Fine-resolution profile-scale data to depict the impact of tillage treatment and machine traffic on agricultural soil structure and hydrologic properties

Alice Alonso; Manuel Froidevaux; Mathieu Javaux; Eric Laloy; Samuel Mattern; Christian Roisin; Marnik Vanclooster; Charles Bielders

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2023.109759

Fine-resolution profile-scale data to depict the impact of tillage treatment and machine traffic on agricultural soil structure and hydrologic properties

Data Brief. 2023 Nov 4:51:109759. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2023.109759. eCollection 2023 Dec.

Authors

Alice Alonso¹, Manuel Froidevaux¹, Mathieu Javaux¹, Eric Laloy^{1

2}, Samuel Mattern^{1

3}, Christian Roisin⁴, Marnik Vanclooster¹, Charles Bielders¹

Affiliations

¹ Earth and Life Institute Environnemental Sciences, Université catholique de Louvain, Place Croix du Sud 1, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
² Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, Institute for Environment, Health and Safety, Boeretang 200, 2400 Mol, Belgium.
³ Public Service of Wallonia, Belgium.
⁴ Walloon Agricultural Research Center, rue de Liroux 9, 5030 Gembloux, Belgium.

Abstract

This data article provides high spatial resolution (1 cm) datasets and related figures of the penetrometer resistance (PR) and soil bulk density (BD) data of nine agricultural 50 × 160 cm soil profiles exposed to three tillage treatments and including a wheel track. Soil treatments are moldboard plowing (MP), deep loosening (DL), and minimum tillage (MT). It also provides bulk density data, soil moisture content at various suctions and the parameters of van Genuchten's model for 27 soil cores, and saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) of 49 soil cores. Both sample sets were sampled to cover the profile heterogeneity in two agricultural plots subjected to moldboard plowing and minimum tillage. Examples of reuse potential include (i) the use of these spatially explicit data in studies seeking to understand better and integrate the effect of treatment and machine traffic-induced soil structure in soil hydraulic and soil physical quality, and (ii) the development of pedotransfer functions with data incorporating the soil structural heterogeneity. This Data in Brief article complements the companion paper by Alonso et al. (2021) "A hybrid method for characterizing tillage-induced soil physical quality at the profile scale with fine spatial detail" in Soil and Tillage Research[1].

Keywords: Agricultural soil tillage; Penetrometer; Soil heterogeneity; Soil hydraulic properties; Soil physical quality; Soil traffic.