LIMITE SUPERIOR E INFERIOR DE RETENÇÃO DA ÁGUA NO SOLO: MÉTODO LABORATORIAL E DE ESTIMATIVA

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the values estimated by pedotransfer functions with data from soil water retention limits observed in the laboratory. Seven areas located in Mato Grosso were selected, from which deformed and undisturbed samples were collected, with a view to the analysis of a set of physical and physical-water attributes. From the analysis of the samples, four pedotransfer functions and a software were evaluated, obtained in publications. Pearson coefficient, square root of the mean error, agreement index and performance index were used to validate the performance of the functions. The available water content is related to microporosity and soil granulometry, functions generated from these predictor variables showed good coefficients of determination. Part of the tested functions showed low accuracy in estimating water content, with the exception of the functions of Rosseti et al. (2022) at the voltage of 0.033 MPa and Nascimento et al. (2010) at the tension of 1.5 MPa, and can be used to predict the water content in the respective potentials. Pedotransfer functions can be employed to estimate the upper and lower limit of soil water retention when not extrapolated beyond the place of origin.