ESTIMATION OF THE DRAINING SOIL-MOISTURE CHARACTERISTIC FROM STANDARDDATA AS RECORDED IN ROUTINE SOIL SURVEYS

An analytical expression describing the moisture retention characteris tic was tested using multiple regression on 105 horizons in 34 represe ntative soils from Greece, with textures from loamy sand to heavy clay . All samples were analyzed for particle size distribution, organic ca rbon content, carbonates content and dry bulk density. It was found th at soil moisture retention by the studied soils can satisfactorily be described using a logarithmic model that incorporates simple soil prop erties such as saturation moisture content, clay and silt contents, an d bulk density. The applicability of a simplified model (with saturati on moisture content and clay content as the only soil parameters) to s mall watersheds and considering groups of soil horizons was apparent f rom the improved coefficients of determination. Homogeneity tests show ed, however, that only 2 major groups of soil horizons could be distin guished, namely well-structured horizons and structureless to weakly s tructured horizons. Incorporating other soil properties in the regress ion analyses of these soil horizon groups produced only a slightly hig her R(2)-value.