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Soil Water Evaporation: Reduction by Simulated Tillage
Author(s) -
Willis W. O.,
Bond J. J.
Publication year - 1971
Publication title -
soil science society of america journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.836
H-Index - 168
eISSN - 1435-0661
pISSN - 0361-5995
DOI - 10.2136/sssaj1971.03615995003500040016x
Subject(s) - tillage , tilling , evaporation , environmental science , soil water , soil science , agronomy , physics , biology , thermodynamics
Soil water loss with time as affected by simulated tillage to depths of 2.5 and 7.5 cm was measured from soil columns in a constant temperature room. The 60‐cm soil columns were initially wetted from the top to about 33% by volume and then covered for 2 days to prevent evaporation. Tilling was done at 1, 4, 7, and 18 days after the columns were uncovered. Tillage effectively terminated first stage drying, and evaporative losses were reduced by tilling. The highest reduction of evaporation was associated with earliest tilling, which showed over 50% reduction in evaporative loss for more than 22 days after tilling. The reduction in water loss was reflected in higher soil water content throughout the column length below the tilled layer. Evaporation reduction was only slightly better with 7.5‐cm than with 2.5‐cm tillage.