Construction and calibration of a penetrometer of impact to measure the effects the trekking

Abstract

Impact penetrometer was designed, mechanically, to evaluate the strength in soils, produced by the pressure of human feet in two paths: Sabas Nieves and Los Venados, at the Warairo Repano National Park (Avila). The apparatus has the advantage of being lightweight and thus portable, since it only weighs 1.2 kg. It is precise, statistically validated and convenient as it exposes in the application protocol. The results showed that the use of the prototype in the field, is sensitive to detect differences in the strength of the soil at different vegetation covers: Sabana mountain and forest, and with different % organic matter. The equipment is reliable in terms of repeatability of measurements and viable in the research that is to be done on soil compaction in the different paths of Waraira Repano National Park.