Kajian mengenai perubahan sifat-sifat fizikal tanah terhadap ruang hanya dihadkan di kawasan Asia Tenggara sahaja. Pemahaman mengenai perbezaan dan perubahan sifat fizikal tanah adalah penting dalam aspek pengurusan tanah termasuk merancang dan mengenalpasti kerja-kerja pemulihan dalam mengatasi masalah hakisan tanah, kestabilan cerun, kawalan terhadap keruntuhan tanah dan permodelan kesan tanah terhadap hidrologi. Sifat-sifat fizikal tanah (termasuk kandungan lembapan, ketumpatan, analisis saiz zarah, kandungan organik dan graviti tentu) di kawasan tropika akan diuji dalam kajian ini dengan menggunakan kaedah geostatistik dan kaedah statistik. Sampel tanah dikumpul dari kawasan seluas 137 hektar di Universiti Sains Malaysia. Lokasi pengumpulan sampel ditentukan berdasarkan titik-titik rujukan grid-geo yang ditetapkan di kawasan kajian. Peralatan GPS (Global Positioning System) digunakan untuk mengenalpasti kedudukan sebenar lokasi pengumpulan sample tersebut. Perubahan kandungan lembapan dan kandungan tanah liat megikut ruang adalah drastik di kawasan kajian dan darjah perubahan adalah berlainan untuk setiap sifat fizikal tanah. Struktur ruang mendominasi 74–84% daripada perubahan keseluruhan sifat fizikal tanah. Daripada analisis yang dijalankan terhadap tanah, perubahan sifat fizikal tanah terhadap ruang diperhatikan dalam julat 181–256m. Analisis geostatistik bersamaan dengan analisis statistik telah diaplikasikan untuk mengkaji perubahan sifat fizikal tanah mengikut ruang dan sebab yang menjurus kepada perubahan tersebut. Keadaaan topografi dan keadaan semasa tanah merupakan penyumbang utama kepada perubahan tersebut.
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Studies on the spatial variability of soil engineering properties are limited in the south-east Asia. Understanding the variability of soil properties is significant to land management practices including planning and adopting conservation works for soil erosion, slope stability, landslide control and soil hydrological response modeling. This study examines the spatial variability of soil engineering properties (moisture content, bulk density, particle size distribution, organic content and specific gravity) in a flat region under tropical climate using geostatistical and statistical methods. Soil samples were taken from a 137 ha area of the Universiti Sains Malaysia. The study area was divided into a number of geo-grid reference points and soil samples were collected at grid intersection points. The Global Positioning System (GPS) was used for locating the sample position. Large spatial variability of soil fines content and moisture content were found to exist in the study area and the degree of variability was heterogeneous among different soil properties. About 74–84% of the observed total variability in soil properties was due to spatial structure. All the soil properties tested, exhibited strong spatial dependency and were spatial dependent up to distances of 181–256m. The study indicated geostatistical analysis in conjunction with conventional statistical analysis could reveal spatial variability nature of soil properties and the causes behind the variability. The variability of the soil properties observed is largely due to topographic conditions and land disturbances.
Characterization of spatial variability of soil engineering properties at USM Engineering Campus / Ling Chee Kiong