Influence geometric anisotropy in management zones delineation

ABSTRACT The proper handling soil allows the reduction of contaminants, maximize agricultural productivity, and is directly related the knowledge spatial variability of soil attributes. This spatial variability can express isotropic and anisotropic form. The latter being neglected in research related to management zones delineation. In this context, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of the geometric anisotropy correction on the management zone delineation. The methodology was applied under database of soybean productivity and apparent electrical conductivity (CEa) of a rural property in Ponta Porã - MS. By means of this georeferenced database, maps was interpolated with ordinary kriging. For each combination, attribute (productivity and CEa) and number of classes, were produced two maps management zones, one without and one with anisotropy correction, the same were compared through the kappa index, with significance tested by the Z-test. The management zones number was also evaluated by Fuzziness Performance Index (FPI) and the Modified Partition Entropy (MPE). The area subdivision in two management zones, without and with anisotropy correction, presented higher Kappa index, with values of 0.89 and 0.91 respectively, but not presented significant differences with each other.