Risk assessment of soil compaction by mean of Terranimo tool

Compaction issues have worldwide importance, especially where advanced mechanization is particularly engaged in agronomic operations. Field traffic-induces soil compaction takes place when the mechanical stresses from machinery exceed soil mechanical strength. The thesis aims to analyse the issue of soil compaction, determining the evolution of soil bulk density, using Terranimo, integrated with EPIC algorithm; and to demonstrate the powerfulness of Terranimo to identify the best and less impacting moment to perform field traffic, determining which parameters and conditions should be avoided preventing compaction state. The data used to study the bulk density variation was collected from an experiment conducted at the farm ‘‘Sasse-Rami’’, located in Ceregnano (RO) in the Veneto region. The simulated period spanned from March 2014 until May 2015 and data was collected from six points located at a conservative and conventional cultivated field. For each point the data collected came from three distinct soil layers: 0–5, 5–30 and 30–50 cm. . Firstly, bulk density variation had been analysed using Terranimo and Epic integration, which allowed a realistic interpretation. Integration with Epic is an added value to Terranimo, since the model assesses the BD in order to evaluate the effect of tyres pressure on soil, neglecting the implement effect which passed after the tyres. Secondly, to understand the possible effects of operations on bulk density, hypothetical scenarios had been generated. The scenarios included situations where the operations were performed during higher soil moisture conditions and bulk density tended to increase in response to operations. Soil trafficability, especially using heavy machineries, led to an increase of bulk density, therefore to soil compaction issue, particularly to subsoil compaction.