GIS implementation and statistical analysis for significant characteristics of Kirkuk soil

Abstract

Abstract In the presence of harsh economic conditions, conducting laboratory experiments in a wide anticipated area to determine soil properties for any purpose or task within a city is unachievable. Hence, this work is focused on incorporating the existing record data of 56 distinct soil samples acquired from different pits of Kirkuk city utilizing spatial analysis described by inverse distance weighted (IDW) and Kriging methodologies. The incorporated constituents were principally categorized into basic soil characteristics such as clay, silt, sand, and gravel contents and various soil parameters such as initial void ratio (e o), angle of internal friction (ϕ), cohesion (c), and optimum soil moisture content. Moreover, quantitative approaches such as geotechnical parameters association, linear single, and linear multi-regression models were used. Significant discrepancies in both approaches are readily obvious in the third to fifth zones, indicating that IDW and Kriging processes describe the distribution of sand in Kirkuk city differently. Furthermore, linear multi-regression model between basic and investigated soil parameters show good to excellent and very good to excellent degrees of correlation, with multiple R values in the range of (0.77–0.97) and (0.86–0.98), respectively.