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Measurement of Soil Moisture with a Portable Gamma Ray Scintillation Spectrometer
Author(s) -
Mchenry J. Roger,
Gill Angela C.
Publication year - 1970
Publication title -
water resources research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.863
H-Index - 217
eISSN - 1944-7973
pISSN - 0043-1397
DOI - 10.1029/wr006i003p00989
Subject(s) - water content , attenuation , bulk density , soil science , environmental science , moisture , sediment , gamma ray , hydrology (agriculture) , geology , mineralogy , soil water , geomorphology , physics , geotechnical engineering , meteorology , optics , astrophysics
The measurement of soil or sediment density in situ by gamma ray attenuation [ van Bavel , 1959; McHenry and Dendy , 1964] includes the soil moisture present. The change in total density of a soil with a change in moisture is small with respect to the bulk density of the soil. McHenry [1963] determined the moisture of sediments as a function of total density using the attenuation of transmitted gamma rays. A sensitivity of less than 2% moisture content was reported.