Geostatistical Analysis of Soil Nutrients Based on GIS and Geostatistics in the Typical Plain and Hilly-Ground Area of Zhongxiang, Hubei Province

Yangbo Xu, Donglin Dong, Guobin Duan, Xuetao Yu, Zhiwei Yu, Wei Huang

College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, China.
College of Resources and Environment, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, China..
State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, China.
State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, China; College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, China;.
State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, China;College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing, China.

DOI: 10.4236/ojss.2013.35026                

Abstract

Techniques of geostatistics are used to perform traditional statistical analysis and spatial structural analysis with ArcGIS, geostatistical software GS+ and statistical software SPSS in order to obtain the knowledge of characteristics of distribution and spatial variability of soil nutrients in different parts of Zhongxiang, Hubei Province. Some skewed values appeared during the analyses. To decrease the influence of those skewed values, domain processing and Box-Cox transformation were used. The results indicated spatial variability of Total N, Avail. P, rapidly-available potassium (R-Avail. K) and effective zinc (Effect. Zn) was strong, that of organic carbon (Org. C), effective molybdenum (Effect. Mo) and effective copper (Effect. Cu) was medium while that of others was weak. Fitted model of Total N, R-Avail. K and Effect. Mo was spherical model, that of Org. C and Effect. Zn was exponential model, while fitted model of Avail. P and Effect. Cu was Gaussian model. Ratio of variability caused by random factors to overall variability was large. What’s more, the ranges of spatial autocorrelation of soil nutrients had much difference. The smallest value was 3600 m in Effect. Zn while the largest was 77970 m in Org. C. Other characteristics were also included. The study is helpful to soil sampling design, to make people realize the influence of Han River to spatial variability of soil nutrients in this area, and to spatial interpolation and mapping.

Keywords

Zhongxiang; Soil Nutrients; Geostatistical Analysis; Geostatistics; GIS; GS+; SPSS

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	X. W. Zhou, X. M. Zhao, G. R. Hu, F. H. Chen and X. Guo, “The Analysis of Soil Nutirent Variability in the Hilly Paddy Field of Southern China,” Acta Argriculturae Universitatis Jiangxiensis, Vol. 31, No. 5, 2009, pp. 919926.
[2]	Y. L. Wang, Y. H Miao, J. F. Tan and Y. L. Han, “Analyzing on Soil Nutrient and Fertilization Conditions in the North Plain of Henan Province,” Chinese Agriculture Science Bulletin (Soil and Fertilizer Science), Vol. 24, No. 10, 2008, pp. 296-299.
[3]	T. L. Mu and Q. J. Wang, “Soil Water and Nutrient Loss Characteristics in a Small Watershed of Hilly Region of Loess Plateau,” Journal of North University of China (Natural Science Edition), Vol. 28, No. 4, 2007, pp. 349355.
[4]	J. P. Liu, Z. W. Chen, H. X. Wang and X. L. Li, “Study on Spatial Variability of Soil Nutrients in the Precision Agriculture Hardcore Demonstration Plot of Jilin Province,” Journal of Jilin Normal University (Natural Science Edition), Vol. 28, No. 3, 2007, pp. 74-84.
[5]	J. C. Wu, Z. T. Gong, Z. Y. Wang, C. L. Kou and Z. J. Yang, “Study on Characteristics of Soil Nutrients in Temporal and Spatial Changing and Its Utilization in the East of Henan Province,” Soil and Environmental Sciences, Vol. 9, No. 3, 2000, pp. 227-230.
[6]	L. P. Yang and J. Y. Jin, “Study on Soil Fertility Variability and Evaluation Using Sampling Technique in Field of the Plain Area,” Soil and Fertility, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2001, pp. 8-13.
[7]	J. Wang, B. J. Fu, Y. Qiu, L. D. Chen and L. Yu, “Spatial Heterogeneity of Soil Nutrients in a Small Catchment of the Loess Plateau,” Acta Ecological Sinica, Vol. 22, No.8, 2002, pp.1173-1178.
[8]	M. Zhang, “Spatio-Temporal Variability Study of Soil Nutrients Based on GIS and Geostatistics,” M.A. Dissertation, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 2010.
[9]	J. Yu, “Spatial Variability and Its Application of Soil Nutrients Based on GIS and Geostatistics,” Ph.D. Dissertation, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, 2007.
[10]	W. N. Tan, Z. A. Li, B. Zou and Y. Z. Ding, “The Application of Geostatistics to Soil Science,” Tropical Geography, Vol. 25, No. 4, 2005, pp. 307-311.
[11]	Y. Li, Z. Shi, J. M. Xu and M. X. Huang, “Utilization and Perspective of Geostatistics in Soil Science,” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, Vol. 17, No. 1, 2003, pp. 178-182.
[12]	D. McGrath, C. S. Zhang and O. T. Carton, “Geostatistical Analyses and Hazard Assessment on Soil Lead in Silvermines Area, Ireland,” Environmental Pollution, Vol. 127, No. 2, 2004, pp. 239-248. doi:10.1016/j.envpol.2003.07.002