Variation of soil moisture under bare soil, grass and concrete covers

In order to investigate the impacts of bare soil, grass and concrete covers on soil moisture, an observation station was established in Nanjing, China. Soil moisture data within 100cm depth have been collected for a year and the results are presented and compared. The results show that different cover types affect both the near-surface atmospheric environment and the soil environment. These differences in mean annual soil moisture within 100cm depth between concrete and bare soil cover conditions and between grass and bare soil cover conditions were -8.80% and -1.51%, respectively. Moreover, the standard deviation and standard deviation coefficient of soil moisture under different covers are larger within 40cm. Thus, this research provides useful information to master the influence of covers on the soil environment and to study the byproduct of urbanization. © 2014 ejge.