Variability of soil water content along a transect in a desert area

Abstract Spatial variation patterns of soil water content are investigated along a bare soil transect covering a crest-to-crest spacing (about 60 m) in a shifting sand dune area. Soil water content analyses from gravimetrical soil sampling and neutron probe observations are shown to give different information regarding variability patterns. Gravimetrical sampling displays a large effect of a small rainfall (4·5 mm) on spatial and temporal variability patterns. These effects are not clearly distinguishable from the neutron sond observations. Both gravimetrical and neutron sond observations display a small-scale variation that needs to be further investigated in order to be explained.