Spatial variability analysis of soil hydraulic conductivity in an irrigation command

Variability analysis of saturated hydraulic conductivity (K_s) of 129 soil samples collected from 0–0.20 m depth, and representing Deras irrigation command in Orissa, was carried out. Fractal analysis indicated that the K_s was normally distributed over space ranging from 0.025 to 1.35 cm min⁻¹ with moderate degree of dispersion (CV = 40.41%). Estimation of sample size for determining K_s varied from 2 to 8 with different levels of confidence and error per cent. But for precise measurement the numbers. varied from 6 to 8 with 5% error limit. Analysis of semi-variance revealed that it enhanced from south to north direction and best fitted to linear models. It would help to predict the soil K_s through kriging at unsampled location and in turn would reduce the cost and labour involve in sample collection and analysis of soil.