Hydrophysical and micromorphometrical characterization of soils alone a toposequence located in the west of the State of Paraná

• Grant number: 18/16938-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: December 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Agronomy - Soil Science
• Principal Investigator: Miguel Cooper
• Grantee: Lígia Veridiana Garcia
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Soil hydrophysical characterization is essential to understand the soil/water/plant/atmosphere relations. The study of the soil hydrophysical functioning is important to understand the dynamics of the water fluxes and, consequently, understand the soil water behavior and its availability for plants. Quantitative studies of the morphology and size of aggregates and pores (micromorphometrical analysis) coupled to the characterization of the soil conduction processes are essential to understand the soil water dynamics. The objective of this project is to perform the micromorphometrical and hydrophysycal characterization and quantification of the soils distributed along a toposequence. For this, soil hydrophysical parameters such as, soil structure, texture, porosity and hydraulic conductivity will be done to comprehend the water dynamics of soils distributed on a toposequence located in western state of Paraná. For this study, pits will be opened along the toposequence and the soil morphological descriptions will be done. In each identified horizon, disturbed and undisturbed samples will be collected for particles size distribution, soil density and porosity, micromorphometrical and hydraulic conductivity analyses. Descriptive and multivariate statistical analyses will be done to understand the relations that exist among the obtained data and their relation with the hydrophysical functioning of the soils along the studied toposequence. This project is inserted in an academic accord between ESALQ/USP and Itaipu Binacional that aims to understand the processes of water production and regulation in first order watersheds that supply water to the Itaipu hydroelectric dam.