soil moisture at all depths and management systems of the specific analyzed oxisol.