EVALUATION OF THE QUALITY OF CRUMBLING OF SOIL BY AERODYNAMIC METHOD
The condition of the soil largely determines the growth and development of young plants. Optimal conditions for the germination of plants and their root system development, which are created during soil crumbling, should have a quantitative assessment, based on measurements of hydrophysical characteristics of the soil. Therefore, development and theoretical substantiation of methods and technical means for assessing the degree of loosening and crumbling of soil become essential. Crumbling of soil it is proposed to evaluate not for distribution of lumps of soil according to the size, produced by sifting the soil through a set of screens, but according to the size of «effective» lump, calculated using the aerodynamic method. In the proposed method, the evaluation of the quality of crumbling of soil is based on the determined from the experiment porosity between lumps and porosity of the lump, as well as the specific surface of lumps. The introduction of concepts such as the radius of the «effective» lump and its specific surface, allows to determine the effectiveness of the implement in assessing the crumbling of soil. Sharing usage of «effective» radiuswith the main hydrophysical characteristic of soils (MHC) fully reflects the degree of mechanical impact on soils and efficiency of soil-cultivating equipment in terms of their impact on the functioning of the system «water - soil — plant». Formulas are obtained with regard to the laws of thermodynamics, therefore, the proposed method allows to make adequate quantitative conclusions. The proposed method can be used to compare the efficiency of crumbling of soil by various soil-cultivating implements and aggregates.