Variabilities of soil water matric potential and of hydraulic gradients are analysed using geostatistical concepts and normal distribution statistics. Twenty five data pairs, collected along a 125 m transect of a dark red latosol (terra roxa estruturada) are analysed using autocorrelograms and semivariograms. No spatial dependence was found for both variables. The variability of soil water matric potential, measured by tensiometry, is less than the variability of hydraulic gradients. This last variable presented a high variability, to the point of compromising its use in soil water flux estimatives.
spatial variability; temporal variability; autocorrelation; semivariogram; matric potential; hydraulic gradient
