Nineteen representative Arizona soils plus no. 20 silica sand were studied during May, 1983, to determine the relationship between soil temperature change and evaporation and individual soil characteristics. The soils were placed in 50 x 50 x 28 cm wooden boxes with each soil series occupying two boxes, one which had been wetted with two pore volumes of water and one which was dry. Surface soil temperatures (measured with a hand-held infrared thermometer) were taken six times a day for all soils. The wetted soils were weighed at the beginning and end of a 36 hour run to determine gravimetrically the amount of water lost due to evaporation. Thermal and evaporation measurements were compared to a number of soil characteristics determined on both a volume and weight basis.

In recent years, several attempts have been made to develop instrumentation to aid in the measurement of soil water electrical conductivity. Each of the instruments have specific limitations. This dissertation discusses the available methods of measuring this parameter and indicates the limitations of the transducers which have been described in the literature. Also, discussed are the basic theories of operation of these transducers and definitions related to soil salinity in general. The major objective of this research was to develop a new transducer which would be a significant improvement over existing types of instrumentation. It is believed that this research has led to the development of two transducers of different geometries which can assess the soil water conductivity over a wider range of matric potential just as rapidly and accurately as the next best unit. At the same time the new transducers incorporate automatic temperature compensation which has not been done by any other field instrumentation of its type. Also presented, is the application of heat transfer theories to the diffusion of ions from the transducer to the surrounding environment, Application of this theory allows one to predict how the transducer will respond to a step change in ion concentration in an unsaturated soil system where the only process involved is diffusion. Good agreement between experimental measurements and predicted response indicates that the model may also be useful in further refinements of the transducer.

Field and laboratory experiments to determine the effect of the quality of irrigation water and the combination effects of the quality of water and chemical amendments (Gypsum and H ₂SO₄) on growth and yields of sudangrass, total soluble salt and ionic distribution and the infiltration rates of a Pima soil were conducted. Pima soil was classified as calcareous saline-sodic soil. A field experiment was conducted on the University of Arizona Experimental Farm at Safford, Arizona, for a period of five years. During the first three years, three qualities of water as supplied by well, river and city were used. During the last two years, these waters were coupled with two chemical amendments, gypsum and sulfuric acid. The experiment was a randomized split plot design with nine main plots and 27 subplots and three replications. The rates of the amendments were arbitrarily chosen 1 and 1.72 ton/acre of H ₂SO₄ and gypsum respectively. Four harvests were made over the two-year period and city water treatment gave the best growth and yield of sudangrass as compared to well and river water treatments. H ₂SO₄ and gypsum increased the yield significantly in comparison to the control in 1975. No significant effects of the chemical amendments on the growth and yield of sudangrass were obtained in 1976. Significant negative correlations between the EC and ESP of the first two feet of soil and yield of sudangrass were obtained. Soil analysis indicated that significant decrease in the pH and ESP of the soil resulted from H ₂SO₄ application with the three water treatments. Gypsum reduced pH and ESP significantly just with well water treatment. Due to the stratified texture of soil profile, ions and salts accumulated in the center of the sampled profile. Infiltration rates were higher for well water treatments than for city water treatments. H ₂SO₄ increased the infiltration rates significantly with all water treatments; gypsum increased infiltration only with well water treatment. Infiltration was further studied in the laboratory using soil columns. Two rates of acid and two rates of gypsum were used (1 or 5 and 1.72 or 8.6 ton/acre H ₂SO₄ and gypsum respectively). The higher rate of H ₂SO₄ gave the highest infiltration rate and the lowest infiltration rates were obtained with control with all water treatments. The low rate of H ₂SO₄ and the high rate of gypsum gave similar infiltration rates with the three water treatments. Gypsum treated soil columns required more water to be leached to a specific EC than H ₂SO₄ treated and control columns. More salt can be removed from the soil per unit volume of water with H ₂SO₄ treatment than gypsum or untreated soil. The poorest quality of irrigation water required the least time and amount of water needed to reach equilibrium between the solid and solution phases of soil. The EC of effluent was found to be an index to predict the presence of gypsum and lime in the soil under very low water penetration. Regression equations were developed to predict the time and depth of water required to leach one foot of Pima soil column to a specific EC with a given quality of water and a given type and rate of chemical amendments (H ₂SO₄ and gypsum). A regression equation was developed to estimate the EC of the saturation extract from that of 1:1 soil :water ratio for Pima soil.

In this study, well and drainage water were mixed at different rates, and treated with varying amounts of H₂SO₄ to determine if drainage water could supplement ground water supplies and if H₂SO₄ would improve the irrigation water quality of the water mixtures. This study showed that adding amounts of H₂SO₄ equivalent to 15 percent of CO₃ + HCO₃ in irrigation water reduced the detrimental effect of salinity on soil properties and plant growth. In such cases H₂SO₄, which is becoming abundant as an industrial by-product, could be an economic aid in reducing adverse effects of excessive levels of exchangeable sodium in irrigated soils.

An experiment was developed to provide quantitative information about the leachability of urea per se. In order to make the study more complete, the movement of the hydrolytic products of urea was also determined. Comoro fine sandy loam columns with lengths of 30, 61, and 91 cm were fertilized with ¹ ⁵N-labelled urea and irrigated immediately with 10 cm of a leaching solution. Chemical analyses of the soil from the columns were performed after three, five, and six days respectively. Chemical analyses of increments of leachate were also done. A gamma-ray column scanner was used for moisture studies of the columns. It was found that all of the urea hydrolyzed or was immobilized within three days. The hydrolytic products accumulated mainly between 15 and 45 cm in depth. Approximately 50 percent of the added urea was immobilized within six days, and approximately 50 percent was found as nitrates in the 91 cm columns at the end of six days.

Clinoptilolite zeolite has a theoretical cation exchange capacity of 2.25 moles of charge kg⁻¹, and a rigid three-dimensional lattice riddled with angstrom-sized tunnels, and interconnected voids, in which water and exchangable cations are held. The hypothesis was that clinoptilolite had the facility to preferentially and internally sorb NH₄⁺, where it would be physically protected from microbial nitrification. Hence nitrification rates would be decreased and plant N-fertilizer use efficiency increased. Exchange capacities of clinoptilolite determined at 30°C by saturation/desorption for NH₄⁺, K⁺ and Na⁺ were approximately 2.00 moles of charge kg⁻¹, while capacities for Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ were 1.53 and 0.97 respectively. On this basis three site groups were identified: those accessible to all cations studied, sites accessible to all cations but Mg²⁺ and sites only accessible to NH₄⁺, K⁺ and Na⁺. Equilibrium isotherms were used to determine selectivity of site groups at 30°C. Consideration of site accessibilities and selectivities indicate an overall preference of clinoptilolite of: K⁺ > NH₄⁺ > Na⁺ = Ca²⁺ > Mg²⁺. Notably, the plant macronutrient cations, K⁺ and NH₄⁺, are preferentially sorbed. Nitrification of NH₄⁺ on clinoptilolite amended sands incubated at 20% volumetric moisture capacities, was studied in the laboratory. Treatments were washed mortar sand amended with 0, 5 and 10% clinoptilolite by volume and 2.38 and 3.57 moles of NH₄⁺ m⁻³ of sand-clinoptilolite mix. Nitrification was evaluated by monitoring NH₄⁺ loss. Rates of nitrification decreased with increasing clinoptilolite amendment and decreased with N-fertilizer initially applied. The effect of clinoptilolite in slowing nitrification was more pronounced at higher initial NH₄⁺-fertilizer application. The hypothesis that internally sorbed NH₄⁺ in clinoptilolite is physically protected from microbes resulting in decreased nitrification rates was confirmed. The effect of clinoptilolite on N-use efficiency of creeping bentgrass was studied in a field trial. Factorial treatments included washed mortar sand amended with 0, 5 and 10% clinoptilolite by volume and 25, 50 and 75 kg of N ha⁻¹ growing month⁻¹. Approximately 45% of applied N was harvested in clippings from 10% clinoptilolite amended sand in contrast to 36% N recovery on 100 % sand. This supports the hypothesis of improved plant N-fertilizer use efficiency on clinoptilolite amended sand.