Equipamento óptico e portátil para caracterizar as condições da rugosidade do solo

Abstract

The knowledge about surface roughness with the consequent presence of crust on the soil is important information source for a rational management of environmental resources, such as soil and water, as it contributes to the determination of the propensity to erosion of the soil, by providing sources of its infiltration capacity and water storage. The soil surface roughness condition can be determined by contact and non-contact methods. Contact methods have lower values and needs when compared to non-contact ones. In addition, when being applied in the field, non-contact methods require special care. Therefore, the objective of this work was to develop a low-cost, portable and robust optical equipment to characterize the roughness and the presence of crust on the soil, through a lighting system with line laser and monocular vision. The average roughness was calculated by the difference in height between a point and its neighbors, and the presence of crust was determined by the semivariogram model. The developed equipment was used in different experimental areas, one of erosion and the other of Compost Barn. The results were validated using existing techniques, for the erosion area the technique compared was the non-contact technique, Struct from Motion (SfM), and for the Compost Barn, the technique of contact, the pin method. In addition, a validation test was realized, analyzing the conditions of soil roughness in different crops, barley and beans, and management, no-tillage and conventional tillage systems. The results induced that the optical equipment developed to characterize the soil surface roughness and the presence of crust on the soil is known to be valid and with relevant results.