The study of spatial variability of soil chemical attributes is an important step in precision agriculture. The objective of this study was to evaluate the spatial variability at two depths (0-10 and 10-20 cm) of the pH in water, base saturation, and levels of organic matter and micronutrients (B, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn) in an Oxisol, medium texture, under no-tillage system for eight years. Soil sample collection was performed at regular intervals of 50 m in a regular grid of 121 points. Data were analyzed by descriptive statistics and geostatistics based on the adjustment of semivariograms. Higher levels of organic matter, Zn and Mn were recorded in the first 10 cm of soil. The greatest variability was found for B and the lowest for pH in water. Most of the data fit the model of Gaussian semivariogram. The values of range were different as a function of the sampling depth and greater at the depth 0-10 cm. If a geostatistical sampling scheme is used, the number of samples to be collected will be different for the two depths and among the evaluated attributes.
Geoestatistic; soil fertility; semivariogram; sampling
