Soil moisture - TDR (SoilVUE10)
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Parameter to be measured:
Soil moisture / permittivity, temperature, conductivity at nine different depths.
Method:
TDR - time domain reflectometry
Equipment:
- Campbell Scientific: SoilVUE10
- 5-cm-auger (drilling kit), optional
- 5.7-cm hex socket for screwing the row into the ground, optional
- SDI-capable logger and power supply
Advantages:
- measures soil moisture, temperature, conductivity in 9 depths with a maximum depth of 1 m.
- installed probe is nearly flush with the ground - no protruding parts. Should be reasonable robust to being driven over
- can be installed in holes drilled with standard 5-cm-auger
- no build-up of moisture in access tube and reduced susceptibility to preferential flow opposed to PR2-probes.
Disadvantages:
- The installation of probe in stony soils is very limited. Even in sand with occassional pebbles, the auger may slightly enlage the hole, so the contact with the probe is poor. Likewise, when screwing in the probe, small stones may cause considerable resistance, leading to destroying the "thread" in the hole
- Price
What to watch out for:
- The access tube for the probe needs to be very carefully installed. There should be no air gap between the access tube and the soil!
- Look at the data carefully. Test if there is a preferential flow between pipe and soil.
- The inner surface of the pipe has to be kept absolutly dry, othwise easurment failure can be appear.
Problems/Questions:
Price:
- ~2500 € (2020, Germany)
Links
Projects that used the above equipment:
Other related web sites: