Transformation of Surface Layer of Ploughed Soil Horizon under the Impact of Atmospheric Precipitation
The aim of the research was to analyze the features of the transformation of the surface layer of the arable horizons of chernozem, gray forest and sod-podzolic soils under the influence of atmospheric conditions (precipitation, wind, solar energy). The studies were carried out using soil samples taken at key sites, as well as the results of a model experiment. The state of the soil surface, its color, micromorphological and microtomographic structure, and the chemical composition of the surface layer of the arable soil horizon were analyzed. It has been established that the effect of atmospheric precipitation on the open surface of arable soils leads to a change in the properties of the surface layer of the arable horizon. Changes in the mineralogical composition are expressed in the redistribution of minerals between particle size fractions. The longer the soil surface remains open under the influence of alternating precipitation and drying, the more pronounced is the formation of surface washout microlayers (eluvial) and washin microlayers (illuvial), differing in the content of finely dispersed organo-mineral substances and their structural organization. The initial state of humus and the granulometric composition of the soil predetermine the specificity of the forming surface microhorizons. In this case, a layer of dusty or sandy material with a minimum amount of microaggregates and finely dispersed matter forms in the upper part, and below the size and number of aggregates clearly increase. The revealed regularities must be taken into account when detecting the properties of soils according to the data of remote and non-contact sensing. To detect the humus content in the arable horizon, it is necessary to survey the freshly plowed and burrowed surface of arable soils. The mineralogical composition, in turn, will be better detected from the images of the transformed surface of arable soils.