Soil moisture - capacitance (EC-10)
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Parameter to be measured:
Soil moisture
Method:
Capacitance
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Equipment:
- EC-5
- EC-10 (ECH2O)
- EC-20
Advantages:
- Relatively cheap
- Easy to install
- Compatible with many loggers
Disadvantages:
- Only for low salinity soils (Decagon has developed newer ECH2O probes that are less sensitive to salinity issues, e.g. the EC-5)
- Calibration needed
- Small measurement volume compared to other sensors
What to watch out for:
- Temperature sensitivity
- Careful installation, air gaps have a sustainable influence on the measurement compared to other sensors because of the small measurement volume
Problems/Questions:
Links
Projects that used the above equipment:
Other related web sites:
- EC-5, EC-10, EC-20 Manual
- Calibration Equations or the ECH2O EC-5, ECH2O-TE and 5TE Sensors
- EC-5 Volume of Sensitivity
- USGS ECH2O calibration summary
- USGS ECH2O probe calibration protocol (destructive harvest)
- sowacs.com - the central resource for soil moisture measurement
References
- Bogena, HR; Huisman, JA; Oberdoerster, C; Vereecken, H. 2007. Evaluation of a low-cost soil water content sensor for wireless network applications. Journal of Hydrology, 344(1-2), 32-42, DOI: 10.1016/j.jhydrol.2007.06.032.
- Chanzy, A., Gaudu, J.-G., Marloie, O. (2012): Correcting the Temperature Influence on Soil Capacitance Sensors Using Diurnal Temperature and Water Content Cycles. Sensors 12, 9773-9790, DOI: 10.3390/s120709773.
- Saito, T; Fujimaki, H; Yasuda, H; Inoue, M. 2009. Empirical Temperature Calibration of Capacitance Probes to Measure Soil Water. SOIL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF AMERICA JOURNAL 73, 1931-1937, DOI: 10.2136/sssaj2008.0128.