Determination of Soil Properties from Electrical Measurements in Agricultural Plots, Villa de Arriaga, San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Abstract

The knowledge of agricultural soil properties is crucial for the auspicious selection of crop, irrigation and fertilization types. This study contains the results of the field and laboratory application of electrical measurements used to obtain fines content, porosity, hydraulic conductivity and cation exchange capacity (CEC) in three agricultural plots for the purpose of growing barley. The values of fines content were attained using electrical measurements in laboratory soil samples and Ryjov's algorithm, which is comparable to the calculated values from textural analyses of Bouyoucos. In agricultural plot A, an Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) profile, along with measurements of soil moisture and salinity, show high-resolution outcomes to determine soil properties, these are related to a clear image of soil thickness, as well as the identification of horizons. The Electrical Profiling (EP) survey conducted in the three plots showed higher productivity than the ERT method, resulting in soil properties maps. The plots display A-lowest, B-moderate and C-higher range of CEC values. This result conforms to crop yields per hectare and the fertility analysis carried out on each land plot, which confirms not only the effectiveness of the EP method and Ryjov's algorithm, but also their purpose for the study of agricultural soil properties.