An Instrument for in situ Measurements of Soil Moisture Flow and Suction

Cary, J.W. (1968) An Instrument for in situ Measurements of Soil Moisture Flow and Suction. Soil Science Society of America Proceedings. 32(1):3-5.

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Abstract

A soil moisture flux transducer was built and tested in the
laboratory under steady-state conditions in a column of Portneuf
silt loam soil. Initial data indicate that the instrument may
be developed into a useful field research tool. Its principal
advantage is that measurements of moisture flow may be made
without any prior information concerning the unsaturated
hydraulic conductivity of the soil. Rather, one needs to know
only a soil moisture convergence factor which is dependent on
the state of the soil and the design of the transducer. While
this convergence factor is dependent upon the soil moisture
content, the dependence appears to be nearly an order of magnitude
less than the dependence of hydraulic conductivity on
soil moisture content. It may prove possible to develop the
unit for installation in the field to provide continuous measurements
of the unsaturated soil moisture flow in the tensiometer
range with errors no greater than those arising from the natural
heterogeneity of the soil.

Item Type:	Article
NWISRL Publication Number:	0084
Subjects:	Soil > Soil water (soil moisture) Research methodology Mass Import - autoclassified (may be erroneous)
Depositing User:	Dan Stieneke
Date Deposited:	20 Nov 2010 21:54
Last Modified:	15 Mar 2017 22:11
Item ID:	627
URI:	https://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/id/eprint/627