The natural soil drainage index : an ordinal estimate of long-term soil wetness

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

SCHAETZL, R.J.

Dep. of Geography, Michigan State Univ., East Lansing, Etats-Unis

KRIST, F.J.

GIS and Spatial Analysis, Forest Health Technology, USDA Forest Service, Fort Collins, Etats-Unis

STANLEY, K.

Dep. of Geography, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, Etats-Unis

HUPY, C.M.

Dep. of Geography and Anthropology, Univ. of Wisconsin, Eau Claire, Etats-Unis

Description :
In this paper, the AA. present an ordinally based index, intended to generally reflect the amount of water that a soil supplies to plants under natural conditions, over long timescales : the Natural Soil Drainage Index (DI). The DI is primarily derived from a soil's taxonomic subgroup classification, which is a reflection of its long-term wetness. Additional factors that can impact soil water content, quality, and/or availability (e.g. texture), when also reflected in taxonomy, are quantified and added to or subtracted from the base DI to arrive at a final DI value. In GIS applications, map unit slope gradient can be added as an additional variable. The index has a lot of applications in forestry, ecology, geomorphology, and environmental modeling, especially when examined spatially : examples are provided. The DI has great potential for many landscape-scale modeling and GIS applications where soil water content is an important variable.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Physical geography, issn : 0272-3646, 2009, vol. 30, n°. 5, p. 383-409-, Références bibliographiques : 5 p.

Date :
2009

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Abingdon, Taylor and Francis

Langue :
Anglais