Spatial modeling of water in sandy soil with irrigated crops in the semiarid region

Abstract

Knowledge on the spatial variation of soil water is fundamental for a precise irrigation management. The objective of this study was to analyze, using geostatistical tools, the spatial variability of water storage in the soil. The work was carried out in Petrolina-PE, in a Quartzarenic Neosol, cultivated with grapevine and under micro-sprinkler irrigation. Soil water was monitored by tensiometry. Statistical and geostatistical analyses necessary for the kriging interpolation were performed by the programs Statistica Development Environment, GS + and GeoR. The results showed that geostatistics was adequate to describe the spatial dependence structure of water storage in the soil; therefore, water storage in the soil showed spatial variability, evidencing the importance of managing irrigation differently, considering the different soil zones and not the whole area as homogeneous.