Testing the integral suspension pressure method for soil particle size analysis across a range of soil organic matter contents

Título

Testing the integral suspension pressure method for soil particle size analysis across a range of soil organic matter contents

Autor (es)Carlos Bonilla, Sara Acevedo, Cristian Contreras, Carlos Ávila Sofía
Línea (s)Recursos Críticos
Año de publicación2021
RevistaInternational Agrophysics
Palabras claves
integral suspension method, organic matter removal, particle-size distribution, soil texture
Resumen
Particle-size distribution is a critical part of soil description, which is commonly measured using pipette and hydrometer methods. However, a recently developed technique, called the integral suspension pressure method, allows for the measurement of continuous particle-size distribution based on Stokes’ law. The objective of this study was to evaluate the applicability of the integral suspension pressure method for measuring particle-size distribution, as an alternative to the standard hydrometer procedure. The integral suspension pressure method was tested by using a soil dataset with a wide range of organic matter contents (0.22-12.0%). Forty-nine samples were analysed with a hydrometer after organic matter removal and the results were compared with those obtained using the integral suspension pressure method. Through comparing the integral suspension pressure and hydrometer measurements, root mean square error values of 8.9, 8.1, and 11.9% were observed for sand, silt, and clay, respectively. The clay fraction was underestimated throughout the entire range of measurements. Conversely, the silt content was overestimated over the whole range of measurements, especially in samples with more than 36% silt. When compared to the hydrometer method, integral suspension pressure integral suspension pressure exhibited a tendency to misclassify the soil texture of clay loam samples but was accurate for sandy loams.
Doihttps://doi.org/10.1029/2021WR029891
Autor de correspondenciaCarlos Bonilla cbonilla@ing.puc.cl