Hydrological character of reconstituted and natural soils: comparison of physical analysis and pedotransfer functions

Reconstituted soils are soils resulted from the application of an innovative technology on degraded soils. This technology modifies the structure of the aggregates with a mechanical action combined with the addition of soil amendments, followed by stabilization of the organic matter, so it produces neoaggregates with physico-chemical and microbiological characters different from the original one. The comparison between reconstituted and natural soils is very important for evaluating the efficacy of reconstitution treatment. The aim of this work is to analyze the hydrological characteristics of reconstituted versus natural soil. We present the comparison of water retention curves obtained by laboratory analisys (Method Journal Suppl. Ord. 02/09/1997 OJ 173 - ISO / DIS 11274, (tensiometric box and pressure membrane extractor (Piastre di Richard)) with theoretical data of pedotransfer functions based on models of Mualem-van Genuchten and Brooks-Corey.