Mapping saturated hydraulic conductivity from open-access soil databases

[EN] Hydrologic models such as the curve number request soil hydraulic variables, among other parameters, as input. In most countries, this represents a problem due to the lack of soil cartography and the high spatial variability of this type of variable. This situation is changing somewhat with the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ferrer Juliá, Montserrat, García Meléndez, Eduardo, Alcalde Aparicio, Sara
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Universidad de León
Repositorio:BULERIA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de León
OAI Identifier:oai:buleria.unileon.es:10612/24049
Acceso en línea:https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0341816220305233
https://hdl.handle.net/10612/24049
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Geodinámica
Curve number
Regional analysis
Kriging interpolation
Saturated hydraulic conductivity
2506.04 Geología Ambiental
2508.13 Humedad del Suelo
Descripción
Sumario:[EN] Hydrologic models such as the curve number request soil hydraulic variables, among other parameters, as input. In most countries, this represents a problem due to the lack of soil cartography and the high spatial variability of this type of variable. This situation is changing somewhat with the development of open-data sharing policies and the use of pedotransfer functions. Nevertheless, the constant influx of new data may involve repeating analyses too often, which, depending on the type, may represent a high cost or be time consuming. The present study analyses a method for updating saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) maps based on kriging interpolation to achieve a regional curve number hydrologic soil group map in Spain based on open-access soil databases. The results indicate that incorporation of the new soil databases improves the existing regional interpolated Ks map showing a high correlation with the lithological distribution. Generally the Iberian lithological siliceous domain presents higher values (26 mm/h) than the Iberian sedimentary domain (22 mm/h). The kriging result also diminishes the root mean square error in the overall map from 12 to 15 mm/h to 9 mm/h. This result was achieved with two validation methods: cross-validation and subsets. As a derivative data, the resultant Ks map has been used to generate a hydrologic soil group map dividing the study area into curve number soil types: B and C which fits with previous regional hydrological studies. Therefore, this method may help to achieve Ks and derived maps, such as hydrologic soil group maps, in countries where there is a lack of soil cartography, improving the input data in hydrological models