Soil aeration and relationship to inorganic nitrogen during aerobic cultivation of irrigated rice on a consolidated land parcel

•Soil aeration varied across a consolidated land parcel during growth of aerobic rice.•Water-filled pore space (WFPS) was inversely related to soil sand content.•Nitrate was inversely related to WFPS and directly related to sand content.•Nitrate-N accumulated and exceeded ammonium-N at <77 % WFPS.•Precise irrigation did not prevent spatial variability in soil aeration for aerobic rice.