QUANTIFYING SOIL PROPERTIES AND LANDSCAPE PROCESSES TO IMPROVE SOIL AND WATER MANAGEMENT

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: TERMINATED
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 0201297
• Project No.: TEX09030
• Project Start Date: Aug 26, 2010
• Project End Date: Aug 25, 2015

Project Director
Morgan, C.

Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001

Performing Department
Soil & Crop Sciences

Non Technical Summary
United States agriculture is under pressure to increase crop production efficiency and to simultaneously decrease the negative environmental impacts from farming activities. According to a 2002 National Water Quality Inventory report, agriculture is the leading source of nonpoint source pollution in surface water and is a major contributor to ground water contamination. Current agricultural practices, such as confined animal facilities, pesticide application, irrigation, fertilization, and cultivation, degrade surface and ground water quality. Soil is the media in which crops are grown and all water and contaminants contact and interact with soil before reaching the surface or ground water. A thorough understanding of water and solute transport processes and water-soil interactions is critical to improving resource management and decreasing nonpoint source pollution. Identifying water and solute transport processes in agricultural landscapes, quantifying the spatial and temporal variability of the soil properties that affect these transport processes, and improving the ability to describe these processes are fundamental requirements for advancing the understanding of the surface and groundwater mechanisms that drive nonpoint source pollution. Though, water and solute transport processes have been well defined in laboratory and controlled conditions, translating information about these processes to field situations has proven difficult because soil hydraulic properties are temporally and spatially variable in the natural environment. Landscape-scale models used to predict the effect of soil management on water quality utilize soil information that is generic and of low spatial resolution. High resolution soil data has remained underutilized because of the difficulty of obtaining high resolution soil information, and the greater computation time involved in simulating soil-water processes at a high spatial resolution. Spatially averaging critical soil information in water transport models can mask the true influence of the soil variability on hydrologic response. Fruitful avenues leading to increased use of high spatial resolution data would be to identify the appropriate scale for representing soil variability and to improve capabilities for quantifying soil properties at higher spatial resolutions. The long-term goal of this research is to improve our ability to spatially and temporally quantify soil properties across watersheds, and to improve our understanding of water transport processes affected by the spatial and temporal variation of soil properties. The overall objective of the research is to improve soil scientists' ability to quantify soil properties at high spatial resolutions and to improve the accuracy of landscape-scale models that simulate water movement through and over soil. With this objective, this research will be focused on quantifying the influence of soil heterogeneity on surface hydrology, including investigations of the critical scales at which water, soil, and landscape attributes interact to affect water quality.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
101	0199	2061	50%
141	0199	2050	15%
112	0199	2050	35%

Knowledge Area
112 - Watershed Protection and Management; 141 - Air Resource Protection and Management; 101 - Appraisal of Soil Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0199 - Soil and land, general;

Field Of Science
2050 - Hydrology; 2061 - Pedology;

Keywords

soil hydrology

measuring soil properties

bulk soil electrical conductivity

resistivity imaging

vertisols

cracking soils

vnir spectroscopy

Goals / Objectives
Objective 1: Develop methods for rapid and reliable proximal sensing of soil properties and processes in the field. The ability to characterize the spatial distribution and temporal stability of soil properties is paramount to understanding water movement, nutrient transport, and soil erosion on a landscape. Traditional soil measurements are limited in spatial resolution by the time-consuming and destructive nature of obtaining and analyzing the necessary multitude of soil cores. Rapid nondestructive sampling of small-scale spatial variability has been limited by development, testing, and improvement of sensors and needs further exploration. Three commercial instruments that show promise for high-resolution, in-situ measurement of soil properties are Geonics' EM38DD, Advanced Spectral Devices' AgriSpec Visible and Near Infrared (VisNIR) Spectrometer, and Advanced Geosciences' Supersting resistivity meter. This first research objective will refine the use of these three instruments for quantifying soil properties across Texas landscapes. All instruments are field portable and non-destructively (proximally) sample the soil. The EM38DD measures bulk electrical conductivity across landscapes at meter-scale resolutions, the VisNIR spectrometer proximally measures spectral reflectance of soil profiles at the centimeter scale, and the Supersting coupled with mathematical inversion models can measure soil resistivity two- and three-dimensionally at the pedon scale. Objective 2: Identify and characterize temporal and spatial patterns of surface hydraulic properties of Vertisols. Management of watersheds for crop production, environmental quality, and flood forecasting in areas with cracking soils requires hydrologic models that are equipped with modules to track the temporal and spatial distribution of soil cracking, and to address the hydrologic impact of that cracking. These hydrologic models need information on when and where soil cracks open and on the areal density of soil cracks at a given location. There is little information in the literature that describes temporal and spatial dynamics of soil cracking under field conditions. From field observations, at least three areas of research on soil cracking need to be visited. First, we need to develop fundamental information on how the areal density and spatial distribution of cracks varies with landscape position within a field under the same soil and land management. Second, we need a better understanding of the relationship between the areal density of cracks and of the amount of water stored in the soil profile. Third, we know that runoff of water varies with type of land use, so we need to understand how land use affects the temporal and spatial development of cracks.

Project Methods
Hypothesis H1a is that bulk electrical conductivity can be used to map soil properties that affect the temporal and spatial variability of shrink-swell in soils with vertic properties, such as water content, shrink-swell potential, and gilgai. Continuous, geospatially-referenced soil ECa measurements will be collected in fields with vertic soils at different soil temperatures and moisture contents. Soil moisture content, salinity and clay content will be measured to determine the primary soil characteristics that affect ECa. Hypothesis H1b is that soil reflectance, made through a fiber optic cable mounted inside a soil penetrometer, can be used to quantify soil properties such as organic and inorganic carbon and clay content. While a VisNIR penetrometer prototype is being developed, intact soil cores will be scanned at various soil moisture conditions and analyzed using data mining techniques including, principal component analysis, partial least squares regression, and regression trees. Hypothesis H1c is that the ERI technique may be refined to provide the type of below-ground imaging needed to non-destructively observe the mechanics of the soil shrink-swell phenomena and the dynamics of soil moisture around cracks. The ERI system will be field-calibrated by incorporating the effects soil moisture and temperature on electrical resistivity in clay-rich soil. After calibration, the ERI will be used to make 3-dimensional measurements of soil water content and cracking during soil wetting and drying phases. Hypothesis H2a is that in situ soil shrink-swell behavior is dependent on a combination of topographic position, depth-to-bedrock, land use, and local shrink-swell potentials within the soil horizons. Multiple years of vertical shrink-swell measurements will be compared according to several terrain/ECa-based combinations and land uses. Results of these tests will identify the terrain properties and land use properties that are important for predicting the spatial and temporal distribution of soil cracking. Hypothesis H2b is that definable relationships exist between vertical shrinkage (or swelling) and areal density of crack volume. This hypothesis will be tested by comparing vertical shrinkage measurements to areal density of crack-water-capturing capacity. The relationship between cumulative change in thickness of soil through the horizons and water holding capacity of cracks (crack volume) is essential for transforming relations defined in H2a to estimates of crack volume. Based on literature and preliminary work, this relationship is expected to follow theory for equidimensional shrinkage. Hypothesis H2c is that the areal density of crack volume at a given distribution of profile water content depends on prior moisture conditions and that crack closing occurs on a time lag related to soil moisture at rewetting. This hypothesis will be tested by measuring soil moisture and continuous changes in crack aperture with depth.

Progress 08/26/10 to 08/25/15

Outputs
Target Audience:Undergraduate and Gradaute Students at Texas A&M University, National Science Foundation, Cotton Incorporated, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), Texas Soil Survey Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergarduate students are trained in lab and methodolgies for measuring soil properties. Graduate students are trained in scientific writing. PhD student are sent to grant writing workshops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?2015 Activities Conferences and oral presentations 1. Soil Survey and Land Resource Workshop 2. Annual Soil Science Society of America Meeting 3. National Cooperative SOil Survey Conference 4. Global Soil Security Symposium 5. Annual Agronomy Society of America Meeting What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue reserch projects initiated, write propsals to fund students, publish papers.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Developed methodology to measure vertical soil movement and soil water content in a single access hole to reduce unknown errors associated with spatial variability in subsurface soil behavior. Magnets were inserted perpendicular to the surface at multiple depths The relative position of each magnet can be measured using commercial magnetoresistive sensors in combination with a NMM for water content. Measure the response of pedon thickness to changes in soil water content in situ and over a range of COLE values to 1) define the relationship between COLE and the slope of field shrinkage curves, and 2) use COLE and direct measurements of soil crack volume to partition soil shrinkage into vertical and horizontal components. Soil crack volume calculations are routinely based on COLE and an assumption of isotropic shrinkage; however, most studies are based on large-valued COLE soils. In seven soils with COLE values that range from 0 to 0.17 m3 m-3, soil subsidence and water content were simultaneously measured. Soil subsidence was measured using magnets inserted parallel to the soil surface, and water content was measured using a neutron moisture meter. At the end of a dry-down period, soil cracks in the plots were filled with a cement slurry, excavated, and photographed. Although water content and COLE were not reliable predictors of measured soil layer thickness, these soil properties were useful in estimating soil crack volume for seven soils over a range of COLE values from 0 to 0.17 m m-1. COLE was successfully used to parameterize soil shrinkage model by defining the slope of vertical shrinkage with loss in water content. Partially the use of COLE to estimate crack volume was a significant improvement on the current Bronswijk -based approximation. By using the minimum shrinkage value that represent a minimum shrinkage that can occur without soil cracking, and by including a scaling factor of 10 (identified by this study) that allocates proportion of shrinkage between interpedal space and soil cracking, This study was able to predict the presence and absence of surface soil cracks over time (r2 = 0.84). Using soil properties to model soil-water processes is advantageous because it alleviates the need for site-specific calibration, and the NRCS database is an available and reliable source of model parameters. Concurrent electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and water content surveys were conducted over a 10 by 10 meter area a soil dried and cracked. At the end of a dry-down period, soil cracks in the plots were filled with a cement slurry, excavated, and photographed. This study showed that ERT was not an acceptable measure of soil moisture content, compared to a neutron probe, but that it has potential in estimating cracking behavior and patterns without excavation of the site. Soil properties associated with both gilgai and shrink-swell potential in Vertisols also influence bulk electrical conductivity (ECa), and includes clay content, surface area of the clay, and calcium carbonate content. We explored mapping shrink-swell potential using field-based measurements of ECa with electromagnetic induction (EMI). Soil cores were collected for laboratory measurements of clay content, calcium carbonate content, and electrical conductivity of the soil at selected locations within the surveys which were chosen by stratifying ECa values.Measurements of ECa in calcareous Vertisols were correlated with inorganic C and water content, but not clay content or depth to parent material. In soils developed from calcareous parent materials, such as in the Texas Blackland Prairie, ECa can be used to detect changes in inorganic C at the 1-m and 10-m scale as long as clay content is relatively uniform (between 45 and 56%). The ECa response was capable of detecting changes across landscapes and intact gilgai patterns as well, providing useful information to improve the spatial scale of information compared to NRCS soil survey maps. Because inorganic C influences the shrink-swell potential of the soil, ECa can then be used as a proximal sensing tool to map changes in cracking potential across these landscapes. The ability to provide spatial hydrology models detailed information of soil shrink-swell potential across landscapes may help in predictions of runoff and infiltration partitioning. The PALMS model was integrated onto and run on a supercomputer at the Texas A&M University Supercomputing Facility (TAMUSF). This allows PALMS simulations to be completed in hours instead of days. Simulations that modeled water flow on Vertisol landscapes with circular gilgai as well as new techniques for representing circular gilgai in PALMS input were presented at the 2012 Kirkham Soil Physics Conference in New Zealand and in Bari, Italy at the Euro Soil 2012 Conference. A field study to simulate macropore flow in a 4 by 5 m plot have shown that PALMS simulation of preferential flow between cracks is as reliable as our ability to measure flow through cracks.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Ackerson, J.P., J.A.M. Dematt�, C.L.S. Morgan. 2015. Predicting clay content on field-moist intact tropical soils using a dried, ground VisNIR library with external parameter orthogonalization. Geoderma. 259:196-204.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2015 Citation: Chen, Y., S. Ale, N. Rajan, C.L.S. Morgan and J. Park. 2015. Hydrological responses of land use change from upland cotton to cellulosic bioenergy crops in the southern High Plains of Texas. Global Change Biology-Bioenergy doi: 10.1111/gcbb.1230.

Progress 10/01/13 to 09/30/14

Outputs
Target Audience: Undergraduate and Graduate Students at Texas A&M University Undergraduate and Graduate Students at Texas A&M University National Science Foundation USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), Texas Soil Survey Texas Commission on Environment Quality National Science Foundation National Climate and Atmosphere Research Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Student in training attend Professional conferences. See Dissemination of results section. One MS Stduent and one PhD student have gradued during the reporting year. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Activities Conferences and oral presentations 1. Soil Survey and Land resource Workshop a. VisNIR and MIR Spectroscopy accuracy for differentiating between soil series b. A Universal transformation to remove the effect of water content from visNIR spectra c. non-invasive detection of soil moisture in Vertisols using electro resistive imaging d. Alpha beta gamma radiometrics and its application to digital soil mapping e. Global soil analog mapping for inaccessible geographic landscapes f. a two domain mesopore and matrix model for cracking soils. 2. World Congress on Soil Science a. Soil judging as a instrument for community building in soil science b. Alpha Beta gamma radiometrics for enhanced digital soil mapping c. Soil knowhow, connecting concepts d. Transfer functions for visnir spectra: application of air-dry spectral libraries to moist and intact soils. 3. Annual Soil Science Society of America Meeting a.Visualizing Texas Parent Materials. b. , c. Using Gamma-Ray Signatures to Identify Horizon Boundaries and Soil Properties within Soil Profiles., d. Understanding Aerial Gamma Radiometrics through Proximal Soil Surveys., e. Penetrometer-Mounted Visnir Spectroscopy: Assimilating in-Situ Spectra with Dry, Ground Spectral Libraries., f. Generating Pedotransfer Functions for Basic and Inferred Soil Properties., g. Potential Impact of Clay Pan Soils on Simulation Results of a Land Surface Model. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? continue to train students

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Changes in Knowledge include: 1. We are gaining knowledge of how to use aerial radiometrics in soil mapping. 2.We have learned how to transform visNIR scans of soil in the field at moist conditions to look like spectra in air dry condition. 3. We have developed penetrometer mounted visNIR and tested it in the field. 4. We are testing our visNiR transformation on soils that occur in Brazil.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Ackerson, J.P., C. L.S. Morgan, M. E. Everett, K. J. McInnes. 2014. The role of water content in electrical resistivity tomography of a Vertisol. Soil Science Society of America Journal. doi:10.2136/sssaj2014.01.0032.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Kishne, A., H. Neely, C.L.S. Morgan, 2014. How much surface water can gilgai microtopography capture? Journal of Hydrology. 513:256-261.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Ge, Y., C.L.S. Morgan, J.A. Ackerson. 2014. VisNIR spectra of dried ground soils predict properties of soils scanned moist and intact. Geoderma. 221-222:61-69.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Neely, H.L., J. P. Ackerson, C.L.S. Morgan, K. J. McInnes. 2014. Instrumentation to measure soil subsidence and water content in a single borehole. Soil Science Society of America Journal. doi:10.2136/sssaj2014.02.0055.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Ge. Y., C.L.S. Morgan. 2014. Mid infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy for soil carbon and particle size determination. Geoderma 213:57-63.

Progress 01/01/13 to 09/30/13

Outputs
Target Audience: Undergraduate and Graduate Students at Texas A&M National Science Foundation USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), USDA NRCS Texas Soil Survey Ag Industries Changes/Problems: Changes Instead of flooding the plots to estimate soil cracking volume (Objective 1) we tried two different approaches as described above 1. ERT and 2. Single bore hole subsidence measurements with cracking filling data for crack volume. The latter approach worked. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? One MS thesis was completed; Jason Ackerson, The Role of Water Content and Surface Cracking in Electrical Resistivity Tomography of a Vertisol; One Phd Dissertation had been defended (Haly Neely) but not yet turned into thelibrary. Conferences where students participated include Soil Science Society of America, Tampa Fl; Soil Systems and Critical Zone Processes Conference. Monte Verita, Switzerland; Soil Survey Land Resopurces Workshop Neely, H.L., C.L.S. Morgan, and K.J. McInnes. 2013. Soil crack volume: Linking ped scale measurements with landscape scale hydrology. Poster. Soil Systems and Critical Zone Processes Conference. Monte Verita, Switzerland. Ackerson, J.P., K. J. McInnes, C.L.S Morgan. 2013. Geometry and Spatial Distribution of Soil Cracks in a Vertisol. Soil Survey and Land Resource Workshop. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. Elizabeth Marley. 2013. Distinguishing Subsurface Characteristics of Soils Using Electrical Resistivity Tomography - Soil Survey and Land Resource Workshop. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. Bagnall, Dianna. 2013. Reconnaissance Trip for Mapping Soils at Ukulima Farms South Africa. Soil Survey and Land Resource Workshop. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX. Bagnall (M.S.) designed three soil science learning demonstrations that she presented to the National Science Teachers Association convention in San Antonio, April 11-14 2013. She learned many skills in this effort in how to communicate her excitement for and knowledge for school teachers (K-12). How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? INVITED TALKS: Morgan, C.L.S. 2013. Invited Colloquium Speaker, Advancing Pedology in the 21st Century, Soil Science Society of America Annual Meetings, Tampa, FL. Nov. Morgan, C.L.S., J. Thompson. 2013 How will USDA Soil Survey NRCS Use Gamma Data? National Cooperative Soil Survey Conference. Annapolis Maryland. June 17-21. Morgan, C.L.S. 2013. Spectral Inference in the Field. Soil Spectral Inference Workshop, University of Sydney, Sydney AUS. Via Skype, May 8. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Continue Publishing and givibn talks at meetings.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Objective 1. Progress on two instruments are of note. First, we found that in a Vertisol Landscape, soil inorganic carbon was the primary soil property that affected bulk electrical conductivity measurements (EM38DD). Regarding 3 dimension resistivity measurements, we found that calibrating resistivity measurements to water content in a Vertisol is quite difficult because of the scales that we are capable of measuring soil water (cm-scale) and 3D resistivity is responding to water content at a meter scale. However once Vertisols start to crack, the resistivity presented very good spatial patterns that alsoresembled soil cracking.Objective 2; we collected soil moisture measurements of a Vertisol during simulated rainfall events. These measurements will be used to compare to a macropore flow model designed to work in Vertisols. Preliminary results are promising.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Dinka, T.M., C.L.S. Morgan, K.J. McInnes, A.Sz. Kishn�, R.D. Harmel. 2013. Shrink-swell behavior of soil across a Vertisol catena. Journal of Hydrology 476: 352-359.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2013 Citation: Koch, A., A. McBratney, M. Adams. D. Field, R. Hill, R. Lal, Rattan, L. Abbott, D. Angers, J. Baldock, E. Barbier, D. Binkley, M. Bird, J. Bouma, C. Chenu, J. Crawford, C. Flora, K. Goulding, S. Gunwald, J. Hempel, J. Jastrow, J. Lehmann, K. Lorenz, B. Minasny, C. Morgan, A. O'Donnell, W. Parton, C. Rice, D. Wall, D. Whitehead, I. Young, M Zimmermann. 2014. Soil security: solving the global soil crisis. Global Policy. 1-8.

Progress 01/01/12 to 12/31/12

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Ackerson, J.P., K. J. McInnes, C.L.S Morgan. 2012. Three dimensional electrical resistivity for monitoring cracking in an expansive clay soils, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco CA. Burns, J. N., R.P. Oien , J.P. Ackerson, C.L.S Morgan. 2012. Water retention properties of soil in a tropical pre-montane transitional forest, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco CA. Oien, R.P., J.N. Burns, R. Arnott, J.P. Ackerson, C.L.S. Morgan. 2012. Mapping depth to bedrock in a tropical pre-montane wet forest in Costa Rica, American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting, San Francisco CA. Ackerson, J.P., K.J. McInnes, and C.L.S. Morgan. 2012. Error estimation of electrical resistivity based soil water content in a Vertisol, Visions for a sustainable planet ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meetings, Cincinnati OH. Ackerson, J.P., H. Neely, C.L.S. Morgan, and K.J. McInnes. 2012. Measuring Soil subsistence and water content in a single access tube, Visions for a sustainable planet ASA, CSSA, and SSSA Annual Meetings, Cincinnati OH. Ackerson, J.P., K.J. McInnes, C.L.S. Morgan, and M. Everett. 2012. Three Dimensional Electrical Resistivity Imaging of Soil Water Content and Cracking in a Vertisol, Assessment of the carbon sequestration potential of common agricultural systems on benchmark soils across the southern regional climate gradient SSSA Regional Project S1048 Annual Meeting, Stillwater OK. H.L. Neely, C.L.S. Morgan, K.J. McInnes. 2012. Soil crack volume as a function of the coefficient of linear extensibility. Kirkham Conference. Massey University. Palmerston North, New Zealand. H.L. Neely, C.L.S. Morgan, K.J. McInnes. 2012. Towards estimating soil crack volume. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. Cincinnati, OH. C.B. Neely, F.M. Rouquette, Jr., C.L.S. Morgan, G.R. Smith, F.M. Hons, and W.L. Rooney. 2012. Integrating crimson clover and cowpea into grain sorghum cropping systems to improve crop yield, soil nitrogen, and soil carbon, ASA-CSSA-SSSA Internation Meetings, Cincinnati, OH. C.B. Neely, F.M. Rouquette, Jr., G.R. Smith, C.L.S. Morgan, F.M. Hons, W.L. Rooney, and B. Higginbotham. 2012. Green manuring and intercropping legumes: Impacts on a high-biomass sorghum production system, Texas Plant Protection Association Conference, Bryan, TX. PARTICIPANTS: PIs: K.J. McInnes, J.A. Thomasson, C.T. Hallmark, Y. Ge, B. Auverman, Texas Agrilife Research J. Zou, Texas Engineering Experiment Station D.C. Weindorf, Louisiana State Univ. C.C. Molling, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison D. Harmel; USDA-AR Others: Andrea Kishne, Haly Neely, Jason Ackerson, Heather Watson, Dianne Bagnall; Clark Neely TARGET AUDIENCES: Undergraduate and Graduate Students at Texas A&M University National Science Foundation Cotton Incorporated USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), Texas Soil Survey PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Changes in Knowledge include: 1. Vertisols are shown to be responsive to long-term weather conditions and their behavior could change in with changes in weather patterns. 2. We have learned more about the robust nature of using VNIR spectroscopy to quantify and map oil contamination in soils. 3. A new method design for using an neutron probe to measure water content in rocky soils was developed. 3. We have quantified the effect of Arundo on soil carbon storage in soils along the Rio Grande River in Texas.

Publications

• Kishne, A. Sz., Y. Ge, C.L.S. Morgan, W.L. Miller. 2012. Surface cracking of a Vertisol related to the history of available water. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 76:548-557.
• Kim, D., D. Cairns, J. Bartholdy and C.L.S. Morgan. 2012. Scale-dependent correspondence of floristic and ediphatic gradients across salt marsh creeks. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 102: 276-294.
• Chakraborty, S., D.C. Weindorf, Y. Zhu, B. Li, C.L.S. Morgan, Y. Ge, J. Galbraith. 2012. Spectral reflectance variability from soil physicochemical properties in oil contaminated soils. Geoderma. 178:80-89.
• Ge, Y., J.A. Thomasson, C.L.S. Morgan, S. Stanislav, R. Sui. 2012. Cotton revenue apportioned between lint yield and fiber quality: a precision agriculture perspective. Journal of Cotton Science 15:274-281
• Sarkhot, D.V., S. Grunwald ,Y. Ge, C.L.S. Morgan. 2012. Total and available soil carbon fractions under the perennial grass Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers and the bioenergy crop Arundo donax L. Biomass and Bioenergy. 41: 122-130.
• Chakraborty, S., D.C. Weindorf, Y. Zhu, B. Li, C.L.S. Morgan, Y. Ge, J. Galbraith. 2012. Assessing spatial variability of soil petroleum contamination using visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Journal of Environmental Monitoring. 14:2886-2892.
• Tokumoto, I, J.L. Heilman, K.J. McInnes, C.L.S. Morgan, R.H. Kamps. 2012. Calibration and use of neutron moisture and gamma density probes in rocky soils Soil Science Society of America Journal 76: 2136-214

Progress 01/01/11 to 12/31/11

Outputs
OUTPUTS: 1. Soil Survey and Land Resource Workshop a. Mapping Properties of Reclaimed and Unmined Soils at Walnut Creek Mine; b. Above -0.33 Bar: Finding the Swelling Extent of Soil Aggregates; c. Comparison of Soil Reflectance Spectra Using Multiple Spectrometers. 2. Annual Soil Science Society of America Meeting a. Investigation of Electrical Conductivity as Measured by Electromagnetic Induction as a Means to Map Shrink-Swell Potential in Vertisols; b. Fingerprinting Soils: A Proof of Concept; c. Assessment of Gilgai Microtopography Based On Elevation Using GIS; d. Quantification of soil water evaporation using TDR-microlysimetery; e. Effects of deficit irrigation on plant available water, cotton root growth, and cotton yield in the Rio Grande Plains of Texas, f. Using Electromagnetic Induction to Identify Subsurface Variation of Soil Properties Associated with Gilgai PARTICIPANTS: PIs: K.J. McInnes, J.A. Thomasson, C.T. Hallmark, Y. Ge, B. Auverman, Texas Agrilife Research J. Zou, Texas Engineering Experiment Station D.C. Weindorf, Louisiana State Univ. C.C. Molling, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison D. Harmel; USDA-ARS Others: Takele Dinka, Andrea Kishne, Leo Rivera, Haly Neely, Jason Ackerson, Catherine Kobylinski, Laura Seifereman, James Vandyke, Heather Watson, Dianne Fisher TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Changes in knowledge include: 1. We have quantified the effect of using multiple spectrometer on prediction accuracy of soil organic carbon content. This clarifies methodology for global VNIR spectral libraries. 2. We have learned more about the robust nature of using VNIR spectroscopy to quantify ash content for burning feedlot manure for fuel. 3. A new method design for attaching a VNIR fiber optic cable to a soil probe has been developed and tested.

Publications

• Ge,Y., C.L.S. Morgan, S. Grunwald, D.J. Brown, D.V. Sarkhot. 2011. Comparison of soil reflectance spectra and calibration models obtained using multiple spectrometers. Geoderma. 161:202-211.
• Sarkhot, D.V., S. Grunwald, Y. Ge, C.L.S. Morgan. 2011. Comparison and detection of total and available soil carbon fractions using visible/near infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Geoderma. 164:22-32.
• Kim, D., D. Cairns, J. Bartholdy and C.L.S. Morgan. 2011. Scale-dependent correspondence of floristic and ediphatic gradients across salt marsh creeks. Annals of the Association of American Geographers. DOI:10.1080/00045608.2011.620520.
• Sakirkin, S.L., C.L.S. Morgan, J.C. MacDonald, B.W. Auvermann. 2011. Effect of diet composition on the determination of ash and moisture content in solid cattle manure with visible near-infrared spectroscopy. Applied Spectroscopy. 65:1056-1061.
• Cheng-Chung, C., A. Garcia-Uribe, J. Zou. C.L.S. Morgan. 2011. Micro side-viewing optical probe for VNIR-DRS soil measurement. IEEE Sensors Journal. 10: 2527-2532.

Progress 01/01/10 to 12/31/10

Outputs
OUTPUTS: Activities Conferences and oral presentations 1. Soil Survey and Land resource Workshop a. Land use and spatial cracking dynamics of a Vertisol. b. Interpreting infiltration measurements on a Vertisol: Effects of land use and landscape position. c. Using VisNIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy to map soils. d. The effect of soil specific seeding rates on water stress and cotton yield. 2. Surface Mine Reclamation Workshop -What's Underneath Reclaimed and Unmined Soils at Walnut Creek Mines: A Technology Demonstration 3. Southern Cooperative Soil Survey Meeting - at this meeting a field day was hosted to demonstrate new technologies for quantifying soil properties in the field (see publications) 4. Annual Soil Science Society of America Meeting -Comparing Crack Volume Estimations on a Vertisol Monitored in South Texas for Ten Years. -Comparing Field-Scale Soil Moisture Dynamics of a Reclaimed Surface Mine to Undisturbed Soils. PARTICIPANTS: PIs: K.J. McInnes, J.A. Thomasson, C.T. Hallmark, Y. Ge, Texas Agrilife Research J. Zou, Texas Engineering Experiment Station D.C. Weindorf, Louisiana State Univ. C.C. Molling, Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison D. Harmel; USDA-ARS Others: Takele Dinka, Andrea Kishne, Katrina Wilke, Leo Rivera, Scott Stanislav, Haly Neely, Jason Ackerson, Catherine Kobylinski, Laura Seifereman, James Vandyke TARGET AUDIENCES: Target Audiences: Undergraduate and Gradaute Students at Texas A&M University National Science Foundation Cotton Incorporated USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS), Texas Soil Survey PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
Changes in Knowledge include: 1. We have quantified how spatially variable soils can be under reclaimed mine conditions. Previously it was considered these field were fairly uniform. 2. We have learned how well VNIR spectroscopy works on reclaimed lignite mine soils. 3. A new method of categorizing VNIR spectral data of intact soil profiles has been applied.

Publications

• Sakirkin, S.L.P., C.L.S. Morgan, and B.W. Auvermann. 2010. Effects of sample processing on ash content determination in solid cattle manure with visible/near-infrared spectroscopy. Transactions of ASABE.53: 421-428.
• Kishne, A.Sz., C.L.S. Morgan, Y. Ge and W.L. Miller. 2010. Antecedent soil moisture affecting surface cracking of a Vertisol in field conditions. Geoderma. 157:109-117
• Chakraborty, S., D.C. Weindorf, C.L.S. Morgan, Y. Ge, J. Galbraith, B. Li, and C.S. Kahlon. 2010. Rapid identification of oil contaminated soils using visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Journal of Environmental Quality

Progress 01/01/09 to 12/31/09

Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: A better understanding of water and solute transport processes in agricultural landscapes is needed to improve resource management and non-point source pollution. Methods to accurately quantify soil variability and improve simulations of water and chemical transport across agricultural landscapes are being developed. To date, we have shown the effectiveness of VNIR spectroscopy in quantifying soil clay content, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon of soil profiles in situ. Along with using VNIR in situ, we have completed a Texas Spectral Library containing over 2500 soils with VNIR scans and laboratory characterization. Through the Spectral Library we have shown a correlation between soil VNIR spectra and the coefficient of linear extensibility. We have further tested the theory of using the noise of bulk soil electrically (vibration induced conductivity fluctuation, VICOF) conductivity measurements to measure soil porosity. We are also testing impacts of seeding by soil type on profitability of precision agriculture. We have demonstrated and reported on the importance of including irrigation water in nitrate budgets in the rolling plains of Texas. PARTICIPANTS: Collaborators: J. Alex Thomasson, Professor Ag. Engineering TAMU; John Sij, Professor Soil Science, Vernon Research Station; Laszlo Kish, Electrical Engineering, TAMU; David Brown, Washington State University Dennis Williamson, Texas NRCS Soil Survey; Andrea Kishne, Research Scientist, TAMU; Yufeng Ge, Scientist, TAMU; M.S. Students Scott Stanislav, Katrina Hutchison, Leo Rivera, Adam Helms Graduauated in 2009 PhD student Takele Dinka CO-PIs: Alex Thomasson, Ag. and Biosystems Engineering, TAMU; Ruixui Sui, Ag. and Biosystems Engineering, TAMU; Kevin McInnes, TAMU; David Weindorf, Louisiana State University TARGET AUDIENCES: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
This VISNIR work will positively impact non-point source pollution modeling and precision agriculture by providing tools to more accurately quantify soil properties across landscapes at high spatial resolution. Our nutrient work in the rolling plains will reduce nitrate levels in the Seymour aquifer if cotton producers implement recommendations for including irrigation water in nitrogen applications. We will impact local farmers by demonstrating how lower seeding rates do not negatively affect yield. New developments in shrink-swell soils will impact future hydrology models.

Publications

• Morgan, C.L.S., T. Waiser, D.J. Brown, and C.T. Hallmark. 2009. Simulated in situ characterization of soil organic and inorganic carbon with visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Geoderma 151:249-256.
• Lepore, B.J, C.L.S. Morgan, J.M. Norman, C.C. Molling. 2009. A mesopore and matrix infiltration model for landscape management applications. Geoderma 152:301-313.
• Preece, S.L., C.L.S. Morgan, B.W. Auvermann, K. Wilke, and K. Heflin. 2009. Determination of ash content in solid cattle manure with visible near-infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Transactions of ASABE 521-6.
• Somenahally, D.C. Weindorf, L. Darilek, J.P. Muir, R. Wittie, C. Thompson and C.L.S. Morgan. 2009. Spatial variability of soil test phosphorus in manure amended soils on three dairy farms in North Central Texas. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 64:89-97.
• Ge, Y., J.A. Thomasson, R. Sui, and C.L.S. Morgan. 2009. A module-specific post-processing calibration methods to improve cotton yield mapping. Computer and Electronics in Agriculture. 68:161-167.
• Kishne, A.Sz., C.L.S. Morgan, and W.L. Miller. 2009. Vertisol crack extent associated with gilgai and soil moisture in the Texas Gulf Coast Prairie. Soil Science Society of America Journal 73:1221-1230.

Progress 01/01/08 to 12/31/08

Outputs
OUTPUTS: A better understanding of water and solute transport processes in agricultural landscapes is needed to improve resource management and non-point source pollution. Methods to accurately quantify soil variability and improve simulations of water and chemical transport across agricultural landscapes are being developed. To date, we have shown the effectiveness of VNIR spectroscopy in quantifying soil clay content, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon of soil profiles in situ. Along with using VNIR in situ, we have completed a Texas Spectral Library containing over 2500 soils with VNIR scans and laboratory characterization. Through the Spectral Library we have shown a correlation between soil VNIR spectra and the coefficient of linear extensibility. We have further tested the theory of using the noise of bulk soil electrically (vibration induced conductivity fluctuation, VICOF) conductivity measurements to measure soil porosity. We are also testing impacts of seeding by soil type on profitability of precision agriculture. We have demonstrated and reported on the importance of including irrigation water in nitrate budgets in the rolling plains of Texas. PARTICIPANTS: collaborators: J. Alex Thomasson, Professor Ag. Engineering Texas A&M University John Sij, Professor Soil Science, Vernon Research Station Andrea Kishne, Post doc Texas A&M University, Yufeng Ge, Post doc Texas A&M University M.S. Students Adam Helms, Scott Stanislav,Katrina Hutchison Leo Rivera, PhD student Takele Dinka PARTICIPANTS: CO-PIs: Alex Thomasson, Ag. and Biosystems Engineering, TAMU Ruixui Sui, Ag. and Biosystems Engineering, TAMU Sabine Grunwald University of Florida Collaborators: Laszlo Kish, Electrical Engineering, TAMU David Brown, Washington State University Dennis Williamson, Texas NRCS Soil Survey TARGET AUDIENCES: Not relevant to this project. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.

Impacts
This ViSNIR work will positively impact non-point source pollution modeling and precision agriculture by providing tools to more accurately quantify soil properties across landscapes at high spatial resolution. Our nutrient work in the rolling plains will reduce nitrate levels in the Seymour aquifer if cotton producers implement recommendations for including irrigation water in nitrogen applications. We will impact local farmers by demonstrating how lower seeding rates do not negatively affect yield.

Publications

• Harvey, O.R., C.L.S. Morgan. 2009. A single calibration approach for predicting soil variability across an agricultural watershed using apparent soil electrical conductivity. Soil Science Society of America Journal. 73:1-6.

Progress 01/01/07 to 12/31/07

Outputs
OUTPUTS: A better understanding of water and solute transport processes in agricultural landscapes is needed to improve resource management and non-point source pollution. Methods to accurately quantify soil variability and improve simulations of water and chemical transport across agricultural landscapes are being developed. To date, we have shown the effectiveness of VNIR spectroscopy in quantifying soil clay content, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon of soil profiles in situ. Along with using VNIR in situ, we have begun development of a Texas Spectral Library containing over 2500 soils with VNIR scans and laboratory characterization. Through the Spectral Library we have shown a correlation between soil VNIR spectra and the coefficient of linear extensibility. We have further tested the theory of using the noise of bulk soil electrically (vibration induced conductivity fluctuation, VICOF) conductivity measurements to measure soil porosity. We have also developed relationships between bulk soil electrical conductivity and cotton yield and lint quality in a precision agriculture setting. PARTICIPANTS: collaborators: J. Alex Thomasson, Professor Ag. Engineering Texas A&M University John Sij, Professor Soil Science, Vernon Research Station Andrea Kishne, Post doc Texas A&M University Students Yufeng Ge, Ph.D. Student Adam Helms, M.S. Student Scott Stanislav, Undergraduate Research Scholar Katrina Hutchison, Undergraduate Research Scholar Leo Rivera, Undergraduate Research Scholar

Impacts
This project will positively impact non-point source pollution modeling and precision agriculture by providing tools to more accurately quantify soil properties across landscapes at high spatial resolution.

Publications

• Kishne, L.B., C.L.S. Morgan, and A. Sz. Kishne. 2007. Vibration-induced conductivity fluctuation measurement for soil bulk density analysis. Fluctuations and Noise Letters. 7(4):L473-L481.
• Manyame, C. Payne, B. Morgan, C.L.S., Heilman, J. 2007. Modeling hydraulic properties of sandy soils of Niger using pedotransfer functions. Geoderma. 141(3-4):407-415.
• Ge, Y., J.A. Thomasson, C.L.S. Morgan, and S.W. Searcy. 2007. VNIR diffuse reflectance spectroscopy for agricultural soil property determination based on regression-kriging. Transactions of ASABE. 50(3):1081-1092.

Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06

Outputs
A better understanding of water and solute transport processes in agricultural landscapes is needed to improve resource management and non-point source pollution. Methods to accurately quantify soil variability and improve simulations of water and chemical transport across agricultural landscapes are being developed. To date, we have shown the effectiveness of VNIR spectroscopy in quantifying soil clay content, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon of soil profiles in situ. Along with using VNIR in situ, we have demonstrated the use of new mathematical techniques (wavelets) for analyzing VNIR data. Additionally we have developed a theory of using the noise of bulk soil electrically (vibration induced conductivity fluctuation, VICOF) conductivity measurements to measure soil porosity. The VICOF idea is in the laboratory development phase. Regarding water transport, we are in preliminary stages of improving estimations of water runoff in landscapes with cracking soils.

Impacts
This project will positively impact non-point source pollution modeling and precision agriculture by providing tools to more accurately quantify soil properties across landscapes at high spatial resolution.

Publications

• Kish, L.B., C.L.S. Morgan, and A. Sz. Kishne. 2006. Vibration-induced conductivity fluctuation (VICOF) testing of soils. Fluction and Noise Letters. 6(4):L359-L365.
• Ge, Y., C.L.S. Morgan, J.A. Thomasson, and T. Waiser. 2007. A New Perspective to Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy: A Wavelet Approach. Trans. ASAE. Accepted.
• Wasier, T., C.L.S. Morgan, D.J. Brown, and C.T. Hallmark. 2007. In Situ Characterization of Soil Clay Content with Visible Near-Infrared Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy. Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. Accepted.

Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05

Outputs
IN SITU CHARTERIZATION OF SOIL PROPERTIES USING VISIBLE NEAR-INFRARED DIFFUSE REFLECTANCE SPECTROSCOPY Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) is a rapid proximal sensing method that is being used more and more in laboratory settings to measure soil properties. DRS research that has been completed in laboratories show promising results, but very little has been reported on how diffuse reflectance spectroscopy will work in a field setting on soils scanned in situ. Seventy-two soil cores were excavated from six fields in Erath and Comanche County, Texas. Each soil core was scanned with a visible near-infrared (VNIR) spectrometer with a spectral range of 350-2500 nm in four different combinations of moisture content and pre-treatment, such as field-moist in situ, air-dried in situ, field-moist smeared in situ, and air-dried ground. Water potential was measured for the field-moist in situ scans. The VNIR spectra were used to predict total and fine clay content, water potential, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon of the soil using partial least squares (PLS) regression. The PLS model was validated with 30% of the original soil cores that were randomly selected and held out of the calibration model. The RMSD of the air-dry ground samples were within the in situ RMSD and comparable to the literature for each soil property. The validation data set had a total clay content root mean squared deviation (RMSD) of 61 g kg-1 and 41 g kg-1 for the field-moist and air-dried in situ cores, respectively. The OC validation data set had a RMSD of 5.8 g kg-1 and 4.6 g kg-1 for the field-moist and air-dried in situ cores, respectively. The RMSD values for IC were 10.1 g kg-1 and 8.3 g kg-1 for the field moist and air-dried in situ scans, respectively. Smearing the samples increased the uncertainty of the predictions for clay content, organic carbon, and inorganic carbon. Water potential did not improve model predictions, nor did it correlate with the VNIR spectra; r2-values were below 0.31. These results show that DRS is an acceptable technique to measure characterize soil in- situ at varying water contents and different parent materials.

Impacts
To date, this project is developing techniques to rapidly and reliably quantify soil properties in the field. These techniques can then be used for improving natural resource management.

Publications

• No publications reported this period