Impact of soil compaction and wetness on thermal properties of sloping vineyard soil

We assessed the effects of tilled (C) and grass covered (G) soil on the spatial distribution of the thermal properties in the vineyard interrow with consideration of areas corresponding to machinery traffic. To calculate the thermal conductivity (λ) we used a statistical-physical model, heat capacity (Cv) was calculated using formulae of de Vries and the thermal diffusivity (α) was obtained from the quotient of λ and Cv. The mean values of λ were generally greater under C than G in moist soil and the inverse was true in drier soil. The means of Cv were greater in moist and lower in drier under G than C and those of α were slightly higher in G than in C. In general the spatial distributions of both λ and Cv were similar to those of water content, however the distribution of α resembled well that of bulk density in both management systems.