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The design, limitations, and use of a portable tensiometer
Author(s) -
MULLINS C. E.,
MANDIRINGANA O. T.,
NISBET T. R.,
AITKEN M. N.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
journal of soil science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.244
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1365-2389
pISSN - 0022-4588
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2389.1986.tb00397.x
Subject(s) - tensiometer (surface tension) , water potential , geotechnical engineering , soil water , environmental science , soil science , engineering , thermodynamics , physics , surface tension
SUMMARY A digital reading, portable, pressure‐transducer tensiometer, accurate to ± 100 Pa is described and compared with a dial gauge version. Both tensiometers deform the soil on insertion and the time to obtain a reliable measurement was found to depend on how long it took for disturbed soil around the sensing tip to re‐equilibrate with undisturbed soil. At matric potentials greater than −5 kPa the digital tensiometer equilibrated within a few minutes but a t potentials less than −30 kPa both tensiometers required more than 2 h. Two examples are given in which digital tensiometers are used to investigate spatial variation in water‐table height.