FINDING THE BEST LOCATIONS FOR FURROWS IN SOIL BERMS OF DRAINAGE DITCHES USING LIDAR DATA

Abstract

Soil berms are typically built on the sides of ditches and are designed to purify water from agricultural fertilizers and to limit the transport of sediments to water bodies. However, for soils with fine particles, water filtration is limited and wet soil conditions can occur, which in turn reduces the soil's hydrologic conductivity capacity and hinders tree growth in the forest. The aim of the study is to develop a methodology for automatic modeling of the furrows in soil berms. Open source software QGIS and GRASS GIS is used in data processing. LiDAR data with minimum ground point density of 1.5 points per square meter were used in DEM creation. Local maximum analysis and further data filtration were used in determination of locations of soil berms. The results show that by making one furrow for every 185 m of ditches it is possible to reduce the area of the depressions by up to 91.8%.