Water Resources Research Act Program

Details for Project ID 2016KY261B

Climate change impacts on soil-water availability under different land management: forest and grasslands

Institute: Kentucky
Year Established: 2016 Start Date: 2016-03-01 End Date: 2017-02-28
Total Federal Funds: $10,000 Total Non-Federal Funds: $20,832

Principal Investigators: Brad Lee

Project Summary: The relationship between field measured saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) in the Shawnee Hills pedons and the calculated Ksat based on particle size analysis will be used to test and refine the USDA NRCS algorithm to calculate Ksat from static and commonly measured soil properties (e.g. soil particle size distribution). By incorporating predicted climate change models with the modeled soil water holding capacity, we will be able to predict plant-available soil-water storage which will have implications for future land use and food production. We will provide accessible science to the agricultural community by showing how decisions on land management coupled with potential climate change can translate into an ability to continue agricultural production in the coming century.