Development of a pedotransfer function for volumetric saturated water content of brazilian soils

Abstract

Soil hydraulic properties are often difficult to acquire and require considerable time and financial resources. In this context, the Pedotransfer Functions (PTF) are equations that, through mathematical models, predict soil properties based on their composition data. In this paper, a PTF was developed for the estimation of volumetric saturated water content on a database of 84 soil samples representative of Brazil. For its evaluation, the proposed equation was compared with seven other PTF, and in the end it was the most efficient for the case studied, since it obtained the best overall performance in the four statistical parameters applied. It was verified that the origin of the soils used for the development of the equations is an influencing factor in the efficiency: models applied to soils with pedological characteristics similar to those used in their creation tend to obtain better results.