Characterization of soil structure and water infiltration spatial variability using electrical resistivity tomography at decimetre scale. A study of two contrasted soil tillage modalities

摘要

Simplification of tillage practices is often considered as a solution for reducing time constraints and costs, and also for limiting soil erosion. Simplified tillage practices adopted over several years progressively induce modifications of soil physical properties in the top soil layer at decimetric scale. The general aim of this study was to test the capacity of electrical resistivity tomography to characterize the spatial variability of soil structure, bulk density and water flow in a loamy Cambisol with two modalities of tillage (conventional tillage, no tillage). For each tillage treatment, the experiment combined: 1) a description of the soil structure profile, 2) measurements of bulk density and soil hydraulic conductivities; 3) 2D electricalresistivity tomographies measured before and after an irrigation to characterize the spatial variability of soil water fluxes. These geophysical data are correlated to the spatial variability of soil structure and hydrodynamics properties.