A Multifractal Approach for Assessing the Structural State of Tilled Soils

Summary

This paper presents a novel multifractal approach for assessing soil structural heterogeneity in tilled agricultural soils, addressing the challenge of characterising the spatial variability induced by tillage implements and biological activity. Two dimensionless indices—a regularity index capturing strong irregularities from tillage and a homogeneity index reflecting local structural variation—were derived from high-resolution soil strength measurements. The homogeneity index demonstrated superior discriminatory power compared with classical coefficient of variation, suggesting multifractal analysis offers a practical method for soil structural assessment in field conditions.

Regional applicability

The study does not specify geographic location, but the methodology is applicable to tilled arable systems globally, including the United Kingdom. The approach could support UK soil health monitoring and comparative assessment of different tillage or soil management practices, though field validation in British soil conditions would strengthen its practical adoption.

Key measures

Soil strength measurements (5 × 5 cm² grid spacing); multifractal parameters (regularity index Ir, homogeneity index Ih); coefficient of variation (CV); 672 datasets analysed

Outcomes reported

The study developed and validated a multifractal method for quantifying soil structural heterogeneity in tilled soils using soil strength measurements on an 80 × 80 cm² grid. Two dimensionless parameters—regularity index (Ir) and homogeneity index (Ih)—were derived to characterise soil structural variability and distinguish differently managed plots.

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