Determination of support in soil sampling

Short-range variation of measurements of a soil characteristic is a function of the support (i.e., size, shape, and orientation of the physical sample taken at a sample point) of the soil samples. This short-range variance often shows up as a substantial component of the nugget effect in experimental semivariograms or estimated generalized covariance functions. Proper choice of support may substantially reduce short-range variance (or nugget) of measurements made at sample points and thereby reduce estimation variance in point or block kriging based on these measurements. Appropriate variance formulas and an example are given for determination of support when support is an array of vertical cores (or bucket auger samples) of equal depth and diameter.