Spatial behaviour of soil moisture in the root zone of the Caatinga biome

The purpose of this study was to represent the soil moisture in the profile corresponding to the root zone from TDR sensors in a preserved area of the Caatinga biome and analyze the spatialized moisture adjustment equations under different layers of the soil profile. For that, we analyzed three classes of soil (red yellow Ultisol; Hypochromic Luvisol; Udorthent) in the Aiuaba Experimental Watershed, located in the semiarid zone of northeastern Brazil. The hydro-physical parameters representing the soil water retention (field capacity, wilting point and residual moisture) were collected in four campaigns, in six points and in the profiles corresponding to the effective root depth, totaling 216 samples. For the evaluation of the regression models, we used the coefficient of determination, the Pearson correlation and the performance index. The results indicate that the analyzed parameters are homogeneous for the studied soil profiles. The Pearson correlation coefficient indicates a moderate performance for all regression equations. However, the confidence index was determined as very bad for the Red-Yellow Ultisol, passable for the Hypochromic Luvisol and bad for the Udorthent, for the rainy season, and very bad for all classes, for the dry season. Therefore, the use of the regression models is more indicated for periods of higher soil moisture.