简介:Informationaboutthespatialdistributionofsoilattributesisindispensableformanylandresourcemanagementapplications;however,theabilityofsoilmapstosupplysuchinformationformodernmodelingtoolsisquestionable.Theobjectivesofthisstudyweretoinvestigatethepossibilityofpredictingsoildepthusingsometerrainattributesderivedfromdigitalelevationmodels(DEMs)withgeographicinformationsystems(GIS)andtosuggestanapproachtopredictothersoilattributes.Soildepthwasdeterminedat652fieldobservationsovertheAl-MuwaqqarWatershed(70km2)inJordan.Terrainattributesderivedfrom30-mresolutionDEMswereutilizedtopredictsoildepth.Theresultsindicatedthattheuseofmultiplelinearregressionmodelswithinsmallwatershedsubdivisionsenabledthepredictionofsoildepthwithadifferenceof50cmfor77%ofthefieldobservations.Thespatialdistributionofthepredictedsoildepthwasvisuallycoincidedandhadgoodcorrelationswiththespatialdistributionoftheclassesamalgamatingthreeterrainattributes,slopesteepness,slopeshape,andcompoundtopographicindex.Thesesuggestedthatthemodelingofsoil-landscaperelationshipswithinsmallwatershedsubdivisionsusingthethreeterrainattributeswasapromisingapproachtopredictothersoilattributes.