Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. sp2 (2026): Recent Advances in Agriculture

Long-term trends and variability of soil temperature in contrasting agro-climatic zones of Tamil Nadu, India

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.14100
Submitted
14 February 2026
Published
27-04-2026

Abstract

Soil temperature is a key regulator of soil physical, chemical and biological processes, influencing nutrient cycling, root growth and overall ecosystem functioning. Long-term evaluation of soil thermal regimes is essential for understanding climate-driven changes in agricultural systems. This study analysed daily morning and afternoon soil temperature at 5, 10 and 20 cm depths (2009–2019) at Kovilpatti (semi-arid) and Ooty (high-altitude), Tamil Nadu, India. Trend detection was performed using the Mann-Kendall or modified Mann-Kendall test based on data independence and Sen’s slope estimator quantified trend magnitude (°C yr-1). Soil temperature exhibited strong seasonal, depth-wise and diurnal variability at both locations, with Kovilpatti consistently recording higher temperatures and greater diurnal amplitudes than Ooty. Results revealed significant cooling trends in Ooty, particularly during winter at shallow depths (e.g., -0.49 °C yr-1 at 5 cm in January), indicating increasingly colder soil conditions during winter, which could stress soil biota. In contrast, Kovilpatti showed widespread warming in morning soil temperatures across depths and seasons (up to 0.41 °C yr-1 at 10 cm in February), while afternoon temperatures exhibited mixed patterns, including notable cooling at 10 cm during monsoon and post-monsoon periods. Depth-wise analysis confirmed increasing morning temperature with depth and decreasing afternoon temperature with depth at both sites. These contrasting trends highlight the influence of regional climate on soil thermal behaviour. Rising soil temperatures in semi-arid regions may intensify thermal stress and necessitate modified irrigation and soil conservation practices. Thus, understanding such site-specific soil temperature responses is critical for developing climate-resilient agricultural management strategies.

References

  1. 1. Bhattacharyya T. Soil diversity in India. J Indian Soc Soil Sci. 2016;64:S41–52.
  2. 2. Jiang Y, Zhuang Q, Sitch S, O'Donnell JA, Kicklighter D, Sokolov A, et al. Importance of soil thermal regime in terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics in the circumpolar north. Glob Planet Change. 2016;142:28–40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2016.04.011
  3. 3. Lehnert M. Factors affecting soil temperature as limits of spatial interpretation and simulation of soil temperature. Acta Universitatis Palackianae Olomucensis Geographica. 2014;45(1):5–21.
  4. 4. Quan H, Feng H, Zhang T, Wu L, Dong QG, Siddique KH. Response of soil water, temperature and maize productivity to different irrigation practices in an arid region. Soil Tillage Res. 2024;237:105962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.still.2023.105962
  5. 5. Curtin D, Beare MH, Hernandez-Ramirez G. Temperature and moisture effects on microbial biomass and soil organic matter mineralization. Soil Sci Soc Am J. 2012;76(6):2055–67. https://doi.org/10.2136/sssaj2012.0011
  6. 6. Mondal S, Ghosal S, Barua R. Impact of elevated soil and air temperature on plants growth, yield and physiological interaction: a critical review. Agric Sci. 2016;14(3):293–305. https://doi.org/10.15192/PSCP.SA.2016.14.3.293305
  7. 7. Han G, Tan J, Wang X, Li H, Shang Q, Tian J. Response of soil temperature to soil moisture content and meteorological elements with gravel-sand mulching. Land. 2025;14(4):853. https://doi.org/10.3390/land14040853
  8. 8. Onwuka B, Mang BJ. Effects of soil temperature on some soil properties and plant growth. Adv Plants Agric Res. 2018;8(1):34–7. https://doi.org/10.15406/apar.2018.08.00288
  9. 9. Chen X, Li Y, Chau HW, Zhao H, Li M, Lei T, et al. The spatiotemporal variations of soil water content and soil temperature and the influences of precipitation and air temperature at the daily, monthly and annual timescales in China. Theor Appl Climatol. 2020;140(1):429–51. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-020-03092-9
  10. 10. Araghi A, Mousavi-Baygi M, Adamowski J, Martinez C, van der Ploeg M. Forecasting soil temperature based on surface air temperature using a wavelet artificial neural network. Meteorol Appl. 2017;24(4):603–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/met.1661
  11. 11. Sonali P, Kumar DN. Review of trend detection methods and their application to detect temperature changes in India. J Hydrol. 2013;476:212–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2012.10.034
  12. 12. Blain GC. The Mann-Kendall test: the need to consider the interaction between serial correlation and trend. Acta Sci. Agron. 2013;35:393–402. https://doi.org/10.4025/actasciagron.v35i4.16006
  13. 13. Wang F, Shao W, Yu H, Kan G, He X, Zhang D, et al. Re-evaluation of the power of the Mann-Kendall test for detecting monotonic trends in hydrometeorological time series. Front Earth Sci. 2020;8:14. https://doi.org/10.3389/feart.2020.00014
  14. 14. Hamed KH, Rao AR. A modified Mann-Kendall trend test for autocorrelated data. J Hydrol. 1998;204(1–4):182–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(97)00125-X
  15. 15. Patakamuri SK, O'Brien N, Patakamuri MS. Package 'modifiedmk': Modified Mann-Kendall tests for time series trend analysis [Internet]. Vienna: The R Foundation; 2020.
  16. 16. Garba H, Udokpoh UU. Analysis of trend in meteorological and hydrological time-series using Mann-Kendall and Sen’s slope estimator statistical test in Akwa Ibom state, Nigeria. Int J Environ Clim Chang. 2023;13(10):1017–35. https://doi.org/10.9734/ijecc/2023/v13i102748
  17. 17. Narasimhan CL, Vaishaly S. Land use changes induced runoff and climate change: a case study on Ooty Municipality, Tamil Nadu, India. In: Geospatial Techniques in Climate Change Monitoring and Environmental Mapping. 2026;265–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-443-36396-2.00013-5
  18. 18. Zhang H, Yuan N, Ma Z, Huang Y. Understanding the soil temperature variability at different depths: effects of surface air temperature, snow cover and the soil memory. Adv Atmos Sci. 2021;38(3):493–503. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00376-020-0074-y
  19. 19. Yu L, Liu Y, Bu K, Wang WJ, Zhang S. Soil temperature mitigation due to vegetation biophysical feedbacks. Glob Planet Change. 2022;218:103971. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloplacha.2022.103971
  20. 20. Chow TT, Long H, Mok HY, Li KW. Estimation of soil temperature profile in Hong Kong from climatic variables. Energy Build. 2011;43(12):3568–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2011.09.026
  21. 21. Illston BG, Fiebrich CA. Horizontal and vertical variability of observed soil temperatures. Geosci Data J. 2017;4(1):40–6. https://doi.org/10.1002/gdj3.47
  22. 22. Yuan G, Zhang L, Liang J, Cao X, Guo Q, Yang Z. Impacts of initial soil moisture and vegetation on the diurnal temperature range in arid and semiarid regions in China. J Geophys Res Atmos. 2017;122(21):11568–81. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JD026790
  23. 23. Shirvani A, Moradi-Choghamarani F, Zand-Parsa S, Moosavi AA. Analysis of long-term trends in air and soil temperature in a semi-arid region in Iran. Environ Earth Sci. 2018;77(5):173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-018-7372-z

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.