Spatial variability of physical attributes of the soil in different landscape forms under sugarcane

The intensive use of machines and agricultural equipments in the northeastearn Sao Paulo State has contributed to increase the areas with compaction problems, probably due to the absence of a well-defined operation chronogram or of models capable of predicting the soil support capacity. This study was conducted in Guariba (SP), with the objective of evaluating the spatial variability of the penetration resistance, soil moisture, and bulk density of a Oxisol (rhodic Eutrustox) under sugar-cane cultivation. The soils were sampled at the crossing points of a grid with regular 10 m intervals at depths of 0.0-0.2 m and 0.2-0.4 m. The coefficient of variation indicated low variability for soil moisture and bulk density of the soil at the depths 0.0-0.2 m and 0.2-0.4 m and a high variability for penetration resistance. Strong spatial dependence was observed for all variables, except for bulk density in the 0.2-0.4 m layer, which presented moderate spatial dependence. The high values observed for soil penetration resistance and bulk density, mainly in the 0.2-0.4 m layer indicates compaction in this layer. Small variations in the landscape forms can define different spatial variability for the soil physical attributes.