Soil Compaction

Consequences of compaction include decreased plant productivity, reduced carbon inputs to soil, reduced water infiltration and storage, and potentially increased greenhouse gas emissions. While compaction can occur within seconds, compaction recovery may take decades. Hence, prevention of compaction is of high priority.

Our research aims at improved description of soil mechanical behaviour as a basis to propose sustainable soil management that minimises compaction risks. In-situ soil stress measurements for different combinations of machinery and soil conditions help us to better understand how stress propagates in soil. In the laboratory, we quantify soil stress-strain behaviour to evaluate how soil characteristics and moisture conditions affect soil deformation and soil strength, and to describe relationships between soil deformation and changes in functional soil properties. Long-term field experiments are used to monitor how soil structure recovers following compaction. We combine experimental work with simulation studies to generalise our findings and to predict compaction risks for different soil management scenarios and for future climatic conditions.

On-going research project involve collaboration with farmers and advisers. For example, we characterise soil mechanical properties and continuously measure soil moisture in several farmer fields in major Swedish cropping areas to quantify the spatial and temporal dynamics of compaction risks in Sweden. We discuss our findings with farmers and advisers, and together develop sustainable soil management strategies.

Selected publications:

Torres et al., 2024, Soil & Tillage Research 244, 106225; Keller et al., 2019, Soil & Tillage Research 194, 104293; Keller & Or, 2022, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, e2117699119; Parvin et al., 2022, Soil Security 6, 100044.

On-going projects

• Implementation of soil compaction risk assessment system – end user’s evaluation of potentials and barriers (SoCoRisk)
• Mapping and alleviating soil compaction in a climate change context (SoilCompaC)
• Assessment methodologies and mitigation measures for the impacts of road projects on soils (ROADSOIL)
• Soil compaction risks in Sweden: spatio-temporal assessment under current and future climate; Environmental Monitoring “Soil compaction

Funding

Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (Formas), Swedish farmers’ foundation for agricultural research (SLF), European Union´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme through ICT-AGRI-FOOD and through EJP Soil; Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

Team

Lorena Chagas Torres, Konsta Sarvela, Ararso Etana, Daniel Iseskog och Thomas Keller.