WATER INFILTRATION IN TWO CULTIVATED SOILS IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL Ildegardis Bertol(1)*, Fabrício Tondello Barbosa(1), Camilo Bertol(2) and Rodrigo Vieira Luciano(3)
(1)
Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Departamento de Solos e Recursos Naturais, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brasil. Empresa C&B Projetos, Santa Catarina, Brasil. (3) Universidade do Estado de Santa Catarina, Departamento de Solos e Recursos Naturais, Programa de Pós-graduação em Ciência do Solo, Lages, Santa Catarina, Brasil. * Corresponding author. E-mail: ildegardis.bertol@udesc.br (2)
ABSTRACT Infiltration is the passage of water through the soil surface, influenced by the soil type and cultivation and by the soil roughness, surface cover and water content. Infiltration absorbs most of the rainwater and is therefore crucial for planning mechanical conservation practices to manage runoff. This study determined water infiltration in two soil types under different types of management and cultivation, with simulated rainfall of varying intensity and duration applied at different times, and to adjust the empirical model of Horton to the infiltration data. The study was conducted in southern Brazil, on Dystric Nitisol (Nitossolo Bruno aluminoférrico húmico) and Humic Cambisol (Cambissolo Húmico alumínico léptico) soils to assess the following situations: simulated rains on the Nitisol from 2001 to 2012 in 31 treatments, differing in crop type, sowing direction, type of soil opener on the seeder, amount and type of crop residue and amount of liquid swine manure applied; on the Cambisol, rains were simlated from 2006 to 2012 and 18 treatments were evaluated, differing in crop, seeding direction and crop residue type. The constant of the water infiltration rate into the soil varies significantly with the soil type (30.2 mm h-1 in the Nitisol and 6.6 mm h-1 in the Cambisol), regardless of the management system, application time and rain intensity and duration. At the end of rainfalls, soil-water infiltration varies significantly with the management system, with the timing of application and rain intensity and duration, with values ranging from 13 to 59 mm h-1, in the two studied soils. The characteristics of the sowing operation in terms of relief, crop type and amount and type of crop residue influenced soil water infiltration: in the Nitisol, the values of contour and downhill seeding vary between
Received for publication on May 23, 2014 and approved on November 17, 2014. DOI: 10.1590/01000683rbcs20140304
R. Bras. Ci. Solo, 39:573-588, 2015