Fundamentals o f Soil Science

Course Code: Sol 114

Unit Iv- Lecture 14

AGNIBHA SINHA
Assistant Professor
Dept. Soil Science & Agril.
Chemistry
School of
Agriculture
 Soil Aeration

Fators affecting soil aeration

Concept
covered Soil Temperature

Factors affecting soil temperature

Soil Aeration:
 Soil atmosphere is the gaseous phase of the soil. Soil air occupies the pores which
are not occupied by the liquid.
 Soil air is a continuation of the atmospheric air.
 It is in constant motion from the soil pores into the atmosphere and from the
atmosphere into the pore space.
 The exchange of gases between the soil pore spaces and the atmospheric air is
known as soil aeration.
 Soil aeration is essential for the respiration and survival of soil organisms and plant
roots.
 This process controls the deficiency of oxygen consumed during respiration of plant
roots and soil micro-organisms and prevents toxicity of carbon dioxide evolved
during respiration in the soil air.
 Composition of Soil Air

 Soil air contains gases like nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapour and
others.
 The composition of soil air is different from atmospheric air. Soil air contains
more carbon dioxide and less oxygen than atmospheric air.
 The nitrogen content of soil air is almost equal to atmospheric air.
Soil air contains _____________ carbon dioxide and less oxygen than atmospheric
air.
a) Less
b) Same
c) more

The renewal of gases by mass flow is less important than the diffusion in determining the
total exchange that occurs between soil and the atmosphere.
T/F

Movement of air in and out of soil to atmosphere follows ___________ law

a) stoke’s law
b) Fick’s law
c) Liebig law
 Mechanism of gaseous exchange in soil

The exchange of gases between the soil air and the atmosphere takes place mainly by the
following two mechanisms as given below:

Mass flow:
1. The mass flow occurs due to total pressure gradient of gas. The pressure
gradient causes movement of entire mass of air from a zone of high
pressure to that of low pressure. Such a flow of air occurs within the soil
or from atmospheric air to soil air or vice-versa.
2. When the soil temperature is higher than the atmospheric temperature
during midday then the soil gases will expand and move out of the pore
space into the atmosphere.
3. When the soil is cooler than the atmosphere during night, then the
atmospheric gases enter the soil. When the atmospheric pressure is high,
the atmospheric gases will enter in to the soil.
Diffusion:
The gaseous interchange between the soil and atmosphere takes place by diffusion.
It is the process by which each gas tends to move in the space occupied by another
as determined by the partial pressure of the gas.
The partial pressure of O2 is higher in the atmospheres than in soil pore space and
the partial pressure of CO2 is higher in the soil pore space than the atmosphere.
However, total pressure both in the soil and the atmosphere may be the same. Thus
O2 will move into the soil and the CO2 will move out of the soil.

The renewal of gases by mass flow is less important than the diffusion in
determining the total exchange that occurs between soil and the
atmosphere.
Air Capacity: This term is used to describe aeration status of soil. The air capacity
refers to the volume of pore space filled with air when the soil under a tension of
50 milli bar.

Oxygen Diffusion Rate (ODR): It is the best and most reliable measurement of aeration
capacity. It determines the rate at which O2 in soil air is replenished. ODR decreases with
soil depth. ODR should be above 40 x 10-8 g/cm2 /minute for good growth of most of the
crops. However, the root growth is drastically reduced when the ODR decreases to about 20
x 10-8 g/cm2 /minute

Fick’s law: According to Fick’s law, diffusion is a function of the concentration gradient,
diffusion coefficient of the medium and cross sectional area.
dQ= DA[dc/dx]*dt
dQ= mass flow (moles)
A= area (sq cm)
Dc/dx= concentration gradient
Factors Affecting Soil Aeration
1. Amount of air space:
The top soil contains much more pore spaces than the sub-soil, thus the
opportunity for gaseous exchange is more in the top soil than in sub-soil. Hence
the oxygen content of the top soil is greater that the sub-soil.
The soil properties such as soil texture, bulk density and aggregation affect the
amount of pore space and hence the soil aeration.
2. Soil organic matter: When organic matter is added to the soil, it is readily
decomposed by the microorganisms to liberate the CO2 in soil air. Thus the
concentration of both O2 and CO2 are affected by microbial decomposition of
the organic residues.
Besides, the respiration of higher plants and the micro-organisms around the
roots is also a significant process affecting the soil aeration.
3. Seasonal differences:
There is a considerable seasonal variation in the composition of soil air.
In the spring time in temperate-humid regions the soils are wet and cold
and the gaseous exchange is poor.
In summer months, when the soils are dry, the gaseous exchange will
increase. This will result in relatively high content of O2 and low CO2.
4. Soil moisture: The macro-pores are filled up with water immediately
after heavy rain or irrigation and level of oxygen content falls to zero.
When the soil is artificially drained again, the macro-pores are filled up
with air and the oxygen content of the soil increases.
 Importance of Soil Aeration:

1. Plant growth and root development: growth of plants are adversely affected by
poor aeration-
o The development of plant roots are restricted or inhibited
o Absorption of water and nutrients is decreased
o Formation of toxic substances are encouraged by poor aeration
2. Microorganism population and activity: The microorganisms living in the soil
also require oxygen for respiration and metabolism. Some of the important microbial
activities such as the decomposition of organic matter, nitrification, Sulphur oxidation
etc depend upon oxygen present in the soil air. The deficiency of air (oxygen) in soil
slows down the rate of microbial activity. For example, the decomposition of organic
matter is retarded and nitrification arrested. The microorganism population is also
drastically affected by poor aeration.
3. Formation of toxic material: Poor aeration results in the
development of toxin and other injurious substances such as
ferrous oxide, H2S gas, CO2 gas etc in the soil.
4. Water and nutrient absorption: A deficiency of oxygen has
been found to check the nutrient and water absorption by plants.
The energy of respiration is utilized in absorption of water and
nutrients. Under poor aeration condition (this condition may arise
when soil is water logged), plants exhibit water and nutrient
deficiency
5. Development of plant diseases: Insufficient aeration of the soil
also lead to the development of diseases. For example, wilt of
gram and dieback of citrus and peach.
 SOIL TEMPERATURE

o Soil temperature is an important plant growth factor like air, water and nutrients.
o Soil temperature affects plant growth directly and also indirectly by influencing
moisture, aeration, structure, microbial and enzyme activities, rate of organic
matter decomposition, nutrient availability and other soil chemical reactions.
o Specific crops are adapted to specific soil temperatures. Apple grows well when
the soil temperature is about 18oC, maize 25oC, potato 16 to 21oC, and so on.

Sources of soil heat

 Solar radiation (external),

 heat released during microbial decomposition of organic matter and respiration
by soil organisms including plants
 the internal source of heat is the interior of the Earth - which is negligible.
1. Solar Radiation:
Radiant energy from sun is the power source that determines the thermal regime of
the soil and the growth of plants. The rate of solar radiation reaching the earth’s
atmosphere is called as solar constant and has a value of 2 cal cm-2 min-1. Major part
of this energy is absorbed in the atmosphere, absorbed by plants and also scattered.
Only a small part of it reaches soil.
The angle at which the sun rays meet the earth greatly influences the amount of
radiation received per unit area. The radiation received per unit area decrease with an
increase in the angle.
2. Bio-chemical reactions:
Wide variety of chemical reactions goes on in soil atmosphere, liberating large
amount of heat in the soil. Besides, decomposition of organic matter and crop
residues in the soil and other microbial processes liberate large amount of heat in the
soil and contributes soil heat.
3. Conduction:
The inner atmosphere of earth is very hot, conduction of the heat to soil
environment is very slow. During night, the upper most surface soil becomes
cooler than sub-surface soil. Thus heat flows from the regions of sub-soil to the
region of surface soil.
4. Vegetation:
Vegetation plays a significant role of soil heat because of the insulating
properties of plant cover. Bare soil is unprotected from the direct rays of the sun
and becomes very warm during the hottest part of the day.
Thermal
conductivity:
It is the ability of
substance to transfer
heat from one
molecule to another
molecule.
It is a measure of soil’s
ability to conduct heat.
Thermal Diffusivity:
It is the measure of rate of
which changes in
temperature occur in body
The rate of change of
temperature with time is
directly proportional to
thermal conductivity an
inversely proportional to
heat capacity.
 Factors influencing soil temperatures:
1. Soil composition and texture. Clay usually shows higher heat capacity compared to
sand with equal water content and density. However, sand heats quicker than clay due to
less volume of water (lower porosity).
The specific heat of mineral matter (0.11 cal/g) is less than that of organic matter, humus
(0.44 cal/g).

Specific heat: The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by 1 oC.
Specific heat of dry soil (0.2 cal/g) is only 1/5 th of water (1 cal/g)

2. Soil structure : It controls pore space resulted from different types of arrangement of soil
particles. Spheroidal type of structure warm up more quickly.
3. Soil moisture : Moist soil have a higher specific heat than dry soils. Moist soil get heated
up very slowly and is cooler than the dry soils.
4. Vegetation: Soils covered with different types of vegetation absorb less heat as compared
to soils without vegetation cover.
5. Soil colour: Dark colored soil due to presence of large amount of humus, holds
large amount of water and increases rate of heat absorption in the soil.
6. Topography:
The temperature of ridged fields is higher than those that are level.
7. Irrigation and Drainage:
Irrigation raises the humidity of the air, lowers the air temperature over the soil and reduces
the daily soil temperature variations. Drainage decreases the heat capacity of wet soils,
which raises the soil temperature. This plays an important role in warming up the soil in the
spring.
8. Compactness of the Soil:
Compactness of the soil surface increases the density and the thermal conductivity.
Compacted soils have better heat conductivity than loosened soil. Tillage, on the other hand,
creates surface mulch which reduces heat flux from the surface to the sub-surface layers.
9. Climate:
Climate has a profound influence on the thermal regime of the soil. Soils in temperate
climate are cooler than those soils in tropical climate.
 Influence of Soil Temperature on Plant Growth and
Nutrition
1. Germination of Seeds:
The germination of the different seeds is greatly influenced by the variation in soil
temperature. If the temperature is too low, the seed fails to germinate or germinate at a
slow rate. On the other hand, seeds may be injured if the temperature will be very high.
2. Physical Properties of Soil:
Soil structure is greatly influenced by the temperature. The temperature has a great
influence on the aggregation of the soil as well as on the binding materials present in it.
3. Microbial Activity:
The activity of micro-organisms having thermo-phobic and thermophilic nature is
influenced by the variation in soil temperature. A certain amount of heat is necessary, for
the proper functioning of various types of soil micro-organisms.
Various microbiological processes like mineralization of nitrogen, nitrogen fixation,
pesticide degradation etc. are influenced by the temperature. The activity of micro-
organisms is lowest when soil temperature is below 5°C and above 54°C. The optimum
temperature for the activity of most of the micro-organisms is in the range of 25-35°C.
4. Decomposition of Organic Matter in Soil:
Various important functions of organic matter depend on the process of
decomposition which is largely influenced by the soil temperature. The
decomposed products vary with the rate of decomposition of organic matter.
At low temperature the rate of organic matter decomposition is low resulting
various toxic organic substances in soil and the high temperature the rate of
the same is very fast resulting beneficial products of organic matter
decomposition and hence influence the plant growth.
5. Absorption of Water:
Variation in soil temperature (very low to high temperature) affects the
absorption of soil water by the plant roots. The effect of temperature in
reducing the rate of water uptake may be important in spring time resulting
strong transpiration.
6. Availability of Nutrients:
Various physico-chemical and chemical reactions are greatly influenced by soil
temperature. Temperature influences the solubility reactions of different nutrients and
releases larger amount of nutrient elements in the soil solution at higher temperatures. The
rate of nutrient uptake, however, is almost different for each crop, but it appears to be
known about the relative effect of temperature on the uptake of nutrients.
7. Root Growth:
Soil temperature affects the type of root growth. Low temperature encourage white
succulent roots with little branching, while high temperatures encourage a browner, finer
and much more freely branching root system. However, the soil temperature at which roots
grow fastest is usually higher than the temperature which encourages the most extensive
root system.
8. Plant Diseases:
Development of various diseases is also related to the soil temperature. At low
temperatures, the soil contains many weekly parasitic fungi which will grow actively and
very rapidly and so those will kill the seedlings. On the other hands, seedlings of the
temperate zone cereals, which are adapted to grow actively at the lower temperatures, are
relatively resistant to their attack.
Soil temperature management
Use of organic and synthetic mulches: Mulches keep soil cooler in hot
summer and warm in cool winter.
Soil water management: High moisture content in humid temperate region
lowers soil temperature.
Tillage management: Tilling soil to break the natural structure reduces the heat
conductance and heat loss. A highly compact soil looses heat faster than loose
friable soil.
Methods of measuring soil temperature: Mercury soil thermometers of
different lengths, shapes and sizes with protective cover are buried at different
depths to measure the temperature. Thermo couple and thermister based devices
are also available. Infra-red thermo meters measure the surface soil temperature.
Automatic continuous soil thermographs record the soil temperatures on a time
scale. The International Meteorological Organization recommends standard
depths to measure soil temperatures at 10, 20, 50 and 100 cm.

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