Point specific measurement and monitoring of soil water content with an emphasis on TDR

Abstract

During the past decade, a number of developments have improved the possibilities for real-time, in situ monitoring of soil water content, providing potential for much improved testing and validation of soil water models. Brief reviews of the principles and procedures are presented for the gravimetric and gamma ray attenuation methods. A summary of the developments of time-domain reflectometry (TDR) demonstrates its high capability for continuous monitoring of soil water content. Portable dielectric probes (PDP) and capacitance instruments also use the high dielectric constant of water as an indicator of soil water content. Commercially available TDR instruments offer a choice of options that..