An In Situ Videotaping Approach for Parameterizing Subsoiling-Induced Soil Disturbance

Abstract

Subsoiling (SS) is an important technology in conservation tillage, but soil-disturbance characteristics in the SS are rarely described. Research on soil-disturbance characteristics during SS is conducive to the design and optimization of subsoilers, which provides a basis for reducing draft force and energy consumption. This study conducted SS experiments at five different tillage depths in the field with a specific field in situ test-rig facility, and in situ videotaping was made from five positions during SS. The microrelief test, draft force test, disturbance cross-section test and disturbance process analysis were conducted after SS. The results showed that draft force increased with tillage depth as a quadratic function. Soil displacement parameters and soil crack parameters extracted from the video of SS were significantly correlated with tillage depth, which could be used for a quantitative description of the paddy soil-disturbance characteristics. Cross-sectional area showed a trend of “increasing then decreasing” with increasing tillage depth, reaching a maximum at a tillage depth of 20 cm. When the tillage depth was greater than 20 cm, the bottom of the disturbing boundary formed a “mole cavity”. Fallback rate was used to describe the change in disturbed height or width during and after SS, which exceeded 100% at maximum. The surface roughness of microrelief and the size of the average clods reached the maximum at tillage depth of 20 cm. Considering the shallow cultivation layer of paddy soil in rice–wheat rotation, the recommended tillage depth of 20 cm could achieve maximum soil disturbance and minimum energy consumed.