Sampling equipament for soil bulk density determination tested in a Kandiudalfic Eutrudox and a Typic Hapludox

Abstract

In spatial variability studies of soil physical properties the influence of different samplers on the results is seldomly taken into account. The objective of this work was to evaluate the performance of five different types of sampling equipment for soil bulk density determination, in two different soils a Kandiudalfic Eutrudox and a Typic Hapludox, both of Piracicaba, SP, Brazil. Equipment used for soil undisturbed sampling were: (i) Uhland soil sampler; (ii) Kopecky's Ring; (iii) soil core sampler, model "Soil Moisture"; (iv) soil core sampler Bravifer AI-50 and (v) soil core sampler Bravifer AI-100. The sampling was made in 4 grids of 1m², each with 25 sampling points, with five replications, resulting 100 samples for each soil. It was concluded that the sampling techniques can influence soil bulk density distributions, mainly in the case of clayey soils (Kandiudalfic Eutrudox). The Kopecky's Ring presented larger soil density values, overestimating this property for the two soils studied. The soil core sampler Bravifer AI-50 presented results closest to the overall average of the Typic Hapludox.