The influence of soil texture on the course of volume changes of soil | Andrej Tall, Branislav Kandra, Milan Gomboš, Dana Pavelková | Agricultural Journals

Evapotranspiration is one of the key elements of water balance in nature. It significantly influences the water supply in the unsaturated zone of a soil profile. The unsaturated zone is a water source for the biosphere. The aim of this study is to measure, calculate and analyze the course of actual evapotranspiration, precipitation and dew totals as well as the totals of water flows at the lower boundary of unsaturated zone and the change in water content in specified soil volume. The measurements are used for verifying the results of numerical simulation. The methods used in the study were chosen based on the hypothesis that dynamics of water supply changes in the unsaturated zone is the result of the interactions between atmosphere, soil and plant cover. The elements of water balance were quantified by the methods of water balance, lysimeter measurements and numerical simulation on the model HYDRUS-1D, version 4. The abovementioned parameters were quantified for the East Slovakian Lowland, with an hourly time step during the years 2017, 2018 and 2020. The measurements have shown that evapotranspiration exceeded precipitation during all monitored periods, specifically by 22% in 2017, by 14% in 2019, and by 10% in 2020. The deficit was compensated for by capillary inflow from the groundwater level and the water supply in the unsaturated zone. A verification by measurement has shown that numerical simulation is imprecise in relation to the quantification of water flows at the lower boundary of the unsaturated zone. This inaccuracy is manifested in the higher value of the actual evapotranspiration, which is on average exceeded by 11%. The performance of the mathematical model is assessed as satisfactory for the analysis of the soil water regime.

Rainfall and evaporation belong to the basic components of the hydrological cycle. Rainfalls are a decisive natural source of water in the soil. For water replenishment in the natural environment, it is important not only the sum of the rainfall for the balanced period but also the time distribution. In the case of long non-rainfall periods, the soil profile is dried. In the sufficiently long non-rainfall period, the water reserves in the unsaturated zone of the soil profile change and the actual evapotranspiration is reduced. There is a meteorological and then dry soil formation. For the design of adaptation measures, it is necessary to quantify the mentioned hydrological processes. These were investigated in the central area of the Eastern Slovak Lowland between 1970 and 2015. Significant non-rainfall periods, their periodicity and statistical characteristics have been identified. In the course of significant non-rainfall intervals during the vegetation periods the water reserves in the root layer of the soil were analysed up to a depth of 1 m, the actual and potential evapotranspiration, the evapotranspiration deficit, the groundwater level and the air temperature. The longest non-rainfall periods exceeded 30 days.

During simulation of a water regime of heavy soils, it is necessary to know the isotropy parameters of any volume changes. Volume changes appear in both vertical and horizontal directions. In vertical directions, they appear as a topsoil movement, and in horizontal directions as the formation of a crack network. The ratio between horizontal and vertical change is described using the geometric factor, r_s. In the present paper, the distribution of volume changes to horizontal and vertical components is characterized by the geometric factor, in selected soil profiles, in the East Slovakian Lowland. In this work the effect of soil texture on the value of the geometric factor and thus, on the distribution of volume changes to vertical and horizontal components was studied. Within the hypothesis, the greatest influence of the clay soil component was shown by the geometric factor value. New information is obtained on the basis of field and laboratory measurements. Results will be used as inputs for numerical simulation of a water regime for heavy soils in the East Slovakian Lowland.