SPATIAL VARIABILITY OF TOTAL POROSITY, AIR ENTRY POTENTIAL AND SATURATION WATER-CONTENT IN A CULTIVATED INCEPTISOL .1. SEMIVARIANCE ANALYSIS

Variability of porosity, air entry potential and saturation water cont ent at depths of 0-30 cm and 30-60 cm in a cultivated Inceptisol with respect to distance of separation of observations was estimated quanti tatively. All the three soil properties in general were found to be of low variability (CV < 15%) with porosity at surface soils showing the lowest variability. Observations on all the three properties were fou nd to follow a normal distribution. The variability of observations fo llowed a distinct trend with respect to distance of separation. The sp atial variability of the observations on the indicated properties cont inued even beyond a transect length of 600 m. Variability of observati ons at short distance was in general low, the lowest being shown by sa turation water content at a depth of 0-30 cm.