|
|
||||||||
a INPE-CPTEC Centro de Previsão de Tempo e Estudos Climáticos, Caixa Postal 01, 126300-000 Cachoeira Paulista, SP, Brazil
b USDA-ARS Animal Waste Pathogen Lab., Beltsville, MD, USA
c Embrapa Instrumentação Agropecuária, São Carlos, SP, Brazil
d USDA-ARS Hydrology and Remote Sensing Lab., Beltsville, MD, USA
* Corresponding author (javier{at}cptec.inpe.br)
| ABSTRACT |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Abbreviations: GMDH, group method of data handling PTF, pedotransfer function RMSD, root mean squared difference RMSE, root mean squared error
| INTRODUCTION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The soil water retention curve, one of the hydraulic properties often estimated with PTFs, describes the dependence of soil water content on soil water potential. This dependence is usually represented by an analytical equation, with a small number of parameters. The water retention equation is fitted to soil water retention measurements adjusting its parameters to match, as close as possible, measured water retention values. Therefore, the parameters control position and shape of the water retention equation.
If both soil basic data and soil water retention information are available for a set of samples, two approaches can be used to estimate the relationship between the parameters of an analytical equation of soil water retention and soil basic data: (i) fit the parameters of the analytical equation to measured values for each sample of the data set; (ii) build a table relating those parameters to their corresponding soil basic data; and (iii) develop a relationship between fitted parameters and soil basic data. The second approach is: (i) build a relationship between water contents at selected soil water potentials and soil basic data; and (ii) fit the parameters of the analytical water retention equation to the estimated water contents. In other words, the first approach fits the analytical curve first, and uses PTF estimations later, whereas the second approach uses PTF estimation first and fits the analytical curve later.
Both approaches have been widely used for various databases. The first approach, referred to as the parametric in this paper, has been used in the PTFs development, for instance, by Vereecken et al. (1989), Schaap et al. (1998), Minasny et al. (1999), and Wösten et al. (2001). The second technique, referred to as the point-based in this paper, was used in PTFs developed by Baumer (1992). For Brazilian soils, point-based PTFs have been developed by Tomasella and Hodnett (1998) and by van den Berg et al. (1997). More recently, Tomasella et al. (2000) developed a PTF based on the parametric approach.
There are indications that the parametric approach may lead to lower accuracy in water retention predictions compared with the point-based approach. Reasons for that may be (i) soil water retention in different ranges of soil water potential is affected by different basic soil properties (Visser, 1969), and (ii) coefficients obtained from fitting the retention equation to data may have low reliability due to the inherent correlation between those coefficients or due to nonuniform distribution of soil water potential levels at which the water retention was measured (Vereecken et al., 1989; Scheinost et al., 1997). On the other hand, Vereecken et al. (1992) have argued that parametric technique (i) facilitates efficient comparisons among soils, and (ii) the dependent variable does not have to be measured at prespecified levels of soil water potential. This is, indeed, important if water retention data are coming from various laboratories in which different soil water potentials were used.
The performance of PTFs, either based on the parametric or point-based approach, is usually analyzed comparing the quality of the estimations when applied on a particular soil data set (Schaap and Leij, 1998). It is important to note, however, that those PTFs were developed from different data sets, and their predictive ability is somewhat related to the similarity between the data set used in the developing and testing of the PTF (Tomasella et al., 2000).
However, we are not aware of any study comparing the accuracy of the parametric and point-based techniques when developed and tested using the same data set. Therefore, the objective of this study was to compare parametric and point-based approaches to develop PTFs for soil water retention using a comprehensive database on water retention of Brazilian soils.
| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
Since soil retention data came from different sources, only those samples defined by at least five pairs of water retention points were included in the database (Tomasella et al., 2000). This minimum was arbitrary selected because analytical retention curves commonly used have four or less parameters. To derive PTFs with parametric and point-based approaches, the following steps were taken.
Step 1. Soil retention data for the 838 samples available in the database were fitted to the analytical equation proposed by van Genuchten (1980):
![]() | [1] |
is the volumetric water content [m3 m-3], h is the water potential [kPa];
0 is the saturated water content,
r is the residual water contents,
and n are parameters governing position and shape of the water retention curve. In this study, van Genuchten parameters
0,
t,
, and n were estimated using the RETC code for quantifying the hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated soils (van Genuchten et al., 1991). Step 2. We created a homogeneous data set to be used in the point-based method. Since the number of points and the specific water potentials differed between data sources, water potential values selected for developing PTFs for the point-based approach were: zero, -6 kPa, -10 kPa, -33 kPa, -100 kPa, and -1500 kPa. Moisture contents at those potentials were measured in all available curves, except for the moisture content at -6 kPa water potential that was not measured in 43% of the total number of water release curves. Therefore, the point-based equation for -6 kPa water potential was derived and validated from 477 data-points, compared with a total of 838 data points used on other potentials. Porosity was assumed to be equal to water content at saturation, and was derived from bulk and particle densities. Since some sources did not provide particle density data, the porosity was not available on nine of the 838 water release data available, and only 829 data points were used in the derivation and validation for porosity.
Step 3. The development and testing data sets were created. First, the whole dataset was subdivided into regional databases. This strategy was adopted since Brazil has a wide variety of climate, vegetation, and geological environments, and pedogenetic processes are quite different along the country. Brazil is divided in five regions (Fig. 1): the Northeast, which is broadly speaking semiarid; the North, covered by the tropical rainforest; the South, which is a more temperate environment; the Center-West, mainly dominated by the cerrado (savanna); and the Southeast, which is a transition between the savanna and a temperate climate. Second, each regional dataset was split randomly into development (75%) and testing (25%) regional subsets. Finally, regional development (testing) data sets were combined in one national development (testing) data set. This procedure ensured that both development and testing data sets cover all country regions.
Step 4. The PTF equations were derived relating (i) water contents at selected water potential to soil basic data for the point-based approach, and (ii) the van Genuchten parameters to soil basic data for the parametric approach.
The group method of data handling (GMDH) was used to develop the PTF equation. The GMDH is a heuristic, neuro-net type regression technique that retains only essential input variables in a flexible net of polynomial regression equations (Farrow, 1984). The GMDH provides an automated selection of essential input variables and builds hierarchical polynomial regressions, usually with fewer nodes than artificial neural networks. More details about the application of the GMDH for PTF development can be found in Pachepsky and Rawls (1999) and Pachepsky et al. (1998). The version of the GMDH used in this paper is coded in the commercial software ModelQuest (AbTech Corp, 1996), that uses the following predicted squared error criteria, PSE:
![]() | [2] |
Step 5. The PTF from the point-based method was used to compute water contents at selected potentials in the testing data set, then van Genuchten equation parameters were fitted to computed water contents for each sample, and subsequently, water contents at the selected potentials were computed with this equation. The PTF from the parametric approach was also applied in the testing data set to estimate van Genuchten parameters from basic soil properties, and then water contents at the selected potentials were estimated from this equation.
Step 6. For individual water contents, the accuracy for the two approaches was compared using the root mean squared error, RMSE:
![]() | [3] |
For comparing water retention curves, the root mean squared difference, RMSD, (Tietje and Tapkenhinrichs, 1993) was used:
![]() | [4] |
| RESULTS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
|
|
|
0 parameter and slightly less accurate for the
r parameter. Predictors of
0 were the same as those used for porosity, and the accuracy of the estimation was very similar for both. Estimation of log
and log n resulted in R2 much lower than the estimation of
0 and
r. The list of predictors in the final equation for
suggests that its value was affected by a combination of independent variables that control the moisture values at both high and low water potentials. Values of n appeared to be controlled mainly by the bulk density and the moisture equivalent.
|
|
| DISCUSSION |
|---|
|
|
|---|
0.1 m3 m-3. These values are close to the values in Table 4. Data in Table 3 indicate that the coarse-textured fractions affect water contents near saturation, and fine fractions were more relevant at lower moisture content. Similar results were found with other soil hydraulic databases (Rawls et al., 1991).
Organic C was not selected by the GMDH algorithm to be an essential input variable in PTFs, although it was presented in the list of possible inputs for the GMDH to build PTFs. One possible reason is that not only quantity but also quality of organic matter content affects soil water retention. Rawls et al. (2003) compared relative effects of organic matter on water retention using PTFs developed in different regions, and found large regional differences. Our database encompasses several regions with vastly different combinations of soil-forming factors. Another reason may be that the moisture equivalent and bulk density together make the use of organic matter in PTFs unnecessary. We may have encountered the same situation as Bloemen (1980), who has demonstrated that bulk density effectively substituted organic matter content in PTF development with his data set.
Variations in accuracy in Table 4 can be partly explained by the inability of PTFs in capturing differences in structure using the set of predictors that we had. The low accuracy of the van Genuchten parameter estimates with this type of predictors has been observed with other soil hydraulic databases (Pachepsky et al., 1996; Schaap et al., 1998). It is possible that those parameters reflect soil structure rather than soil texture. The importance of structure for water retention of Brazilian soils is supported by the fact that both bulk density and moisture equivalent, which are indirect indications of structure, appears in the point-based equations at all soil water potentials. Descriptions of soil structure can be found in soil survey databases, but these descriptions are given in categorical rather than in numerical form. Using categorical structural data to estimate van Genuchten's parameters presents an interesting issue to explore, considering that van Genuchten's equation showed an excellent performance for fitting water retention data of Brazilian soils (Tables 2, 4). Recently Rawls and Pachepsky (2002) have applied regression tree technique to NRCS database and have shown that using categorical information about soil structure can improve estimates of water retention.
One reason for the significance of structure for hydraulic properties of Brazilian soils may be the relatively low content of silt fraction as compared with soils from the temperate climate regions. The domination of very coarse and very fine particles over particles of the intermediate sizes makes the particle packing patterns very important for hydraulic properties. We note that such features in texture can be found in other tropical soils (MacLean and Yager, 1972; Babalola, 1978).
Several factors could contribute in the superiority of the point over the parametric method in this work. The difference in data used could not contribute since the same dataset has been used to calibrate and validate both methods, and both point and parametric data were optimized using sum of squared differences between measured and simulated water contents. It is theoretically possible (but hardly probable) that regression-based GMDH method would perform better on point data than on parametric data.
It is well known that a group of basic soil properties are more important in the wet range of the water retention curve, while other properties control the variability on the dry range. Shape parameters of the analytical water retention curve, on the other hand, describe its behavior both in the dry and wet range. Therefore, the most probable explanation for a better performance of the point over the parametric method is that the relationship between water retention parameters and basic soil properties is highly complex and cannot be accurate described by the parametric method.
We note that Schaap and Bouten (1996) made a similar comparison and did not observe such large differences between two methods. However, their database consisted mostly of coarse soils, whereas our database contained soils with wide range of textures. Minasny et al. (1999) also made a similar comparison and saw the need in improving of parameter estimates by refitting the van Genuchten equation to actual data points.
| CONCLUSIONS |
|---|
|
|
|---|
and log n, needs to take into account the whole range of soil water potentials, and the relationships between the parameters and the independent variables are apparently not straightforward. Further comparisons are necessary to determine whether this conclusion holds for soil from regions with temperate climate. | APPENDIX |
|---|
|
|
|---|
0,
, n, and
r, parameters in the van Genuchten equation;
0,
6,
10,
33,
100, and
1500, volumetric water contents at 0, 6, 10, 33, 100, and 1500 kPa, respectively; x1x17, and z1z13, auxiliary variables.
GMDH-Generated Algorithms
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
|---|
Received for publication January 15, 2002.
| REFERENCES |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
G. Tranter, B. Minasny, A. B. McBratney, R. A. V. Rossel, and B. W. Murphy Comparing Spectral Soil Inference Systems and Mid-Infrared Spectroscopic Predictions of Soil Moisture Retention Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., August 20, 2008; 72(5): 1394 - 1400. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Nemes, W. J. Rawls, Ya. A. Pachepsky, and M. Th. van Genuchten Sensitivity Analysis of the Nonparametric Nearest Neighbor Technique to Estimate Soil Water Retention Vadose Zone J., November 20, 2006; 5(4): 1222 - 1235. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
K. A. Winfield, J. R. Nimmo, J. A. Izbicki, and P. M. Martin Resolving Structural Influences on Water-Retention Properties of Alluvial Deposits Vadose Zone J., May 26, 2006; 5(2): 706 - 719. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
A. Nemes, W. J. Rawls, and Y. A. Pachepsky Influence of Organic Matter on the Estimation of Saturated Hydraulic Conductivity Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., June 28, 2005; 69(4): 1330 - 1337. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
C. M. P. Vaz, M. de Freitas Iossi, J. de Mendonca Naime, A. Macedo, J. M. Reichert, D. J. Reinert, and M. Cooper Validation of the Arya and Paris Water Retention Model for Brazilian Soils Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J., April 11, 2005; 69(3): 577 - 583. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| The SCI Journals | Agronomy Journal | Crop Science | |||
| Journal of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Education |
Vadose Zone Journal | ||||
| Journal of Plant Registrations | Journal of Environmental Quality |
The Plant Genome | |||