Soil physical-hydric properties by pedotransfer function in soils of coastal plains of pernambuco

Abstract

Aimed to generate pedotransfer functions (PTF) based on particle size, pore size distribution, soil and particle density to estimate the field capacity (CC), permanent wilting point (PMP) and available water capacity (CAD) in Ultisol Typic Fragiaquults in coastal plains of Pernambuco. Thus, deformed and undeformed samples were collected at 0.00-0.20m depth. PTFs were generated from multiple linear regression method by stepwise backward technique. This method eliminated some hydro-physical soil attributes, based on the values of R2 and t test. CAD, CC and PMP estimated values showed a significant correlation of 1% probability for independent variables selected for each model. Thus, available water capacity, field capacity and permanent wilting point can be predicted with great precision by sand, clay content, mesoporosity, microporosity and soil density, which are easy to determine and obtain, basic prerequisite for construction of PTFs.