Preface

Chapter 6 **The Humidity of the Volcanic Soils and Their Impact on the Processes of Mass Removal in Colombia 89**

William Chavarriaga Montoya

**VI** Contents

Soil moisture has been the main research subject of soil physics, and chemical and biological properties. In addition to the major role it plays in the agricultural system, soil moisture has been one of the primary tests often done in research and production studies that provides important contributions to our knowledge of soil biogeochemistry, microorganisms activity, organic matter content and crop yield. For example, soil genesis and development were de‐ rived from pedological processes that only occur if soil has adequate water content. Nowa‐ days, the use of soil moisture for research purposes is increasing, and the variety of tests performed on water content are also diversifying each day. It is clear that soil moisture will continue to serve as experimental and food production material in the most important areas of agricultural science in the near future. This is because the water found and used by hu‐ mans is in groundwater bodies. These water bodies are replenished by drainage through the soil, and then the rate of groundwater recharge is greatest when rainfall inputs to the soil exceed evapotranspiration losses. Knowledge of the recharge features of catchments is indis‐ pensable to water supply management, planning, flood prediction and floodplain regula‐ tion. Even though it is not possible to follow the increasing body of knowledge in this area, this book aims to provide the reader with a wide-ranging summary of the diverse types of studies in which soil moisture is the focal research object, increasing information and under‐ standing of the current knowledge that have been utilized in the area of soil water content.

**Dr. Gabriela Civeira**

Instituto Nacional de Tecnologia Agropecuaria Villa Udaondo, Hurlingham, Argentina

**Section 1**

**Introductory Chapter**

**Section 1**

**Introductory Chapter**

**Chapter 1**

**Provisional chapter**

**Introductory Chapter: Soil Moisture**

**Introductory Chapter: Soil Moisture**

DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.83603

Water is the common medium for several life processes. There is no lifecycle without water. Moreover, in plants situation, the uptake of nutrients through the roots is intermediated by soil water. Consequently, water and soil are the elementary requirements for the life and growth of plants. Nevertheless, water availability in soils is restricted, and therefore, its administration and measurement turn into an indispensable issue [1]. Water management includes understanding about the release pattern and storage of water by the soil. This knowledge on storage and release also needs understanding about physical biological and chemical properties and soil processes [2]. Soil properties strongly affect processes, which take place on it: among others, soil remains warm or cool, dry or wet, aerobic or anaerobic, friable or rigid, highly porous or compact, aggregated or dispersed, impermeable or permeable, eroded or preserved, saline or unsalted, nutrient-rich or percolated, etc. The last regulates whether the soil water content can be a good or bad medium for various varieties of plants as well as for different methods of production and whether it can conveniently help as an operative convertor for environmental contaminants, rather than as a transmitter of them. The soil moisture content correspondingly referred to as water content and is an indicator of the quantity of water existing in soil. By means, moisture content in soils is the relation of water quantity in a portion to the quantity of solids in the soil sample, expressed as a proportion for example

Related to other constituents of the hydrological cycle, the dimension of soil moisture is slight; nevertheless, it is of essential significance to numerous biological, hydrological, and biogeochemical processes. Soil moisture data are appreciated to an extensive variety of administration agencies and private corporations concerned through meteorological conditions and climate, inundation control and runoff potential, soil erosion, water reservoir controlling, and water quality, among other subjects. Soil moisture is a crucial variable in governing the

> © 2016 The Author(s). Licensee InTech. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2019 The Author(s). Licensee IntechOpen. This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use,

distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

Gabriela CiveiraAdditional information is available at the end of the chapter

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.83603

Gabriela Civeira

**1. Introduction**

(percentage) [3].

#### **Chapter 1 Provisional chapter**

#### **Introductory Chapter: Soil Moisture Introductory Chapter: Soil Moisture**
